If this were bikes, I’d know that SLX is fine for entry level stuff, XT is nice and probably worth it, and (for me) XTR Di2 is too expensive to justify…

So what’s the similar analogy for bogs and baths??

WE’ve been looking at Duravit stuff – £500 for a loo… is that crazy talk, or a long lasting investment?
£1000 for a bath – ludicrous, or do you get what you pay for?

This is all adding up, and I don’t want to be “mr Overspent on the bathroom” in the street!!

DrP

I think you’ve stumbled on the correct answer already by mentioning ‘We’. The correct price point is whatever it costs to get the products your OH has decided on.

Common sense aside though, I guess one test is what’s the price point where the marketing blather is matched by the product quality. That I don’t know. I wonder whether the other test is whether you’d like to look at the stuff every day for the next few years or whether you’d think ‘maybe I should’ve gone for the other one’.

There’s probably a difference between e.g. a B&Q value suite and a Villeroy & Boch “hygiene champion”. Look at that ‘rimless’ design. The CeramicPlus finish makes a difference to ease of cleaning on basins. Unsure about loos.

Doing this myself. Settled on mid-price B&Q. Reliable, aesthetic enough and not pricey.

I guess one test is what’s the price point where the marketing blather is matched by the product quality.

This is it really…
I’m sure the £500 loo is much better than the entry level B+Q £50 one, but is it MUCH better than a £200 one…?

And like you say, at the end of the day, if you spend £2k on a suite, or £4k on a suite, yes it’s twice the price, but over the course of time that difference will get dissolved away and long forgotten…

DrP

http://www.plumbingforless.co.uk/bathrooms/toilets/wall-hung-toilets-packs/grohe-rapid-sl-0.82m-3-in-1-wc-set-38773-cw-ivo-wall-hung-toilet-pan-and-sc-seat

I’ll walk up stairs just to use it (the downstairs lav has been done yet)…. a soft close bog seat is truely a wonder of modern living.

Have you sat on various different types and thought how would this be if I had a sticky poo, comfort is king here.My loo ideal standard nice round seat very comfy,my parents fancy pants loo semi rectangular seat is like a torture device.Enjoy your throne.

I had this discussion with friends in the trade when we did our bathroom. Advice was to spend a bit more on the bath – as they will be more robust, which is important if it is being used everyday, but this is easy to see in the brochures, as they tend to list thicknesses and materials. Next thing to look for is what spares are like for the other bits – tap mixers, flushing mechanisms etc. Because then if something goes wrong, you can get a new bit instead of chucking it all away and buying new stuff.

After that, the sky is the limit.

Edit: and of course, the ultimate deciding factor will be MrsP. Your job is to nod and smile.

Doing the ensuite at the momment …. did the bathroom last year.. (downstairs to be done next year if money allows… “has” should have been “hasn’t” in my first post)

It’s been a real mix n match type thing

Ebay and Web shops (some from germany) but also Homebase for the bath in the ensuite

Gotta say the hardest part is choosing what style, once we’ve hit the buy button the products have all been good and delivery prompt… had one problem with a sink, but that was sorted within days.

Have “saved” ‘000’s from just going into a bathroom showroom.

And I’d agree… being left with quality IS worth it.

Depends doesn’t it, there’s £2000 toilets that are essentially the same construction and functionality as your £99 crapper

Then there’s your Japanese toilets!

(And the ‘hand washing basin on top of the cistern’ thing is genius for fitting loos in small rooms!)

Depends doesn’t it, there’s £2000 toilets that are essentially the same construction and functionality as your £99 crapper

But then a BSO is the ‘same idea’ as a Tripster….

Arg…!

I mean, there’s this shower enclosure, tray, and shower; all for under £500. Whereas a tray can be £500…

DrP

http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk/product-details/6-4-litre-dual-flush-close-coupled-cistern/e7184.html my comfy bog.

Grohe, Dusseldorf Germany …… and therefore a buy.

Settled on mid-price B&Q. Reliable, aesthetic enough and not pricey.

You can get just as good/better stuff on eBay if you look (especially taps). In-store prices are ridiculous compared to ebay sellers.

I equipped the bathroom in my old house with ebay bought stuff and would have no hesitation doing it again. I think I worked out I saved £600 compared to B&Q.

Duravit D Code. We went through exactly the same process. The Duravit D Code stuff is still good quality and very keenly priced.

Just been through this as we’ve just replaced our main bathroom, We did a bit of mix and match.

Went with a fairly cheap loo and basin from bathstore.com (something like £350 for both) , Shower tray and cubicle from victoria plumb (something like £500) , bath and taps (both bath taps and basin taps) for £1400 .

I like my baths and thought it was worth spending cash on a really nice bath and taps, but the rest I felt that the extra costs of going premium/branded didnt really result in a huge difference from the high end but unbranded stuff from a cheap box shifter.

As it happened the bath itself cracked after 3 months of use, and has just been replaced with a new one- hopefully this one will last longer.

Duravit D Code. We went through exactly the same process. The Duravit D Code stuff is still good quality and very keenly priced.

This is what we like too – D code basin on Ketho units…

Meh…at the end of the day it’s keeping the missus happy!!

