Bathroom renovation - b&Q quote - realistic?

guessaname

Hi,

Can you somebody look at this B&Q bathroom renovation quote and suggest me if its realistic or not? I have read loads of negative comments about B&Q bathroom installations but the only thing I'm looking for is the after sales/installation services (withtin the guarantee period), B&Q says parts and labour are guaranteed for 5 years. In case of any leak or problem, B&Q will send a profeesional immediately to fix it. Is it real? Are there any other bathroom installation comapnies which do the job cheaper than B&Q, provide guarantee and respond to customer's problems immediately?

Can you please recommend me a good bathroom installer within Dublin area who can give at least 2-3 years guarantee (and honor it)?

Bathroom size : 1.6 x 1.8 meters
Quotation from B&Q for Euro 4700.

Work :
- Remove the exisiting bath,basin,toilet and tiles around the bath
- Replace with like-to-like bath,sink and toilet. No plumbing changes. (Supply and fit)
- Tile the entire bathroom (walls and floor) (Supply and fit)
- Fit bath screen (glass)
- Fit Triton 90 electric shower (requires plumbing and wiring - Supply and fit

Cost of material (Total : Euro 1400)
- Bath, basin and toilet including taps and waste Euro 500 (I was told there's an offer on some ideal or sdeal (can't rememner the name) baths)
- Tiles Euro 400
- Electric shower : Euro 279.
- bath screen : 94

Cost of labour: Euro 3300

I have an appointment with Homebase next week for deisigning my bathroom. Any ideas about Homebase?
Thanks
G

tribalwings

That's mental money. A friend of mine had a whole bathroom gutted, pipes moved and tiles everywhere for €2500 only 3wks ago.
Get prices off tradesmen, the quality of work and materials is far better than anything you will find in the likes of B&Q or Homebase

guessaname

tribalwings wrote: »

That's mental money. A friend of mine had a whole bathroom gutted, pipes moved and tiles everywhere for €2500 only 3wks ago.
Get prices off tradesmen, the quality of work and materials is far better than anything you will find in the likes of B&Q or Homebase

Do tradesmen normally give guarantee like B&Q and honor it? Would it be possible to give the details of the supplier/installer who fitted your friends bathroom?

clint_eastman

I spent over 8 months trying to get my ensuite units delivered. The people I dealt with in B&Q were fine to be fair, just there was a huge disconnect between them, their suppliers (and their suppliers), freight companies involved from the UK...an absolute disaster from start to finish. There was at least 8 deliveries because stuff was damaged or incorrect. All worked out tho as they sent some guys to install the units as a gesture (i hadn't paid for this as I was going to get my own carpenter to do it because^^^ their prices for labour are crazy!! Wouldn't worry too much about the quality, gloss finish mdf or whatever you go for, I'd suggest all of this comes from the same suppliers of the same suppliers to many of the companies you will be approaching....

guessaname

clint_eastman wrote: »

I spent over 8 months trying to get my ensuite units delivered. The people I dealt with in B&Q were fine to be fair, just there was a huge disconnect between them, their suppliers (and their suppliers), freight companies involved from the UK...an absolute disaster from start to finish. There was at least 8 deliveries because stuff was damaged or incorrect. All worked out tho as they sent some guys to install the units as a gesture (i hadn't paid for this as I was going to get my own carpenter to do it because^^^ their prices for labour are crazy!! Wouldn't worry too much about the quality, gloss finish mdf or whatever you go for, I'd suggest all of this comes from the same suppliers of the same suppliers to many of the companies you will be approaching....

OMG 8 months for the delivery! I should probably throw their quote in the bin now. Its really hard to find a good supplier/installer/tradesmen to do the complete job within the given timeframe. Websites like tradesmen.ie, Onlinetradesmen have loads of professionals but I can't employ them based on their ratings as anybody (incl. professional himself) can rate them excellent on the website even though some of them are crap.

I think the best way to find tradesmen is based on references from friends and boards.ie.

