Bathroom Advice

A bathroom purchase and installation is one of the biggest decisions you will make regarding your home. Some basic questions which must be introspectively asked when looking at a new bathroom are as follows.

• What is my new bathroom design?
• How will I get it installed?
• What products should I buy?
• Where should I buy them from?

What is my Bathroom Design?

Bathroom design is the process of agreeing on a layout of your new bathroom and the positions of bathroom appliances. You can also choose specific products during the design. There are two main routes to designing a new bathroom:

• CAD (computer aided design system)
• Graph paper (A3 size) using cut outs of the bathroom appliances

CAD

A CAD design must be done in a bathroom shop or showroom with a bathroom designer. This will take about 30 mins unless your new bathroom is very complex. It will usually involve a site visit in which the designer will measure everything and make some estimates about practical aspects, eg water pressure, carrying large baths up the stairs.

There are two leaders in CAD software, which are Logicom and Planit. A search in Google may show more.

CAD software will show 3D designs, tile options, and positions of appliances. A limit of the software is that many manufacturer designs are not included, so generic designs for products are used. This is a limitation which makes the final images much less potent. But it still gives an idea.

Graph Paper

The old fashion paper and pencil method is the one still used by most designers. Paper cut outs are used scaled and sized, and the graph paper has the room drawn to size. This is also something you can do as a user.

Be careful of unqualified design advice from plumbers. Plumbers are not designers and most plumbers have very limited knowledge of bathroom products. They will nearly always recommend products from plumber's merchants such as Plumbase, Plumbcenter, Travis Perkins, City Plumbing. Those products will typically include Bristan, Mira, Ideal Standard. Those retailers and brands are well established and plumbers get good discounts which are then marked up to you. That is the reasoning in recommending them. They are not usually the best or most suitable products and plumbers will not know what is more suitable. They know about bathroom fittings and not bathroom appliances (eg baths, basins, brassware).

How do I get my new bathroom installed?

There are several ways:

• Via a bathroom showroom
• Using independent plumbers
• DIY

Showrooms

Most bathroom showrooms are family run businesses. Usually the founder or owner is knowledgeable about bathrooms, and one or two assistants are employed who have much less knowledge. They normally answer the phone, help load vans, and help clean the shop. Most showrooms offer an installation service and a delivery service.

Plumbers via a showroom are employed on a permanent basis or they have long term contracts. This reduces the costs to the showroom. The showroom then marks up the labour costs to you as the consumer. The most preferred route is to use services offered by the showroom. But there is a downside to this route. The showroom will normally have a backlog of installations, and that could be weeks or months. The showroom will also make a lot of money (often more than the supply of goods) from the installation. So you will be paying a lot for the work.

Plumbers

If you opt to use plumbers from Yellow Pages or the local paper, make sure you take some percautions. There are a lot of bad plumbers. Make sure the plumber is Corgi Registered. This is technically a gas qualification but since most boilers are gas fired, it matters, and it shows he has a much higher level of training. It really matters, and is very important to make sure the plumber is Corgi registered.

When the plumber arrives make sure he states exactly what work he will do. This means you have to agree what pipes will be moved, if he will seal the bath and basin, if he will tile (a bad idea - get a tiler), if he will do the flooring. Agree a list with him and make sure he does it all. If fails to do it, then refuse payment.

Most plumbers work cash in hand. It will reduce the price as it allows the plumber not to declare the earnings and therefore reduces his tax liability.

Many plumbers are now from Poland, especially in London. They are very cheap, about 10-20% of the cost of a British plumber. Many do not speak English well, and they have no UK based qualifications. There are generally good reports about their work as they work hard for little money.

DIY

DIY is not recommended for a modern bathroom. There are too many considerations with water pressure, leaking, stud walls, basin frames, toilet frames, flush mechanisms in cisterns, back pressure, pressure reducing valves, twin and single pumps, thermostatic control, corrison in the water circuits. It is just a bad idea to go the DIY route.

What products should I buy?

Most of the modern market is made up from imports, especially from China and Turkey. The Chinese have for years been encroaching into the British market and today I command a lion share. A lot of radiators are now made in Turkey. Often the orgin of products is concealed as companies wish to hide this information. When Grohe moved production to China, it was kept very quiet. Grohe has been a trademark for quality for years.

When deciding what to buy, just look around a lot and try and find out from the retailer the following:

• Where is the item made?
• What is the guarantee?
• What problems are known?
• How large is the supplier? (a lot of suppliers are small)

Where to buy?

The present market is changing very quickly. There are several ways to buy your new goods.

• From a showroom
• From a Plumber's Merchant
• From a plumber
• From the Web
• From ebay

Buying via a Showroom

Buying from a showroom is the safest and best route, but you will have a few problems. The first is that most showrooms have special terms on some products and those products are the ones they push. They may not be the best, but the shop makes more money, hence they recommend it. The second is that many showrooms specialise on certain lines, and they will not have the contacts or experience about the whole industry. So you are seeing a small part of the available goods. This is linked to my first point. The third point is simply price. Showrooms are expensive. This all means that a showroom is a safe option, but an expensive one with limited choice.

Buying via a Plumber's Merchant

Plumber's merchants know about fittings but not bathrooms. They have very limited knowledge of bathrooms. They are very cheap but you will have to tell them everything, part numbers, product names, contact phone number of suppliers.

Buying via a Plumber

Do not buy via a plumber. He just goes to a plumber's merchant and buys Bristan, Mira, or Ideal Standard. He then marks that up and sells it.

Buying via the Web

The Web is a great source of information, but you have to be very careful. One important aspect of web buying is delivery. You have fully understand Terms and Conditions. When you sign for goods, you are signing that they are in good condition, not just they are received. Afer signing, if damaged you have no recourse in law.

You have to check the goods fully before signing. Insurers will not accept "unchecked" and similar words. The only word which they accept is "damaged." Then a claim is opened. If you see ANY damage to the box, a dent, a crease, anything which shows the box was dropped, dragged, thrown, anything at all, then signed as damaged.

You MUST check all goods fully within 24 hours and notify immediately any damage claims.

When buying from the Web do a google test which works well: [company name] complaints/scam. Sadly many complaint forums have fake reviews written by companies in compeition. This is common. I have seen this at Shopping.com and Blagger. So ask the retailer if you have seen complaints and ask if they are fake. Many are fake. Clearly if you seen hundreds of complaints eg google fitness first complaints, then you know there is something wrong.

As an end user you have the full right of return which 7 days excluding carriage costs. This is covered by the Distance Selling Rules. Re-stocking fees within that period are ILLEGAL. Report such traders to Trading Standards.

If you get into a dispute with the retailer, DO NOT get agressive or threatening. It will just make the retailer switch off and you will lose any claim. Take the goodwill route. If that fails, then contact his supplier and complain. Suppliers hate web sales, and they will take the matter seriously especially if he is discounting.

Buying via eBay

Ebay has become a big source of bathrooms sales. Be careful to check the the goods are new and guaranteed. Many people sell seconds, ex-display, and other non-new products on ebay. Check first if the goods are new.