Where to get bathroom stuff

[8bit]

We're about to do an extension, part of which will include a new en suite shower room off the master bedroom. We got some quotes for the stuff (toilet, shower cubicle kit, wash hand basin, tiles etc.) which we thought was OK but our contractor suggested we have a look online as he thought we'd be able to save a bit compared to the quote. He didn't really elaborate on where to look, though.

Any suggestions as to somewhere to go to pick and order this sort of stuff?

[8bit]

Thanks all for the input, very useful. Maybe I'll put the question a different way just out of interest - we're looking at an en suite with a shower tray in the corner and a screen along one side (so no door), a wash-hand basin on a wall-mounted cabinet, a toilet, a central-heating heated towel rail, electric underfloor heating (not sure of square meterage but it's pretty normal sized room). We haven't gone for very fancy stuff, quote for the whole lot plus gubbins like taps, wastes, shower etc. came to about £3600. Does that sound about right?

[8bit]

Thanks for the further input, no that price we got is just for supply. The Mrs. went in to one of the showrooms and got the quote, can't remember who it was but it was one of the national chains that advertise on TV, not Victoria Plumb though. I'll have a look online over the weekend and see if we can save a bit of cash that way, or at a local plumber's merchant.

[8bit]

Thanks all. We spent a couple of hours hunting the web and ebay and came up with a list that comes to around £2k, so about £1500 saving over the quote from the high-street place. Some stuff is still coming from them, because we've not found items we like anywhere else. The two eBay sellers we've found stuff on are (IIRC) Think Taps and iBath UK, anyone got any experience with either of those?

[8bit]

Thanks all, very valuable advice.

On a related note (if there's anyone in this thread able to answer this question), we've got a combi boiler (a year old) which supplies the shower in the existing bathroom, i.e. it's not an electric shower. We've been advised to install a 180 litre "unvented cylinder" since we're putting in another shower in the en suite, the reasoning being so that we can have both showers plus other water-consuming stuff running and not have to worry about pressure dropping.

Is this sound advice? These things seem to vary quite a bit in price, how much should we be expecting to pay for one (just to buy, not install, that's covered separately) and what brands are decent/reliable?

[8bit]

dmsims said:

Based on experience of having had a Megalfow and the POS combi where we are at the moment I would agree with advice
Cost for unvented - high hundreds

The other alternative is to fit an electric shower

Thanks for that, appreciate the input.