Importing Sanitary ware from Germany

thebackbar

Hello,

I'm considering importing my sanitary ware from Germany for the house im building. However my plumber has expressed concerns about the fittings etc ! Has anyone on this forum imported sanitary ware from Germany, did it go okay ?

Thanks

baby builder

I did! I imported hansgrohe showers and taps, geberit frames and duravit toilets etc. Anything I bought, Davys and other bathroom shops in Ireland also stock. Water pressure needs to be checked and the fittings are just converted from mls to inches - but this should be common enough considering they are big name brands.

thebackbar wrote: »

Hello,

I'm considering importing my sanitary ware from Germany for the house im building. However my plumber has expressed concerns about the fittings etc ! Has anyone on this forum imported sanitary ware from Germany, did it go okay ?

Thanks

K.Flyer

Generally no issue with main brands, adapters are available for odd size pipe connections.
As mentioned above, taps and shower valves etc for the German market generally operate at higher pressures than you get in your average Irish house, so unless you have a system pressurised with pumps you could run into trouble.

lownhard

Got one load from well known German shop. All went perfectly. Got another shipment en route as we speak. They even looked through my order and identified two incompatible parts before shipping, and refunded. Excellent service. Half the price of shops here.

LIFFY FISHING

It's the exact same stuff you get here but with the savings.
The sanitaryware is the exact same regarding sizes, ( Ireland is a tiny market for any sanitaryware company, so nothing is made especially for here).
The brassware will be made for a pressurised system( minimum operating pressure typically 1 bar), and fittings will be metric, thats not a problem either, because if you go to a local distributer it come to them as metric aswell, brassware converters are sold in all plumbing stockists.
Armitage Shanks sanitaryware is made in the far east, and when Shires were in buisness theirs came from Turkey and Poland.
Be under no illusion 99% of sanitaryware is european/ asian so you wont be going wrong.

air

Can someone pm me a few recommended German suppliers? Was about to pull the trigger on a Geberit wall hung from a German eBay shop.

murphaph

German plumbers actually "speak inches" too ;-) For example, we have to provide and I quote a "1/2 inch threaded tap" on our standpipe for the house builder during the construction phase.

tedimc

air wrote: »

Can someone pm me a few recommended German suppliers? Was about to pull the trigger on a Geberit wall hung from a German eBay shop.

Could I get a PM also please?

Wegian

lownhard wrote: »

Got one load from well known German shop. All went perfectly. Got another shipment en route as we speak. They even looked through my order and identified two incompatible parts before shipping, and refunded. Excellent service. Half the price of shops here.

I'd appreciate a PM with vendor recommendations, please

lownhard

Company I used has the same name as an international news agency. And it is a good shop but the Germans call it a "bad shop"

air

Cheers, found the link in another thread on this forum.
http://www.reuter-shop.com/

Wearb

lownhard wrote: »

Company I used has the same name as an international news agency. And it is a good shop but the Germans call it a "bad shop"

Bad being German for bath, I think.

Wally Runs

I used the above in 2009 and cannot recommend them enough. We went through the on-line shop, arranged to visit them (just out side Düsseldorf) and went through the list. They made recommendations for swaps (same/similar designs but cheaper etc).

The visit was worth it, as we got too see the stuff and well play with it. See the finish and feel of the taps and so on. Picked up a few extra odds and ends e.g. toilet brushes and other accessories. They also stocked more brands in one place than the Irish equivalent.

It was all done through English, and they also advised us on what stock levels they had and when we could get delivery. So we changed some shower trays, as the ones we wanted were not in stock and we could see what they had available etc. There were no issues with fittings. There were some shower waste traps that had to be sourced locally. I cannot remember why, might have been to do with the rooms orientation?? Either way small peanuts.

It was also a nice break from the build.

Now, to be fair we did give the Irish Suppliers a chance to meet the prices etc and they could or would not. The difference was too great for us to buy locally. Things may have changes since 2009.

Best of luck

tedimc

Wally Runs wrote: »

The difference was too great for us to buy locally. Things may have changes since 2009.

Out of interest, what type of saving? 30 - 50%?

Would the trip over be mandatory do you think - or if I was getting 4/5 sets of the same item, would we get away without it?

Also - is delivery expensive?

Wally Runs

tedimc wrote: »

Out of interest, what type of saving? 30 - 50%?

Would the trip over be mandatory do you think - or if I was getting 4/5 sets of the same item, would we get away without it?

Also - is delivery expensive?

First up this was 2009. How much you might save depends on what you are buying. So we were buying Villeroy & Boch and Duravit, which might be on the higher end here in Ireland, but mid range in Germany? Also the wall mounted toilet fittings were much cheaper and the choices wider. I would guess if you are buying budget fittings the saving would be less. We also got some German brands we would never of heard of.

The point of going over was because we wanted to see the stuff and feel it. It is hard to judge which is the 'better' toilet seat by price and photo. The flights mid week were not expensive.

