Hi there
Anyone had any experience of a local bathroom design/fitting service? I desparately need a remodelled bathroom, and want someone to design and then fit it for me - with as little hassle as possible! I know Dolphin offer such a service but have heard mixed reports of them.
Any advice much appreciated.

I've had good, sound advice from Martin Haydock, from Martin Stuart Interior Design, 292-294, Abbeydale Rd S7 1FL Tel: 0114 258 2462

He's a nice bloke with a sound and flexible attitude to your ideas and budget.

Tell him that a Business Network International member recommended him, he should guess who I am if you tell him my sheffield forum name "tymr"!

Hope that helps.

Originally posted by clogginchris
I know Dolphin offer such a service but have heard mixed reports of them.

We had a really bad experience with Dolphin - purely at the quote stage!

Got the hard sell and all that business and they would not even produce a design until we signed up!

Even worse it was cash up front! I was amazed at this - I would have happily paid for the materials but would always recommend keeping something back as an incentive for good workmanship. All tradesmen I know are confident enough in their work to accept cash on completion, which alone gives confidence!

hiya - dolphin were absolutely terrible - my bathroom is tiny and the first quote the salesman (an uglier version of geoff capes) gave me was for £19k - which when he saw the look on my face he was able to offer an immediate 50% discount plus another 15% if I signed up there and then - the goods were nothing special and he was rather off-putting having an enormous great rip in his trousers!

My second attempt at getting a nice bathroom was with MFI who did a nice design and promised me it could be done before xmas. I was told I'd have a survey done within a week to make sure all pipework etc was ok. That took a month. On the day the contractor was due to be at my house at 4 he phoned to say he was running a little late and arrived about 6. He had the gall to tell me he had been in the pub with his mates,didnt want a cup of tea as he had been drinking and I could smell beer on him!!! He told me he had forgotten all his paperwork and could he come back monday - which I agreed to but he failed to turn up - obviously as a result of the drink! I cancelled the order

I finally got the bathroom of my dreams from Jeff Heaton, an independent (corgi registered) plumber who turned my bathroom round so it looks spacious and its all top quality italian porcelain - I am so very pleased with it - its exactly how I wanted it. He was clean and tidy and did everything he promised to do,. I would recommend him very highly to anyone
let me know if you want his details

Loxely Bathrooms were good. Fitting service was superb. Never without a loo or a means to wash!

Whoever you go with make sure it's not Dolphin. A complete bunch of Charlatans, they'll just charge you thousands for a shoddy sub-standard job.

Your best bet would be to find a good plumber who can design and fit your bathroom for a reasonable cost. I know they're not technically a designer but if you find a good one then they'll know what works and what doesn't in a bathroom, and they're not going to make things up that are actually impossible to achieve as a lot of salespeople do!

I am the owner, along with my brothers of a plumbers merchants established in 1929 and situated on Barber Road, Commonside, Walkley.

Whilst we supply bathroom suites, showers and central heating, we don't fit the goods ourselves but rely on tradesmen we have known for years. That is, we pass on an awful lot of work to these guys and they usually fit goods our customers have purchased from our business. Thus, I can highly recommend the following but must stress that they are likely to be quite busy.

Our business wouldn't recommend them if they weren't up to the job!! Therefore, I enclose:-

Direct Building Services - Pete on 0771 344 2839 or Simon 0771 296 5866. Based on Penistone Road, these guys have recently refurbished some of our own showrooms;

Bathrooms By Design - Rene on 07761 435611. He is based in Walkley; and

D & F Plumbing on 0777 6042 825. David fitted a suite in one of my previous houses (although he does have a tendency to talk to himself!).

I hope this is of some help.

Thanks everyone - the advice on this forum is also so helpful! You've confirmed what I had heard about Dolphin, so I'll definitely go for one of the independent people suggested.
Thanks again.