Brands for new bathroom

[Gredawarha]

Afternoon all

If you were buying new bathroom items, what brands or suppliers would you go to. Not looking for super high end but want to avoid anything crap, prefer good quality but value for money rather than cheapest.

If anyone has been through the process of a new bathroom in the post few years and would recommend anyone I'd love to know.

We're looking at ripping out our current bathroom completely and replacing everything.

Missus is in charge (keeps her happy) and it's looking like we will buy the sink, bath, shower etc and the guys who did our kitchen will install.

I know nothing about bathrooms but the missus will just pick what she line the look of. IfI like to be able to point her toward a website, shop or brand and then let her pick so I know we're buying reasonably good quality items.

Thanks

Darren

 

[Gredawarha]

I'll be interested in this too. I've just had my kitchen done as it was a minefield buying the kitchen. Wren, Magnet, etc love plucking random large numbers out of thin air and saying that is the final price. I'm starting to find the same with local bathroom suppliers.

Good luck with the kitchen hunting. Ours is pretty much done, going to do some LED strips myself and the builders have a bit of touching up to do but they're doing that when they are back to do the bathroom.

I should really post pictures of the kitchen in the kitchen thread I created.

For what it's worth we ended up using DIY Kitchens for our kitchen.

 

[Gredawarha]

We got ours from Bathstore, not overly pleased with the quality of the stuff if I'm honest. Coated chipboard in a bathroom is a stupid idea. Water-resistant my arse.

Yes I did a search before posting and found some comments along the line of "avoid bathstore".

 

[Gredawarha]

Sorry misunderstanding. Our kitchen is finished thank god. Again we went with DIY Kitchens who were fantastic. Ours is on their facebook page, see post - 19 February at 08:00. Now we are searching for bathroom stuff.

No need to apologise, my mistake.

Seems like you're in a similar position to us then.

 

[Gredawarha]

Have you measured up? Since measuring up with narrowed down what we can have. We are going for an 1800x800 bath which limits our options furniture wise.

Yes, unlike the kitchen we've not argued about layout so we know what's going where and therefore size but I don't have any measurements to hand.

 

[Gredawarha]

I work for a biggish online bathroom retailer. A competitor to soak, VP, etc but I'm not allowed to plug...

Both soak and Victorian Plumbing are decent and reasonablely priced. Ceramics, baths, taps, heating are all fine quality wise. I know their suppliers. Soak will be cheaper I'd imagine as they source and import themselves (like us) Victorian Plumbing source from UK suppliers but the products ultimately come from the far East still (nothing wrong with that though, branded items do too)

Baths and shower trays typically come from UK though.

Furniture is a difficult one as wood in bathrooms generally does mix. Try and find a painted vanity rather than a veneered and it will be a safer bet.

Any questions just ask and I'll do my best.

Check eBay for Soak, the prices are normally a but cheaper.

Thanks for the response. I think our requirements are fairly basic, we have a large airing cupboard in the bathroom which will cover most of our storage. I think we will need a full shower unit, bath toilet and a basin with a vainty unit underneath. Perhaps a mirror with built in storage or just a wall mirror so won't be much else.

 

[Gredawarha]

Hello all

Thanks for all the great replies so far. Missus mentioned to me yesterday that she was going to send me a link to the bathroom bits she likes. This will give me an idea of what she is looking at design wise and if neccesary I can maybe influence her in terms of some of the great advice here.

Thanks

 

[Gredawarha]

So..... Missus has emailed me her "wish list" which includes bath, basin and shower tray from a manufacture called "Roca". No idea if Roca are any forg or who they might be comparable to.

Vanity

https://www.building-supplies-onlin...qBgy4Mtbnz5MvYhBicglfhMJipS6vP5BoCtYQQAvD_BwE

Bath

https://www.bathroomsandshowersdire...opErCrqpzeetmL6UJR_3y-c_i13KCQThoCDUgQAvD_BwE

Shower tray

https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/bathro...-gDUIQceDW1k6vP0vnmcWK78wU95Cr5RoC4usQAvD_BwE

Shower enclosure

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/sienna-900mm-quadrant-shower-enclosure

Bath taps

https://www.wayfair.co.uk/diy-plumbing/pdp/hudson-reed-hardy-bath-tap-hdz2465.html

Basin taps

https://www.wayfair.co.uk/diy-plumb...ardy-mono-basin-mixer-with-waste-hdz2467.html

Pacific quadrant shower enclosure from Victorian Plumbing

Mermaid showers from plumbase

And Hudson Reed taps for the bath and sink

Any comments on these would be very appreciated? I can supply links when I'm home later if that helps?

EDIT: I have added the links she sent me to the items

 

[Gredawarha]

We have a mix of Twyford (Taps and Shower Tray), Roca (Toilet and Sink), HiB (Mirror Cabinet) and Mira (Shower Head). Happy with everything.

Wasn't impressed with Bristan taps.

What did you think of the Roca stuff?

 

[Gredawarha]

Roca are very nice, I had one of the toilets in my old house, but then it was £850 so it should have been. I now have a RAK unit in my main bathroom and en-suite. Just as nice but half the cost

I went Merlyn shower trays are round and the quality is amazing for the money. I also have a lusso freeestanding bath and vanity's .

Make sure you get ceramic sinks, not resin. The aqualisa showers are great too as you can site the controls outside of the shower. My other choice would be Grohe.

A lot of taps are identical across the brands, obviously made to a generic design in the far East, so if you see an expensive one you like, shop around for a cheaper model. Prime example is a £100 mondella in Homebase is the same as the £50 Wickes own brand. I don't rate Franke as I've replaced 2 kitchen taps in the space of as many years.

Spend some decent money on a bath as cheap ones the fibreglass is thin, and although it can physically hold water it won't like continued abuse, ie kids dropping shampoo bottles on it. Don't ask me how I know

I had issues with Victorian plumbing with a cheap bath. Fitted it and there was a hairline crack that only opened when completely full. They refused a refund so you can imagine how much a £150 bath actually cost me factoring in a replacement and fitting .

My advice, spend decent money on a trusted brand. Replacing bathroom wear is a ballache.

Nice to hear some positive comments on Roca, set my mind at ease as she has chosen a few Roca items.