The delivery for us was by pallet, so they advised us how best to fill a pallet to save on delivery costs. I do not think it was very pricey.

Finally, and I think this no longer applies we did not pay VAT in Germany, but in Ireland through the builders (13.5 as opposed to 19% at the time)

tedimc

Thanks Wally Runs.

Yes, I'd go for the better ranges also as I agree the savings on cheaper stuff would probably be minimal.

Wegian

tedimc wrote: »

Thanks Wally Runs.

Yes, I'd go for the better ranges also as I agree the savings on cheaper stuff would probably be minimal.

Is there much benefit in going for the more expensive ranges?

I have done very little research to date so looking for general feedback from those who have been through the process

spleonar88

lownhard wrote: »

Got one load from well known German shop. All went perfectly. Got another shipment en route as we speak. They even looked through my order and identified two incompatible parts before shipping, and refunded. Excellent service. Half the price of shops here.

Could you pm me details of the website please? Be interested go hear how you get on?

tedimc

For what it's worth - my second delivery of stuff is due to arrive today.

Couldn't be happier with the first delivery. I got some geberit frames, duravit toilets and hans grohe showers from them. All perfect.

I got one rain shower, cost around 350 odd - see the exact same one in a large tile showroom in Dublin for 1700+

spleonar88

Hey, that is good to know. I am in a similar position myself, but just wary of ordering parts for taps and showers etc? Are they generally easily installed by Irish plumbers? I am assuming so, but I am not an expert in this area at all. If you could PM me the site, it would be great.

tedimc

PM'd you there.

From what I can see all the components have arrived with imperial threads/fittings so there should be no problems.

harlley

Could you please pm me details of the website as well. Thanks.

BLUEOAK

Could you please pm me details of the website as well please - thanks a mil.

k123456

I have often seen taps etc on Aliexpress, wonder are they rubbish or OK

example

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/OKAROS-Kitchen-Faucet-Brass-Black-Baked-360-Degree-Rotation-Single-Handle-Vessel-Sink-Hot-And-Cold/32769724820.html?spm=a2g01.8286187.3.129.99o1Be&scm=1007.14594.83532.0&pvid=b1e9307b-0dd7-4de0-8bf6-04d78c6a5e15

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Pull-Out-Kitchen-Faucet-Black-And-Chrome-Finsih-Dual-Sprayer-Nozzle-Cold-hot-Water-Mixer-Bathroom/32746420933.html?spm=a2g01.8286187.3.159.99o1Be&scm=1007.14594.83532.0&pvid=c3911478-6356-4a26-8ea2-4ad706b164e1

air

I buy off AliExpress a bit but it's a total lottery.
I got some sink mounted soap dispensers from there that were fine on arrival and were solid stainless steel but corroded badly within a few months and fell apart. They were very poorly constructed.
I replaced them with a high end name brand one and an ultra cheap €2 plastic one from eBay. Both of those have outlasted the AliExpress ones with no apparent issues.
In general the quality of mechanical products from there is poor in my experience. Things like bearings etc are cheap but their tolerances are atrocious. Corners are cut to make a price point.

tedimc

harlley wrote: »

Could you please pm me details of the website as well. Thanks.

BLUEOAK wrote: »

Could you please pm me details of the website as well please - thanks a mil.

I'm not sure if I can post the web site here, but have a look at this post for the same site:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=97666627&postcount=7

My second delivery arrived today and all good. The only thing I would say is that be careful with the size of your order. You can get a lot onto a single pallet (my first order was 4 toilets, 4 frames, 4 showers, etc.). My second was 1 toilet and a bath tap..........postage was the same.:rolleyes:

FrankGrimes

Renovating and extending at the moment and putting in entirely new plumbing and sanitary ware. Very interested in buying from the German sites referenced here and on other threads (e.g. the one named similarly to a large news network).

Move-in date likely to be March, is it best to keep an eye on deals as to get value it tends to be once-off special deals, or generally just good prices compared to local options? Lastly, what are the questions I need to ask, requirements to specify so that our plumber ensures everything is compatible with the German products? E.g. is there a requirement to have a pressurised system (will need to ask if our system will be pressurised or not)?

Nuggy4

I'm currently doing research on importing sanitary ware also. If anyone could pm me info regarding same I'd be extremely grateful Thanks a million!

JH29

Same - would love to get some names PM'd but also some feedback - what not to do etc. Thank so much

fanzhiyidan

Hi All,
wondering if anyone has imported sanitary ware / cabinets etc. recently?

BLUEOAK

Yes - I would still recommend them. I got the recommendation from this thread when I was installing a new shower for my mother 2 years ago. I am finishing a bathroom and kitchen at the moment in my own house and bought a shower and kitchen tap before christmas - kitchen tap installed and happy out with it. I ordered the Hansgrohe Talis S2 single lever kitchen mixer chrome. Shower should be installed once bathroom is tiled. Good service - delivery 4-5 day approx.