where to buy a bathroom, oh and have it fitted

[_Deano]

Now that the house is being rented out, the last two tenants and the estate agent have mentioned that the main family bathroom needs updating (my fault, i did question them about the house). It's pretty much the bathroom that was installed when the house was built back in the 70's.
So the wife and I have been looking around at the large stores (B&Q, Dolphin etc) and sort of laugh at their quotes of up to £4K to replace a bath, sink toilet and the tiling!
Initially i thought that a budget of £1K was going to be more than enough, but so far it seems that i am wrong; even though the bathroom is about 10" x 11".

So can any advise me on how i can go about getting my bathroom gutted and revamped?
Do i buy from one place and have them fit it? If so where would be a good place to start? Or should i buy from one place and then try and find a fitter that knows what they are doing?

I really have no idea about the aspects of bathrooms installation and would probably flood the house.

cheers
DJ

[Ferg]

If you are putting the bits back in the same place I would imagine you'd find a suite (bath, pan, cistern, basin and ped) with taps for £250. A days work to put it in (maybe £300 with materials)then some tiling etc to be done.

The small problem you may have is that your toilet is probably low-level and a new one (cheap) will be close-coupled which will make the soil connection wrong (probably).

[justin220]

Imin the same boat. Think I will source all the parts and get someone in to rip out the old one and fit the new one.

http://www.bathshop321.com/ is where I've been looking. Any thoughts?

We're also considering removing the bath and putting in a walk in shower (only bathroom in the house) but worried this would put off potential buyers.. ?

Sorry for the slight hijack

[scirocco265]

I did this in my first house when cash was low. New bathroom suite £250 from B&Q but then I paid an extra £100 for some uber modern taps (made all the difference). Went to a tile warehouse place and found some really good tiles that were end of line to do 3 walls floor to ceiling for £120, and floor tiles for £50. Plumber charged me £80, tiler charged me £200.

Brand new contemporary bathroom for £720.

I wonder how I have failed to replicate this since, last bathroom cost £7,500

[justin220]

Thats bloody good!

I'm budgeting £1k for all the parts, and £1k for plumbing and electrics.. Must be do-able at that!?

[Spudler]

Ferg said:

If you are putting the bits back in the same place I would imagine you'd find a suite (bath, pan, cistern, basin and ped) with taps for £250. A days work to put it in (maybe £300 with materials)then some tiling etc to be done.

The small problem you may have is that your toilet is probably low-level and a new one (cheap) will be close-coupled which will make the soil connection wrong (probably).

Exactly this^^.

I fitted a suit (Roca) from Buildbase, steel bath etc for £200. Thats a trade price but even at retail with some discount you'll get a good price. Hire a local plumber and you'll save an absolute fortune.
Go to the likes of B&Q if you wish but you'll pay WAY over the odds.
If your handy, make up your own bath panel, you'll never know its a boggo bath suit.

[Ferg]

Take care with steel baths.
They have to be a decent thickness otherwise one moderately heavy object will flex the steel, but not the enamel and you've got a chip. Acrylic everytime for most situations, unless you go for a resin which is big money.

[Spudler]

Ferg said:

Take care with steel baths.
They have to be a decent thickness otherwise one moderately heavy object will flex the steel, but not the enamel and you've got a chip. Acrylic everytime for most situations, unless you go for a resin which is big money.

Agreed.
I got put on to the Buildbase steel bath by a couple of plumbers we use (& they are old tarts) and i would also recomend them.
I have seen the steel baths in B&Q, same price but the Roca is far superior quality.
I installed one in a rental in mine and would have no hesitation in installing one in my own home.
Like i said, lob the bath panel and make your own and no one would know the bath was sixty quids worth ...AND im a fussy !

[_Deano]

justin220 said:

Imin the same boat. Think I will source all the parts and get someone in to rip out the old one and fit the new one.

http://www.bathshop321.com/ is where I've been looking. Any thoughts?

We're also considering removing the bath and putting in a walk in shower (only bathroom in the house) but worried this would put off potential buyers.. ?

Sorry for the slight hijack

not a problem - and thanks for the link; that setup would suffice, just need to measure it up.