Importing Building Materials, Windows, Sanitary Fittings, Tiles, Granite, Kicthens

dean1986

I have being going through the forums the past while checking out different posts on importing materials from abroad for your house. Most of the posts are very outdated. (08-10). I would love to get another going to get peoples opinions and advice on whats best at the moment and importing successfully.

I would also like to preempt in advance that I know importing materials is not the best for the local economy but I would just like to state 2 things.
1)Not all building materials are made in Ireland, your just cutting out the middle man and saving yourself money in some cases.
2) Not everyone can afford to pay the prices quoted localy but still need to get their house built without compromising on quality. (In most cases, a self build will over-run in cost so you have to do whatever is required to try stay within budget)

Some things I have noted are as follows.

Windows: Although you can get some great prices in Ireland, Poland/Sweden/Denmark seems to have great prices also (beating the Irish) There is companies that bring in on your behalf but you can get cheaper if you do yourself and get a local fitter to fit them (Half my family are window fitters for quite a big company in ireland

Sanitary fittings: Buying direct from germany online (UK is some cases) is meant to save a fortune, they are made there.

Kitchens: Buying direct from Spain I read in one post.

Tiles/Granite: Spain/Italy.

I was previously a building project manager so I have a good grasp of specs/regs.

Have you had success importing goods and did you save much money?

baby builder

I've started a new build - bought all bathroom fittings and kitchen sinks and taps from a German online company. Paid 15K for all branded stuff (4 complete bathrooms including a quarry cast bath and 4 fancy showers!) - cheapest price for exact same materials in Ireland was 36K. No problem with delivery (which arrived last week).

Will be very interested in this thread to see if there's any more savings to be made!

893bet

What website in Germany did you order off?

baby builder

893bet wrote: »

What website in Germany did you order off?

I ordered off www.reuter-shop.com

893bet

Seems expensive as hell to be honest!

dean1986

baby builder wrote: »

I've started a new build - bought all bathroom fittings and kitchen sinks and taps from a German online company. Paid 15K for all branded stuff (4 complete bathrooms including a quarry cast bath and 4 fancy showers!) - cheapest price for exact same materials in Ireland was 36K. No problem with delivery (which arrived last week).

Will be very interested in this thread to see if there's any more savings to be made!

Well done baby 😀! Yes substantial savings can be made, 50% in most cases for nice branded gear. I take it you just got the plumber to write up a list of everything, was there any difference in sizes between ireland and Germany? One thing I have read was be careful you have 1/1.5 bar pressure in the water. Were you waiting long for it?

dean1986

893bet wrote: »

Seems expensive as hell to be honest!

Most diffently is not when you are buying branded products.. Unless you have compared like for like in Germany and Ireland, 50% saving is not uncommon. Another company is megabad.com - I have a list of them!

Thespoofer

Hi Dean

Could you give me a couple of links to the window companies please ( PM if necessary ) as I'll be looking myself.

Thanks

Like this thread.

baby builder

893bet wrote: »

Seems expensive as hell to be honest!

893bet - it all depends on what type of finish you're going for - of course you can do four full bathrooms for 5,000 - and they'll be perfectly functional etc. same with kitchens. I wanted quality and when comparing like for like, that's the savings made. Go check with any Irish bathroom supplier.

Re the pressure - I'm a new build so we are putting in a 4 bar press pump - we also have a well so water charges aren't an issue!

I was waiting 5 weeks for the delivery (due to laufen stuff - everything else had 2-3 days as the delivery time).

I'd be very interested if people had made savings in importing tiles - so please share any info!

dean1986

Thespoofer wrote: »

Hi Dean

Could you give me a couple of links to the window companies please ( PM if necessary ) as I'll be looking myself.

Thanks

Like this thread.

I dont have 25 posts to PM and cant post any links/emails here until i have 25 posts , sorry

dean1986

baby builder wrote: »

893bet - it all depends on what type of finish you're going for - of course you can do four full bathrooms for 5,000 - and they'll be perfectly functional etc. same with kitchens. I wanted quality and when comparing like for like, that's the savings made. Go check with any Irish bathroom supplier.

