Bathroom Suite - where to source

[DavinaSmith]

We have a builder we trust to install our bathroom once we have picked it.
I am looking online and in brochures at Kartell, Tavistock, Victoria Plum and Howdens.
Does anyone have any experience fitting a bathroom from these or similar companies who can advise on quality? I do not want to be looking at cracked, swollen or chipped bathroom furniture in a few short years, would rather pay more upfront as long as it is actually better quality.
Also need to pick tiles but assume Topps is fine for this, I think our kitchen tiles came from b&q.

Yes I agree with Bathroom Mountain, we've just bought vanity units/ toilets/ showers for you bathrooms from them they were alot cheaper than similar from Victoria Plumbing etc. and very helpful and gave us an additional discount. This is the unit we went for but different colour www.bathroommountain.co.uk/bermuda-dove-grey-basin-vanity-800mm . We did go to the showroom to look at them first (Liverpool handy for joint trip to IKEA). We also got our tiles from Tile Mountain (same company I think), very good value. No complaints so far.

I like City Plumbing but I’m going to take a look at Plumbworld as an alternative.
My affordable brands for sanitary ware are Duravit and Roca. But always Carron and Carronite for baths.
I have just moved house. Three wcs were fitted circa 10 years ago all B&Q Cooke and Lewis. Toilets are fine but seats are grim and also slipping. Having nightmare trying to replace then so my top tip is to buy long standing brands that will be around a decade from now and not the marketing led ones with built in obsolescence.

I had my bathroom refitted to a shower room in Autumn 2020. I got the walk-in shower from Plumbworld, and the basin, toilet and vanity unit from Drench. I would have bought everything from Plumbworld, but found they didn't have a vanity unit/basin that I liked. The toilet is 'comfort' height which is lovely. Drench advised me accordingly. I have the shower area tiled (Topps), and the rest painted in bathroom paint.

I think DD got her bath taps from there and, as you say, had no end of problems. There was a fault with a tap, and in the end she just made do with a partial refund. Tap works, but not properly.

Bought wall hung toilet and frame, offset quadrant shower enclosure, shower, vanity unit and wall hung cupboard from Plumbworld. More than pleased. All was extremely well packaged and my bathroom fitter was impressed with the quality given the price we paid.
We used Drench for our towel rail and our tiles were from Clay and Rock.
I would highly recommend all three companies. All were helpful and everything arrived safe and sound.

I also had chrome grab rails. Mine were from Hansgrohe. Very pleased with them. The one in the shower doubles up as a rail for the bath mat.

Can’t go wrong with Plumbworld. Fast service great quality for the price.

We are rurally so have an electric shower and bathroom is small so will be over the new bath. I want to use a shower curtain as we are a very clumsy family.
Does anyone know where we can source a decent quality sturdy curtain rail? It ideally needs to be a corner one roughly 90cm x 90cm. The one we put in last time rusted and was very flimsy.

Look for a stainless steel one, and use stainless steel screws

A plastic one in large diameter, would also be OK.

Corner rails are intrinsically weak as the support is poor. As it's over a bath you could use a full length straight one.

If you are clumsy and liable to pull it off the wall if you slip and grab the curtain, look for plastic clip rings, which will break safely, and buy spares.

You will see bright metal "S" hooks. They might be listed as stainless but I find they go rusty. They are OK in a kitchen where they don't often get wet.

The stainless grab rail should be below elbow height or you will bang it while washing your hair.

I find Croydex is a good brand of bathroom accessories, so maybe one of these? Wickes probably have them too.

www.plumbworld.co.uk/shower-curtain-rails-332-0000?queryID=7e6ed9fc026d12dafdc5669c4712292e

Thank you again PigletJohn will have another look tomorrow. There are so many different elements to pick.

We’ve found a plumber that refuses to use things from Victoria plumbing but said to use their sites for inspo. He will only use local suppliers mainly for convenience but they’ve also proved cheaper and better quality.

Ours is 70s peach!

The one we replaced 20 years ago was pink and everything was huge so zero storage. There was also a green carpet and flowery plasticky wallpaper. The whole house was in need of so we just had to get in and do what we could afford at the time.

Carronite bath on order. Now looking into extractor fans. Our house gets very warm in heatwaves, so wondering if a heat exchange fan is worth the extra money?

Which one did you go for and did you go for the Carronite panels ? I am still deciding on mine.

I don't think so. I've used one. For a bathroom I think you need a poweful extractor that will create suction in the bathroom to prevent steam drifting round the house. It will draw replacement air through the gap under the door.

@Mum5net we paid the extra for the carronite panel as our last bath panel was acrylic and discoloured and cracked within a year. You could try the cheap one and replace it down the line as long as they don’t discontinue it.

The Carronite panel is vastly superior to any plastic panel. Order one to match the bath.

NOT Victoria Plum.., worked in haulage, they package the goods really badly and the returns system w😞

We are now getting on with having our bathroom fitted and just have a couple of things to order.

The first is a mirror to go over our 1.2 metre vanity unit. The one we have now was from b&q and was rusty within 2 years (a theme is developing) so we want a decent one.
I want a decent sized one so people (including children) of all heights can see themselves so think 70cm high. Just need to decide whether to just put it over the sink or fully across the whole vanity unit.

Also obviously need to know where to go for a decent one that won’t rust in a small humid bathroom.

For those interested in the big baths with jets we had a wander round the ideal home show yesterday. They had everything from normal sized to 20 foot long for those with a mansion.

Do you have a bathroom window @DavinaSmith that will circulate air and would you go for an illuminated or steam free mirror? I’ve been looking at plain mirrors from City Plumbing in their brochure ( taking 20% off their prices as an estimate )but not gone as far yet as actually seeing one . We may yet go for a bathroom cabinet. Decisions are ‘evolving’ here. Have gone a complete 360 on the tiles and we’ve decided we need to completely overhaul the shower.

Don’t have a cabinet above your sink, as mentioned upthread someone will drop a glass jar out of it and smash your sink. It has happened to us.

I just want a plain mirror, I wipe it with a flannel when it steams up. I also don’t want it too light or too magnified. I’m not someone who stands staring at their hairy face with a pair of tweezers 🤣

@DavinaSmith we have a double basin vanity unit from Vado, above which we have 2 illuminated HIB mirrors with chargers and they also demist. Very happy with HIB. Taps, shower all from Flova in Chrome and wall hung Geberit toilet. All sourced via our local builders merchant. Bathroom shop wanted over £30k and by souring ourselves and using sub contractors whole lot came in under half! Also included new ceiling, full tiling and underfloor heating.

The full bathroom with shower over bath fitting is coming in at 11k at the moment but will update once all the bills are in. I agree with above posts that the way to waste money is to walk into a showroom and point at what you want. We halved the cost of our vanity unit by having a free standing toilet.