Bathroom Suppliers. Suggestions please!

[Lons]

We ended up using a couple of small local specialist bathroom places. Yes, they sell the mega expensive (made in Hull?!) kit but they also had some very good 'bog standard' bathroom bits at very affordable prices (or well discounted).
The only downside is you need to find the time to go round and see what they have. Might work for you especially if you have lots of business you can put their way./quote]

That's a very fair point Stuart, most of them are open to a little persuasion on prices if you push hard enough.

Shouldn't discount the usual builders and plumbers merchants either as they have access to a decent range of products and also open to giving sizeable discounts these days to members of the public when pressed for trade prices. Jewsons is a good start as the managers are under pressure to sell.

Like Roger, I hate plumbing but that was due to years of fitting bathrooms and kitchens

 

[Phil Pascoe]

....... I'll go along with that - most of mine were repairs, mix and matches and general lash ups, which in many cases is harder work than fitting new.
My mother had her bathroom done by the boss of a multi million plumbing firm and I chatted to him as he worked one day. He was having problem with the basin not being flat across the back, and I commented that mine had been the same. He said they were rarely perfect and when he did his own bathroom he tried six basins before settling on the least worst.

 

[Lons]

I've never seen a perfect basin or WC. The worst I found were the inset or cabinet basins as it annoyed me that they wouldn't sit perfectly on the worktops. Were ok when siliconed but still irritating however by nature of their production process I guess it's as close a tolerance as they can achieve.

I did 2 bathromms for a customer years ago and foolishly allowed him to buy the sanitaryware. I sent back the shower tray and cubicle, one of the handbasins, all the taps and a WC 3 times. The 3rd time they sent the first faulty one back to me. :evil:

That job cost me money in delays but taught me a lesson and I never fitted anything unless supplied and controlled by me although I was happy to share my discouts with customers.

 

[Harbo]

Here’s one sink you don’t want to buy - came across it in a hotel we stayed at.
Hardly any “storage” space and guaranteed to wet your clothes every time you open the tap!

Rod

 

[Bm101]

That's the worst designed sink I have ever seen! Just why? If you want his 'n' hers sinks (and I wouldn't in a million years) do it properly!
I learnt to tile when working as a labourer for a small firm in my early twenties. I must have been a pita. Why are you doing this, why are you doing that like that? But I learned a lot off the proper trades who I helped out. Always been quite handy except for electrical diagrams (Argggh, they turn me into the equivalent of Ice cream brain freeze for some reason). Had the pleasure of working with some real good guys along the way. Always a learning curve but I can hang a door, tile, solder a joint, plumb in a sink etc fine. The speed of professional is not there of course. And I'll never be a master at any of them but good enough for my house. Indeed a deal better than some idiots work I have seen)

And I have a good eye. And I can prove it by the telling of this overly long but completely true story about my good eye.

When the smoking ban came in The Local duly erected the wooden smoking shelter in the pub garden. The fall was about 1/2" over a 10 foot roof but the guys putting it up mixed two of the roof supports up. Friday afternoon we're all sitting in there like kids in a new Gang Hut and I said, 'this roofs a bit p*ssed though' Loud chorus from all the builders, roofers, kitchen fitters etc etc 'F******* Window Cleaners! Think they know how to build stuff.
'Bloody is.' I said
Rah Rah Rah on they ranted. About 12 of them.
'Look at it. It's clearly out'
Rah Rah Rah.
Patience runs out.
Alright. ******'s Who wants a bet then?
Pint! Goes up the chant.
Everybody in? Pint each? Says I.
Yahhhhh Yahhhhh. Bleeedin Window Cleaners! Yahhhh!
Dave! Dave get me a tape out your Van please.
Dave toddles off to his Van and amid much ceremony measures the smoking shelter.

It's half inch out.

Amazed Silence. Wtf. A cry goes up at the back. 'Witchcraft!' That's Fat Darren. Bit simple.
F Off Darren its 2014 mate ya fat monkey. There's no such thing as witches now.

The tape measure's out! Dave! Get a level!
Dave gets a level and sure enough, although the bubble is barely close to touching the line there's a fall the wrong way.