What about the other installers like classicbathooms.ie or ripples.ie? Are they any good?

PaudyW

3000 for labour sounds a bit much to me for that amount of work, bathroom would be cleared and new suite fitted easily in first day, i would get a couple of more quotes from different companys and try some smaller / indy company supplier, the price of suites will vary depending on choice but most places will have something to suit every budget, and i really dont know much about b&q guarantee but find it hard to believe they would cover parts and work for 5 years i presume the tradesmen are contracted in rather they direct employees of b&q, so they might change regular enough,

clint_eastman

PaudyW wrote: »

.... i presume the tradesmen are contracted in rather they direct employees of b&q, so they might change regular enough,

the guys they use are contracted in and not direct employees (in my experience)...

JMarshal

Yep, I'm afraid I agree with most of what is said here. The quote is overpriced, B&Q generally contract out and although they offer a guarantee, I don't agree that its any more than a local trademan.
Find a plumber recommended by people you know and they will always be willing to put right a leak should their plumbing spring one. Other than that all the goods are covered by B&Q's guarantee and warranties anyway along with the usual protection offered by law for quality of goods etc.
8 months is a ridiculous length of time to wait - even if they were manufacturing everything for you from scratch 2 months is about all you should expect 3 out the most.
B&Q are good on sales price, but they rip people off with quotes for installation - this is the second one I've heard about this month (the other was £4000 to install a £2,500 kitchen which would take a good tradesman about 1 day to install, 2 tops).

guessaname

What about the quality of the tub/toilet/taps in B&Q? Are they ok or its better to get from building providers or other bathroom suppliers?

dodzy

Dont forget to factor in the potential for new plasterboard. I've done a few and removing the existing tiles will most likely result in plasterboard replacement required. Not expensive material per sheet, but just consider it.

Eitherway, that price is absolutely absurd. You will definitely get a far better quotation than that. The warranty offered is a given; getting them back though can pose some problems

PMC999

guessaname wrote: »

OMG 8 months for the delivery! I should probably throw their quote in the bin now. Its really hard to find a good supplier/installer/tradesmen to do the complete job within the given timeframe. Websites like tradesmen.ie, Onlinetradesmen have loads of professionals but I can't employ them based on their ratings as anybody (incl. professional himself) can rate them excellent on the website even though some of them are crap.

I think the best way to find tradesmen is based on references from friends and boards.ie.

What about the other installers like classicbathooms.ie or ripples.ie? Are they any good?

Be wary of sites like onlinetradesmen.ie
I know for a fact that they allow tradesmen to remove negative ratings so you cannot trust any of the recommendations. If possible get a recommendation from a friend or work colleague but do not trust internet ratings. Good luck!

hils138

Hi there,

I am in the bathroom and tile business, all the tradesmen employed by B&Q are independent traders. B&Q put a percentage onto their prices. Most of the tradesmen will offer the same guarantee if you go with them privately. It is important that whoever you go for is fully insured. In answer to you question, I know both Classic and Ripples. Classic Bathrooms are a long established company with an excellent reputation who operate a showrooms. Ripples is a small family run business. Both are good options

Hope this helps.

knuth

Personal experience with B&Q: excellent.

Kitchen supplied and fitted ON TIME. Got refund for any of the left over parts. Came with 2 year warranty, have used it once due to washing machine moving and kickboard moving - both resolved.

Also sources complete bathroom bar tiles - all ok.

Was warned by millions of people that their stuff falls apart etc - I have not experienced it.

Regarding "tradesmen"

1). An absolute nuisance to get anything corrected that should of been done right

2). Guarantee? Lets be real folks, your guarantee from B&Q will be honoured provided you haven't done the damage. I can honestly swear a hundred times over that most tradesmen will try and wriggle their way out of fixing the problem without incurring a cost.

3). I would guess that B&Q might be around for longer than some tradesmen due to the economy.

Ps - ive had experience with b&q and tradesmen on multiple occasions
Pps - b&q is quite expensive, we got the kitchen / bathroom when there was a sale on