Re the pressure - I'm a new build so we are putting in a 4 bar press pump - we also have a well so water charges aren't an issue!

I was waiting 5 weeks for the delivery (due to laufen stuff - everything else had 2-3 days as the delivery time).

I'd be very interested if people had made savings in importing tiles - so please share any info!

I am heading to spain next week so I might rent a car for a day to see what prices things are locally out there. Im the same as you, new build and a well. Will let ya know.

mel o

Dean1986, when you get to your 25 posts, I'd be really interested in your info about importing windows. We're just starting a new build and looking at prices now.

dean1986

mel o wrote: »

Dean1986, when you get to your 25 posts, I'd be really interested in your info about importing windows. We're just starting a new build and looking at prices now.

pop me your email by PM if ya want.

Thespoofer

dean1986 wrote: »

I dont have 25 posts to PM and cant post any links/emails here until i have 25 posts , sorry

No worries, thanks

dean1986

Thespoofer wrote: »

No worries, thanks

Pm me your email and I can forward everything. Same to anyone else.. I cannot send PM so just send me your email and I'll forward everything,

water-man

Hi,

I looked at importing windows from Poland. The price was very good. And I had seen them first hand in a house out there.

But in the end I didn't go for it. There where a number of reasons why not:

1) I was responsible for providing measurements - anything that didn't fit was my fault. They seemed to measure and fit windows out there a bit different so I wasn't 100% confident if my measurements would match.

2) Transport - If anything that happened to the windows during transport was my responsibility. I would have had to add insurance.

3) Transport - Getting a company to deliver to a remote area of Ireland = not cheap.

4) Unloading - Once the windows were on site I would have had to unload them. This = hassle and again if anything happens it's my fault.

5) Installation - Would a local window company install windows when I didn't buy from them? I never asked around but thought it unlikely. And considering every trade man I've ever met always complains about the work done before him I can only imagine what they would say about imported windows.

Just some food for thought.

WM

Gumbo

Just make sure they are properly CE marked for use.
They should also com with a Declaration of Performance.

petesy38

mel o wrote: »

Dean1986, when you get to your 25 posts, I'd be really interested in your info about importing windows. We're just starting a new build and looking at prices now.

+1 on that, at foundation stage and only 3 posts! Thanks in advance

SmolkoSK

Hi guys.

If you need anything imported Im building a house in Slovakia, so I can tell u websites, prices and ideas how much things coast over there. Also transport prices and stuff.

Regards

Daniel

BryanF

Hi welcome to the forum, please familiarise yourself with the charter thanks http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055036302

bexy_ie

Will be following this thread for sure! Am just starting the whole process and if we come across anything interesting I will post it.

Theimprover

Great thread and going to be keeping a keen eye on it as I will definitely be going down the route of importing my materials for my build especially if it is going to save lots of euros. I can remember importing windows a long time ago from a company call Megrame, there product was far superior and much cheaper than the biggest company in this country without mentioning the company by name. I also imported a kitchen for my in laws around the same time, the kitchen cost less than 6k at the time whereas a similar kitchen here was costing over 10k, can't think of the company but I will track it down.

Theimprover

Theimprover wrote: »

Great thread and going to be keeping a keen eye on it as I will definitely be going down the route of importing my materials for my build especially if it is going to save lots of euros. I can remember importing windows a long time ago from a company call Megrame, there product was far superior and much cheaper than the biggest company in this country without mentioning the company by name. I also imported a kitchen for my in laws around the same time, the kitchen cost less than 6k at the time whereas a similar kitchen here was costing over 10k, can't think of the company but I will track it down.

What countries did you import from ?

Has anybody imported window sills, surrounds, fire place, baths i.e stone products from China ?

Theimprover

[Deleted User] wrote: »

What countries did you import from ?

