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I very nervously asked a friend this morning about how it works... but apparently they are the worst person to ask as they've very little experience themselves.
Ok having baited the clicks...
We literally have tiles falling off the wall in the bathroom, the tub is scratched and in general it dates back to the mid 80s when the house was built. We need a "new bathroom".
I am genuinely a bit clueless about how *exactly* the, um, tendering process works.
It's all very well for people who know what they want.
In our case neither of us have terribly good visual imaginations, so we'd really like a proper design/simulation including the specific tiles, so we can look at the pictures and decide then if the original tile choices are going to be bitterly regretted.
I can be stood in front of a tile and try and batter my brain into thinking "imagine our bathroom with this, and the other tile on the floor, and that bath suite you saw five minutes ago" and it just won't do it, it sort of slides away.
Who exactly do we get in touch with, and, how much preliminary design work is it acceptable/expected for them to do before we pick who we're going to go with for the bathroom?
And do we pay them at the end ?(bit jumpy about this as at least one friend had a kitchen fitter vanish on her with her deposit - had been recommended by builders but that didn't help when more came to light & he went AWOL!)
I feel really ignorant asking this as we're in our 50s! But we've never had the money or need for this before, and relatives and friends we've asked are all of the "I asked the plumber to put in X suite and Y tiles" camp (and we are too polite to say we don't find their bathrooms to our taste 😜). It's the first "big" bit of work we've ever had done.
You’re not alone. I’m in my forties and have never done this either. Our bathroom looks like the set of a horror or post apocalyptic movie. Holes in the roof from leaks, cracked plaster and mismatched tiles to name a few highlights. I think of it as character and will continue to do so until we are able to move or I can kidnap a plumber/tiler and force them to work for free.
Just had ours done. Went to a local bathroom showroom. Shown lots of tiles. Wife chose what she liked. Limited options on the layout, so just picked units that seemed ok.
Chap arrived a few weeks ago. Two weeks later had a new bathroom.
Cheaper ways to do it (the show room costs to run) but happy with the result. (We could have employed the fitter directly but would have to spec everything 'blind' without seeing it in the showroom.)
Pick a rough colour. There's a very good reason that "beige" is popular, it works in most places, you want bland not exciting.
Pick something simple and readily available from a big commercial supplier and stipulate that for pricing, range only not colour, this is important so you get like for like. If they don't like the choice, ask why, do not accept substitution without good reason. (they'll all tell you quick enough if they're actually a bad choice)
Once you've decided on an installer tell them you'd like a couple of samples to choose from - ask their opinion, they do this day in day out and will tell you "too dark for your pokey bathroom" "it'll look like the taj mahal, not a bathroom"
Do not supply your own.
Their job, their materials, their problems.
Personally, reputable bathroom companies, not separate tillers, plumbers etc. They'll have a showroom, they will be more expensive but I'd rather pay for 1 job than sort 3 different trades etc.
Pay at the end (or for work done if it's a huge job, unless your bathroom is the size of my house, it's not).
Design payable once the design is done if its a separate, you should get a copy at this stage. If you don't get a proper working copy of the design don't pay separately for it.
Oh that's a tough one.
When we did ours a year ago My Builder Friend(tm) made a couple of suggestions based on his experience, including a MASSIVE sink / drawer unit thing because our bathroom is oddly wide and it filled the gap. Plus some design ideas which looks lovely, I think.
We were on our own when it came to tiles, but the tile shops usually had boards with tiles fitted to, so you could see what they looked like grouped which helps.
Anyway, there are probably plenty of firms who can send someone around, take some nice high res pics of your bathroom and then superimpose different tiles, or just make a 3D model. I've supplied design PC for firms who do it with kitchens and "summer spaces" / "glass extensions", you'll just have to accept this all comes at a cost, they will be at the higher end of the market price wise, and probably a bit more 'hard sell' than asking the local, recommended Home Improvement Specialist to come around.
Look online at bathroons, use images in Google search.
Find a bathroom you like, price up the bits online to know roughly the cost.
Go to various places with the picture or get someone recommended in. You'll know the rough cost from your online price up and then it's just labour.
I've the design skills of a horse but I'm happy to nick inspiration from where to use as a good base.
Maybe start by looking at something like houzz.co.uk and get some inspiration - or at least get an idea of what you like/dislike.
