What bathroom products did you choose?

VJ · Nov 07, 2007 11:44 pm

Following Matt's 'What bricks did you choose - Show and Tell' topic, which is a very interesting, I wonder if I could ask:

What bathroom products (in particular, the bath tub, shower rose and toilet suite) did you choose and why?
Are they standard or upgrade?
Did you consider water-saving bathroom fixtures even if it would cost you more?

Here are our choices:

Newbury bath tub - due to the design. This is an upgrade.
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Fowler's Newport cube wall faced toilet suite - due to WELS 4 star rating, wall faced pan for easy cleaning & visual appeal. This is an upgrade.
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Alder's Alto Moda Duo Hand Held Shower Head on Rail - standard
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Stormy · Nov 08, 2007 7:39 am

Hi VJ,

May I ask if you decided on the square style basins to match the square bath as well? I haven't quite finished choosing my bathroom products yet, but possibly will be the similar square style...I'm still stuck on bricks!

VJ · Nov 08, 2007 1:11 pm

Hi Stormy,

Yes, we chose the square style basins and it's part of the standard inclusions.

Cookiemonster · Nov 08, 2007 1:52 pm

These are all upgrades..

We're going with the Caroma Caravelle toilet. We wanted to upgrade from the standard toilet which has a plastic cistern to a full ceramic one. The Caravelle is well priced and has a 4-star water rating:

Dorf Fluid Plus tapware for our basins:

Dorf Fluid tapware for the baths and laundry:

Dorf Myriad soap holder, towel rail, toilet roll holder, shower shelf:

Dorf Nutra shower rail:

First_Timer_Ray · Nov 08, 2007 7:23 pm

Ensuite upgraded to spa bath (different layout, and with spa), then upgraded the spa to this (instead of a single rectangular one) - it's called Ovelle Deluxe (white).
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Toilets were an upgrade (same for ensuite and WC) to the Fowler Regent - I liked the shape and it is one of the "smart flush" ones
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Bath in bathroom is standard
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Basins were standard - square but curved towards the back
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Taps were from the standard range - mixers.
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We were told that unless you are getting the shelves/soap holders in the shower/bath that need to be grouted in (old style) then they are added after tiling is done and we would be better off getting it done later ourselves.

Ray.

Michelle · Nov 08, 2007 7:26 pm

Ray….love that bathroom!

I’ve used those wall tiles (shower) in a project, they are very nice!!!

Are you doing something like that?

First_Timer_Ray · Nov 08, 2007 7:34 pm

Thanks Michelle. It's a pic of our bathroom but in the display. We have got cream/neautral tiles for the walls in the bathroom as we wanted to keep it nice and light, and they matched the floor tiles we are having throughout. We opted for a double row of those light creamy/brown small marble mosaics to run up the shower wall.
Our cabinets are parbury river cherry (so similar to what's pictured but may be slightly different shade) and the benchtop is parbury desert zepher (so light like the one pictured).
Our ensuite on the other hand is quite similar in colours to the bathroom above - not the same tiles but floor tiles are mid brown stone look, with dark brown wall tiles.

Ray.

Casa2 · Nov 08, 2007 7:39 pm

Michelle/Ray,

What ar those wall tiles (want to put them on my short list).

Thanks,
Casa

Michelle · Nov 08, 2007 7:39 pm

You house is moving ahead, all your bathroom selections sound great!

Will you be in for Christmas?

Michelle · Nov 08, 2007 7:42 pm

Casa2

Michelle/Ray,

What ar those wall tiles (want to put them on my short list).

Thanks,
Casa

Casa2….can’t give you a name, but they are very popular, you should be able to pick them up at most tile suppliers.

They are a gloss ceramic, in appearance to the GLASS tiles, without the expense.

First_Timer_Ray · Nov 08, 2007 8:01 pm

Doubt it'll be before Christmas - we won't get our bricks until next week at the earliest. But with the hold up we've had I would expect that we shouldn't have hold ups with other bits.. but then we're talking about builders. I just REALLY hope it's before the end of January so I get a chance to move and get it set up before school starts next year. Otherwise it may be a case of shift and dump...
Can't tell you the name but they are a slightly textured ceramic wall tile (not floor), and the supplier was Beaumonts but most tile places have the same/similar tiles to chose from.

