Where To Stay During Extensive Work 14 January at 3:26PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 19 replies 833 views

comeandgo

You mention your computers and screens, leaving them up.  Will your or your work insurance cover that?  When I had to stay in hotels or work away I had to be with my computers , lap tops or they were locked in the boot of my car.  It was regarded as misconduct if your equipment was lost or stolen and you had not adhered to work policy.

MikeJXE

grumbler said:

FFHillbilly said:

I'd go to Tenerife

No, you'll regret leaving UK cowboys without supervision 

I agree with grumbler

 `I wouldn't go more than a few yards so I can keep watch on them

I would want to see the installers previous works before I even let them through the garden gate 

Don't hand over funds until the value is there 

Radicalrooster

Thanks all for your replies!

Computers - They’re all mine and personally owned. I would absolutely keep these with me, but I have various monitors, stands and other apparatus that wouldn’t hold any data and would be fine to leave.

I would absolutely be checking in daily, as I’m coming home to cook each evening I’d be able to see that day’s progress so to speak.

In terms of payment, Victoria Plumb have agreed to a £500 deposit and then I won’t have to pay the rest until two weeks after completion. So if there’s anything I’m not happy with, I’ll be sure they do it before they get paid!

MikeJXE

Radicalrooster said:

Thanks all for your replies!

Computers - They’re all mine and personally owned. I would absolutely keep these with me, but I have various monitors, stands and other apparatus that wouldn’t hold any data and would be fine to leave.

I would absolutely be checking in daily, as I’m coming home to cook each evening I’d be able to see that day’s progress so to speak.

In terms of payment, Victoria Plumb have agreed to a £500 deposit and then I won’t have to pay the rest until two weeks after completion. So if there’s anything I’m not happy with, I’ll be sure they do it before they get paid!

It's not that easy especially if you are a bit green.

There are all sorts of problems that can crop up installing a bathroom that may not be evident until it's complete, not alway what you can see but what you can't see. 

I'm ex builder, my son is gas safe registered engineer, I often go and give him a hand as I am retired, some work I see and he has to put right is appalling

See others work, get names and recommendations, there are cowboys everywhere including working for the like of merchants who let out the installation 

Your choice 

Vannaa

When I was having work done on a house I'd just bought, I paid for my sister and her family to go on a cheap Spanish holiday and moved my family into her flat for two weeks.

akira181

I'd stay with a friend or family during that time but 2 weeks is a rather long time for a bathroom install. My friend done his bathroom himself and it took him two weeks. It was a relatively small bathroom but I would've thought pros would have been significantly faster.

Doozergirl said:

I don't care where you stay, just not Victoria Plumb.  You can't go far wrong with a sink or a  ceramic toilet but their moving parts and furniture are not good quality.  

Specifically warned friends only a few years ago not to do it and they're replacing two bathrooms now.  Shower broken, vanity units have blown with water ingress.   Cheap for a reason except the labour costs the same regardless of the quality of your fittings so it's poor economy.  

Are Victoria Plumb that bad? They have a bath and some other fittings that I like and was considering just getting them to do the whole thing. Is it just the furniture aspect of it or is the workmanship questionable too?

ashe

We did our bathroom, en suite and downstairs toilet with victoriaplum (supply only) and it's been hit and miss 

it looks the business but the main issues we had were;

led mirror transformer buzzed loudly - they replaced the whole mirror and we sold the buzzing one for £100

shower door doesn't stay shut, they've sent us another one but we just clamp it shut 😂 too much hassle changing the door 

bathroom sink looks great but scratched very easily 

freestanding bath had some odd size waste and plumber has to get an adapter, but the bath was significantly cheaper than what we could have gotten elsewhere for same size 

think they're generally ok but you need to read the reviews carefully to see pitfalls of each item if there are any 

their prices also fluctuate wildly, make sure you use discount codes and TopCashback as that gives significant discount 

search every item online as some things we got from Amazon or other suppliers for significantly less, others were cheapest on VP

either way, victoriaplum are a lot better than Victorian plumbing in my experience 

Ganga

ashe said:

We did our bathroom, en suite and downstairs toilet with victoriaplum (supply only) and it's been hit and miss 

it looks the business but the main issues we had were;

led mirror transformer buzzed loudly - they replaced the whole mirror and we sold the buzzing one for £100

shower door doesn't stay shut, they've sent us another one but we just clamp it shut 😂 too much hassle changing the door 

bathroom sink looks great but scratched very easily 

freestanding bath had some odd size waste and plumber has to get an adapter, but the bath was significantly cheaper than what we could have gotten elsewhere for same size 

think they're generally ok but you need to read the reviews carefully to see pitfalls of each item if there are any 

their prices also fluctuate wildly, make sure you use discount codes and TopCashback as that gives significant discount 

search every item online as some things we got from Amazon or other suppliers for significantly less, others were cheapest on VP

either way, victoriaplum are a lot better than Victorian plumbing in my experience 

It always surprised me that two different companies traded with such similar names ,you would have thought that one of them objected to it.

Doozergirl

akira181 said:

I'd stay with a friend or family during that time but 2 weeks is a rather long time for a bathroom install. My friend done his bathroom himself and it took him two weeks. It was a relatively small bathroom but I would've thought pros would have been significantly faster.

Doozergirl said:

I don't care where you stay, just not Victoria Plumb.  You can't go far wrong with a sink or a  ceramic toilet but their moving parts and furniture are not good quality.  

Specifically warned friends only a few years ago not to do it and they're replacing two bathrooms now.  Shower broken, vanity units have blown with water ingress.   Cheap for a reason except the labour costs the same regardless of the quality of your fittings so it's poor economy.  

Are Victoria Plumb that bad? They have a bath and some other fittings that I like and was considering just getting them to do the whole thing. Is it just the furniture aspect of it or is the workmanship questionable too?

I can't speak for their installation but no online review is going to guarantee that you are going to get the same installer in a UK wide service, so you're at the mercy of whoever turns up.  I'd much rather have the knowledge that I had a recommendation for an actual person.   So much relies on the quality of fit.  

It's their own brand brassware that I'm not a fan of.  It doesn't last.  I can see they've expanded into other brands so I don't know how they've branded their stuff these days.