I got tile at Import Tile, in Berkeley, just off I-80, 4th Street exit. There's a good tile shop in Walnut Creek, Tile & Stone on Mt. Diablo Blvd. . Funny thing though, after shopping for tile myself I thought many shops were disorganized, dirty and the help was lame. The 2 I mentioned were exceptions. Try Expo in Emeryville but I thought the help was clueless. The Bay Area is a big place - I can ask around and post back - I'll be needing the same info myself soon. You might post exactly what supplies you're looking for besides tile and a cabinet. Solid surface stone? Shower pan, toilet, sink, frameless glass shower doors, etc. Shopping is a huge part of a bath remodel, online and local.

Bill

Hi Bill~

Thanks for replying so quickly to my post. I really appreciate it.

Being specific would help, huh? Okay, our bathroom isnÂt that big. So we need just a few things:
-tile
-cabinets (vanity and linen)
-solid surface for vanity
-undermount sink

We were luckily to get the following from Craigslist:
-new American Standard bathtub (free!)
-new Kohler toilet ($50)

We have had the same experience at the Expo, HD, Lowes, etc. The help is cluelessÂand strange. For example, we asked one sales rep what size trowel we needed if we purchased a certain tile. He said: "Oh, it doesnÂt matter. Any of them will do." And then it got better, we asked if he knew where the tape was for the Hardibacker. He said: "Oh, we are out. But you can use drywall tape. It really doesnÂt matter." Okaaaayyyyyy.

Anyhow, thanks again for your response. We are going to check out those tile places.

Also, if I come across find any storesÂIÂll post them here. :^)

I'm in the bayarea and just finished the kitchen and the guest bath. Currently I'm doing the master bath and the kids bath. We found a few places that we could find the tiles, counters, sinks & accessories.
All in all, the Bay area is large and there are many building supply stores. I really did not have time to go through all, I use local.yahoo.com and just search in on the area. The few araa that I've been shopping in is around Bayshore in San Francisco, Hayward, San Leandro and Oakland.
Uni-Tile and Marble in Hayward - They also had a location in SF but Hayward had MUCH better selection. All their stuff- counter top, cabinets, sinks & tiles are from China.
I just purchased the counter top and the sinks for the kids bath room there today.
Best Tile in San Francisco. They have pretty good selection, from cheap to brand name stuff. I got all the tile for my guest bath and 1/2 bath there.
While you are at Best Tile, you should check out the other stores along Bayshore blvd. There is Floor Craft - which sells everything from appliances to tubs to tiles. I also purchase a few pieces of accessories from them. There are others along there.
I also purchase a few items from Kingway in San Leandro.

Hope it helps.

Thanks, sharkm! That info is very helpful.

We did try searching via internet and it was hard to decipher which ones where just showcases that required an order placement and which ones had stuff in stock for the average DIY'er.

Attempts to call the places before hand didn't help much either - I could never get a good feel of what to expect from the place. When I called, answers ranged from totally condesending like...what do you mean in-stock? Or totally lame like...yeah, yeah, just come, we have everything (but when we get there they don't). Ugh!

Thank again.

cabinlife, you are welcome.
Don't forgot Ikea and even Costco sells vanity.

Isaw an ad on TV yesterday for something called Sincere Hardware - with a website under that name and 5 stores in the Bay Area - that looked promising.

I've been also to Sincere, they also have good selection. Plumbing, prefab granite counter tops, sinks etc. They also sells Kraftmaid cabinets. They have 2 stores in Oakland and those are the bigger show room. Plus they do have a good selection of building supplies too.

Thanks, dmlove. I'll check it out.

One of the Sincere Hardware locations is near my brother-in-law's place...so we can visit him while we are out there. :^)

Check out

1. Expogranitellc.com (oakland) -> they have the best prices on toto toilet, be ready to do all the research elsewhere & use this place to just place the order & pick up.

2. Excel plumbing (san francisco) -> they have lots of toto & all the major brands, best pricing I got on toto bathtub.

3. Terico Discount Tile (san jose) - wholesale discount prices

i just order some bathroom stuff from sincere (geary st, sf) they seem to have pretty decent prices and better stuff than homedepot or lowes. also there's a tile place near the airport, close to costco that has a very large selection and great prices, just remember that the name starts with a "B", it's in the yellow pages.

The tile place Olive refers to is Bedrosian's and they do have an extensive selection, at all price points.

Wow! Thanks everyone for taking the time to let me know about all these places.

This is great. :^)

You also might want to try superiorbath in Hayward, CA.. they have a website called www.superiorbath.com.. some pretty good high end quality products with very reasonable prices. Also, their stuff is available for pickup/shipping. I got some stuff there for my remodeling job. Very pleased.

Good luck!

Hey cabinlife, you still out there? I've started looking in the Bay Area for a 2x8 ceramic and am having difficulty. Same experience as you - "we have everything, just come!" And it's a dump with very little selection and no help. The best I've seen have been Import, Bedrosian's and Tile & Stone but none of them seem to have a 2x8 ceramic, at least in the color and finish I want. Did you find any standouts in your pursuit? Seems that unless you want travertine or a natural stone look or glass, forget it.

Thanks,
Bill