Home DIY

With the 3 appliances, 4k I appreciate but 12k? I was thinking 7k or 8 at a push. My main issue is the jump from 6k when he's there and has seen it to 12k + VAT on paper. If I discuss a job for someone and, so long as the requirements haven't changed, my discussion and final quote don't have a 100% disparity..

As a person who has no real experience or knowledge on the subject I would have very big suspicions about someone who goes from 4k -12k. If you organise it yourself you might have more luck too. I will give my mates a text too, see if they can free a day or so. Cabinets you can do yourself. Gas and electrics, less so...

That was the first plan - do as much of it myself as possible apart from G&E / plumbing / plastering etc. But got swamped with work and now want something finished before mid August. Unfortunately it's not so swamped that I can spunk 12k+VAT on a 2 x 5 meter kitchen.

To be fair, appliances must be near 2k ey? so 4k would be very little. Talking to my pals now - they are asking if your boiler needs any work as that could be a reason for the price? I've had electrician pals do things you've mentioned and moving switch/socket was 50 quid mates rates, I did make them a decent cuppa and my walls are pretty much paper....

I agree it's a big jump especially after they've quoted £6k on the spot. It probably came across badly regarding the £4k, I just meant that materials alone on that project list could push near £4k, especially if they are adding 20% to materials which I know some building companies do.

If the list was organised more into a project timeline it would be easier to break down into components. I could see the electrical side being £1.5k, without a breakdown it might seem high but it's easy to arrive at especially as the trades are so busy right now. If you wanted it done in January you'd probably be getting keener quotes.

If you are looking for someone now to complete the work by mid August then it doesn't surprise me that you're getting increased quoted prices.

I think you were about right estimating £8k but you might find an extra £1k in additional stuff as you go along.

Well there's never a direct correlation between size and cost. You want a fair bit of electrics included in your price, which is never going to be cheap if you don't want some joker doing it. Timber worktops round a Belfast sink are not a 5 minute job, there's a fair chunk of tiling to do, full plastering means several visits instead of one big hit and so on and so on.
It all adds up. And if you want it done properly you've got to pay someone a proper rate - skilled craftsmen working for tea and biscuits and a pat on the head are hard to find.
4k is unrealistic, the jump to 12 is daft. 7-9 for a good job at a good price from a skilled worker who earns a sensible SE England wage.

Gave it a quick blast earlier, 10 minutes later had managed to strip 4 layers of paint off very easily. Impressed.

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Are you ply boarding your stairs?

Interesting...

I've done a few where it's tiled behind the pan with a wooden top and white glass (I.e. No green tint) painted on the back. That way you have a nice waterproof surface but you can lift it off, unscrew the wood and get access to the plumbing.

That sounds like a good solution. I don't suppose you have a photo of what the finished article looks like?

On Tapwell - we bought ours from http://www.badshop.se

We ordered via email as I don't think their site is set up to do UK shipping, but they do.

As @chrisbmx116 said the Tapwell site is awful.

Badshop service was good, although our big fancy shower head arrived tarnished - within the factory packaging so not Badshop's fault - and it took a while to sort out but they did get us a new one (and never asked for the old one back so I might clean it up and sell it).

Sorry for long delayed reply but I never spot mentions and only just looked at this thread. You've probably all bought stuff by now!

Black kitchen taps - this is the one we went for, not cheap but it is very nice and good quality:
http://www.tradetaps.com/abode-at1193-atik-monobloc-granite-black.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw4dm6BRCQhtzl6Z6N4i0SJADFPu1nADV5Mvd-88JWtkwwHfmWh2RQ7D6jcVo4UNsrY8dVPBoC-afw_wcB

Ace!

What are your rental rates on the infra red thing?

Any suggestions as to what filter tap/system to go for? The Brita one doesn't seem to be made any more, from what I can find.

I do have a picture. In this case the mirror above is mounted on a 2x2 frame as there are some pipes in the corner of the room and the toilet is under a pavement so it's very difficult to chisel into the walls to hide pipes. I like the effect it has of reducing the depth of the shelf above the cistern. The metal flush button is a hans grohe item which is expensive but it helps to set a quality tone. I was asked to leave the toilet unsealed which is why there's a shadow gap.

It's a tiny room so I couldn't get a better angle. Actually the glass looks a bit green here but I have sourced white glass for other places.

Tip for making them is to cut a piece of hardboard to fit the space, check it fits and then take it to the glass supplier. So many mistakes get made by measuring for glass.

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I would probably go with replacing the plasterboard with tile backer board but that might mess with your budget. You need to know that the new tiles will bond properly to that surface.

Use Wedi board, the stuff is bullet proof. Will definitely mess with you budget though.

Good results, it's interesting that more recent paint cleans up less easily. I get similar results to this on patches of windows that has been previously stripped and painted, the victorian stuff just falls off down to the wood.

Thanks, that looks very neat.

Presumably we could make the edge of the wood flush with the edge of the glass for a more 'modernist' bathroom? Is the glass attached to the wood and / or sealed around the edges? Would it be suitable to do this in an area around a bathroom sink (to match the cistern cover) or would water get between the glass and wood?

Where there's a lot of water around you should seal it around the edges as you would normally with a mould resistant sealant of some kind. The wood can be flush with the edge, in this case it's a hardwood edge moulding on a plywood top under the glass. The glass is not fixed to the wood as it needs to be removed to gain access to the screws, the screws are kind of unnecessary in this case. The glass slides out from under the mirror though, so the mirror template was made after the glass was installed, the gap is tiny.

You can think of it as one big custom size glass tile so it can be lots of different thicknesses, colours, etched. I do fit quite a bit of stone in bathrooms too, but you could just replace the wood and glass with a piece of quartz/granite/marble. In this case there's a tiny basin in a green resin in the corner of the room, you can see the edge in the reflection. That was a pain to source and took 3 months to come from France. Which is why glass tiles and a glass top were chosen over stone.

Thanks. On another bathroom-related note, what do you think of Kohler taps and shower valves? The bathroom supplier I spoke to at the weekend dismissed Crosswater as 'Bathstore' quality but suggested that Kohler was a bit better (and Catalano for the sink and toilet).

Argh. And I just received all the taps I ordered... maybe I will replace the kitchen tap with one from there...

I've seen the Kohler name around but never fitted them, I assume from the name they're German which usually means quality. Crosswater are the cheapest taps most bathroom fitters will recommend, those that I've fitted have been good quality, the chrome is a little thinner than the higher end stuff so it wouldn't last as long if you like to clean it with zif but they're ok. Having seen a few bathstore bathrooms I'd say Crosswater are a bit better than their taps.

With sanitary ware the quality is much less important, sinks and toilets shouldn't have too much wobbly casting in the porcelain but the advantage of quality taps is reliability of operation, durability and replacement parts. It matters less if you have a garden tap with a rubber washer but the porcelain washer/mixer type taps do need replacement parts over time.

It's tricky for me to give detailed advice on brands as I've not done a lot of modern style bathrooms. Mine are more of a crossover than full on modern, it does seem to cost a lot more money for either classic english fittings or full on modern ones.

I was impressed with how easy it was.

For the spindles, Will I need to invest in a smaller scrapper like this ?

I should be done by next week - I can bring it to work if you wanna pick up from there?

Better to get a contour scraper set, Hyde do one but it's out of stock on Amazon, Allway is another option. The type you've linked to are a bit of a pain, I have a few but use them least of all the scrapers.

That would be awesome.