Choosing/buying a new bathroom suite

[Skibird]

Hi All,

After building a new extension etc, and becoming very fed up with the quality of products from "so called BIG BRAND NAMES", does anyone have any ideas/info on bespoke (or just very good) bathroom suppliers on-line as we live in the Isle of Wight?

Thanks

Bev

 

[Cycleops]

I would have thought you could get a deal from one of the high street DiY shops or sheds.
Much of it is in the planning and execution and I'm sure they could do that for you but it's the same as fitted bedrooms and kitchens, you pay a rather high price for the privilege.
These days not so many people want a bath so might be a question of finding a toilet, washbasin and shower unit. Planning that isn't rocket science so maybe you could do that?
We but a house about eighteen months ago and I choose the wall tiles, floor tiles and units for four bathrooms and employed a tiler and fitter for the units and plumbing. I did the electrics myself.

 

[Skibird]

I would have thought you could get a deal from one of the high street DiY shops or sheds.
Much of it is in the planning and execution and I'm sure they could do that for you but it's the same as fitted bedrooms and kitchens, you pay a rather high price for the privilege.
These days not so many people want a bath so might be a question of finding a toilet, washbasin and shower unit. Planning that isn't rocket science so maybe you could do that?
We but a house about eighteen months ago and I choose the wall tiles, floor tiles and units for four bathrooms and employed a tiler and fitter for the units and plumbing. I did the electrics myself.

Hi Cyclops, my hubby can do all the work and is actually very good with the design, planning element for anything in a house, it's the quality of the items we are looking for help with, as everything seems so poor now. When he put an en-suite in one of the new bedrooms we got the whole bathroom fittings etc from Victorian Plumbing and have had nothing but trouble with their taps and shower (I won't bore you with the details), and their customer care can only be described as a joke (I have their emails as proof). With most HS DIY shops and on-line suppliers, seemingly offering the same sort of thing, we are hoping that someone will tell us of the fantastic bathroom etc they got from "so a

 

[sheddy]

https://www.screwfix.com/jsp/tradeCounter/tradeCounterDetailsPage.jsp?id=148

If no good, just take it back ?

 

[screenman]

I sometimes think on this subject there is very little in quality difference but a lot in price difference. Sorry that I cannot help more, we used Victoria Plumbing with no problems, so had no need to find out about customer service.

 

[Cycleops]

Yes it's true, much of the quality of taps and shower units is poor now. I had to replace all but one of the flushing units in the toilets. Many taps are made in china now so you just need to make sure you buy a quality make, preferably made in Europe. You get what you pay for.

 

[Mrs M]

When we got a new bathroom we went for a carronite bath (very sturdy and doesn’t move like a plastic bath). Also fitments from Grohe which seem good quality.

 

[Skibird]

I sometimes think on this subject there is very little in quality difference but a lot in price difference. Sorry that I cannot help more, we used Victoria Plumbing with no problems, so had no need to find out about customer service.

Hi Screenman, their after care really was unbelievable, but it wasn't until I actually googled reviews on them that I realised how bad their after care really was and that it wasn't that we were just unlucky, the reviews were/are shocking and were around 99% based on after care.

 

[Skibird]

Yes it's true, much of the quality of taps and shower units is poor now. I had to replace all but one of the flushing units in the toilets. Many taps are made in china now so you just need to make sure you buy a quality make, preferably made in Europe. You get what you pay for.

Hi Cyclops, yes, it seems like everything is made in China, I even said this to VP and asked if theirs were made there because the quality was so poor, and although they replied, they would only go as far as to say they sourced their products from different places. They didn't say no to China though, which was a "yes" to me.

 

[Skibird]

When we got a new bathroom we went for a carronite bath (very sturdy and doesn’t move like a plastic bath). Also fitments from Grohe which seem good quality.

Thanks Mrs M, we will check them out.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Are there no plumbers merchants/bathroom specialists in the IoW you can go to? They all have access to a range of manufacturers. How difficult is a trip to Southampton?

We have just had our bathroom completely rebuilt and re-fitted and followed the advice of our builder. We looked at the national chains but were not overly impressed and in the end we had better service from the small dealers he recommended.

It was a real slog, but worth it in the end.

 

[Cycleops]

Just as a matter of interest Twyford are now Chinese owned i think and even have a factory here in Ghana now so you can't always count on the old names to be made in the UK any more.

 

[keithmac]

We went for a steel bath, well worth the extra £.

 

[Skibird]

Are there no plumbers merchants/bathroom specialists in the IoW you can go to? They all have access to a range of manufacturers. How difficult is a trip to Southampton?

We have just had our bathroom completely rebuilt and re-fitted and followed the advice of our builder. We looked at the national chains but were not overly impressed and in the end we had better service from the small dealers he recommended.

It was a real slog, but worth it in the end.

Hi Rusty Nails, that is what we are going to do tomorrow. A trip to Southampton would be easy, just a bit costly, but if we could get something of quality there it would be worth it to us.

 

[Skibird]

Just as a matter of interest Twyford are now Chinese owned i think and even have a factory here in Ghana now so you can't always count on the old names to be made in the UK any more.

That is exactly what we are finding out.................................old names, previously manufactured in the UK or otherEuropean countries, not just bathrooms, all sorts of things, have been moved to China.