Go to a showroom - if it's a halfway decent one they should be able to do a design for you which will give you a good idea of what it'll look like. Usually they'll take care of everything as well which means you don't have to orchestrate a tiler, plumber, electrician etc yourself.
Where are you? I know a couple local to me that are pretty good.
Go to a showroom – if it’s a halfway decent one they should be able to do a design for you which will give you a good idea of what it’ll look like. Usually they’ll take care of everything as well which means you don’t have to orchestrate a tiler, plumber, electrician etc yourself.
Where are you? I know a couple local to me that are pretty good.
Totally this.. my best mate actually runs the showroom in a plumbers merchant and this is how he spends his days (when corona hasn't closed the showroom!). He'll spend anywhere from an hour to several days worth of time chatting with customers about their likes/dislikes and go through options, then he puts together a mockup of the design in 3D software so they can have a 'virtual' walkaround of the design and get a better idea of how it'll look. As someone who's been dealing with plumbers in the area for more than a decade he can usually offer some referrals for decent bathroom fitters/plumbers who can fit it for them too.
Go online, to google images, pinterest, wherever. Look at lots of bathrooms. Pick some you like and that are reasonably similar in terms of size/space. Look at the tiles that have been used and go pick something similar. Or print/save out your favourite pics, go to tile/bathroom showroom and go "hey, we're looking to do something a bit like this".
So the design/3D render - who does that when, is it free, is it not?
I have been schlepping glumly round bathroom showrooms, builders'merchants, tile places and I've got an idea of what we *might* like, but until we see an actual mockup I've 0 confidence of whether it's a crap idea or not.
You know that thing where people's brains don't quite "do" faces? I have that a bit, and the "how can you not know what the bathroom would look like" is a bit like that too.
I have at least seen tiles I think we could live with for the next few decades which is progress. But which to choose. It's a small bathroom so at least we can afford whatever tiles we like.
Btw the bathroom people we've had recommended aren't showrooms.
So I (sort of) get the "go to showroom and they do everything" (at which point do you commit?) but the people I know who do that are the sort who think nothing of paying £15k for the world's smallest bathroom 10 years ago.
Or does that include builders merchants like say Grant & Stone?
Do you know anybody who can give personal recommendations in your area?
I know a guy in SW London but he’s always busy…
We’ve always gone basic in bathrooms. Matte whites tiles, grey floor (we went crazy and had a herringbone pattern the last time), white suite.
Fitter got us some brochures from his suppliers, we picked things that fitted and went together.
So the design/3D render – who does that when, is it free, is it not?
It might not be listed but it's never free you will pay for it either explicitly or it will be wrapped up in the total cost.
Have a look at bathrooms on the internet, Sadam Hussein had a quite a nice eye for detail, start there, nothing beats solid gold dolphin taps.
Wife chose what she liked.
This.
I'm on the cusp of refurbing my 10th bathroom, not in the same property obs, yes i am a slut.
My advice is choose wisely, i have friends having theirs done atm and it's very entertaining.
So I could go to Wickes and get them to design the bathroom? (I'd like an idea of whether some of the stuff we have in mind like niches and sliding doors are possible, and also there is the advantage of getting a picture so you can go, yeah looks good or errrr need to try something else).
Then get personally recommended firms to quote once we have something we can point to and go, "that pls"?
To earlier posters. We are both in IT and both, er, not natural interior designers. This is why we didn't bother touching the bathroom until the tiles literally started falling off! But we do know whether we like stuff or not when we see it. Have seen plenty of friends & relations bathrooms that we DON'T want 😀
I wonder if you're of the typical STW love to spend as much as poss on household goods and improvements, or like myself, prefer to save the pennies for things that actually give me pleasure..?
Because, I've discovered that even supposed budget stores, like your B&Qs and Wickes, charge, like I dunno... 3X as much for things like taps, sinks, fittings n that, than resellers who use ebay (yes, ebay) as their storefront. (And if someone jumps on using words like "quality" and such, just so you know they are talking through the region of the body normally reserved for excrement)
Just something I found in the past, which might be useful to you anyway.
Plain white tiles are *much* cheaper than any kind of patterned tile.
They are also a lot easier to replace in years to come.
There are plenty of things in my life that I regret, but not having fancy patterned tiles is not one of them.
