New bathroom - where to start?

When we had our bathroom done I lived to regret using a company that said they would send their team to do the work. It transpired that the “team” was a self-employed bathroom fitter who was not as good as he made out and obviously was nowhere to be seen when any problems cropped up later. I also discovered that the bathroom company required him to give them a % of what we paid him to do the installation.

Another vote for shower panels instead of tiles - we have them in our small shower room and they're so much easier to clean (no grout). They also come in a wide range of colours and patterns.

Another vote also for a “Japanese” toilet - we had a Geberit shower toilet installed and it is lovely! Well worth the additional costs.

Our family bathroom was ripped out and redone a couple of years ago. We went to loads of bathroom shops, spoke to many assistants etc and then decided what products we wanted. Once that was done we went back to a couple of the showrooms that had impressed us earlier and had them round to measure up and advise re any design amendments. We then chose the one we thought was most knowledgeable, gave sensible alternatives and was a fair price. After that was decided we visited several tile shops to choose wall and floor tiles. A time consuming job but great result.
My sister took a different approach with getting a new kitchen, chose a recommended shop, picked out the units from their range and a couple of years on she's still unhappy with it and finding new problems quite frequently. The neighbour who recommended the shop later mentioned that she'd also had several problems with the same company!

And - you may want to consider giving the contractors keys and going on holiday! Then you can come home to a beautiful new bathroom and you miss out on all the noise and mess!

VBOOO we got the wall panel when we redid our bathroom and they are so easy to clean no grout to scrub. We got ours from a company called WetWallWorks and the selection was great and the advice we got was invaluable. Our builder loved working with them, so much so he recommends them to new customers.

My partner is having a bathroom redesigned due to illness, bath being ripped out and replaced with a large walk in shower, door being re hung to create more space, a higher toilet bowl and all new fixtures and fittings, we asked the neighbours firstly to see if anyone had similar work done , luckily one had and could recommend a company, we then went online looking for other local companies doing the same work, we got 4 quotes, chose one not the cheapest, the work is almost complete and is looking good so far.

When we had our bathroom renovated, we got recommendations from several friends who had all used a lady plumber. She recommended plastic wall covering (plastivan) rather than tiles. It is the type which is double layered with a honeycomb center. Good insulation for our north facing bathroom with 3 exterior walls. It has the advantage of not having grout to discolour but just sealant at the top and bottom and a corner. A window wiper blade does a quick wipe down round the shower and a dry cloth on the sealant so no mold after 6 years.

Firstly I would say always keep a bath, as we turned down several houses with just a shower when we moved. Our last house is where we replaced the bathroom.
We managed to buy a double jacuzzi bath at half price from Homebase in a sale, and shopped around for the walk in shower enclosure. Went to several shops for the best deal on tiles, vinyl flooring, taps etc. OH fitted most of it himself, with British Gas fitting the shower and a local plumber doing the jacuzzi. OH fitted the sink and toilet as it was in the same place. I think we bought the sink and toilet from B&Q.
As it was all plain white it all matched perfectly.
You can save a lot of money in the sales or on discontinued items.

My son and his wife are literally doing this as i message only they are doing the whole house before move in. You have to have an idea what it is you’re looking to change. luckily for them my son old neighbors was a builder and he and his crew have done my son last 2 houses my son had a house before he met his wife so they also doing this one. His brother is also a painter and decorator in the group so my son doesn’t have to shop around for one they had to have a new roof done first and walls are being knocked down to open up kitchen but they had plans drawn up before everything was started and plans have been tweaked a few times Do your homework check for reviews chat to your neighbors see if they know any builders. A lot of bad ones out there. My sons builder as just done someone kitchen that a dodger builder made a mess of. It’s cost that person twice. They also went shopping for new bathroom fixtures and kitchen etc before builders started and the companies are holding them until builders ask for them bathrooms were done this week my advice do your research before you start

I would go the nearest large Plumbase or showroom and look at the fittings you like. Also worth investing a bit more for the actual fitting you like (rather than saving on something you then regret and have to live with).
Roca (Spanish) brand is appealing and widely available for example - pleasing functional designs.
Soft-close toilet lid is an option
Matki perhaps for shower enclosures.
Perhaps a steel bath. E.g. Bette brand.
Possibly incorporate a narrow dwarf wall behind the basin as a shelf?
Have mirrors cut to size to enhance and lighten the space.
Have bevelled glass cut to size for topping any shelves

If you have a local IKEA they could help you with a plan.

a plumbers merchants the smaller the better and often cheaper usually most helpful, they have contacts etc ,i have been involved in too many house renovations over my lifetime!
good luck.I dont see why you would use architects etc they would
be more expensive than having the work done!

applause for RosiesMaw2. I had my bathroom changed to a wet room with underfloor heating when I broke my leg and I took advantage of temporary stay in care home to allow workmen to get on with it. So here are some observations. Make sure you can get at the stop cock. There is a device, Surestop, that will switch off the water with a switch. Those pushdown plugs in handbasins can rust and stick, I can't get at the mechanism to free mine but have seen other basins where there is a lever at the back that releases the plug. Another inconveninet concealement is the lavatory seat attachment. When the seat works loose it swivels and needs lifting off then a screwdriver to tighten the fitting and the seat has to be realigned over two upright posts that are never in the right place. The old seat just had screws with butterfly nuts that could be tightened. The straight bar loo roll holder allows the roll to fly off if I brush past it. My old one was curved (and much better quality). Good luck!

