So for our next visit in a few weeks I plan to refit the bathroom upstairs with a bath + overhead shower, likely try to insulate the exterior walls too. I’ve been searching for bath designs suitable & will obviously need to run piping, waste etc.
Looking online the best range and prices I’ve seen so far are via Leroy Merlin, with the bath being delivered because it would come from a third party, listed on their website. Does this ring warning bells for anyone, and is there another supplier you would recommend? I’m in 71, so don’t want to drive to the far side of the country in order to collect a bath.
Thats normal for LM, they are only a showroom and not stockists for all the sanitary wear they have in their expos. All my sanitary fittings came from a specialist tile and bathroom fitting shop here and were collected by the workmen doing the work but they may have a delivery service for the public but obviously you might have to pay. There are some very nice specialist shops about and not that much more expensive when you look at the quality.
I’m looking at Aubade right now - there’s a branch in Autun, and although their basic double-ended bath is almost 200 euros more than one from LM (which IS actually stocked by them) they have a showroom and it has a 7 year warranty. And there is something about buying local that I prefer.
How is it that bath wastes are north of 100 euros!
Not had good experiences with LM. I tried to get some tilt and turn windows from them but at the last minute they said they didn’t have them opening in the direction I wanted them to.
So went to the store and found 3 items that suited me in a bargain buy pallet. So I bought them but took me half an hour to get through the checkout because the computer wouldn’t accept the lower price.
On another occasion I bought a long reach hedge trimmer there. They said the only one they had was the one on display so they took it down and boxed it for me. However, whoever put it on display must have thrown away all the documents and instructions for it because they were missing, but they said they would send them on to me. Last I heard of them and never seen them.
Yet again, (I must be a sucker for punishment) I wanted a 30 litre hot water tank. No room here for anything bigger, but the one on display was a shorter, fatter model than what I wanted. Never mind, they had my exact requirement in stock and if I would pay there they would give me a ticket to take round to the warehouse. After waiting with others for half an hour a man came out and loaded into the back of my car…the short fat one, the only one they had, he said. I gave up and took it with me but I needed an expert to mount it as, of course, it wouldn’t fit my original mountings.
Sorry to go on, but thought you should know.
OH, just thought, sometimes their award winning inefficiency works to advantage. Back in the '90s, on the way through France on one of our regular trips here, we called in at their place north of Rouen for a chainsaw. There was one on special offer, a McCullough, so we took it to the checkout and she said there is a mistake. This model has had a further reduction. Even then there was a wait for the computer to take their word for it though.
Leroy Merlin is tried and trusted by us… kitchen and bathroom stuff
Likewise LaPeyre… also kitchen/bathroom and made to measure shutters and entrance door.
I’m not sure what counts as fancy, but it was an ordinary pop-up waste from a named brand like Grohe or some such (I forget). Tempting to but the waste here except for compatibility concerns. Will certainly buy the mixer/robinette here.
Fancy chrome would be one on display for a roll top bath etc. Just took a look and even the names you mention are circa €64 ish. Still expensive though but I have to come to terms that covid caused most prices to rise by 60+% or maybe the Ukraine war or maybe something else
I’ve used Hudson Reed taps and fittings for our last three bathrooms over the past twenty years and most recently for everything in our downstairs toilet and walk-in shower room - unfussy, contemporary designs, decent quality chrome and sizeable discounts if you’re buying a group of things.
A lot of the EU sourced traps and wastes sold in the UK come with some form of adapter to UK pipe sizes. UK sourced mixer taps can often be made for 15mm pipe so you might need an adapter but baths in both UK and France are for 22mm pipework so no issue there.
Good point about pipe sizes. Our maison has 15/16mm (not certain) pipes everywhere, from the cold water feed coming in to the feeds from the ballon to the rest of the house. I brought over the taps for our kitchen and picked up adapters for them in the local brico.
Looking on Amazon, I can get a reasonably reviewed (200+) deck-mount bath/shower mixer for <£60 so that’s likely how I’ll go.
Just had a wander through the plumbing side of Leroy Merlin, can get a pop-up waste for 40 euros, but every review ranted about leaks! I can see this is going to be interesting.
Out of interest - how different is French and English waste sizes?
French waste sizes are accurate mm O/D sizes. UK is a nominal I/D but pipe class determines wall thickness so O/D’s vary, talk about making it hard work and if thats not bad enough push fit and glued pipes are also different diameters.
It certainly put up the prices in my new house for tiles, sanitary fittings and roof tiles I can tell you, luckily not too over the top but I know since 2022, that prices have gone up a great deal yet again and so have the cost of new build around me.
This model has had a further reduction. 
