Importing Building Materials, kitchen, bathroom, etc

rosullivan

I am renovating an old house and building a new extension onto it. I have hired an architect and he is to draw up a construction spec and get a few builders to tender for the job on a fixed price contract.

I have a friend who is building a house by direct labour and bought their bathroom (sink, toilet, bath, shower etc) in Germany over the internet and had it shipped to Ireland. I have another friend who had their kitchen made in Spain and had it shipped to Ireland. In both cases, even after shipping costs, they saved a fortune (thousands) compared to buying the materials in Ireland.

My questions:
1. Is it worth doing this for everything in the house i.e. getting as full a spec as possible from my architect and then buying it all in Germany over the internet (or even going there for a weekend with the architect)?

2. If I do that, will it annoy potential builders and cause them not to tender or to inflate their prices i.e. do they make a chunk of money on materials?

3. Has anyone else here done this on a grand scale e.g. buying all their building materials from abroad and importing them? I presume if the stuff is coming in a big container, it might even make sense to buy insulation, pipes, etc from abroad?

archtech

Building Materials such as insulation etc should be fit for their use here in Ireland. Ideally they use have an Agreement Board Certificate, which states they are suitable for use in Ireland. Irish climate and methods of construction vary from that other parts of the world, so not all materials are suitable for Irish construction.

With things like kitchen units, tiles, bathroomware etc there would be no problem, sourcing them from counties within the EU (no duty/customs to be paid) many are sourced there anyway.With items sourced elsewhere you may have to pay customs on them.

muffler

archtech wrote: »

Building Materials such as insulation etc should be fit for their use here in Ireland. Ideally they use have an Agreement Board Certificate, which states they are suitable for use in Ireland. Irish climate and methods of construction vary from that other parts of the world, so not all materials are suitable for Irish construction.

With things like kitchen units, tiles, bathroomware etc there would be no problem, sourcing them from counties within the EU (no duty/customs to be paid) many are sourced there anyway.With items sourced elsewhere you may have to pay customs on them.

Not sure what the present situation is but there used to be different size fittings for copper piping sourced in N.I. and UK.

d2ww

Any chance you could share the names of those companies, rosullivan, am looking at <SNIP> for baths etc. just have to figure out the shipping.
d2ww

rosullivan

d2ww wrote: »

Any chance you could share the names of those companies, rosullivan, am looking at <SNIP> for baths etc. just have to figure out the shipping.
d2ww

I don't know the names of the shops in Germany and Spain that my friends used, but i will find out next week and post here.

CJhaughey

muffler wrote: »

Not sure what the present situation is but there used to be different size fittings for copper piping sourced in N.I. and UK.

Situation is still the same, Irish pipe fittings are a unique size.
AFAIK the UK rounded up and Ireland rounded down, so they are not compatible.
The continent use metric of course.
Saying that it is possible to get metric fittings here.

Coolermaster

I built a new house 2 years ago and got 3 pallets of stuff from <SNIP>.
It was all top notch stuff, <SNIP>, sinks, toilets, bath. Including the shipping it still worked out at 50% of the Irish prices. Everything came incredibly packaged, being Germans, they do things right. Not a single thing was missed. The only thing that worried me was the fact you have to transfer your money into their account. This is quite normal in Germany but of a bit of a walk on the wild side for me. Still everything worked out very well. As an example we went for the wall hung toilets, for that you need a steel frame. We were quoted 350 Euro for the <SNIP> in Cork. The exact same one came in at 97 Euro from <SNIP>.

ps. Got the taps and shower mixers online, all <SNIP> from <SNIP> in Berlin. Also really cheap and good stuff.

Hope this helps you.

d2ww

Thanks for that, Coollermaster, it really makes you wonder how Irish suppliers can justify their prices, or do they even try!!
d2ww

BreeVdK

Hi Coolermaster,

I am just looking at <SNIP> website and wondering if you have listing of what you bought as we are going for wall-hung units too, its hard to know from the site what everything is.

Thanks.

Ps. How are the wall-hung units going? Any problems? Looking back, would you have put in traditional floor up units?

Coolermaster wrote: »

I built a new house 2 years ago and got 3 pallets of stuff from <SNIP>.
It was all top notch stuff, <SNIP>, sinks, toilets, bath. Including the shipping it still worked out at 50% of the Irish prices. Everything came incredibly packaged, being Germans, they do things right. Not a single thing was missed. The only thing that worried me was the fact you have to transfer your money into their account. This is quite normal in Germany but of a bit of a walk on the wild side for me. Still everything worked out very well. As an example we went for the wall hung toilets, for that you need a steel frame. We were quoted 350 Euro for the <SNIP> in Cork. The exact same one came in at 97 Euro from <SNIP>.

ps. Got the taps and shower mixers online, all <SNIP> from <SNIP> in Berlin. Also really cheap and good stuff.

