Basin Taps

Basin Taps

Water pressure is the check that catches people out, and it is worth doing before anything else. A gravity fed system with a tank in the attic delivers far less pressure than a mains or combi supply, and a tap designed for high pressure fitted to a gravity system gives a weak, disappointing flow that no amount of adjustment fixes. Taps rated for low pressure are made for exactly this situation. After that it is the number of tap holes in the basin: a single hole takes a mono basin mixer, which blends hot and cold through one lever and is what most of this range is, while two holes take a pair of pillar taps. Spout height is the third thing, and it only matters for countertop or vessel basins that sit above the worktop, where a standard mixer will not clear the rim and a high rise version is needed. Measure from the tap hole to the top of the basin rim before ordering. Most mixers here are supplied with a click clack waste, which saves matching parts separately, and the waste itself comes slotted or unslotted depending on whether the basin has an overflow hole, so check the basin before choosing a waste on its own. Replacing tap heads rather than whole taps is often enough where the body is sound.

Mono basin mixers supplied with a click clack waste run through the Swansea range in chrome, brass and black plus high rise versions in chrome and brass, alongside the Brecon, Holyhead, Barmouth, Harlech, Newport, Raglan, Cardiff, Archer and Straffan designs, with Plumb Essential covering the simpler end and Straffan adding a traditional mono mixer and a version with a pop up waste. Grohe handles low pressure with the Concetto and Eurosmart Cosmo basin mixers in chrome, both specified for gravity fed systems. Easi Plumb supplies a pair of half inch Crown pillar taps in chrome plate for two hole basins and a half inch replacement tap head kit in a Victorian pattern, with Tailored adding an unslotted click clack waste in brushed brass. For kitchen and other tap ranges see Taps, and for the wider fit out Bathroom Accessories.