Ray.

Michelle · Nov 08, 2007 8:05 pm

Typical teacher….knows everything!

You really do your homework; I’m more interested in how they look than a name.

Good for you Ray!!!

Thanks for the info on the name!
Move and dump…..not a good thought.

Hope it all works out for you.

VJ · Nov 08, 2007 9:57 pm

Casa and Michelle,

That wall tile was part of our short list, but because we decided to go for a chocolate porcelain floor tiles, we changed our wall tiles to a lighter shade.

Here is the photo that I took at Beaumont showroom.
The lighter shade is the Liberty Creme 200x400, while the darker shade is the Liberty Mocha 200x400.

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Kanin · Nov 13, 2007 9:31 pm

We're not building, but we renovated our old bathroom earlier this year. Pics below, and a run down of the products we used...

Toilet: Englefield Milano, mainly due to aesthetics, ie back to wall and no nooks and crannies for dust/dirt to collect. Hmm, must have been designed by someone who has actually cleaned a toilet

Vanity: Elementi wall mounted.

Basin: Porcher Acacia undermount sink: I like the square look of this and because the sink is curved you can fill the bowl to a good depth without wasting lots of water. And the undermount sink means you can scoop splashed water back into the basin so it's easy to clean.

Shaving cabinet: Vision cabinets. This is my favourite item as I can stash all of my stuff out of sight yet it's still accessible. I also got a power outlet installed inside so I can charge the toothbrush out of sight.

Bath: Decina modena. I picked this one as we were restricted to a shower over bath, and this tub comes extra wide so it's perfect as a shower base.

Basin & shower mixers: Grohe

Shower: Flexispray Satinjet Futura. Ah, a shower head that feels fantastic and it's water saving!

Bathroom heat/light/fan: Sunshine Ensuite. This was a replacement after the first brand we picked didn't cut the mustard. (Tip for the beginner: do your research and find out what extract rate you require for the size of your bathroom!) It looks much better than the previous one anyway. It's placed over where you dry yourself off so the heat is very useful.

Towel rail: This is non-heated chrome rail; we have a ducted heating outlet almost underneath it so the towels get nice and warm anyway when the heating is on. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

James · Nov 14, 2007 6:23 am

Very nice Kanin. Can I ask what the dimensions of the bathroom are?

It looks very similiar to the plan for our ensuite...without the bath.

Kanin · Nov 14, 2007 7:55 am

Overall dimensions are about 1580 x 3350. Not a huge space for the main bathroom, but that's what we had to work with.

The layout is much more efficient than what we had previously, and we managed to add a toilet. Old (left) and new (right) plans below... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

James · Nov 14, 2007 7:13 pm

Thanks Kanin - we are working with 2m x 3m ensuite and plan to have the same layout.

VJ · Nov 15, 2007 1:40 pm

Kanin,

I love the Grohe shower heads!
Unfortunately our builder doesn't use that brand. :cry:

But when we were with another builder, that was the brand that we chose.

Yak_Chat · Nov 15, 2007 1:57 pm

Kanin,
Hoiw much di your bathroom reno end up costing you and did you do any of it yourself or was it all by a professional.
Steve

Kanin · Nov 15, 2007 7:07 pm

Deep breath... whole lot came in at 20k. Eek :shock:

It's a little (ha!) more than we initially expected, but as you can see from the plans this was no replacement job; we had a complete structural changeover, replacement of flooring, straightening walls, new linings etc, and then there was the replacement of illegal plumbing and a new toilet installation, there was also removal of the old asbestos cement sheet.

I missed out on any DIY genes, but project managed the whole thing, did my own research & product selection and somehow(?) managed to get trade discounts. Had a great builder too which makes all the difference when attempting these things.

Three & a half weeks of inconvenience for many years of bathroom luxury