Hope this helps you.

snellers

I have found using any of the web translator services seem to make sense of the sites (well enough to work out most of it!) - i typed website translator into google and tried the first one - worldlingo......doesn;t cost a penny unless you want their more advanced services - translated the info pretty well!
haven't used the german sites to buy yet but when i need to my plan will be to work out the main requirements (baths/showers..etc) - then e-mail them asking what other fittings i need (you can be guaranteed someone there will be able to speak english!)

ircoha

the above is from the charter: yet a number of references to companies seem to be creeping into threads.
Sinnerboy has been very careful not to mention the company when talking about different membranes, (maybe it was just during Lent):)

Just wondering what is allowed..

in passing re German website in this thread: nice name: <SNIP>

Cheapfainn nach bhfuil se huafásach?

sinnerboy

ircoha wrote: »

in passing re German website in this thread: nice name: <SNIP>

means Megabath . its a crap name in German too , according to my Teutonic workmate

Do-more

I lived in Germany for a year and the differance in the price pf sanitary ware is sinful. As alreadt pointed out in the thread wallhung WCs are particularly cheap when compared to Irish prices.

The big DIY chains regularly do "flyers" with various special offers I remember seeing a wall hung WC c/w cistern and metal mounting frame for less than €50!

re: kitchens I was in a house recently which had a custom made hand painted kitchen installed from a company in Co. Louth. not very good IMO, cost €50K! I reckon you could fly over Polish cabinet makers put them up for a few weeks, pay them well and do the lot for less than 10 grand.

d2ww

Just to update this thread, Got my stuff from <SNIP> last week. 54 items ordered and 54 items delivered including a bath and curved shower doors which I have to admit I was surprised arrived in one piece!!
All in all a positive experience, although ploughing through the site trying to match items up when your a novice takes forever.
As mentioned above, I was a bit nervous about sending off the cash first given the recession, but it all worked out ok.
Another good site is <SNIP>, and it's in english too which makes life a little easier.
d2ww

Slig

How did everything work out RE plumbing. Do all the pipes connect?
I dont see a problem with furniture but for windows etc make sure that the elements ordered are to the size on site and not just the initial window/door schedule or plans as built dimensions can be different.

Tester46

d2ww wrote: »

Just to update this thread, Got my stuff from <SNIP> last week. 54 items ordered and 54 items delivered including a bath and curved shower doors which I have to admit I was surprised arrived in one piece!!
All in all a positive experience, although ploughing through the site trying to match items up when your a novice takes forever.
As mentioned above, I was a bit nervous about sending off the cash first given the recession, but it all worked out ok.
Another good site is <SNIP>, and it's in english too which makes life a little easier.
d2ww

That's great to know- thanks

iamlegend2008

Hi

I had almost the complete house fitted with bathhroom stuff from <SNIP>. They are a UK based company and only deliver to the UK so I had so arrange my own onward delivery to Ireland but even after conversion to sterling an transport, the savings were about half of what I would pay locally.

I have no association with the company other than being satisfied with their service.

d2ww

Slig, met with the plumber today and he didn't see any problems arising. I do however have some <SNIP> taps which will only work with a pressurized system, so you do have to figure in the extra cost of a suitable cylinder if getting these.

Heatherview

Hi
The way things are in the building trade at present you will get great value( buyers market ) flash the cash it talks on all building materials, Shop around. Save you spending cash forward, storage,hassle,if anything went wrong on imported deliveries where do you go? the local man is up the road if you have aproblem

In shopping local save a few jobs?
Heatherview

conor2949

Hi all,

Thats very valuable information and is a great source of information for those of us about to embark on our house building projects.

Could I make a suggestion that all those links are included in the sticky in this forum which is for the inclusion of links for reference materials, suppliers, product information etc.

it would be a pity for this sort of info to get buried in the archive.

Keep up the good work!

Conor2949

Curious Geroge

Guys, thanks for all the info supplied here and wondered if anyone could tell me the best way to avoid the fitting issues when buying from the german and uk websites provided. Also, will piping purchased in ireland be ok with all these ? Will the sewage piping be an issue for bathroom suites ? Just trying to make sure I have all the angles before i go fwd..

On another note, is it worth travelling/buying abroad for roof tiles, electric cabling, security locks/alarms, doors and windows, gutters and fasia ? Has anyone dealth with any off these companies that can be recommended.

Thanks for your input..

RKQ

Curious Geroge wrote: »

On another note, is it worth travelling/buying abroad for roof tiles, electric cabling, security locks/alarms, doors and windows, gutters and fasia ? Has anyone dealth with any off these companies that can be recommended.

