New bathroom

[Andeh13]

Hi guys,

I am looking at getting a new bathroom, a whole new setup. My current bathroom is starting to fall apart. Toilet and all bath surrounds are broken, laminate tiles on the floor are all coming up and the shower is a gamble as to whether it will be hot or cold/low or high pressure (its comical, honestly).

I had a quote from a Dolphin designer after seeing their advert but when the quote came through on the wrong side of £7500 (after discounts), and I saw the fact that the MIRA shower they quoted was over priced by a factor of 4, and the toilet by a factor of 3 I didn’t go any further with them.

Do you know any other nationwide/south east bathroom installers that could quote me (reasonably) for a new bathroom?

Is going with a local plumber advisable (one with a good reputation) or is this something that should be done with a large company?

Any advise or tips in general? (good makes, bad makes, pit falls etc etc)

Cheers guys

[mycarsavw]

Avoid Dolphin - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14052734

How handy are you and do you have the time to DIY?

[Andeh13]

Avoid Dolphin - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14052734

How handy are you and do you have the time to DIY?

I have a lot of holiday still to use up from work and am reasonably competent with common sense DIY stuff, but with so much water & electric showers involved i think I'd rather leave it to the professionals!

Thanks for the link, only had the dolphin designer round a couple of months ago!

[opel80uk]

My advice would be to get a recommended local plumber, preferably recommended by someone(s) you know. Agree a price, using quotes from companies as a rough guide (should be a good bit cheaper as a plumber has far less overheads) Tell him/her what you want and he should tell you what you need and you can buy away the bits and pieces yourself. A decent plumber should be happy to come with you to the shops to make sure you are getting the right stuff and everything you need. If you are buying a lot of it from a place like B&Q, haggle like mad. I used to work there in my 'yoof' and they have a lot more flexibility in their prices then you might think, especially if your buying a lot.

Finding the recommended plumber will probably be the hardest part, but get the right one and you should save yourself a good bit. Would save even more if your brave and fancy having a go at doing at least some of the work yourself!...........

[Digisword]

A decent plumber should be happy to come with you to the shops to make sure you are getting the right stuff and everything you need.

I can second this. When I got my bathroom done, the plumber (from a local plumbing firm) came around and inspected the bathroom. Took measurements of a load of things and told us we needed to get a very specific size sink otherwise it would block the door. He gladly came with us to the store and identified the range of sinks we could purchase.

Getting a good plumber goes a long way. Learned that the hard way after we changed tilers 3 times when doing the floor!

[Dareos]

If you subscribe to Which? magazine, they have a Which? Local service on their website that directs you to trusted tradesmen. Only Which? readers can rate, review or recommend a tradesman and it should help you avoid any major pitfalls.

If you are not a subscriber, I am, and will happily post any details of anyone in your area if you furnish me with a postcode

[fuddam]

I just had a bathroom done by a local plumber via recommendations. Fast, takes pride in his work - his logic is that he does it as if it were his own bathroom. If you want details, more than happy to supply. Name is Luke Hagemann

FWIW, cost was just over 4,000

[Andeh13]

Some guys from work suggested http://www.checkatrade.com/ and I have emailed a couple of well reviewed plumbers in the area.

With Tiles, whats the general verdict with them. Is it same tiles on floor and walls, or different sizes? Is there a 'done' thing?

I am looking at a smart 10.5kw Triton shower, anyone ever heard of the brand?

I just had a bathroom done by a local plumber via recommendations. Fast, takes pride in his work - his logic is that he does it as if it were his own bathroom. If you want details, more than happy to supply. Name is Luke Hagemann

FWIW, cost was just over 4,000

What % of the cost was labor? I know it wont be a one size fits all, but seeing if i can gauge a rough price for the plumber!


Many thanks all!

[peterb]

Triton is well known (as is Mira). Floor tiles and wall tiles is up to you, you can have them the same (I think floor tiles are thicker, but you can get the same pattern) or have a contrast.

As for fitting - if you can't diy - then get (as others have said) a good local tradesman. Word of mouth is the best recommendation of all, otherwise get two or three in and get quotes and see if you like the look of them - do they fill you with confidence? Ask them if they see any problems with the job, and what you should buy. Remember that cheapest may not be the best, but at least you should get some idea of the likely costs. You should also remember that if you buy the parts and they are wrong, the cost of replaceing them, or altering the job to get them to fit is down to you. If he supplies the parts, it is down to him, so if you do get them yourself, make sure you get the right ones, or ask the tradesman - at least you will have some idea of the cost so when yopu get a quote, you will see if he is making an unreasonable mark up.

