Owning your own home

Not going to go in until Sat as that's the first time mrs_com can go due to work so only have the panoramas I took at the viewing. Still the same, still empty, as far as I know. Wont be fully moved in for another month.

reserved... id be lying on the floor staring at my ceiling.

Congrats! That was quick!!!

lol

Don't do this, you'll start noticing lots of little cracks and before you know it you'll be fretting about having to have the ceiling replaced.

Bimbled about after picking up the keys, had a really nice late pub lunch in Highbury, read a good chunk of my book, went to mrs_com's work, hung out with the youths making paper chains and chatting til about 9. We then got on the overground to the new flat and lay on the floor for about half an hour looking at the ceiling and went home. Feels weird/good man.

so cool!

Where's a good place to buy a toilet and possibly a basin? Any ideas/tips?

Victoria Plumb.

Betterbathrooms

Bathstore

I was talked into saving a relatively small amount of money by buying Victoria Plumb taps. They are utter shit and a source of constant irritation to me, so based on that I will never shop there again.

Get Villeroy & Boch or Ideal Standard

Buy taps and shit from Screwfix or the plumb centre and save a fortune.

I agree the shit out of this.

I bought our bathrooms on a teeny budget, half Victoria Plumb, half Bathstore, the Victoria Plumb stuff is all utter shit, especially the fucking taps. Bathstore stuff is OK.

The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. Someone wise said that.

We got our stuff from Eddiz in Essex somewhere, a lot of similar stuff to Bathstore but a fair bit cheaper. I think they only sell to the trade so ask your builder nicely. I think we only threw away the catalogue last week!

http://www.eddiz.co.uk/home

Better Bathrooms was ok for us. Stuck with a Bristan shower tap though.

Thanks all. We're planning to make our own taps (well, get our plumber to make them) out of copper pipe, presuming we can find suitable in-line taps (like gate valves, but gate valves would wear out too quickly). We're also swinging towards making our own built in basins (again, our builder would actually make them!) out of marine ply and tile board then having them coated with micro cement, which would make them totally waterproof (and look like concrete, just without the expense). I came up with this idea and it turned out our architect had too, so I'm thinking great minds think alike.

Hopefully.

This means we might just need a toilet. We want wall hung and I'm wary of own brand WC frames/built in cisterns, so am looking at this, which seems a very good price:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/GROHE-1-13m-4-inch-Rapid-Frame/dp/B007RWS9H0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_60_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1E4CWSYEGQFRM8PW5P56

Comments noted on Victoria Plumb, but if we bought the actual pan from them surely they can't fuck that up?! Looking at this one, which seems incredible VFM:
https://victoriaplum.com/product/arc-wall-hung-toilet-inc-seat-wharc

Edit: Something similar at Better Bathrooms
http://www.betterbathrooms.com/toilets/venus-wall-hung-toilet

I guess the wider question is, I see it with taps, cisterns etc. But is there really much difference between cheap and expensive ceramics? The price difference is just huge.

Seem to be some good deals on V&B on eBay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VILLEROY-AND-BOCH-FOXWOOD-TALES-MRS-MOUSE-SEEDS-OF-KINDNESS-FT19-/321814802594?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4aeda830a2

But is there really much difference between cheap and expensive ceramics?

Not so much, but in certain lights you can see a ripple on my VP sinks that isn't there on the stuff I got later from Better Bathrooms. It doesn't bother me enough to change them tho.

GRP baths is different - go to a shop and touch and feel the difference between cheap and expensive. I had to build a full-on triangulated wooden frame to stop my cheap bath flexing. I would have been miles better off just spending another £200 on a nice one.

Thanks, that's good to know. For £20 extra it definitely seems worth going to BB not VP.

Something tells me we won't have a problem with our bath flexing!

Wait. Wut? I don't even.

Wait. Wut? I don't even.

Looks like a hot tub to me.

Car keys in the fishbowl time!

Cheap plumbing stuff is crap, V&B, Hans Grohe, etc is the only stuff worth getting if you don't want to be swapping stuff in 2 years, or constantly angry with your dripping taps. You can get bargains on eBay if you pay attention to it.

I got £750 worth of bog for £25, for example.