Sweden is good for timber windows and doors - triple glazing is standard and prices including importing via lorry is very competitive. Security locks/alarms, doors and windows, gutters and fasia might be worth buying abroad. Spain is good for tiles etc. Italy has cheaper stoves, stairs, leather sofa's etc. It might be worth considering.... plus a bonus holiday included!

selfdiy

Hi RKQ,
I'm in the process of looking for windows at the moment. Have you seen or used any of the Swedish windows. Is there any companies you could recommend?

Or has anybody else experience of importing windows from abroad, any problems, gotcha's to watch out for...

Thanks...

Dr. Nick

Thanks for the links. Did a quick compaison on a <SNIP> shower with <SNIP> bathrooms and <SNIP> in Cork. <SNIP> price €2495 (reduced from €3k), <SNIP> price €1490 delivered.
This is for EXACTLY the same specs, same items nos. (eight different items that make up the full package) etc.

Tester46

iamlegend2008 wrote: »

Hi

I had almost the complete house fitted with bathhroom stuff from <SNIP>. They are a UK based company and only deliver to the UK so I had so arrange my own onward delivery to Ireland but even after conversion to sterling an transport, the savings were about half of what I would pay locally.

I have no association with the company other than being satisfied with their service.

Hi, I read your post about ordering from plumbworld in the UK - how did you organise transport from the UK to Ireland? Who did you use?

Thanks.

Dr. Nick

Having been around a few 'exclusive' bathroom and tiling places yesterday (you know the type of place), they are definitely on 200% plus mark-ups. These businesses are going to be in trouble soon, they're not going to be able to maintain the customer base they had.

Example 1: exactly same tiles 40% to 60% more expensive compared to a local supplier.
Example 2: <SNIP> stuff online as outlined in post my above - they're totally exposed.

They need to be smart in how they reduce their prices and maintain their exclusivness. The Tiger is dead.

conor2949

<SNIP>

<SNIP> 35kw wood gasification boiler <SNIP> - 1,648 euro
<SNIP> controller - 272
Delivery (1 pallet) - 412
Total - 2,332 euro delivered (including polish vat of 22%)



Price from Irish supplier -

<SNIP> 35kw wood gasification boiler <SNIP> - 2804 euro (ex vat)<SNIP> controller - 410 (ex vat)
Total -3214 (ex Vat)
Total - 3,889 (inc VAT)


Difference - €1,557 euro.



How can you argue with that?

Slig

selfdiy wrote: »

Hi RKQ,
I'm in the process of looking for windows at the moment. Have you seen or used any of the Swedish windows. Is there any companies you could recommend?

Or has anybody else experience of importing windows from abroad, any problems, gotcha's to watch out for...

Thanks...

The biggest "issue" with imported windows is that most (if not all) open inwards which rules out the use of curtains. Also, as I mentioned previously, if the on-site built dimensions are different than the window schedule then you could have problems.

Something I'm not really aware of is humidity levels. If the timber is imported from Sweden etc. has it got a different humidity level?

Dr. Nick

<SNIP> is a great site, but it seems you need to put everything together, item by item. Anyone found a quiker way of getting a shower 'package' incl. all item necessary?

Heatherview

Hi Dr Nick
No easy way as material content design etc is your choice. You will first of all quantify all the materials you require because personal choice is what you require. Go from there get product names, designs, type etc

There is a bit work in it
Heatherview

DC1

I know there are huge savings to be made on a rake of building materials by shopping on-line, but how do you know that you are handing over your money to a genuine supplier ?

Are there any websites that rate, for example the various European and UK plumbing warehouse sites, so you can find out actual experiences, and any dodgy sites to avoid ?

mountain

I went into a plumbing supplier in cork last week,
with a list of items that we need for extension, explained that I could buy cheaper in UK or Germany, but that i would prefer to keep the money local,
got a very good price from them, not as cheap as the UK, but money is staying local, dont have to worry if something is wrong or broken, and have a place to go back to if there is a problem.

I dont want to start on a "we have been ripped off for years" discussion,
if you are purchasing, at least give the local supplier the chance to get as close to the uk prices.

xtraa

hi mountain
I'm in cork too and now doing the same. Could you please let me know which supplier you used?
Thanks

lollipop08

i just found an irish web site selling all things plumbing and bathroom - and tiles too.
<SNIP> - - it must be new as i didn't see it when I was looking to do my 3 bathrooms this summer -- pity as some of the prices are very competitive. not sure if there are other irish equivalents - anyone?

gizmo555

Slig wrote: »

The biggest "issue" with imported windows is that most (if not all) open inwards which rules out the use of curtains.