When you get the quote, either make sure the costs are itemised, including his labour costs and time and note that he may add a proviso that emerging work (not foreseeable at the time) will be an extra charge. Or alternatively you could just go for a fixed price quote for the job. He does whatever it takes to provide the bathroom to your spec, and when he does, you pay the quoted price. It may cost more because he will factor in an amount for unforeseen work which he is taking on at risk.

And make sure you know what you want at the outset - because changing your mind half way through can be expensive.

And copious supplies of tea and choky biscuits help engender a lot of goodwill, and little problems that might have become big problems often just go away. A good relationship with the tradesmen is well worth it.

(I had a house extension built - and required some weekend working because of an unexpected problem with the roof design, So I cooled a joint of pork and on the Sunday all the tradesmen had pork rolls for lunch. Next weekend they were queueing up to come back - and the job went really smoothly!)
tra

[Michael]

Another vote here for finding a local plumber / bathroom fitter with a good reputation over a nationwide.

With nationwides and larger firms although yes you are going with a brand that might seem like a good thing, it most likely isn't. If a plumber is working for a national over a small firm/being self employed then they likely weren't or aren't able to build their own reputation successfully or simply lack the drive to do so. If you go with the smaller company with a reputable and reccomended fitter then you can be safe in the knowledge that the guy enjoys his work, people like his work, and he cares about his reputation enough to make sure that he does a good job first time.

You'll also be suprised how much cheaper you will be able to get exactly the same productd the big firms sell... sole traders don't have the huge overheads and office lackeys to pay that companies like Dolphin would.

Go out to local plumbing merchants and ask who they reccomend to do a good job, they should be honest enough with you. Make sure you pick up some brochures and get some ideas from the images inside. Do some research, shop around and where/if you can and i'm sure you will be much more pleased with the end result than being sold a showroom kit by Dolphin and the likes.

Edit: To agree with what peterb said on the whole and especially the part about brews and snacks! I'm a tradey myself and the best customers are those who trust you enough to get on with it and treat you like a guest. (But don't overdo it, an oppertunity for a break will be taken!).. if you're making yourself a brew then make one for the lads! And if you aren't the leaving the tea and coffee out and saying it's ok to use it is always nice

[Behemoth]

Big tip, ask to see written terms and condtions first and also look for buy with confidence (a trading standards run website) that lists traders who operate in a fair and safe way, be wary of these gypsy bathroom fitters that come in, take your deposit and then sling their hook.

[Andeh13]

Many thanks guys, I have been using this checktrade website to find good plumbers. I've had 3 round so far to quote, and just waiting for them to come through.

One mentioned the fact that they were stud walls would mean when the tiles were taken off there was a very good chance the wall would need re-boarding. The next plumber didnt seem to think this was much of an issue at all. Has anyone ever heard of problems with re-tiling a stud wall?

Thanks again for all the advice guys

[SHare]

If your thinking of buying the products at B&Q just bear in mind there is a 20% offer voucher floating around that's meant to be valid only in September, if you mention it to the sales folk in there I'm sure they'll take it off for you, if not just tell them you'll need to take your money elsewhere.

The voucher was getting dished out in stores a couple of weekends ago but I'm sure the kitchen and bathroom departments kept some locked away.

[Saracen]

....

One mentioned the fact that they were stud walls would mean when the tiles were taken off there was a very good chance the wall would need re-boarding. The next plumber didnt seem to think this was much of an issue at all. Has anyone ever heard of problems with re-tiling a stud wall?

....

When you take tiles off, it's not at all unknown to find you damage what's underneath in the process .... or it's already been damaged by water getting in, etc. If so, you end up re-plastering plastered walls or re-boarding boarded walls.

The thing is, it's hard to know what's under tiles until you remove them, and they can be a right <bleeeep> to get off, especially without damaging the board/plaster. And getting them off cleanly, even if it can be done, can take a lot of extra time because you have to be very careful with the chisel/bolster, etc.

So .... do you want to spend a lot of extra time getting the tiles off cleanly, or get them off quickly (and therefore cheaply, when paying for someone else to do it), and then have the cost of re-boarding?

[5cupa]

heres a tip.

dont go and buy sale stuff that is a weird size or unheard of company. try and stick to common shower/bathroom sizes as if anything needs to be replaced or fixed for whatever reason it wont be so hard to find the same size parts and fittings.

I learnt the hardway on this

[peterb]

You might find that it isn't a problem because they intend to re-tile over the existing tiles - perfectly acceptable provided the underlying structure is sound, that is, the plasterboard and the original tile fixing. And that is difficult to determine.

My personal opinion is that if it is where there has been an original shower cubicle, there is a risk that the grouting may have broken down allowing water to get behind the tiles. So I wouldf prefer to take the tiles off just to be certain, and accept the risk that the stud wall may have to be re-boarded - which isn't difficult, and needn't be too expensive as you probably won't need a skim coat of plaster if you are going to have the whole area tiled again.