Which makes of sanitary ware and taps to buy?

[Lindylootoo]

Hello

I'm having a cloakroom put into an upstairs room then completely redoing my main bathroom to include a shower (enclosure), bath, basin and loo, ladder towel rail etc. My plumber has given some advice, but he's generally happy to fit whatever I buy. I'm thinking of a Volente shower tray and Vantage enclosure as these are highly recommended and I don't need a problem with leaking or badly fitting doors. Roc have been recommended for sanitary ware. The bath I want is 1600 x 750 and supplied by B&Q Cooke and Lewis. Taps - B&Q Wave range are on offer at the moment, or Ideal Standard. I've been told taps need to have a ceramic disc and a 5 yr guarantee. I'd look at various websites like Victoria Plumb but I live on the Isle of Wight and they load the delivery charges and the only DIY store is B&Q. Any recommendations on makes much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Tons of choice, agreed....but I'd avoid Vic Plumb like the plague!
It depends on what you want to spend, but Ideal sanitary ware is good, Grohe taps the best. Personally I like the Mira stone resin trays, and a Moretti enclosure also gets my vote.
John

 

[simond]

Matki shower units, Aqualisa or Mira electronic showers.

Avoid buying non branded gear from the likes of B&Q, Bathstore, Vic Plumb. When you need spares in 5 years they will have changed importers three times since and nothing will be available. The fancy sounding name your taps were branded with will mean nothing to a spotty teenage shop assistant a few years down the line, or anyone else for that matter.

This goes for Kharzis, all taps, showers.

Roca are the largest sanitaryware manufacturer in Europe. Kaldewei are one of the largest bath manufacturers.

Bristan are cheap for taps but have reasonably good aftersales support.

 

[PullerGas]

Tons of choice, agreed....but I'd avoid Vic Plumb like the plague!
It depends on what you want to spend, but Ideal sanitary ware is good, Grohe taps the best. Personally I like the Mira stone resin trays, and a Moretti enclosure also gets my vote.
John

Got to agree with BM. Though I do like Roca sanitary ware. I always fit Roca in Puller Towers & never had an issue with inlet valves, flush valves etc.
A lot of cheaper sanitary ware(B&Q & VP) is poorly glazed & rippled. Poor casting is also another problem!!

 

[Lindylootoo]

Thanks for those recommendations. One further thing I'd like some help on, is that trying to search for a Roca loo at a reasonable price - and most are seriously expensive - just about all their loo designs come are square - so if at some later time a new loo seat is needed it is incredibly expensive to replace!! Are there other branded loo's which are a standard size???

 

[PullerGas]

Their Laura WC is a good value product & the Laura seat/cover with SS hinges is also an excellent product.
http://www.grahamplumbersmerchant.c...re-seats/products/SR342396/roca-laura-wc-pan/

 

[Lindylootoo]

The Laura appears to be their cheapest loo. How would you rate Iflo, who also offer a 25 yr guarantee (2 yrs on seats), or Lisbon which is also competitively priced?

 

[simond]

Isn't Iflo a City Plumbing (aka Travis Perkins) own brand? Nuff said.

 

[Lindylootoo]

The iflo was in their catalogue and the Lisbon is in Woods Trade Supplies, but I doubt they have their own range. I'm going to struggle with my budget with Roca prices so would really appreciate recommendations for something less pricey!

 

[Classic40]

I bought a shower branded as Iflo but the manual says Bristan on it. Good quality too!

It maybe worth looking at www.premierbathroomcollection.co.uk - Google the part numbers and you can find them even cheaper!

 

[PullerGas]

You've been warned about the quality of the cheaper ranges, most are poor quality. Still with the Roca in my view.

 

[mogget]

As I've mentioned previously on this forum I ordered from Victoria plumb and regretted it. The only part of the order I kept was the loo. It was seventysomething pounds, ("reduced from £290") so I assumed it was a £70something bog. It was poor even for that, but once I'd replaced every fitting it works OK, but the glaze is poor. So I learnt my lesson, buy cheap get almost unusable.

 

[mouk]

I recently spent ages racking my brains looking for a toilet for a cloak room and in the end went with Ideal Standard as they did a toilet that was very compact.

The guy in the shop said it was a mid range toilet and some of their others are in the higher range.

I have now got the toilet and it looks quite chunky/good quality although it is still in its packaging. Cost about £300 including a soft close seat (which was £100 alone) - when compared to B and Q prices that is steep but I spose you only want to install at toilet say once every 10 or 20 years so worth spending a bit more on it now.

I actually bought from a place in Southampton - you can have it delivered there and then take it over to the IOW if you wanted to I spose - they are not far from the docks. They do have a showroom but it does not have Ideal Standard on display. PM for company name if you want.