Buying construction materials abroad

[isolde]

No, but there's my sink! Anyone have an idea of what brand it is ...? Isolde perhaps ... ?

Unfortunately, I only remember "New England," with blue color and period-appropriate typography. The store had an entire bathroom series on the "New England" theme. If you visit their website http://www.yeti.pl/, you'll find bathroom ceramics from:
http://www.catalano.it/
http://www.artceram.it/
http://www.nic-srl.com/
http://www.seresi.it/

Now, I don't actually believe that Italian manufacturers are behind the New England series.

 

[somelvis]

There are very few brands that are known in Sweden when it comes to paint, waterproofing, adhesives, grout, leveling compound, etc. It is a mix between Polish and German brands. They might work to use these, but it's doubtful if one dares. Mainly thinking about waterproofing, if one should follow PER's industry regulations.

Are you kidding me?
Have you heard of Mapei? One of the world's largest manufacturers of specialty products for concrete.
They are huge in Poland and can be found at every building supply store. Grout, Adhesives, Waterproofing, Primer, and everything you can think of.

Optiroc's range is also abundant at half the price compared to home.

Uzin is another large professional brand for specialty mortars and leveling compounds that is well represented in Poland and well known among Swedish professionals.

However, Swedish hobby products like Casco and such are not available, and that's probably a good thing when there are professional products instead.

 

[somelvis]

I would absolutely not buy Polish plumbing items, faucets for example function poorly and spare parts such as gaskets are missing in Sweden.

Sure, there are exceptions, you can find some quality items, but they are very few and hardly worth going to Poland to buy!

Grohe and Geberit are well represented in Poland and have good prices.
Better is probably hard to find. Feel free to compare the above-mentioned with Swedish "B-brands" like IDO, Hafa, and Svedbergs.....

 

[Pius]

Quite interesting about foreign goods. I am interested in buying a toilet from a Swedish company, though imported from England. However, our plumbing guy is very skeptical about the quality, in particular, he mentioned the porcelain... Surely, they can't make toilets in England...? ;-)

 

[Kirsi]

We bought windows in Poland and can help with contacts if you want.

Are they outward-opening or inward-opening windows, PVC or Aluminium?

 

[gone_golfing]

How about bathroom stuff like jacuzzis, bathroom fittings, etc.....do they have good prices/products in Poland?

 

[Sonia]

Is it outward-opening or inward-opening windows, PVC or Aluminium?

We bought inward-opening PVC windows, was a bit hesitant about inward-opening at first but now I absolutely don't want to switch.

 

[Sonia]

How about bathroom stuff like jacuzzi, bathroom furniture, etc... are prices/products good in Poland?

When we looked, the prices on bathroom furniture, sinks, and faucets were good. As for jacuzzi, we didn't think it was worth getting because the price difference wasn't significant compared to the ones we looked at in Sweden, and if something happens, it felt quite distant to go to Poland with possible complaints.

 

[Martin_Blomberg]

For the sake of order, we should probably include this article in this thread: http://www.byggahus.se/bygga/byggvarorutomlands.htm

 

[virvel]

Hello!

We are going to build a stone house and started reading a bit in the thread and became interested in maybe getting materials from Poland.
Is there anyone who can provide prices and where to buy it at Isoleca? I've searched but haven't found it.
I'm considering if it's worthwhile to buy it? Planning to go from Karlskrona if so. Is there Maxit Isoleca there plus its accessories if you want to use the same brand throughout? I've heard it's good to do for insurance purposes, but maybe it's mostly applicable to tiles and grout that they should be the same?

 

[Martin_Blomberg]

hi!

We are going to build a stone house and started reading a bit in this thread and got a bit interested in maybe sourcing materials from Poland.
Is there anyone who can provide prices and where to shop at Isoleca? I've searched but haven't found it?
Wondering if it's beneficial to buy it? Planning to go if so from Karlskrona. Is Maxit isoleca available there along with its accessories if you want to use the same brand throughout? I've heard that it's good to do it for insurance purposes, but maybe that's mostly the case for tiles so the grout, etc., is the same?

I would email the guys mentioned in the article in my previous post and ask:
http://www.polenshopping.se/

 

[Dzollero]

hello!

We are going to build a stone house and started reading a bit in the thread here and became interested in possibly getting materials from Poland.
Is there anyone who can give a price and where to buy it from Isoleca? Looked but didn't find it?
Wondering if it's worth buying it? Was thinking of going from Karlskrona. Is there Maxit Isoleca there plus its accessories if you want to use the same brand throughout? I've heard it's good to do for insurance purposes, but perhaps that mostly applies to tiles where grout etc. is the same?

It might be an advantage to know, Isoleca is not called Isoleca in Poland but Keramzyt.
It might help if you are searching. If you can't find anything, contact me via PM and I can help you.

 

[isolde]

Might be an advantage to know, isoleca isn't called isoleca in Poland but Keramzyt.
It can help if you are searching. If you can't find anything, contact me via pm and I can help you.

Well, that's not quite true. Kerazmyt is a Polish term for leca, or to be completely correct Light Expanded Clay Aggregate, LECA. Isoleca is lecablock with a core of polystyrene foam. http://www.maxit.se/2150

There is indeed an equivalent to isoleca in Poland but it is not marketed by Polish Maxit. The reason seems to be the unfairly bad reputation of isoleca in Poland. When "isoleca" began to be manufactured in the country, it quickly became popular among the country's farmers, as a building material for various agricultural properties, including barns.
With that label, it is almost impossible to market "isoleca" to prospective home builders.
On the other hand, the price might also be a factor, since a block (490 x 360 x 240 mm) costs about 21-26zl (= 54-67kr) and 8.5 pcs/m2 of the outer wall are needed. So, 459-570kr/m2, making it quite uninteresting.

The leading manufacturer of "isoleca" in Poland is called Sukiennik and they call their blocks "Fortis". Compressive strength of 3.5MPa and U-value of 0.184 W/m2K reported by the manufacturer for a 36cm block is considered very good. Maxit.se doesn't seem interested in stating the U-value for their isoblocks.

Another producer of polystyrene-filled lecablocks is Leier. Slightly different form and perhaps other parameters but the same idea. I'd guess a similar price.

 

[bryggtomten]

Does anyone have information on different shipping options from Poland and prices? Specifically Gdansk-Nynäshamn. The prices I've seen in this thread are about 4 years old.

 

[Jesca_j]

Previously, you could at least go to the ferry company's website and look at the price list to see what a pallet space or container freight/rental costs.