We just finished remodeling a guest bath as well as our master bathroom. I ordered everything from faucets direct. This includes sinks, toilets, a jacuzzi brand tub, frameless shower door etc. I ordered mostly Kohler products but they have pretty much everything. I would highly recommend them. Everything was delivered to the house in perfect condition. If you do order from them and it is over the phone, ask for Feeny. He gave me great customer support. Oh ya and the prices were the best of any I found online or in the stores.

I got one of our Brizo faucets from dealyard.com and the other from affordablefaucets.com. We didn't have a problem with either and saved HUNDREDS from what we were quoted locally for the exact same faucet. (The roman tub faucet was almost $800 in the store vs $150 online!!)

tjeff2000: "I heard Kohler has cheap, plastic parts in the home improvement store chains, but what about Grohe?"

Most of the major brands distribute several lines of disparate levels of quality, through discrete sales channels. Therefore, it is difficult to say that Brand X uses cheap parts while Brand Y uses quality parts; you must compare apples to apples in respect of where the respective models fit within the brands' line-up.

When we purchased a faucet for our powder room remodel two years ago, we purchased an Aquabrass model from an on-line retailer at a significant discount from a typical showroom price. Aquabrass is far from a "major," and as far as I know does not distribute any "cheapie" lines of faucets. Our specific faucet, from the "Streem" (not a typo) line, is actually made in Italy and is distributed in much of the world under a brand other than Aquabrass. The quality is high, and we are happy with our purchase.

HTH

I used faucet direct for a few of our bathroom purchases, I was quite pleased with them.

tjeff2000: "I heard Kohler has cheap, plastic parts in the home improvement store chains, but what about Grohe?"

Most of the major brands distribute several lines of disparate levels of quality, through discrete sales channels. Therefore, it is difficult to say that Brand X uses cheap parts while Brand Y uses quality parts; you must compare apples to apples in respect of where the respective models fit within the brands' line-up.

When we purchased a faucet for our powder room remodel two years ago, we purchased an Aquabrass model from an on-line retailer at a significant discount from a typical showroom price. Aquabrass is far from a "major," and as far as I know does not distribute any "cheapie" lines of faucets. Our specific faucet, from the "Streem" (not a typo) line, is actually made in Italy and is distributed in much of the world under a brand other than Aquabrass. The quality is high, and we are happy with our purchase.

HTH

We bought our Hansgrohe and Kohler faucets from Faucet Depot. Great prices and service. Only thing was you really had to know what products you needed - which valve goes with which faucet, etc. We met with our contractor before ordering and went through each item to be sure we had everything.

When I was shopping Hansgrohe faucets, qualitybath.com had the best prices that I could find - unless the piece I wanted happened to show up on dealyard or ebay. If you don't want to fiddle around searching for the very best price, I've heard nothing but good things about qualitybath.

On the other hand you could stay with your local dealer. If your plumber is putting these fixtures in for you, then he knows what he is getting and will take care of the returns. You can rely on his expertise to manage your installation. I have ordered on line and bought local, mostly online. My plumber doesn't care. But, if there is something that needs to be returned to the online store, plumber doesn't do it for me, I have to, and I hate the fuss. I love service and my plumber gives this to me. I will be ordering some supplies from a local shop soon, and looking forward to someone else managing the returns if there are problems. I used one online store, that was very helpful, to buy some items. The rough-in-valve had stripped threading in one of the connections that I missed seeing when I opened and inspected. Well fast forward 2.5 months, on my slow partial DIY remodel, and my plumber comes to install the rough-in and can't use it. The online store says it has a 1 month return policy. Heck! I sweet talked (genuinely) and got great service, but was instructed to contact the manufacturer for return permission. I had to supply photos of defect to the manufacturer. They where quick to reply and sent out the replacement themselves, leaving the online store out of it. Well now I have to box up the defective valve and ship back. I don't like doing this stuff. I would rather have the plumber do it. While everyone was helpful in the line of purchasing to the return process, it seems labor intensive on my end that I don't like. I think I will use my local suppliers with my next bathroom remodel :)

Thanks everyone for your input.
Hopefully I will get some free time this weekend to order.

I used faucet direct for both my bathroom remodels. They have great customer service and the site is pretty well organized. If you go with them, be sure to check prices on other sites. They will match (sometimes beat) prices from anywhere else. I like to do that because then all of my items are from one retailer, and usually the shipping is free that way too.

Hi Jeff, we just finished a major master bath and powder room renovation and are starting another bath. I purchased Grohe fixtures from Faucet Direct (I've also worked with Feeney there). I was reluctant to buy online initially but had no problems--good customer service. I purchased my Toto toilets from Homeclick and a Maax freestanding tub from Qualitybath.

PS I special ordered the Kohler "purist" in wall faucet, valve and handles from Home Depot--no plastic and life warranty on the finish.

I want to support my local businesses and try to when I can, however I couldn't afford the showroom prices, plus del, etc.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your project!