ᐅ Recommendation for Plumbing Suppliers in the Greater Cologne Area

For our new single-family home construction, we are considering outsourcing the entire plumbing service from the general contractor and managing the bathrooms ourselves. In this regard, we would like to gather information on which plumbing partners are suitable in the greater Cologne area. There are many "specialists" in this field. Finding a good balance between price and performance is important to us.

Perhaps someone has had a positive experience with a company.

Since a suitable company may not necessarily have a bathroom showroom, it would also be helpful to know where we can visit a large exhibition to get ideas.

What we are looking for is a high-quality bathroom setup, without it necessarily having to be the latest designer sink from the newest collection (and the corresponding additional costs).

Initially, we considered ordering plumbing fixtures from an online retailer like R..... and then just hiring someone for the installation; however, the general contractor said this could be risky, as who would be liable if the externally purchased toilet breaks during installation…

R.Hotzenplotz schrieb:
For our new single-family home construction, we are considering separating the plumbing work completely from the general contractor and managing the bathrooms ourselves. In this regard, we would like to find out which plumbing partner would be suitable in the greater Cologne area. There are many “specialists” in this field. Therefore, we find a good price/performance ratio important.

Perhaps someone has had good experiences with a particular company.

Since a suitable company might not necessarily have a showroom with bathroom displays, it would also be interesting to know where we can get impressions in a large exhibition.

What we are looking for is an upscale bathroom design without necessarily going for the latest designer sink from the latest collection (which would come with a correspondingly high price).

At first, we also considered ordering the plumbing fixtures from an online retailer like R..... and then later just contracting the installation; however, the general contractor said this is risky because who would be liable if, during installation, a toilet purchased elsewhere gets damaged....

On one hand, you want a good plumber, on the other hand you want to save money by buying materials online.

You will quickly realize that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find a good one this way. We have a construction boom, so you should be glad to get a plumber who actually coordinates well with the other trades.

I would recommend leaving everything with the general contractor and requesting a quote for upgraded fixtures, then negotiating the price accordingly.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:
On one hand, you want a good plumber, but on the other hand, you want to save on materials and order them online.

Admittedly, that was a consideration. However, it was already dismissed—primarily due to warranty issues related to installation damage. I fully agree with what you wrote about the construction boom. Therefore, we need the all-in-one solution.

The general contractor himself recommends separating the plumbing work if you deviate from the standard. His suggestion was to come to him with an independently requested plumbing design and compare the prices. However, he did not seem very confident that he could then offer a cost-effective solution.

R.Hotzenplotz schrieb:
Admittedly, that was an idea. But it has already been dismissed—mainly because of the warranty issues related to installation damages. I fully agree with what you wrote about the construction boom. That’s why we need the all-in-one solution.

However, the general contractor (GC) recommends separating the plumbing part if you deviate from the standard. His suggestion was to get an external plumbing plan drawn up and compare the prices. However, he didn’t seem very confident that it would be affordable.

What exactly is the standard? Using Keramag instead of Villeroy & Boch? Or choosing structural measures like a rainforest shower instead of a regular one?

I find such a statement hard to accept. His plumbing can handle the “standard,” but everything else should be done by an outside plumber (?). That seems like a strange approach.

Lawyers, showers, and so on are indeed important. We don’t want a standard bathroom.

R.Hotzenplotz schrieb:
Lawyers, showers, etc. are definitely important. We don’t want a standard bathroom.

Sorry, what kind of response is that?
Right now, everyone is getting a shower lawyer – whether that makes sense is another question.

Therefore, you need to base your decisions on your own shower needs, not on what others have or what is more expensive or considered higher value than what you have in your rental apartment.

You’re not aiming to build a show home where extras are installed just to sell the builder unnecessary add-ons, right?!

Showrooms: To find out what you really want, you should visit _all_ the showrooms within approximately 100 meters (60 miles) around you (okay, within 50 kilometers (30 miles) in a big city is enough)!