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Needing a new bathroom suite

TheCatWoman

Mum and I have decided to renovate our shower room and toilet, you'd think this would be easy, we've picked the tiles for the shower enclosure, new flooring now for the basin and toilet, what a faff! I'm just about getting my head around everything being in millimetres instead of the centimetres I measured, I can just about convert cm's to mm's, but the thing thats causing the most problems is the toilet, most of them celebrate being low, my knees aren't getting any younger and I don't want to feel that I've accidently wandered into a childrens bathroom and have my knees up round my ears! And the cistern/flush too, they're all tiny, we have one upstairs and it's useless it's supposed to save water but you need to flush it twice to make everything go away.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Parents

  • Getting the old tiles off the wall can be hard work, also having a flat surface for the new tiles. The level of the toilet can probably raised. I would probably ask a plumber for an all in one quote replacing the toilet/matching with sink and bath/shower equipment and do everything together. 

    [this is my experience from previous property a few years ago] The other thing I'd say (from practice) is choose a British plumber (or someone you know) to install it. I made the mistake of choosing a Portuguese one who despite being told to cover the floors didnt. Slovenly practices of his laborer lead to damage of the hallway walls and floor. I had thought I was employing him to do the work. He also turned up on a Saturday and asked me to pay him when the work was incomplere So if someone is undercutting local rates don't be fooled they usually use a less competant assistant who isn't paid properly.  

  • in reply to pietro_21
    pietro_21 said:
    I would probably ask a plumber for an all in one quote replacing the toilet/matching with sink and bath/shower equipment and do everything together

    I agree with getting an all in one quotation. My friend recently had a new shower room installed and used the services of the bathroom supplier, plumber, tiler, electrician and painter. Water wouldn’t drain correctly from the shower area, The bathroom supplier blamed the plumber, the plumber blamed the fittings and the tiler, the tiler blamed everyone else … The saga continued for months and involved a lot of hassle, pulling up new tiles, retiling,  and extra cost. 

    i have heard a few similar stories from one family member and people I know.

    The downside of an all in one quotation is that the total cost mightn’t be as competitive as it would be if you sourced the items and labour separately. The good thing would be that if you instruct and pay one person for the bathroom furnishings and labour, you have only one person ultimately responsible if anything goes wrong. 

    Some bathroom companies won’t take responsibility for the plumbers and tilers they recommend and will ask you to pay them directly. This could complicate things if something goes wrong as you would be dealing with two or more others, but it is less likely to be a big issue. 

  • in reply to ArchaeC

    This was something I hadn’t experienced before - being pressured to pay in full before the work was completely finished and checked. British builders plumbers always quite straight about doing the work as you want - this is part of the unspoken contract. 

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    One of the problems with using a lot of companies that say they're kitchen or bathroom specialists is that they sell the stuff and then either you or they hire in a third party to do the fitting, which to me isn't what I'm paying the extra for and there always is extra costs in buying from specialists

    Yes, that happens unfortunately.

    Sometimes I wonder if the sales people have actually used the types of products they are selling, although presumably they have all used loos and sinks. 

  • in reply to ArchaeC

    I don't mind paying some of the cost up front, I'm happy to buy the materials and a small amount towards labour costs, but it's one of the things I've found with having a company rather than a one man band do the work is that they expect payment on completion to my satisfaction. One of the problems with using a lot of companies that say they're kitchen or bathroom specialists is that they sell the stuff and then either you or they hire in a third party to do the fitting, which to me isn't what I'm paying the extra for and there always is extra costs in buying from specialists.

  • in reply to pietro_21
    pietro_21 said:
    This was something I hadn’t experienced before - being pressured to pay in full before the work was completely finished and checked

    I don’t know if my friend was expected to pay in full or if other people are expected to pay in full before the work was completely finished but presumably she would have paid the tradespeople who finished before the person/s who completed the final work/checks.

    Another friend of mine recently had a complete new kitchen fitted from the one company and was expected to pay a hefty deposit upfront and make an interim payment covering most of the total cost.

    I live in a modern house so I’ve only needed to get plumbers and electricians for small jobs. They have never asked for payment upfront and both send bills by post after the work has been completed. 

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  • in reply to pietro_21
    pietro_21 said:
    This was something I hadn’t experienced before - being pressured to pay in full before the work was completely finished and checked

    I don’t know if my friend was expected to pay in full or if other people are expected to pay in full before the work was completely finished but presumably she would have paid the tradespeople who finished before the person/s who completed the final work/checks.

    Another friend of mine recently had a complete new kitchen fitted from the one company and was expected to pay a hefty deposit upfront and make an interim payment covering most of the total cost.

    I live in a modern house so I’ve only needed to get plumbers and electricians for small jobs. They have never asked for payment upfront and both send bills by post after the work has been completed. 

Children
  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    One of the problems with using a lot of companies that say they're kitchen or bathroom specialists is that they sell the stuff and then either you or they hire in a third party to do the fitting, which to me isn't what I'm paying the extra for and there always is extra costs in buying from specialists

    Yes, that happens unfortunately.

    Sometimes I wonder if the sales people have actually used the types of products they are selling, although presumably they have all used loos and sinks. 

  • in reply to ArchaeC

    I don't mind paying some of the cost up front, I'm happy to buy the materials and a small amount towards labour costs, but it's one of the things I've found with having a company rather than a one man band do the work is that they expect payment on completion to my satisfaction. One of the problems with using a lot of companies that say they're kitchen or bathroom specialists is that they sell the stuff and then either you or they hire in a third party to do the fitting, which to me isn't what I'm paying the extra for and there always is extra costs in buying from specialists.