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#356187 - 09/11/2012 10:31 Good source for bath fixtures?
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
My wife and I are redoing our master bathroom after some flood damage. We're also finding how quickly prices add up.

Does anyone know a good online source for fixtures like faucets and such? Amazon has great prices on some stuff, and then it seems like other stuff is WAY overpriced in comparison.

Where should I go?
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#356188 - 09/11/2012 11:32 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Dignan]
Heather
addict

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 510
Loc: NY
Bath fixtures are something you have to go look at in person. What seems way overpriced is more often due to better materials and build quality if it's coming from the same manufacturer. Online is nowhere to go for these things until you've looked at them in person.

The best place to start to get an idea of what you're really looking at, is to find someone close to you who has redone their bathroom in the past 10 years. If you know any realtors, you might want to bounce any ideas you have off of them, since some things you'll get your money back on upgrading when you sell, and other things that you would consider an upgrade will actually be less valuable to the average buyer than a standard fixture, and what those things are vary wildly from region to region.
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Heather

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -Susan B Anthony

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#356189 - 09/11/2012 11:47 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Heather]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
while I agree with you in general, I've been seeing gross differences between online prices end in store prices. Frequently double the cost if you're talking about a specialty kitchen and bath store. That's why I am looking for someplace online to purchase the things I'm seeing in the brick and mortar world. Also, it's very difficult to find certain things in actual stores, like transfer valves and whirlpool tub faucets.
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#356192 - 09/11/2012 12:11 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Dignan]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
You're potentially going to save tremendously buying online, but Heather is right that seeing/touching in person is practically a must for these products. Online, practicaly everything remotely "silver" in color looks the same, where in person you'll see a wide variance in material finish and quality.

That said, faucets.com http://faucet.com is one place a friend recently saved some dollars buying a Delta touch kitchen faucet. Very nice product. That said, the week after she bought it I found a better price elsewhere online. smile

So first narrow your choices to a few products and then comparison shop like everything else. Don't overlook eBay.

The big box stores are only going to have basic builder-level products by the way. But you might find something you like there anyway.



Edited by hybrid8 (10/11/2012 04:36)
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#356195 - 09/11/2012 14:05 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Dignan]
Heather
addict

Registered: 14/01/2002
Posts: 510
Loc: NY
It also pays to look in your area for a building materials second hand place. It's amazing what you can find in those places, and the huge difference in prices from a new one, especially on high end products. This place http://www.greendemolitions.com/ is in Jersey buy you most likely have something similar in DC.
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Heather

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." -Susan B Anthony

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#356197 - 09/11/2012 15:06 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Heather]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
I definitely hear you guys on the "see it in person" approach. But purchasing this stuff in the store is cost prohibitive. Everyone I talked to in my area told me the same thing: go to Ferguson. Apparently this is a big kitchen/bath outfit with a full showroom with all the different product lines on display.

So I walk into the showroom and the first thing I'm greeted with is a display full of faucets. Great! Yeah, except each faucet was $1800! Fortunately I continued to wander towards the back of the store where they keep the "cheapo" Kohler and Grohe stuff. But the least expensive (and most popular, according to someone helping me out) faucet in the Kohler display was still $280, which isn't bad, but Home Depot had the exact same faucet for $175, and Amazon has it for $140.

The other problem I'm running into is that our bathroom has a whirlpool tub in it, and apparently faucets for these tubs are far less common than the regular shower/tub combinations. Home Depot, for example, had exactly three, each in a different finish, and none of them looked at all like what we wanted. That sort of forces me online for some of this stuff.


Edited by Dignan (09/11/2012 15:07)
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#356198 - 09/11/2012 16:33 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Dignan]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
re: the tub. You mean a soaker tub with a long faucet? Should be the same type of faucet on a Jacuzzi or whirlpool tub. Where we are those are very common because almost every new fully detached house (and most semis) have soaker tubs in the ensuite bathroom. Most "lines" should have a matching faucet for that application.

I see faucets.com also calls these Roman tubs. http://www.faucet.com/bathtub-faucets/c80012

The $1800 faucets you saw were probably smaller specialty brands right? I have a faucet sitting in my basement right now that I'll probably never use. I got it from my brother who removed it from a client's place when doing a reno. It needs a few o-rings and maybe a washer or two, but I looked it up online one day and it was also close to $2k. Nuts.

I've pretty much already decided I'll be putting in a Delta touch2o model when I start back up on the kitchen reno. http://www.deltafaucet.com/kitchen/details/9159t-ar-dst.html or the Brizo version (Delta's "high"-er end line): http://www.brizo.com/kitchen/solna/faucets/64020LF-PC.html The only negative is that it's only got a 5 year warranty and not Delta's other stellar lifetime warranty carried by many of their non-electronic products.


Edited by hybrid8 (09/11/2012 16:53)
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#356201 - 10/11/2012 02:31 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: hybrid8]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
Ok, phew. I didn't want to say anything, Bruno, but in your previous post and even in this last one, you mention "faucets.com" but then you linked to "faucet.com."

The reason I didn't want to say anything is that "faucets.com" appears to sell nothing but the lowest end stuff you can find. I'll check out "faucet.com" now because it looks pretty good...
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#356206 - 10/11/2012 04:35 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: Dignan]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
When I first mentioned it, I just knew it was "faucet-something" wink Then I got the actual link from a Google search, because I knew it was where a friend bought her kitchen faucet. I just checked out "faucets" - definitely NOT the site I meant. Hehe.

Classy. This would go amazingly well with mauve shag carpet in any bathroom:



Edited by hybrid8 (10/11/2012 04:38)
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Bruno
Twisted Melon : Fine Mac OS Software

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#356207 - 10/11/2012 14:57 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: hybrid8]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5549
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Originally Posted By: hybrid8
I've pretty much already decided I'll be putting in a Delta Touch20 model when I start back up on the kitchen reno.

$618 from Delta.

$389 from ebay..

$265 from Amazon.com

That gives a pretty good idea of how much markup there is on this stuff!

tanstaafl.
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#356208 - 10/11/2012 15:27 Re: Good source for bath fixtures? [Re: tanstaafl.]
hybrid8
carpal tunnel

Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
Doug the markup at MSRP is definitely sizeable, like with pretty much every brand and many consumer goods. But the links posted are showing different models - the Amazon one is the non-electronic (non-touch) prep version.

$389 at Amazon (via Google): http://www.amazon.com/9159T-AR-DST-Pull-Down-Featuring-Technology-Stainless/dp/B0062OF80K


Edited by hybrid8 (10/11/2012 15:29)
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