ᐅ Sanitary Fixtures Single-Family House New Construction Cost-Effectiveness

Hello everyone,

we are building a turnkey house and are now looking for attractive sanitary fixtures.
We are satisfied with the toilets included as standard by the builder. The rest could definitely be better 🙂 We have to source these fixtures through a specific specialized bathroom store. They had some items on display, but it seems we can order anything from major manufacturers, as long as it is not specifically made for hardware stores. However, we want to keep an eye on the price as well, so cost-effectiveness is important.

-Washbasins:
-For the main bathroom on the upper floor, we initially decided on two countertop basins mounted on the wall, under which we would place a countertop with cabinets. My wife had considered a double washbasin unit shown in the showroom, but it was very expensive. Do you have any advice on single versus double basins?
-For the guest bathroom, we plan to use the same standard countertop basin; it does not need to be fancy. Unless you have an ultimate recommendation for me 🙂

-Faucets: No idea why they are all so expensive at the specialist store :\ They shouldn’t be too small but also not too bulky. We initially chose some that we liked, but in my opinion the cost-effectiveness wasn’t great.

-Bathtub: We would like a 180x75 (or 80) cm (71x30 (or 31) inches) bathtub with the supply and drain in the middle. We found such bathtubs in the showroom with a minimum surcharge of 600 €.

-Shower system: The standard would probably suffice for the guest bathroom, where presumably only I will shower 🙂 For the main bathroom, we would like one with a rain showerhead, preferably surface-mounted. The only decent item in the showroom was priced 1,100 € more. That sounds like a rip-off to me.
Looking online, you can find cheaper options from major manufacturers, but I am worried that there might be a lot of plastic inside, which could mean it won’t last long. Recently on vacation, we had a seemingly nice hansgrohe shower, but it had a quite flimsy mixer :\ That’s not what we want.
A while ago in a hardware store I also found a nice rain shower system from a well-known manufacturer that reportedly contains no plastic and is made specifically for hardware stores, available for under 300 €.
Have you had any good experiences regarding price and quality here?

I think that’s it for now. I’m still grateful for any further tips or suggestions.

Thanks in advance 🙂

What exactly is the question now?
There is always cheap and expensive everywhere... and appearance also plays a role.
Check the relevant websites and find something suitable.
We don’t know your taste or budget.

Hello, you’re facing a dilemma common to every homeowner! The contract includes a good standard, and if you want more, you have to pay extra. That’s completely normal.

You also won’t experience a situation where you pay for your own materials privately and the developer or their contractors install everything. This also concerns warranty issues.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:

Hello, you’re facing a dilemma that every homebuilder experiences! The contract includes a good standard; if you want more, you have to pay extra. That’s completely normal.

In our (exceptional?) case, the standard was so outdated—post-war “worker’s housing” style (but not vintage)—that nowadays it wouldn’t even be acceptable for tenants in social housing. That was the point I found extremely unfriendly and absolutely unnecessary. I assume there are agreements between the plumbing and construction companies to ensure that homebuilders either upgrade the fittings or take care of the plumbing themselves. I can’t explain it any other way.

Could it be an option to install the standard fixtures in a way that allows you to replace the sanitary appliances yourself later on?

If you’re up for it. But I would only have it installed up to the angle valves/hose extensions. You can save yourself the effort of dismantling everything again and possibly having to fill in drill holes. Then just sell the standard parts on eBay.