New Bathroom

[mamapud]

We are doing a new family bathroom and had decided on a Kaldewei steel bath but the taps aren't cut in and our plumber isn't keen on doing it in case he ruins the bath. So it's back to acrylic is Carronite the next best thing?

Taps need advice on decent taps, was looking at Crosswater or Hudson Reed but see mixed reviews.

Shower tray and screen any recommendations?

Shower I want concealed as looks better but worry if there are problems then I'd have to get the tiles taken off what showers do you recommend?

Best extractor fan? Only have a small window so want a decent powerful one but not too loud.

Any advice will be greatly received.

Thanks

Surely you can order the bath with the holes already cut? You can with Bette who do similar steel enamelled baths.

Solid surface (stone/resin mix) baths are probably the next best. Every bath company seems to do their own mixture and they vary in how similar they are to stone vs to acrylic.

Crosswater are decent without being top end, I believe Hudson Reed are too. For top end look at Grohe, Hansgrohe, Dornbracht, Vola but priced accordingly.

Showers Matki, Merlyn, Showerlab are good brands

I prefer concealed valves too. Used Crosswater in two bathrooms and had no problems. Again you could upgrade to eg Grohe to be extra safe. Would the valves be accessible from the other side of the wall if you had to?

Extractor fan, try the Quietmark site which lists quiet appliances incl extractor fans.

We have a kaldewai steel bath and the tap holes were pre cut, we bought it this year so should still be available.

Our concealed valve can all be accessed from the front for fixing / maintenance (it’s crosswater)

We have a 3 way valve and the bath water cones out of the overflow so no taps at all. Would that be an option for your bath?

Thanks for the the replies

I've spoke to 3 bath suppliers and they said I'd need to get a plumber to drill the holes, I just called Kaldewei and they say they can't put holes in the middle of a double ended bath as not enough room, so it's a good job I didn't buy one hoping my plumber could do it.
Think I will go for the Carronite as the stone resin ones seem to be very expensive and most are freestanding which I don't want as a pain to clean the sides and back and I want this bathroom as easy to clean as possible.
I will go for the crosswater shower as it's on sale and only £300 where as the others are £600 which I don't think are worth double the price.
Need to find a shower tray and enclosure next and I'm nearly there.
I never realised it would be so hard to choose stuff for a bathroom.

Oh I see you want the taps on the side. Would you consider having wall mounted taps, that’s what we’ve got with our steel bath? Also easier for cleaning.

We had wall mounted taps above a double end kaldewei bath: after much agonising. They were a PITA to sink into the wall and tile around but it was a brilliant bath. Shower enclosures just don't mix and match brands we ended up with a misfit situation. A small thing but McAlpine are good easy clean shower wastes.

After weeks of deliberating I ended up going for a Carronite bath as didn't want wall mounted taps as know they are a nightmare should anything go wrong and don't want to be taking tiles off to fix them.
The bath isn't as big as I expected but it will do for the family bathroom as we are having a big double ended bath in our ensuite.
Have gone for crosswater taps, Vado shower and merlyn shower enclosure so hope it all matches :-/