Bathroom brands and retailers - what's your experience?

[standupsitdownturnaround]

Hello All!

We are redoing our small bathroom which was in a state of disrepair when we moved in.

It will be shower over bath, countertop sink and a close coupled toilet.

Has anyone got any info about the best brands for the units (taps, bath, toilet, shower) and fittings? (Lights, underfloor heating, towel rail, mirror, shower screen..)?

We are on a tight budget but determined to do our research and hopefully get a good quality finish.

And does anyone have any experience of different retailers?

The reviews of Victoria Plum are unbelievably mixed. Lots of 1 stars.

I've downloaded Which? App which is helpful but I want to hear first hand experience and tips!

Thanks in advance

Try your local builders merchants. They have the standard that builders buy which is fine for loos and basins ( about £60 each), you’ll need a better bath so ask for the 10mm ones and they have catalogues full of taps and showers (and baths, loos and basins) at all price points. They will make sure you get all the right bits and it’s easy to swap bits/get extras as they are local. I bought my bathroom suite and separate shower cubicle for £750, the house is for sale and viewers always comment on the high quality bathroom !
I find B&Q cheaper for tiles though.

@murine love your bathroom. Are those tiles on the floor?

@Shimy no it’s luxury vinyl click. Vinyl all the way through so doesn’t swell if it gets wet but easy to lay as a floating floor. Not cold or slippy.

Silverdale.

Haven’t heard of that before so will definitely be on the look out for some. Sounds like it will be a lot cheaper than floor tiles whilst still giving a smooth finish. Are those tiles around the shower wall?

No that’s shower boards. We just have tiles over the sink

@Shimy

This is the floor. Cost us about £80 for two packets (4m2) and the plumber laid it. We’ve had the same floor in the other bathroom for a few years now and it still looks like new so we went with the same to match up the two rooms a bit.

www.flooringsupplies.co.uk/product/16525/polyflor_camaro_loc_grey_flagstone_vinyl_flooring

Not sure if it was that company I got it from. Was free delivery to a shop in an industrial estate not far from us so we went and picked it up.

I can recommend Rocca for taps, vanity units and toilets. Mid-range brand but does look pretty high-end. Well worth looking on EBay as you can often get things substantially cheaper. I got a Rocca Debba toilet for about £160 and 500mm Rocca vanity unit with sink for £100! There is actually quite a big difference between the quality of the cheaper Homebase/B&Q brands and those like Rocca and up. If you have the time, you can save a fortune and get that high end look on a budget.

Oh and Walls And Floors for your tiles. Amazing range at very good prices.

Just looked it up and it was this one

www.oakleighflooring.co.uk/polyflor-camaro-loc-grey-flagstone-3452-1499-m2--vat-575462-p.asp

Thanks Murinae

@Shimy that ties in with the reviews I read on TrustPilot. They were almost all 1 star and all about problems with delivery and no contact.

@Picassosfriend

I can recommend Rocca for taps, vanity units and toilets. Mid-range brand but does look pretty high-end. Well worth looking on EBay as you can often get things substantially cheaper. I got a Rocca Debba toilet for about £160 and 500mm Rocca vanity unit with sink for £100! There is actually quite a big difference between the quality of the cheaper Homebase/B&Q brands and those like Rocca and up. If you have the time, you can save a fortune and get that high end look on a budget.

Ooooooh this is brilliant advice! I found a countertop sink on Plumbworld from eBay for £35 and free delivery. It's a simple round basin style. It doesn't have a brand but I hope as it won't have any taps attached (they'll come out from the vanity) it will be sturdy enough.

@Murinae that flooring in your bathroom is lovely. Is it easy to keep clean? Do you find a shower screen easier and was it expensive? I looked into those but they seemed extortionate!

@Picassosfriend

Oh and Walls And Floors for your tiles. Amazing range at very good prices.

YES! This thread is fantastic. They have what I was after at a lower price plus very positive reviews.

Aqualisa showers - amazing.

I used to work in bathrooms, my favourite brands were Laufen, vitra, and zehnder for radiators. The White Space also very nice.

I like a walk in shower and it’s easier in the en suite. I don’t like having baths at all but DH and the kids do. We have a shower over the bath in the main bathroom. That one is an ideal standard L shaped bath with an aqualisa shower and we went for the thicker more sturdy bath that doesn’t move when you climb in to shower. The glass screen just covers the top bit.

The sliding shower door in the en suite wasn’t that expensive. Think it was just over £200. It’s an 8 mm frameless one and is very sturdy. Was also from Victoria Plum.

with a WC the most important thing it that it has an effective flush.

Much disappointment arises from modern low-water-volume WCs that are imported and have no maker's name.

I have been totally satisfied with Twyfords, and Armitage have a wide range of traditional-looking designs that are popular in classic hotels and in grand home refurbs.

Villeroy and porcelanosa.

We used Victoria Plum for our en suite and they were great. Shower was from Big Bathroom Shop as they were the only ones I could find who did what I wanted without paying ££££££, but everything else was from Victoria Plum. All very good quality and price and delivery was spot on. Plumbers said it was all really decent quality too. Would happily order from them again and probably will do so for the downstairs loo shortly

@PragmaticWench

I keep reading on here that Victoria Plumb are awful but Victorian Plumbing are good.

It's worth finding decent brands then shopping around online yourself for the best price.

No no No!!! The other way round!

Just taken some photos for you to see. I’d say sorry I’ve not tidied up but I’m not even remotely sorry 😂

Also hi to any family who I’ve just outed myself to 🙈

Just been looking at the Victoria Plum range and wondered if anyone knows about the brand ‘Orchard’, is it any good?

@Shimy that’s what we have in our en suite. Not been in long but seems good quality so far. We have Orchard Derwent. Got soft closing drawers and cupboard doors.

We had Victorian Plumbing in downstairs loo and Duravit upstairs. Will be replacing the downstairs toilet soon, it is terrible. Also had Bristan taps there but they haven’t worn well either, will be replacing with Hansgrohe which we have in kitchen and bathroom and much better durability.