Ververka wrote:

I can see that with the taps and other fittings that it is probably
worthwhile paying extra to get good quality (although my experience with
the kitchen where a very expensive mixer tap failed after just couple of
years suggests this isn't necessarily guaranteed). I can also see there
is an obvious difference in the quality of various baths, although again
this doesn't always seem to be directly related to the price. However,
as far as the porcelain bits are concerned there really doesn't seem to
be any immediately discernible difference in quality between the cheapo
cheapo B&Q and Wickes stuff and the megga-bucks top-of-the-range
designer gear.

I have to say I subscribe to the Gospel according to Sarah Beeny, who
decrees that you should buy a cheapo suite and dress it up with decent
quality taps. I don't see there's a whole lot of difference in the
suites; certainly not enough to justify the huge variation in prices anyway.

A lot (all, probably?) of the sheds sell whole suites for an all-in
price which includes all the fittings, taps etc, and they won't let you
swap any component parts. However, all said component parts are
normally straight off the shelf, so there's nothing to stop you from
buying your extra sets of decent bath and sink taps together with the
set, and then some time later returning the crappy still-boxed originals
for exchange for goods-to-the-value-of (ie, without the receipt).

David