NotSpaghetti

keepingquiet - is there a way to incorporate a few beautiful tiles alongside some cheap ones. I realise this is a compromise 😟

Or wait a year or so if they are likely to go out of fashion!

My daughter has used some expensive tiles as a detail in her kitchen and it looks lovely- and deliberate!

If it was just a tiler Notspagehetti but it isn't. I need the whole lot gutting from ceiling to floor. It is beyond my budget. I'm managing with what I have.

We had an excellent bathroom fitter who helped us a lot. We looked at his back catalogue of jobs and that helped us to decide.

Our local independent bathroom company representative came round to our house and sketched a design. We then went to the showroom and chose everything including wall and floor tiles. The company sent a fitter (who was self-employed) and it took him 10 days to strip out the existing bathroom. The thing that took the longest was taking off the old wall tiles. After they had been removed, the wall had to be plastered before the new tiles could be laid. The total cost of absolutely everything was £8,000. The bathroom is not very big but it looks fabulous. Hope this helps.

keepingquiet - is there a way to incorporate a few beautiful tiles alongside some cheap ones. I realise this is a compromise 😟

Or wait a year or so if they are likely to go out of fashion!

My daughter has used some expensive tiles as a detail in her kitchen and it looks lovely- and deliberate!

We are in the middle of it now, using a local plumbing company who have been in business for 80 years and have very good reviews, it helps That MrOops knows the current manager.

We are designing it ourselves, scouring the web sites for ideas, but going into local shops to actually touch and see the various items. One item we bought unseen was a bathroom cabinet, it arrived yesterday in perfect condition.

Let’s hope all the other stuff arrives in one piece, even though it’s ‘local’ mishaps can happen.

The plumber gave us a price and will source all the various trades needed, removal of everything and their disposal is included in the price

One ‘Bathroom fitter’ we saw gave an outrageous price then said he’d be happy to call round when we had organised the labour!! we would need to hire the skip and he could only do , weekends, strangely on FB he was highly recommended.
Goodness knows what he was going to do when he was here.

We are pencilled in for the actual work in 4 weeks time, just waiting on the vanity unit to arrive from Europe.

Speaking from bitter experience (plumbers here as I write) forget about “hidden” or boxed in anything.
It costs an arm and a leg at the time, looks lovely but costs the other arm and the other leg x years down the line when things need fixing or replacing.
Bring back the high cistern and lavatory chain I say.

I went to a local 'bathrooms and kitchens' firm and after a free inspection they came up with 3 suggestions, print-outs and sketches complete with estimates.
Ask several local firms, they all give free estimates.

Good luck with your project.

I wanted a new bathroom last year. I got loads of quotes and hated the grey and beige too. I did find some lovely Italian tiles but they were so expensive!

I put the project on hold because I realised it would have eaten too far into my modest savings. Be prepared to spend a lot of money!

When I wanted my en-suite updated, the first thing I did was to visit as many bathroom showrooms as I could, - just to get ideas. Chatted with salespeople in each of these. I am too old to project manage any such work, so need to be assured that any project like this is totally project managed by the company I use. This means that they organise the days that people like the tiler, plumber, electrician, etc. etc come.

Looked at loads of catalogues. Started to get an idesa of design and colour I wanted. Future proofed, comfort height and rimless loo. Safety feature was to have a bi-fold door so that in the event that I do have a a fall, my body does not block entrance to the room.

I much prefer using local companies, and always ask around my different groups for recommendations.

So many people recommended one particular company that they are the ones we went with. Contacted them in the January, knowing I would want the work carried out May or June.
Man visited me, took notes on what I wanted/hoped to have, measured up my unusual shaped room and also asked at a week later I went to the showroom, and he showed me on the computer a couple of designs. We agreed on one, the went round the showroom picking the items, a few days later the costings were sent to me together with those diagrams.

Once all agreed we booked a date for it to happen.

And here's an interesting use if tiles - very striking!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202407/medium-75798-1000022280.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202407/medium-965894-1000022279.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202407/medium-85884-1000022278.jpg

Look at these ideas!
I know one is a hallway but just look at this fabulous terrazzo!

Don't use DOLPHIN, horror stories from there!

You can use a company to do the lot, or you can buy the suite you like and get a plumber in.

I don't know your ages but if you are ding this regardless, then it would be a good time to think about the future!

I suggest a 'comfort height' toilet, they are built higher than usual and means that you won't need one of those disgusting plastic high toilet seats the council offer you! My mum has one, looks just like a normal toilet but is higher and much easier to get on and off!

Secondly. if you have room for a separate shower, make sure it is level access 'just in case'.

Lever not twist taps.

Flooring - now there's a conundrum! I had an adapted wet room, and they put in this Altro, non slip flooring that they use in all hospitals etc. I slipped on it, and it is horrendous to try and keep clean as it is 'gritty'. Always looked filthy! You can get other anti-slip flooring nowadays so I'd try there if I was able to do change anything.

Good luck, let us know how you get on?

In our experience the best thing you can do is find a trustworthy, recommended plumber with a team, the rest will follow from that. There are sadly plenty of rogues around, get three quotes at least and be prepared to wait for someone decent.