does anyone have any recommendations for where to buy a cheap but ok bathroom suite? is it worth going for the mono mixer ones or seperate hot / cold taps?
also want some white tiles to go around the bath (approx 1/3 of the room will be tiled the rest skimmed and painted)
finally is it easy to fit a towel radiator? there is currently a standard radiator there although i suspect it is wider than a tower rad would be.
Try local plumbers merchant, I just bought a bath for £55, sinks and bogs for approx £30 each.
iv'e got a screwfix and plumb centre 5 mins drive away , last time i went to plumb centre i walked out coz the muppet in front took so long and there was no other staff to serve me, so screwfix got my business that day!! there is also a selco, bdc, then the usual diy shops nearby such as wickes focus b + q homebase.
As already said, the bigger B+Q's do a spearates range where a bath can be had for £60ish, a toilet for £60, and sink for £35. Add the cost of taps to this, and it isnt such a good deal. I would not recommend them though, as they look dated, and if glass-fibre, will be thin. The sink and toilet are OK, though basic. Great for fitting out student houses etc. If you have a Jewsons local to you, try and get them to order you an Armitage Shanks Sandringham bath suite. they were doing this at £223 inc vat, inc. taps last week, though you'll need to check your local branch. The bath in this suite is very good quality, and worth the price on its own IMO. Pics of it here:
Taps are a personal taste. Lower end baths and sinks tend to have 2 holes for taps, so you havent got a choice there. choose your bath/sink first, then see what taps you want.
Any tile place. I havent found a tile supplier who is a lot cheaper than any other supplier, so go to your nearest one. B+Q do a cement for £10.98 for 7.5kg(iirc) which is about as cheap as you can get cement for.
Floorboards or concrete floor? Floorboards are easier, concrete will need to be chiselled out. Drain off the water, fit your new rad to the wall, then attach new piping to existing pipes to fit. Test for leaks, refit floor.
Alan.
Thanks Alan. I'll check out b and q, dont know if there is a jewson near here but i'll have a look. Regarding the radiator, its a concrete floor, however the pipes are run just above the skirting boards and not in the floor. Is it straightforward to extend these pipes to the correct distance for a towel rad? I guess it might need a plumber to solder it if its on display.
I got a cheap bog from B&Q 5+ years ago when I was doing a bathroom. It turned out to be a Royal Dalton and for a close coupled 6 litre flush, I have to say it works extremely well. The seat was complete rubbish, and since it was a separate item it want back and I got a nice solid beach seat from homebase.
For the bath and basin, I didn't want cheap, so those came from somewhere else.
My preferred scheme is separate hot/cold on the bath so you can easily see what the fill ratio is when filling the bath. (If you have a shower over the bath, I make that completely separate from the bath taps.) On the basin where you are more likely to use the running water directly for hand washing, I prefer a mixer.
I used Tops Tiles cheapest, and they've been fine for 5+ years now. Note that their adhesive and grout can be expensive though.
Consider a towel rack fitted high on the wall over the radiator. I think that works better, and would definately be easier if you're not in to DIY plumbing. Also means you still have a working radiator heating the room (towel rails don't heat rooms).
I'm just about to buy from
They have a VERY limited range of porcelain BUT it is good quality and cheap and stylish and when I asked them a question, I was answered clearly and helpfully and quickly
Anna
-- Anna Kettle Lime plaster repair and conservation Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc Tel: (+44) 01359 230642 Mob: (+44) 07976 649862 Please look at my website for examples of my work at:
Thanks Andrew and Anna. I am tempted by a towel rad as its neat. didnt know it wouldnt heat the room, but once you said that i thought well in my situation that doesnt matter. The bathroom always gets too hot as its all internal with no windows! Just having a hot bath turns the room into a sauna! Hopefully my new fan will help with that.
I forgot to ask , now I have a more powerful centrifugal fan (vent axia =A390), and will soon have all internal doors replaced, do I need a different door at all for the bathroom? Such as leaving a gap at the bottom or having a vent? I remember somebody saying that a decent fan wont work if there is no air inlet to the room, it would cause a vacuum. Now i'm not sure if draught gaps around the door is enough for this or if a gap/vent is required. if you have any info please post :)
any ideas about the bathroom door?
went down to plumb center they seem pretty good. they do twyford stuff branded differently. seems like i'll buy from either them or wickes, going to price it up later.
my experience of wickes is pretty good, the staff are helpful and know their stuff, they only sell decent quality stuff, and everything is well laid out and easy to find. unlike b and q!
what do you have at the minute? how big are the gaps and does your new fan "struggle" (assuming it's fitted:)) You could try listening for obvious change in pitch (probly down) when you open the bathroom door after a few minutes of it running -NB I'd expect you'd need to be *in* the bathroom to hear the pitch change...
If it doesn't seem to struggle and vents out shower steam & "noxious vapours" quick enough for you, then fit the new door with similar gaps etc. If it does struggle make 'em a bit bigger/ put a louvred vent in the door (lower the better I suppose to promote an updraught from vent to fan?)
how's that sound?
ope it elps Jim
hi jim well there isnt really a gap at the moment, just the usual small space around the door/frame and it seems to work ok as is. i was just wondering whether allowing more airflow might let the fan work to its full potential (not that it isnt already i spose) thanx
oomsuite? =A0is it worth going for the mono mixer ones or seperate
I also am fixing up my bathroom and fitting a Bathroom suite. Not sure if this helps but i got a great deal on a bathroom suite from
Hope this helps,
John.
i have pretty much decided to buy from wickes. they do an antarctic suite for =A3189, which is basic but looks decent quality, can always upgrade taps later. anyone bought one from wickes before? they always strike me as selling decent quality stuff at a good price.
,
Anna, how did you get on with them? thanks Jim
And, Anna, will you mail me please?
Mary
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I dont yet have a definitive answer to that. All went very well then a bout of poor communication but I think they are redeeming themselves. I will let you know ... by the end of next week I expect
Anna
-- Anna Kettle Lime plaster repair and conservation Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc Tel: (+44) 01359 230642 Mob: (+44) 07976 649862 Please look at my website for examples of my work at:
yhm
-- Anna Kettle Lime plaster repair and conservation Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc Tel: (+44) 01359 230642 Mob: (+44) 07976 649862 Please look at my website for examples of my work at:
The problem is I haven't! Not from you anyway :-(
'Tis a puzzlement. I didn't see your original post here, only via Jim's reply. Yet I saw the one I'm answering.
I was going to mail you but your address above doesn't seem to be valid.
If you're accidentally in my killfile I don't know how to check because I don't know your mail address ... I'll look for the one above.
Mary
,
look forward to hear - thanks NB my email is valid if you'd rather
Jim
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I wouldn't want a central single mixer on a wash basin. There's a risk of head-butting the tap.
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