Why? I can only see it being a problem if you wanted to have the windows open but the curtains closed, which would seem odd to me.

I have inward opening tilt & turn windows with curtains and certainly so far as I'm concerned it's a non-issue.

aboyjacksie

iamlegend2008 wrote: »

Hi

I had almost the complete house fitted with bathhroom stuff from <SNIP>. They are a UK based company and only deliver to the UK so I had so arrange my own onward delivery to Ireland but even after conversion to sterling an transport, the savings were about half of what I would pay locally.

I have no association with the company other than being satisfied with their service.

Hi can i have contact details for delivery company you used thanks mil?

Poor Uncle Tom

Ok, listen up!

Since this thread has been resurrected I have tidied it up, removing all the company and product names as well as the web site lists.

All such references should be kept to PM, thank you.

Joey the lips

Importing plumbing and bathroom fittings from abroad.....


Fire away... Just remember 2 things...

1, Irish fittings are not metric so will have to be adapted.

2. Low pressure in ireland is not 0.5bar its lower so its 0.2 bar

In a typical bathroom thats gravity feed this is the problems that occur

Basin. Tap is metric so will require imperial conversion. Hot and cold tap will be very slow...especiall mono mxr

Toilet: Toilet will take ages to fill...Will also require metric to imperial conversion

Bath. Taps with a diverter will struggle to stay open. they will also require imperial conversion

Shower: Pump and convesion

Infact put simple...There is about 300 euros extra in labour provided the plumber gets it right....

That european suite does not look that cheap now...

If there is a pressurised system in the house the cost will reduce



Having said all that....Most of the toilets imported into the country now are high pressure and require the ball valve to be changed.....


I personally would not import and i am in the business years...Having said that i buy simple easy to replace stuff...However if i were to buy branded stuff and i could buy it cheaper abroad then maybe......

One last peice of advice...Shipping terms.... Make sure they are favorable as porcelaine or pottery as its callled does not like long journeys....

doniepony

Could anybody who has had a positive experience importing Plumbing and bathroom ware please PM the suppliers or the websites that they used as i am just looking into costings. Anything would be appreciated

Regards

SARAH ANNE

could u pm me 2 pls

Mossie27

Me too please?

B1rds

Can also be PM'd, just building would be interested in any advise on importing tiles etc

cuculainn

Hi

Could anybody please pM me also with names of companys used to import sanitary ware. Will be looking to do this soon

Thanks

Troy McClure

Can those who posted and have been through this, and have installed what they bought, PM me the site's they may have used.? Also did you encounter any problems as a consequence of the different fitting sizes ?

ewanalex

Hi can whoever is giving out the website names please PM me too? I realise i may be too late on this thread but ive only just spotted it:)

sotoole1

Joey the lips wrote: »

Importing plumbing and bathroom fittings from abroad.....


Fire away... Just remember 2 things...

1, Irish fittings are not metric so will have to be adapted.

2. Low pressure in ireland is not 0.5bar its lower so its 0.2 bar

In a typical bathroom thats gravity feed this is the problems that occur

Basin. Tap is metric so will require imperial conversion. Hot and cold tap will be very slow...especiall mono mxr

Toilet: Toilet will take ages to fill...Will also require metric to imperial conversion

Bath. Taps with a diverter will struggle to stay open. they will also require imperial conversion

Shower: Pump and convesion

Infact put simple...There is about 300 euros extra in labour provided the plumber gets it right....

That european suite does not look that cheap now...

If there is a pressurised system in the house the cost will reduce



Having said all that....Most of the toilets imported into the country now are high pressure and require the ball valve to be changed.....


I personally would not import and i am in the business years...Having said that i buy simple easy to replace stuff...However if i were to buy branded stuff and i could buy it cheaper abroad then maybe......

One last peice of advice...Shipping terms.... Make sure they are favorable as porcelaine or pottery as its callled does not like long journeys....

Just to help those who are in need of saving money on sanitary and plumbing fittings. The above quote by Joey the lips is 100% correct.
And if anybody wants any info on suppliers of high quality material pm me.
Most dealers in Ireland are English owned ,but I would say spend your €s in the Irish branches. And anyway if you dont compare dealers prices on material and barter with them you dont deserve the saving.
And if a dealer says the display price is final go elsewhere ,after time when the tills are low they will come around.

smokeyj

Hi can whoever is giving out the website names please PM me too?

paul127

Could i also get a pm of the web sites and any good or bad feedback thanks paul

cuculainn

Hi

I would appreciate it if people could PM me the links to the websites they bought from also

Thanks

Rock12

Hi,

Could you pls PM me the details also. Thanks.

Innish_Rebel

If people could PM me too I'd appreciate it...