Browse Forums Bathrooms and Laundry Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 4May 03, 2010 6:35 pm I find them about the same. Are you looking at putting something in that ppl will think is expensive and fancy? Have you tried the tradelink site? I find sometimes the cheapest brand will have a model that looks brilliant and expensive without the tag RHI - BALDIVIS PERTH 2005 Bought/Finished WA Housing Centre Home 2010 Building the Benchmark with REDINK Homes in The Avalon 2013 Building the Michigan with Cont3nt Living In Highbury Estate! Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 5May 03, 2010 8:41 pm I perceive Fowler to be more upmarket, but not sure if that's just my perception??? Our previous house was built by Mirvac (we bought it completed) and they had Fowler toilets & bathroom basins and overall the house had a pretty high level of finish. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 6May 03, 2010 9:02 pm Probably caroma ..... we have a beautiful caroma toilet in our current home Is any toilet beautiful? Or upmarket??? Why do you ask? Building on an acre in Macedon ......one day. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 8May 04, 2010 7:34 am mummagoose Is any toilet beautiful? I think that after this Caroma Junior 200 Connector toilet: This Caroma Leda Wall Faced toilet is pretty attractive: As it appears I'll be spending an obscene (by my standards) amount of money on my new house, I want to try to get fittings that people don't think are too cheap and drag down the tone of the house when I need to sell up & enter the retirement village. I'm now thinking that cheap plastic Caroma toilets are used in so many sub-standard public loos that Fowler will seem more upmarket. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 9May 04, 2010 10:27 am oooh cyberman .... that is my "beautiful" toilet in the 2nd picture!! Building on an acre in Macedon ......one day. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 10May 04, 2010 12:52 pm Cyberman - I think that it isn't so much as the brand that looks more expensive - it is the actual style of toilet. I always think that close coupled suites look better then the toilets that you can see all the workings look nicer. But we bought ours from Bunnings - they cost around $360 for the loo and they look just as nice as those Caroma ones that you showed IMO. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 12May 06, 2010 8:29 am I don't think there would be much "brand" difference between Caroma and Fowler. Both make good suites and this is not an area I would be looking to up spec. Maybe spend the money you are saving by buying these brands on the bath or the tap fittings. Don't buy bathware from Bunnings. It is not good quality and will not stand the test of time. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 13May 06, 2010 9:57 am Melrich Don't buy bathware from Bunnings. It is not good quality and will not stand the test of time. That is not my experience. In my first home I had a Bunnings standard loo installed - was there for 7yrs until I sold it, not one single problem ever. We also did one of our rental properties up and completely stripped the bathroom. Redid using all Bunnings supplies - 5yrs later and three separate families later still standing up beautifully with not one problem. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 14May 06, 2010 10:04 am Forgive me for not reading this whole thread but They are both GWA company brands, as is radiant, stylus, starrion, irwell and more. if you check out www.source22.com.au and click on product specifications, you will be taken to a list of PDF files. Click on toilets and you will see every brand they make. The Icon range of suites by Folwer is probably their best. They have a lot of choice though. "I never learned a thing until I finished school" - Unknown "You can get anything accomplished, If you don't mind who gets the credit" - Ned Hay Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 15May 06, 2010 10:16 am kyton Melrich Don't buy bathware from Bunnings. It is not good quality and will not stand the test of time. That is not my experience. In my first home I had a Bunnings standard loo installed - was there for 7yrs until I sold it, not one single problem ever. We also did one of our rental properties up and completely stripped the bathroom. Redid using all Bunnings supplies - 5yrs later and three separate families later still standing up beautifully with not one problem. I have never used Bunnings home bathware and in fact would never have had an opinion on them but for the recent renovation we did. We were originally going to buy our toilet suites (two bathrooms) through Bunnings because we did not think they were an item worth spending a lot on. We had 3 designers through and got quotes from 4 or 5 plumbers. Every single one of them advised us against buying any bathware or tapware from Bunnings. I did do one "heft test" and no doubt the Bunnings toliets were very light compared to the others we looked at. We were also advised that the Bunning's porcelain was far mor porous that better quality porcelain and that it would discolor quite quickly. They do sell Caroma and other brands but I am not sure what their prices are like. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 18May 06, 2010 11:53 am Oh well I can definitely state that since we have actually used some products from Bunnings they were fine - like anything I suppose it can depend on the item..... Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Caroma or Fowler - upmarket 20May 06, 2010 8:28 pm As someone said before, they are both from the same 'company'. I would say Caroma's components seem to hold up to the test of time better than Fowler, for some reason Fowlers older cisterns always had problems, not sure if thats been corrected after the merge. Best thing about Caroma is you can still get parts for most of the older loo's. Fowler are more expensive for toilets, for what I don't think aren't any better looking, but I do think they have some less boring basins. If price is an issue, I'd also consider Kohler. Some of their loo's are coming in a bit under Caroma in pricing and are still a good quality toilet. Of all the brands I deal with Imperial are the most likely to jack up. Nothing wrong with their china, just the internals are hell. Possumchops Now the proud owner of 3.7acres of Serenity. Colour selection completed! Soon to go to council. I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105532 Anyone built with Fowler Homes? Feedback? Especially any things concerning or negatives? Have heard some horror… 0 9290 |