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Original poster

I know this question is idiotic, but......

34 replies

stainesmassif · 05/08/2010 12:49

Would 3k be a reasonable budget for a new bathroom including floor and wall tiling, new bath, showwer over bath, sink, toilet. Not too fancy, room is not large.....

Are dolphin any good btw?

OP posts:
CMOTdibbler · 05/08/2010 12:51

If you need everything new, and it all tiling, then that is not going to be enough I'm afraid.

Dolphin do not get good recs - look on Which local for local company recommendations. We got a great company to do ours from recs on there

emsyj · 05/08/2010 13:23

Well we spent less than that to do our bathroom in our old house, but that was a few years ago. We bought the suite from the Plumb Centre (accompanied by a tradesman friend so we got it trade price) plus taps etc. It was a Twyford suite so decent, but much cheaper to buy there than from a showroom. Tiles from a local tile warehouse (Tile Trend - not sure if there are other branches nationally?) and we tiled both floor and walls. We also had a separate shower cubicle.

I think you will struggle for that budget if you go somewhere like Dolphin, although worth a shot, but if you buy the items and pay someone to fit it (make sure you pick a reliable tradesman, nothing worse than bathroom leaks) then you can do it for that price if you're careful and shop around.

chegggersplayspop · 05/08/2010 13:29

I spent about that on a bathroom a couple of years ago. I sourced all the tiles, bath etc myself then had a man come in and fit it all. I used travertine tiles as a mosaic border and for the floor and used ceramic looky likies for the walls, which were cheaper. It looked fab.

If you go to somewhere that does it all for you it will be way more expensive though.

Original poster
stainesmassif · 05/08/2010 13:35

Am asking dolphin round to suggest a design, but am far too stingy to let them do it all. Am just hoping they can come up with some stylish space saving solutions that I can steal and go to trust a trader when I have a clue. I literally plucked 3k out of the air as a figure I'd be comfortable with...

OP posts:
LIZS · 05/08/2010 13:38

Fine but Dolphin will charge you at least double !

MajorPettigrew · 05/08/2010 13:46

Dolphin came to do a quote for me about 4 years ago - not wanting a flash bathroom - just normal bath, sink, toilet and seperate shower.

Price before discount was over 30K!!!!!

Even with the 50% discount, he was quickly shown the door by my DP!

Original poster
stainesmassif · 05/08/2010 13:53

MAJOR!!! no way! I'll be v interested to see what they come up with then!

OP posts:
mollythetortoise · 05/08/2010 15:03

I have managed to do out bathroom on a budget of about £2.5.

Trade prices on a bathroom suit including OB shower and heated towel rail (£900), labour (friends - £600 - 2 men, 2 days), wall tiles (£280 - nothing fancy though, creamish brick shape ones plus some glass ones, floor tiles from my sister so free)plus tiler to fit both £470. Underfloor heating free from friend.

Tiles and tiling are where you can spend a fortune if you want - nice tiles cost alot.

I wanted glass brick throughout but would have costed £3.5k - £5.99 a tile and 50 tiles a sq meter and 12 spare meters required!!
so settled for cream ones (and a nice loo roll holder and toilet seat) instead..

MajorPettigrew · 05/08/2010 17:27

We used the bathroom plan that Dolphin came up with, then got the bathroom suite from B+Q.

WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!

Pease, for the love of cheese, do not get the bathroom from B+Q or allow their muppet fitters to do the work.

I can't be bothered with the whole sorry tale, but it's no worth the grief... believe me!

ReshapeWhileDamp · 05/08/2010 18:39

Get someone local, with references or better still, a personal recommendation from a friend. I wouldn't dream of going to Dolphin and being fleeced.

LynetteScavo · 05/08/2010 18:45

Dolphin are expensive, going on quotes friends have had.

As long as you don't want to change the position of any of anything (and therefore change the plumbing) 3K will be fine.

As already said, shop around and buy the stuff yourself, and get decent tradesmen in.

Fizzylemonade · 05/08/2010 18:57

Google is your friend, we did an en-suite in our last house, it came from TESCO bathrooms, the shower cubicle and tray was only £170!

