I am trying to price replacing an exiting bathroom with an up-to-date set of products. I am replacing the bath with a walk in shower tray, then a sink and wc. The bathroom is small about 170x210 cm, and I will probably keep the same layout. My problem is getting 'value for money', and I want to minimise buying the wrong products. With so much price variation (mainly because of the Internet) it can be a minefield out there. So my question is where do I source the main equipment? I have read that, for example B&Q and ikea products may not be the best yardstick for 'quality/price'. For example I was looking at using a Salamander ESP 75 twin 2 bar pump, but looking at the Web the prices vary from £372 (Tapstore) to £302 (QS). If you multiply that difference for all equipment you are looking at perhaps saving £1000 over the cost of refurbishing a bathroom. Putting matters of taste aside where would you source your bathroom? I have looked at Bathstore which I think have well made stuff. I like Wickes for their Tile prices. I know a lot about some things but feel a novice when it comes to DIY. Any advice would be more than welcome.
New Bathroom
- Thread starter JamesJohn
- Start date
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Personalised items like sanitary ware & tiles are best sourced where you can see them. Even the DIY sheds stock products of varying quality to suit budget & some of the Bathstore stuff is good value & well made but don’t dismiss smaller independent outlets, they can be surprisingly competitive; if they are branded products, you can always try & source them on-line. I generally get things like fittings, branded taps, shower mixers, shower trays, screens, shower pumps & branded trade tiling products etc. (but not usually tiles) from on-line stores, many of them E bay stores. Also take a look at the Stuart Turner Monsoon pump, more expensive but a much better & quieter pump IMO.
I advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts before doing any work or buying tiles/tiling materials, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. Regards the walk in shower tray, are you creating a wet room? There are several things that can catch you out, particularly if contemplating large format tiles. You only want to be doing this once so it’s important you don't unnecessarily skimp on quality, to get the preparation right & use the right materials. Only use quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base; merchants cheapo own brand & DIY shed stuff is mostly crap.
I advise you read the Tiling Sticky & Forum Archive posts before doing any work or buying tiles/tiling materials, it could prevent you making disastrous & potentially expensive mistakes. Regards the walk in shower tray, are you creating a wet room? There are several things that can catch you out, particularly if contemplating large format tiles. You only want to be doing this once so it’s important you don't unnecessarily skimp on quality, to get the preparation right & use the right materials. Only use quality trade tilling materials of the correct type for your tiles & tile base; merchants cheapo own brand & DIY shed stuff is mostly crap.
We are just about to do ours and I was in your situation a week or so ago when I started pricing up.
Originally I'd had a look around the local BathStore and pretty much priced everything up from there. In the end we got nothing from them party down to cost and party down to hearing a few too many people having a few problems with fittings and the like, less so with the large items.
We went to Trade Depot for our bath, toilet & shower and a bunch of pipe and plumbing fittings. Mostly because they were cheaper for established brands and have a good rep from what I could find
We went to TileBase for our tiles and adhesive/grout for no particular reason. In our area there are only really tile base tile giant and Wickes/B&Q and I wanted to avoid the latter 2 for most stuff like that if possible.
We got our shower screen and basin/cabinet from plumbworld again because it was cheaper and with a good rep.
Taps and wastes have all come from Ebay because the prices were much better than the vast majority of stores. Taps were Bristan and wastes were [tc], all brass with chrome plating instead of plastic bits.
For some tools and a few plumbing bits I went to toolstation, screwfix & machine mart. All three have stores near me and each other.
The vinyl floor came from carpetright. Collected it though as it only cost £60 and they wanted another £30 for postage! For a bit of vinyl just 2mx1.6 it seemed a little off to me!
Have a look around some stores to see what you like the look of and then try and find it or similar online. Check for the brand of things too if possible.
Originally I'd had a look around the local BathStore and pretty much priced everything up from there. In the end we got nothing from them party down to cost and party down to hearing a few too many people having a few problems with fittings and the like, less so with the large items.
We went to Trade Depot for our bath, toilet & shower and a bunch of pipe and plumbing fittings. Mostly because they were cheaper for established brands and have a good rep from what I could find
We went to TileBase for our tiles and adhesive/grout for no particular reason. In our area there are only really tile base tile giant and Wickes/B&Q and I wanted to avoid the latter 2 for most stuff like that if possible.
We got our shower screen and basin/cabinet from plumbworld again because it was cheaper and with a good rep.
Taps and wastes have all come from Ebay because the prices were much better than the vast majority of stores. Taps were Bristan and wastes were [tc], all brass with chrome plating instead of plastic bits.
For some tools and a few plumbing bits I went to toolstation, screwfix & machine mart. All three have stores near me and each other.
The vinyl floor came from carpetright. Collected it though as it only cost £60 and they wanted another £30 for postage! For a bit of vinyl just 2mx1.6 it seemed a little off to me!
Have a look around some stores to see what you like the look of and then try and find it or similar online. Check for the brand of things too if possible.
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Thanks for the info. All I've managed to do so far is firmed up the design. It's not a wet room, it's just got room for an 1700x800 shower tray along one wall, then a sink and wc along the adjacent wall. I went to Bathstore and priced most of it and with their extra 20% off the sale price it wasn't too much of a hit. I will check out Trade Depot and the other outlets. I hadn't thought of using Ebay but will do so, along with the Stuart Turner pump. Again many thanks. 
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