*Complete Bewilderment All Round*
They couldn't see how I could see and they couldn't.
How!?!
And they're pleading to know now. Professional builders and they are baffled. Like lost children. All their confidence in their trades they have been doing for 20 years plus each is shattered.

I sit their quietly for a moment. Because you have to know when to savour your small victories in this life. It's a vastly under appreciated skill.

'Well I guess some of us just have a better natural eye for this sort of thing' I concede after a pause. 'Nothing to feel bad about fellas. You either have that particular innate skill or you don't I suppose.'
I let that sink in for a second.
'Right who's the first of my 12 Guinnesses? My Pint is empty.'

What I never told those fellas and tbh I never felt at all bad about it because I have done far worse things in life and never admitted to those things either was that I'd popped in the pub earlier that afternoon to have a sharp one on the way home from work and I'd seen the guys who built the shelter having an argument about who's fault it was the'd mixed up the uprights.

You might get up early but you'll probably never finish work earlier than a window cleaner. :wink:

 

[RogerS]

And avoid at all costs getting radiators made by Cordivari (in Italy). Out of the 13 supplied, nearly all of the Cordivari radiators required tappings being retapped/cleaned out with a screw as they were so clagged up with paint.

One proved impossible to retap without resorting to a proper engineers tap and wrench (which I currently don't have as they are still boxed away somewhere post move).

Another one had a paint splash on it of a different colour.

Another came without the right fixing brackets.

And the fourth had a pair of oversize fixing lugs which will need filing back before I can fix the radiator. The leadtimes are such that it would be next year before I got a replacement.

Been hassling the retailer and been promised replacement bracket sets. "You'll have them buy Tuesday...Wednesday at the latest". Todays' Thursday. No brackets.

This whole saga started over a week ago. So I repeat...avoid Cordivari radiators.

And I've repeated Cordivari in the hope that anyone searching for them on Google will hit this post and be aware of what they are getting into.

 

[Bm101]

Cheers Roger. Sorry for your woes.
Hope it works out ok. Look forward to pics tiling in the birthday suit.
Quick update on mine. After excellent preliminary service from Direct Tiles (https://www.directtilesandbathrooms.co.uk/) I got the tiles for the en suite there. Really helpful. Sized and priced it all for me. Honest guys. Matched my builders 30% trade discount at Topps and I'm honestly happy to give them the business. Can't get more local when they mention delivery and you say, I'll pop round and collect it in the van because you like them enough to do them a favour.
Also just bought some gear from Bathstore in the sales. Good product at a good sale price but I don't like buying from them. They give me the heebies. Got a charming email from them. Any undeliverable goods will be charged £47 quid. Really? Meh. £47 notes! That's customer care for you!
We're on the way though. Onwards and upwards.

Regards
Chris

 

[Lons]

Will soon be a distant memory Chris.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A good thing about buying local is that they will usually do a buy back so you can overstock a bit to save running out out of hours and also you avoid the risk of getting tiles from different batches.

 

[Bm101]

Guys. GUYS! Shut the front door!

I found a great solution that's going to save me all sorts of trouble plumbing in showers, waterproofing backing board, shower doors the lot. Awesome!
I'm going to save all the money on sinks, taps, extraction, showers, plumbing all that gear in. I have found a one stop solution so I'm going to spend all the money on that instead (and a bit more).
But think of the space I will save!

Take a look. I think you'll be impressed! It has everything already built in. Shower come hand washer come somewhere to brush your teeth even. Brilliant! It even has a separate shower for the Lady although I'm not sure how it's gender specific yet. Needs more research. Not only that but it dries you too once you've performed your your daily ritual. So I'll even save money on towels and stuff. 7 speeds of massage (the mind boggles) And not just soft closing but soft opening too in case you are ever really angrily opening your one stop solution to all round bodily hygiene.
Odour extraction is included so that puts paid to the old saying that some people are so rich they think their **** doesn't stink. Turns out, if you have enough money it Actually Doesn't. Nice.

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/geb ... close-seat

My newest (and undeniably greatest) Life Goal is to use one of these.