Needing a new bathroom suite

Unfortunately it seems quite common, especially amoung the older generation, I'm told some believe that a woman will commission work and then her husband won't pay for it, or they don't feel able to talk to women as a woman won't understand. 

If someone commissions work and a 3rd party, in this case a husband refuses to pay, then I'm not sure what anyone can do about it. But refusing to work for women without first talking to a male relative, is akin to victim blaming, many women live alone and have worked hard for the house they want and have a right to be able to have the fixtures and fitting they choose, unmediated by a man.

I don't know why some feel that a man will understand them, many men I know can talk a good game, but have no knowlege or experience of building work and just agree with the builder rather than dent their ego.

One of the problems with having work done is finding unexpected problems, therefore a 10-15% contingency should be added to the overall amont you wish to spend. This is particularly so in older houses where things may have been bodged by previous owners.

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. 

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.

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. 

Choosing the best tradespeople is key, the electrician I used to rewire my house has today finally finished. I thought I had fully researched him and got the best person. He wasn’t the cheapest quote but included new central heating circuits and Ethernet points in most rooms. All reviews were excellent, I checked certs online and I thought I should use a local person as I’m new to the area. The work quality is excellent but the two week time span for the job turned into seven months.

I’m living 250 miles from the house and didn’t know when he was in the property. I’m now in winter with walls needing lime plaster and not enough temperature for work to begin. I’m now worried about finding a reliable plasterer.

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. 

I haven’t heard of not taking work from a female customer. The biggest thing is getting them to do what they agree to. They always say they can do something better in reality they always discover new problems or don’t put things back how they were. 

I always feel a shower gives me the sense of being rushed, but you can relax in a bath.

You have got me thinking about why I hate showers but love baths, the shower jets are just too overwhelming. The song Once in a Lifetime has the lyrics, “Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down.” I wonder if a deep bath with the pressure of the water is a way of self regulation. It seems to cancel out overwhelm.

I remember being sent to the toilets to get paper for tracing.

Horrible stuff!

I would never have a macerator toilet, we used to have one in a building I worked in and my room was regularly awash with sewage from where it overflowed. All it took was for someone to do a big poo and it couldn't cope. I know this was a few years ago and they've almost certainly improved, but that one experience of them wsa enough to put me off for good.

I can't see the point of short baths either, its like we're back in WW2 and are only allowed 4 inches of hot water!, I've seen a lot of baths that are very narrow too, we've got one upstairs that's to narrow for my shoulders and I've got narrow shoulders!, nor do I want a channel of water under my bum because I'm squished up the sides. I think the problem is that when I lived in the retreat house there was a bath that was about 6'6", I could lie flat in it and float, it was also deep enough that the water came up to my chin, I'd love a bath like that again.

I wonder if the smallness of modern bathroom suites is the same as that for furniture and that modern houses are to small for anything large human sized?

We're keeping the shower and tray we have, the shower is wonderful and the tray is fine and dosen't need to come out.

All very good advice. I would rather pay more and use a firm who would commission the other specialists.

It's what I'm hoping for, rather than seperate trades, it's annoying to have to ask someone else to things that a few years ago I could have done myself, like the tiling. Getting trades is always a problem, everytime I see one of my neighbours having work done I go and ask them if they're happy with the work and would recomend the trades people they've used, I've built up quite a good collection of contacts. Some always seem to be a problem, plumbers being one of them, my parents had a terrible cowboy in to do the shower room some years ago and the whole lot had to be ripped out, the floor wasn't level so water ran backwards away from the drain and leaked through the wal damaging plaster in the hall, they left two water pipes uncapped that led to water running out through the back wall of the house. After my Dad died and Mum went to get it fixed, she phoned a number of plumbers and they either said they were to busy and a couple wanted to talk to her husband and on finding out she was a recent widow asked to speak to her son. There are still quite a few dinosaurs like this, who either won't take work from a female customer, or will and agree with her only to do what they think you ought to have not what you're paying them for. In my experience, it dosen't matter what the nationality of the trade is, but thier attitude and ability to comunicate and not to think of how they can rip off the client.

Trouble at the momment is they're all so busy, most of the tourist places shut over January and part of February to do any refurbishments needed, plus all the usual stuff of boilers not working.

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. 

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.  

Roy said:

'pull the chain'

I liked the gushing sound made by high level cisterns.At least they flushed everything away unlike low level cisterns. Our WC had a printed sign inside, 'leadless glaze' and as a child I read this as,'eyeless gaze'. It terrified me!

Izal Medicated Toilet Paper. I used to screw it up and rub it between my fingers to make it more tissue like. I could never understand how it was considered ‘hygienic’ toilet paper. I think ‘hygienic’ was written on the pack. At school we used to say it was hygienic compared to ‘used newspaper’..

Yeah I remember that awful stuff.

Worse still at junior school our toilets were outside.

Roy said:

I’m now having flashbacks to the school ‘tracing paper’ in the toilet blocks. 

Yes!

Izal.

Completely non absorbent

I’m now having flashbacks to the school ‘tracing paper’ in the toilet blocks.