DezB haha both! We don't spend money for the sake of it but don't have a problem with splashing the cash for something we actually want, few regrets so far!
get on Pintrest, and save some images of the bathroom you would like, work out a "feel", and some colours etc. Then go and find the respective components to make it work?
I think you are over thinking the design element here. Your bathroom will have the various bits plumbed in. Moving that pipework could double the cost so 90% of the time a new bathroom just means replacing what is there. A toilet is a toilet, a sink is a sink. Showers come in a bit more or a range of sizes etc but as long as the screen and base fit in the space and the actual shower fitment is on the same bit of wall it will be all good.
The closer to like for like then the easier for the trades people and the better the price. The only cuvre ball might be the state of your plumbing and walls/floor. Years of drips and leaks can cause some horrors that you will discover once you get into it.
I can hear the "trades" short intakes of breath being prepared (post quote acceptance natch) followed by -
Didn't quote for that...
Didnt realise it was like this underneath...
Your going to nèed a new soil pipe...
Its lead, we will have to go back to the main...
Got a job to finish back on Thursday (not the Thursday in this month)
Oh and 50% up front.
Dezb speaks much sense...
Been doing our kitchen. MrsD is a dab hand on Photoshop so she's been taking photos of the kitchen and changing the colours / pasting in tiles and stuff. It's really handy!
Small bathrooms with a loo sink shower and bath are a nightmare... joists line up with shower traps and so on.
Just did one for my son and we found the dividing block wall was sat on the floor boards between joists... and we needed the floor boards up.. 1930s ex council house.
Much careful engineering work to support the wall that took three extra days.
You can pinteret and photoshop to your hearts content but until you get most stuff out and spirit levels on stuff well best of luck. The bathroom above dropped over 20mm in 2.5m... try tiling that.
Google image searches for bathroom. Save/print pics of ones you like.
Google bathroom fitters in your area, get a couple to come round, show them the pics and ask them for a quote.
See which quite feels better.
I'm doing mine myself, it's a pain in the arse. Done the ensuite already, now waiting for a plasterer then can get on with the main bathroom.
Are you handy with a tape measure? If so then you're a bathroom designer. There's not really much that can go into the design of a bathroom - and unless you're planning on moving pipes about you're even more limted.
one thing I would say with regards hardware: don't go to anywhere that looks like a "Bath Store", or has any any assosiatoins with "Victorian Plumbing" unless you want your wallet lightening. One such place quoted me £3,000 for some absolute junk hardware. I ended up buying some really nice stuff including overhead rainfall shower thingy and a handheld jobbie, thermostatic three way valve, overflow bath filler, column-style rad/towel rail) and EVERYTHING including tiles came to less than £1,500.
https://www.ergonomicdesigns.co.uk/ - thank me later.
In seriousness, go on pintstagram, work out what you like, then go find the stuff you want (bath, sink, loo, taps for both, showerheads and the like, tiles for wall / floor, any rads or towel rails, silly stuff like waste units) and then find a plumber, tell them what you want it to look like, and show him the stuff you're thinking of getting him to fit. He'll soon tell you what's good and what's bad and what you've forgotten. Assuming you're getting a fitter to do this...
The thing about bathroom accessories is
I can sell you your dream bathroom - I'd be delighted to...
but it don't mean a ting if it ain't got that swing.
The old WP.
Water pressure.
one thing I would say with regards hardware: don’t go to anywhere that looks like a “Bath Store”, or has any any assosiatoins with “Victorian Plumbing” unless you want your wallet lightening.
i've used places like that for a couple of things in my 2 bathrooms, occasionally they have decent quality branded stuff at good prices.
most of the stuff i just worked out what i wanted(which took a while), found the cheapest prices online and got a local builders/plumbing merchant to price match.
main bathroom was done last year, materials inculding tiles came to about £5k. i'm a tiler so everything apart from plumbing/electrics(done by mates) i did myself.
in general getting a bathroom installer/showroom to sort everything out could be easier but from jobs i've seen done like that you will often get a better job done using seperate tradesmen direct, just its a lot more hassle getting people there at the right times.
however you do it unless its someone recomended to you by someone you know ask to see some examples of completed work even if its just photos but ideally try and get someone recomended.
Victorian plumbing are **** the quality of their stuff beggars belief.
some of it yes, but they also sell good quality branded stuff as well and sometimes at the best prices.
i wouldn't use them by default but once i know what i want i'll check there price if it's something they sell.