Best place to buy bathroom, blocks, floor & general stuff?

cormie

Hey folks,
Just posting for a friend who needs to install:

• A new bathroom suite (they want something that will last 20 years, so cheap plastic baths are out of the question), but something that still looks half way decent, easy to keep clean and is affordable
  
• Tiles: redoing tiles etc too
  
• Wooden floors: They need laminate as they have dogs and this is apparently best at withstanding the nails and scratching. I know laminate isn't as good as solid wood in terms of durability and lifetime, so something good quality that won't curl etc. Will also need skirting, beading etc.
  
• Wall: they need to heighten a wall and will need concrete blocks, cement etc
  
• They have a family member doing bits like tiling, plaster work, skimming, possible wall bond and 30ml insulation board.
  
• PAINT: They'll need to repaint the whole place and do a bit of filler patch work etc
  
• Wood: Some home made shelving etc might be needed

Can anyone recommend where to shop for all the above that will be good value (maybe a trade place with a public counter?)

I know the likes of Woodies etc seem overpriced on things like this as they are mainly consumer based and the likes of Right Price Tiles, Des Kelly too?

Looking for somewhere close to D5 that would be a good place, preferably if they have Saturday and Sunday opening hours too but I know a lot of the trade places would be closed at the weekend?

Any feedback would be great

drunkmonkey

We have wooden floors in nearly ever room, mix or semi solid and solid, I had to refinish one of the last year as it was a girls room and was hocked from heels but turned out great, dog while he was alive was alsways in the kitchen on an engineered floor and he done no damage to it, he did chew the hell out of the kitchen chairs while he was teething. With the solid and semi solid you can always shave them down a few mill if they get wrecked but would take a lot of abuse to destroy them.
Laminate is laminate, just not a fan espically when you can pick up and engineered floor for less than a decent laminate.

Blocks, cement, that kind of thing, get them in one of the places close but they might take back excess if you don't use it first ask them. Not major amounts to be saved unless your buying a lot.

Bathroom stuff, I'm still bamboozled at the prices espically at high quality items, everywhere seems to have unheard of brands and sonos seem to be pushed as the high quality. There's serious haggling to be done, I knocked 30% off the wall unit, sink and tap, got the rain shower down from 450 to 300.
Had to get a wall hung concealed cistern, ended with with Grohe brand and there accessories for 250 from eBay, couldn't even get a look at them here for that price. Picked up a Villeroy & Bosch toilet and seat for the same money as a sonas brand one.

Still have to get a mirror but looking at the prices I could make my own for 50 compared to what's selling for 200/ 300 in the shops.

Use google chrome with the auto translate and go to megabad.com I think they ship to Ireland, also check Amazon and eBay and U.K. Websites.

cormie

drunkmonkey wrote: »

We have wooden floors in nearly ever room, mix or semi solid and solid, I had to refinish one of the last year as it was a girls room and was hocked from heels but turned out great, dog while he was alive was alsways in the kitchen on an engineered floor and he done no damage to it, he did chew the hell out of the kitchen chairs while he was teething. With the solid and semi solid you can always shave them down a few mill if they get wrecked but would take a lot of abuse to destroy them.
Laminate is laminate, just not a fan espically when you can pick up and engineered floor for less than a decent laminate.

Thanks a lot, I prefer solid myself, but seems laminate got the best feedback here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057662818

Blocks, cement, that kind of thing, get them in one of the places close but they might take back excess if you don't use it first ask them. Not major amounts to be saved unless your buying a lot.

Thanks, forgot a friend works in Roadstone, getting 300 blocks for about €195 delivered I think.


Bathroom stuff, I'm still bamboozled at the prices espically at high quality items, everywhere seems to have unheard of brands and sonos seem to be pushed as the high quality. There's serious haggling to be done, I knocked 30% off the wall unit, sink and tap, got the rain shower down from 450 to 300.
Had to get a wall hung concealed cistern, ended with with Grohe brand and there accessories for 250 from eBay, couldn't even get a look at them here for that price. Picked up a Villeroy & Bosch toilet and seat for the same money as a sonas brand one.

Still have to get a mirror but looking at the prices I could make my own for 50 compared to what's selling for 200/ 300 in the shops.

Use google chrome with the auto translate and go to megabad.com I think they ship to Ireland, also check Amazon and eBay and U.K. Websites.

Thanks again, ended up finding a toilet and sink for €50 second hand, almost perfect other than a tiny nick on the toilet. Only noticeable if you're looking for it really. Looking for a 1500mm bath, they are pretty rare, best price so far was in Heiton Buckley in Robinhood insutrial estate, it's €150 (can't remember if that's inc or ex vat)

Other than the above, paint seems to be similar between places like B&Q, Woodies and then builder providers too.

Heiton Buckleys seemed competitive for wood and Right Price Tiles job lots seem to be good value if you can find a tile you like

Tobin15

Right Price Tiles are all 'seconds' so what you would end up with is piles of waste tiles from having odd tiles to incorrect sizes, colours etc.

As for bathroom items Bathshack seem to be the best in the country, order in sterling and save roughly 20% on the prices in the cork store and 40% on prices of items in stores.

Cheapsuites.co.uk are good too for vanity units, good quality and good prices.

cormie

Thanks a lot, not sure what you mean by seconds, picked up a few in RPT and was told to make sure they are all the same batch number from the job lots and once that's all good, there should be no problem? Are you saying they get the tiles that don't pass a certain quality check from the manufacturer or something, so the quality ones go to the more expensive stores and RPT get the lower quality ones?

Tobin15

cormie wrote: »

Thanks a lot, not sure what you mean by seconds, picked up a few in RPT and was told to make sure they are all the same batch number from the job lots and once that's all good, there should be no problem? Are you saying they get the tiles that don't pass a certain quality check from the manufacturer or something, so the quality ones go to the more expensive stores and RPT get the lower quality ones?

Yeah basically that's it, ones that don't pass quality checks go to RPT and various other discount retailers. Now you might get lucky and all the tiles are ok and you don't notice any difference but from what I've heard from tilers and a guy I know at geotiles in Spain that's how it works. A lot of the RPT tiles comes with a yellow line around the pallet to indicate failed quality, sometimes this is marked on boxes other times it's just the pallet wrap.

I can only assume the laminate and other stuff is similar but I don't know.

cormie

Interesting, wasn't aware of that, but it sounds like it could just be hear say too?

Got sorted on the bathroom stuff from donedeal and a friend who was renovating their bathroom (turning ensuite and main into one big one and replacing everything, great timing ).

The only thing bought new was the bath, 1500mm one needed, got the best price in Heiton Santry, €135 inc vat for a steel one

kifi

Just wondering if ordering sanitary wear from Germany, is there any differences in plumbing to note in terms of issues that might arise when installing here in Ireland? Thanks