Japanese baths

[NoFakie 45]

Thanks Mr Wiggles, I hadn't seen that one.

I'll show it to our building company.

While I feel the are very trustworthy etc, I'm guessing it'll be a case of 'ah yes, but.....'

 

I'll let you know how the discount thing goes when they come back to me, if indeed it is transparent enough to work out the details!

 

Hope it goes well! You can't win every battle, perhaps not in inaka where folks won't be getting the same volume discounts, but you can at least afford yourself a wryer smile when they give it the "we're getting you a deal through our special relationship" spiel.

[snowdude 44]

We are getting some decent discounts on our bath basin etc and the toilets.

 

If we go with Housetec kitchem we will get a decent discoumt compared to if we just simply bought it ourselves.

 

If we choose a differemt make that our builder is not associated with then the discount will be smaller.

 

By this coming weekend we will make a final decision on what we will use/instal in our house.

 

Having so much choice makes it difficult to decide but we have narrowed it right down now.

[DumbStick 13]

How's your budget.costings going, snowdude?

On the up with temptations galore?

[snowdude 44]

How's your budget.costings going, snowdude?

On the up with temptations galore?

 

We have gone over our budget a little actually as we have decided to add more things or upgrade things all our own choice not pushed by our builder.

 

It is so easy to go ovet budget with many possibilities of things to add and upgrade.

 

Although we have gone a little over budget currently about 1 million it is still within a budget that we are ok with.

[DumbStick 13]

We upgraded our bath and kitchen for our initial main agreed contract, but have since upgraded again.

 

The thing I find interesting is how we are the ones pushing this, there's almost not "you should do this" from the building side. It's all coming from us, which is a good thing I suppose.

 

Good job we had about 20% in our mind to play with on top of the agreed amount.

 

This is getting to be the house thread, I'll have to resurrect that one!

[brit-gob 9]

snowdude, did you get fully transparent numbers re: bath kitchen costs, or was it all lost in a muddle of numbers?

Do you know the % of the showroom price basically in your costs?

[DumbStick 13]

Would be keen to hear that too, snowdude.

 

I met with the guy who apparently will be doing the "negotiating" today.

 

He was holding his cards close when I was asking about the 'buying it yourself' 50% discounts online etc.

Made sure he knew that I knew about the situation and was angling for as low as possible and not just accepting any old big number.

He mentioned that for their basic default stuff they use all the time, they can sometimes get things for as low as 30-40% of the full list price.

In the case of what we want, 50% would be 'kitsui'.

But I'm actually kind of glad he mentioned that number, because he knows I know about those numbers online. 60% would be fine mate, including your little cut!

What I say and know of course very probably will have absolutely no bearing whatsoever!

[Thunderbird2 0]

Id love to have a new modern bath in my place.

The one here is tiny, don't use it.

Would be great to soak in one every day.

[snowdude 44]

snowdude, did you get fully transparent numbers re: bath kitchen costs, or was it all lost in a muddle of numbers?

Do you know the % of the showroom price basically in your costs?

 

 

Yes we know exact prices for every single thing, that was a condition we asked for before agreeing to go further at the start.

 

And as it happens the company we are with were more than happy to give us a complete break down of actual prices against their discount prices for every single part of the house and I mean every part. That is anyway how they do it.

 

We have like an entire house parts list which shows each part number for every item used to build the house as well as kitchen make, etc, model number original price and their discount price with size, colour specs the lot.

 

Which is good as we have been comparing various makes for kitchens, baths, floor boards, doors, etc, etc to see the difference in prices, quality, etc.

[grungy-gonads 54]

OK so what % of the full list price are you paying for you kitchen and bathroom?

[SKI 15]

Would imagine that is very unusual, if not only because the industry seems to like its lack of transparency. Which may actually work in people's favour in some situations with a total combined price being brought down.

[NoFakie 45]

I dunno about housemakers but a local builder (komuten) will give you a detailed estimate for any building work.

Ours for the house was over fifty pages long.

We had a floor put in a loft space a few weeks ago and even that came to three pages.

[DumbStick 13]

Yes, if such details are forthcoming, I really want to know list price vs how much you pay for those units in terms of percentage.

 

[DumbStick 13]

And...why is it almost impossible to find much clear information on discounts people get on these things?

 

[NoFakie 45]

Half the battle may be knowing what to search for.　We didn't use a system kitchen or unit bathroom but I guess a large section of the market will be people refurbing apartments.　Those people will be buying pretty much only a kitchen and doing some decorating, so the cost of just the bathroom or just the kitchen will be big for them.　So maybe a search for 　マンション　リフォーム　システムキッチン　割引率　might find you some people who've done a lot of research and got lots of quotes specific to kitchens only. Such people will definitely exist. Unlike people who build houses using builders with established relationships with certain suppliers, mansion reform people are free to buy from whoever they want.

 

The above may apply even more to unit bathrooms because one of the main drivers of unit bathrooms is their ability to produce a bathroom in a mansion that will 100% not leak above the people below you, even if the plumber is a bit of a clown.　Obviously hotels don't use unit baths (nice hotels that is) and don't have bathrooms leaking onto lower floors, but it's definitely something that plays on people's minds here.

[DumbStick 13]

Dunno Mr Wiggles, I'm pretty good at searching out information and haven't found much. Not much other than guessing and lots of vagueness.

 

Anyway, snowdude should be able to tell us exactly the % discount he got so I'm looking forward to that.

 

[snowdude 44]

50% of the list price but I will check when I get home to make sure what I told you is correct.

 

[DumbStick 13]

OK thanks, interesting.

 

I still can't understand why there are not more (or should I say hardly any) stories/facts such as that online, rather it be shrouded in mystery and almost everyone not knowing.

But I'll stop banging on about that!

 

I am still waiting for my price point, hopefully by early next week I'll know what they are asking from me.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

What do japanese think about the often found in the UK toilet-next-to-the-bath?

I got the impression it was a rather odd idea.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

People I've spoken to about this think its weird.......they always say something like " you could take a shower on the toilet!!" Which of course you can't but it does seem a little weird in hindsight

[snowdude 44]

When I were a child our house had a toilet in the bathroom which seemed handy at the time but looking back now it was handy for the person using the bathroom but not for the rest of the family waiting to use the bog because only one in the house.

Dont think I would want that now.

Would not be a good idea to have a toilet in a Japanese bathroom you would end up washing the toilet as well as yourself each time.

 

[slimeypete 0]

Japanese people look on that as a rather "dirty" set up with the shitter right next to the bathroom where you clean yourself.

 

I can see their point.

[NoFakie 45]

What do japanese think about the often found in the UK toilet-next-to-the-bath?

I got the impression it was a rather odd idea.

 

Its very common in cheap apartments and (what should be) cheap hotels. For rented places, its a dealbreaker for some.

 

It doesn't really work with families, does it. It must be a drag if you have a sister who's in there for hours.

 

For Japanese style bathing, its kind of confusing because you can't shower outside the bath.

[onsen tamago 0]

That's right.

 

I must admit I do find baths in Western countries (perhaps that comment is too wide!) to be rather confusing and really not appealing.

 

I don't want a toilet right next to the bath. It's a bad idea.

 

Along with carpets.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

yeah carpets in a toilet are nasty!! I've worked in construction before and having to rip up a bathroom carpet is one of the most disgusting things I've ever had to do