We fitted it ourselves and we had new vinyl flooring but only tiled in the shower and above the sink, the entire thing came to around £1800 that was for shower cubicle, elec shower, tray, sink, taps, back to wall toilet in a white cabinet, mirror, cabinet and tiles.

PositiveVibes · 05/08/2010 19:00

Dolphin v.expensive - they wanted over 5K a few years ago to do our teeny tiny bathroom.

Despite what MAJOR says, we used B&Q and they were great, did our bathroom and kitchen really well

champagnesupernova · 05/08/2010 19:01

Forget Iraq and afghanistan, FGS make sure you have an exit strategy for when the dolphin salesman comes round.
Ours was still sitting with his graph paper three and a half hours after he arrived.

domeafavour · 05/08/2010 19:13

you should be able to do it I reckon
We spent £1700 in bathstore.com and we could've got the cheaper range. they were great. instore worked out way cheaper than their online prices. they were so friendly, helpful and we cancelled a shower door and they refunded it straight away. delivered within 3 days.
we paid a stupid amount for tiles, but you could get them from b& q or similar for couple of hundred. and the tiler is charging £600.

DitaVonCheese · 05/08/2010 19:27

Might be worth checking Howdens if you want someone to come and do the whole thing for you.

We've just been quoted just under £3,500 for replacing a boiler, replumbing the entire house, new radiators throughout and removing and replacing the (currently avocado green) bathroom suite, with us supplying the bits. It's a (small) three bed semi in Cheshire.

So far my bathroom suite has cost £35.99 - used but good nick bath off Freecycle, new loo £35 off ebay, new basin 99p off ebay. Need shower and cupboard to go under the basin. Bamboo flooring was £11 off ebay. Can you tell I like ebay? Then need tiles and to get the tiling done but hoping that won't be too horrific.

Original poster
stainesmassif · 05/08/2010 19:31

Champagne - eek! So long as dh isn't there I won't have a problem getting rid of them- I don't think so anyway.... Dh is much more worried about being rude to sales people than I am. Besides I'm too curious now to see how they'll try and persuade me to spend 30k! at for the love of cheese.

OP posts:
solo · 05/08/2010 19:34

I bought my suite from Wickes a few years ago very cheaply...in fact everything was cheap, but looked and still looks great 9 years on. I got a local builder in to do it.

bosch · 05/08/2010 19:36

From a position of no personal experience whatsoever, I understand that the problem with companies like B & Q is that they expect you to pay upfront. If there are any problems with the work, you can't threaten to withhold payment until they've sorted it out, so they can be a bit tardy (to say the least) at resolving your complaints.

Dita if you're still around, can you tell me more about Howdens - do they have contractors who do the work for you, have they given you written quotes based on dimensions or a visit? I've had a brief chat on the phone with our local Howdens and they were a bit 'we can't talk to you if you're a punter, we only deal with trade'.

solo · 05/08/2010 19:38

Oh and I can highly recommend This. I bought mine in 2000 for £50 and it's still going strong!

DitaVonCheese · 05/08/2010 19:46

I need to go (to pick up an ebay purchase! ) but I actually know very little about Howdens really . We are having a new kitchen soon and they were recommended to us by our handymen/plumbers, who have been great at recommending stuff. I only know they do bathrooms because I ordered a kitchen catalogue and it mentions bathrooms at the end. You can order a catalogue from their site but there are no prices given because they only sell to trade and at huge discounts from list price There's a helpful thread (albeit about kitchens, not bathrooms) here. So you can decide what you want (and presumably go and get them to design it for you) but have to get a tradesman to get it, either one you know or they can recommend fitters. However I don't yet have a Howdens kitchen so can't vouch for quality etc!

HerHonesty · 05/08/2010 20:12

yes it is. unless you use someone like dolphin and arent moving pipework around.

bosch · 05/08/2010 20:56

Thanks Dita, that helps.

Original poster
stainesmassif · 05/08/2010 21:21

All good advice, thank you! Now I have a second, possibly equally stupid question.... How long would you expect a job like this to take? A week? Should I go on holiday while it's done?

OP posts:
chegggersplayspop · 05/08/2010 21:50

I think mine took a week, maybe bit less. The plumbing was all in the same place as before which made it easier and the loo was switched first so it was available after the first days work. I think I showered at work that week.

Good idea to go away if you can, but also good to be on site and check progress etc.