Has anybody imported window sills, surrounds, fire place, baths i.e stone products from China ?

Lithuania

Theimprover

@ Dean1986 sent you a pm with my email details as I would appreciate some of them links as I will be starting work on my house before the end of October.

Theimprover

Is there anyone that can tell me the best county to get engineered flooring from, even a few links would be great.

BryanF

I've deleted some posts , if your new please read the forum charter

Curious Geroge

Theimprover wrote: »

Great thread and going to be keeping a keen eye on it as I will definitely be going down the route of importing my materials for my build especially if it is going to save lots of euros. I can remember importing windows a long time ago from a company call Megrame, there product was far superior and much cheaper than the biggest company in this country without mentioning the company by name. I also imported a kitchen for my in laws around the same time, the kitchen cost less than 6k at the time whereas a similar kitchen here was costing over 10k, can't think of the company but I will track it down.

Megrame now have reps in Ireland so its difficult to import them direct from Vilnuis. If you can get talking to them it is possible but I should note that importing windows from eastern europe will differ, doors open out, not in, windows open in not out. You may be able to request but I did'nt try as cost of shipping now is high and the idea of any breakages to a single unit wipes out the savings you make.

Audioslaven

i bought Grohe gear from this crew a few years ago http://www.ssd-armaturenshop.de/

rampantbunny

Audioslaven wrote: »

i bought Grohe gear from this crew a few years ago http://www.ssd-armaturenshop.de/

Same here...buying from them now. A lot cheaper than local prices, plus cheaper on most fittings when compared to megabad or reuter-shop even.

rampantbunny

I've order in with Megabad at moment. Have had several emails over and back trying to sort out compatibilities between different items e.g. although they sell two items together (sink and vanity) as a combination deal, buying them separately and they've indicated the items don't match each other...bit confusing but I'm sure it will get sorted.

Just an FYI really that you should be prepared to wait a little bit and have patience to tease out issues when shopping abroad. Language is a bit of a barrier I think.
The Reuter-shop site is more user friendly and stronger at English language but didn't have some items I was looking for.

Eleni2015

hi all, I was looking to buy from Reuter-shop but was just wondering do the size of the bathroom/kitchen fittings suit Ireland?

lownhard

Eleni2015 wrote: »

hi all, I was looking to buy from Reuter-shop but was just wondering do the size of the bathroom/kitchen fittings suit Ireland?

Got first fix plumbing stuff from reuters (concealed mixers, wetroom drains, concealed cisterns) and was hassle free.

About to order all the rest from toilets to baths to showers to taps. 130 to ship a huge amount of stuff. Massive savings on the rip off that goes on here.

Put everything in a shopping basket and sit down with your plumber before ordering. I'm no plumber but I think most things can be adapated with connectors etc

Eleni2015

Thanks for the reply lownhard. That's good to know as the savings look to be huge. Good idea to go thru it with your plumber first. Thanks again

thebackbar

Has anyone bought lighting products from Poland ? they seem to be significantly cheaper there, but i need to find a company the ships to ireland

BoardsMember

I used megabad too a few years ago, as someone said, while the stuff on the aforementioned websites for bathroom stuff is not cheap, the equivalent in Ireland will frequently set you back up to 50% more. And their shipping rates are reasonable as long as you are buying a fair amount of stuff.

Someone recently recommended a builder from Northern Ireland. He also mentioned something about saving on VAT on some/all of the building materials. I don't remember quite what he said, and it was above board. Does that make sense to anyone?

BoardsMember

I used megabad too a few years ago, as someone said, while the stuff on the aforementioned websites for bathroom stuff is not cheap, the equivalent in Ireland will frequently set you back up to 50% more. And their shipping rates are reasonable as long as you are buying a fair amount of stuff.

Someone recently recommended a builder from Northern Ireland. He also mentioned something about saving on VAT on some/all of the building materials. I don't remember quite what he said, and it was above board. Does that make sense to anyone?