DrP

PS – I also found that a lot of stuff appears to come from the same factory in china, and is just branded with a different companies logo and price changed accordingly.

We went to a local ‘designer’ bath place and they had a shower enclosure for about £800 (it was called the victory 8 or something similar, and it was at the cheaper end of all the stuff they sold) , looked on victoria plumb, and found the same looking thing for £380 , but called the V8s.

So ordered from victoria plumb.

I think the key is to not buy the absolute cheapest thing from the online places, as its usually flimsy rubbish, but just increasing the budget a bit seems to yield something that is acceptable (to me anyway) quality.

We paid about 1k for the whole lot. Shop around, the variation in prices for the same items is huge. Good luck.

We should all come back with “before and after” photos when it’s done…… 🙂

You, me, and IHN!!

DrP

I have fitted a few bathrooms now and I think if you go for something branded such as Ideal Standard or some of the other similar makes then they are better made than the products from the large diy chains. I have found that better quality products are generally easier to fit especially important if you are fitting yourself. I would go to a bathroom shop instead of a diy store or ebay, I was surprised at how reasonable the prices are, getting my next bathroom project materials from a local shop and they are extremely helpful and guide you with options of price vs quality. I’m choosing something mid range, but good quality taps and valves. So if you want to compare to bikes diy shop is like your BSO, branded goods are more like various bike brands and start at a reasonable point and go upwards.

We went for Duravit too, the loo was pretty pricey but went for a wall-hung unit with Geberit concealed cistern & soft close seat (marvellous!). Flushes well on 4.5 litre setting and looks very clean lined with nothing on the floor. Same with the Basin, semi-pedestal design so floor is clear. Some of the cheapo units don’t flush as efficiently in my limited experience. Get an account with a local builders merchant & 25-30% discount is possible. D code bath is good quality too. Roper Rhodes Taps & accessories are good quality & any minor problems are sorted without quibble if you ring them up. Think of the future too if spares are needed-names usually have some kind of continuity rather than this months special offer from DIY chains.

You, me, and IHN!!

By the time ours is done I’ll be back with the interactive holographic tour I filmed from my hoverboard.

IHN …. sorry but I am glad to hear it’s not just me that takes ages.

Problem I’m have faced recently is that because the ensuite is above the garage I can run the services anywhich way I like… sounds great but in reality means, toilet, sink, shower and bath can be anywhere and so I’m always wondering if I’ve planned it right and have wasted a week swaping the shower and toilet around.

It’ll be worth it in the end and all this time, money and effort will be forgotten…. it has in the bathroom happy with my results in there, getting on for a year later.

Would like to see all the before and after pictures as I could do with a bit of inspiration. So many choices out there…

I’m busy fitting a new bathroom at the moment, we ordered all our stuff out of the Q4 brochure via Ideal Bathrooms (they’re based in Grimsby, we’re in the Scottish Borders and still the best price and next day delivery!). We’ve ordered a mix of things, but in particular a carronite bath which is very well finished and could possibly be converted into a light armored vehicle it’s that solid.

Q4 clicky

p.s. ignore the RRP in the Q4 brochure, everything we ordered came in at around 2/3 to 1/2 that!

I am sure you know all this OP but there is a huge range in terms of quality particularly for the the fittings. The “units” themselves, eg bath, shower tray, loo etc can also vary quite widely in terms of build quality / strength. Then I would add on the impact of pricing, RRP at a retail outlet is very different than wholesale pricing – its like furniture there is a 100% + markup. A builder doing multiple properties pays nothing like what an individual would pay. The other thing to throw in the mix is the fitting costs, IME those are significant vs the cost of the units so I have always gone upper middle in terms of unit quality/cost as fitting was so much varience on the units wasn’t so significant wrt overall bill.

but in particular a carronite bath

Yep fitted one of those in the bath room… as I wanted a really solid bath as it’s a shower too…. and it’s ROCK solid…. but the wife reckons it gets cold quick??

the wife reckons it gets cold quick??

Hmm, interesting as I thought one of their selling points is that they retain heat much longer then equivalent materials. To be honest, I’m a shower person so it’ll only be my other half that has a problem! I’m a week or so from fitting it as yet but will report back in a completely unscientific manner.

Kaldewei make good steel baths and shower trays.

Just done ours it was 4 months of talking showers ,taps ,bogs etc etc nightmare but done now

a soft close bog seat is truely a wonder of modern living.

One of the many joys of living alone is getting to leave it open all the time without fear of repercussions.

just done the bathroom.

a tap is a tap is a tap
except now we have a proper hot tap and a cold tap that needs to be turned clockwise to turn it on wtaf.

oh yeah and there can be up to 3″ height difference in the loo waste position, which ‘can’ cause issues.

a tap is a tap is a tap

True, however some taps have cheap nylon innards that snap off after 6 months use, leaving the tap on full and you trying to find the isolator at 6.30am in the morning. Not that that’s happened to me, honest….. buy cheap buy twice.

Personally I try to avoid B&Q as its generally cheap crap, however sometimes that all the budget will stretch too.

Some Bathstore stuff I’ve fitted has been pretty bad as well, especially the basin mountings to the wall.