An In-Depth Home Improvement Article on Everything in the Bathroom (Part 2)

TAPS:

There are four main finishes for taps and showers:

Chrome, the hardest wearing finish, only last over 20 years.

Antique Gold, used more on traditional style suites, is generally a soft finish which will last approximate 3 years with day to day use but in a rarely used bathroom last as as long as 10 years.

Nickel (either brushed or polished) is the softest finish and would normally be for decorative house bathrooms that are rarely used.

Powder coated, not as common in taps but still used on showers, is where the product is covered with a layer of colored plastic.
There next many types of tap configuration, basins and bidets. This next section outlines the different types of tap arrangements that are available.

Bath Taps:

There are several types of tap arrangement you can put on a bath. A pair of taps, a bath filler deck mounted, a bath filler pillar mounted, a three-hole bath filler,
a deck mounted bath shower mixer, a pillar mounted bath shower mixer, a four-hole bath shower mixer, a five-hole bath shower mixer, wall mounted filler and an overflow filler.

Pair of bath taps:

The most common form of taps for baths, one tap for hot water and one for cold. The cold tap is usually on the right and the hot on the left.

Bath filler deck mounted and bath filler pillar mounted.

This type of tap has hot and cold water taps combined onto one mixer block.

The deck - mounted type is generally contemporary in style where this pillar - mounted type (this is where the mixer is held above the bath rim on two poles) is normally traditional in style.
The advantage of a mixer over a pair of taps is the ability to mix the water to the desired temperature while the bath is filling.

Three hole bath filler:

This is where the spout is separate from the bath tap valves. The two valves or mounted in the corner.

Bath shower mixers:

These types of taps are not designed to be used as showers for standing under and washing your whole body.
The reason for this is that another person in the house switches on a tap or a washing machine kicks in then the temperature on the shower will change radically.
These types of showers are designed for washing hair or rinsing the bath.

Four and five-hole bath shower mixers:

The shower is switched on by by means of the diverter button mounted on the bath spout.
The five hole mixer works in the same way but have a separate diverter mounted on the bath, not on the bath spout.

Wall mounted filler:

More popular on the continent, this is where the mixer is mounted on the wall above the bath and not on the bath rim.

Overflow bath filler:

This is similar to the three-hole bath filler but where the three holes has a spout the overflow filler has the hot and cold valves on the rim of the bath and the filler is the overflow fitting which also doubles up as the pop up waste.

Basin Taps:

These with a pair of taps, a mono-bloc mixer and a three tap-hole mixer.

A pair of taps:

This is the most common configuration for taps a basically with the cold tap on the basically with the cold tap on the right and the hot on the left.
This type of basin has has a plug and chain waste.

Basin mono-bloc mixer:

This type of tap has been a pop-up waste supplied as part of the tap.

Three tap-hole mixer:

As with the bath arrangement you have a spout in the middle and a separate hot and cold valve on either side.
On a three tap - hole basin you can also fit a pair of basin taps and in the central hole fit a chain stay basin waste - this is where the plug chain is attached to a disc which fits over the middle hole.

SHOWERS:

There are several types of showers available in the UK and the type of hot water and cold water supply that the client has in their house. So I will first tackle the types of domestic water systems most commonly available.

Gravity Feed, Vented, or Low Pressure systems

This tank of soda is a direct hot water is provided. The hot water is provided. It is without you using a pump, in which case you need need tank is to be sited at least three feet (0.1 bar) above the shower head / handset. to be one foot (0.03 bar) above the shower head / handset.

Combi-boiler, Multi-point systems

The boiler either does both the hot water and central heating (combi-boiler), or it does not have the hot water only With this type of system the cold water is supplied at full mains pressure while the hot water is controlled down by the boiler to a minimum of forty five feet (1.5 bar approximation). With this the power and shower as this would contravene the water by laws. As the hot and cold water is supplied under pressure you have a power shower anyway.

Pressurized water system, unvented

As with the combi-boiler system you can not use pump but you do not need to to the main water pressure makes this a power shower.

SHOWER DOORS (Cubicles, enclosures and surrounds):

Shower doors and enclosures come with a variety of shapes and sizes. Normally the thicker the glass the more expensive the shower cubicle.

Less expensive enclosures generally use glass in the thickness range of 3 mm to 5 mm. This thickness of glass will always have a metal framework surrounding it to support the weight of the glass. En miscellaneous enclosures have glass in the thickness range of 6 mm to 8 mm.
The build quality of ancillary parts such as hinges and seals is also important, as these are the parts that wear the fastest with day to day use and will result in leaks.

With sliding doors the rollers for the bears must be elliptical and the glide. of the door is always smooth.
The profiles are the U-shaped channels that attach the cubicle to the wall.

Types of shower door:

There are seven main types of shower doors: Pivot, Hinged, Saloon, Bi-fold, In-fold, Double slider and Triple slider.

The Pivot and Hinged doors:

With the pivot door the hinges are at the top and bottom of the door.
The hinged door has the hinges on the side of the door.
These types of door are wider than the hinged door is wider than that of the pivot door. These types of door tend to be less expensive than any other due to the simple design.
There is a difficulty with the water running off the door onto the floor when the door is opened after a shower.

The Saloon door:

They are less common and has two hinged doors which join in the middle. They tend to open inwards but are not a rule very popular.

Bi-fold and In-fold doors:

The two-fold door is hinged in the center and as the name suggests folds exactly in the middle.
You should be aware that if a person faints or collapses in this type of cubicle it is not possible to open the door.

Double and Triple sliding doors:

The double sliding door has less framework and as such has more a do not slide on rollers back and forth. minimalist appearance, where the triple sliding door creates a wider opening when the doors are rolled back.

Shower shapes:

There are a myriad number or shower door shapes. The most common type of shower tray size is 760 mm x 760 mm (penta- or five-sided) and the quadrant (quad of quarter round). This is not the smallest square tray size but is the smallest that is still usable by most people to shower.
You are able to obtain square trays of both 700 mm x 700 mm and 600 mm x 600 mm. The 600 mm tray size is always used caravans and boats. The best square tray size if it can be fitted is the 900 mm x 900 mm.
Rectangular shower trays come in a variety of sizes from 700 mm x 800 mm to 1700 mm x 750 mm. The most common size is 1200 mm x 760 mm, whereas the optimum size is 1200 mm x 900 mm. Tray sizes greater than this is incorporated the ability to dry oneself in the cubicle .
A pentangle cubicle is the same as a square one. Has resulted in the saving of floor space in the bathroom ensuite. A quadrant cubicle has a rounded front edge designed to save space as with the pentangle.

SHOWER TRAYS:

These are steel, acrylic, stone resin and acrylic capped resin.

Shower shapes:

Steel is less common in domestic use and is generally used in commercial applications such as retirement homes and hotels

Modern acrylic trays are have built to be used for poor frameworks and minimal reinforcement meaning that the trays moved in The acrylic trays are on adjustable legs and so are ideal in. The result of this higher quality is that acrylic trays are not an inexpensive option .

They are available in both legged and un-legged format (the most common being without legs). The second is that the color of the tray is not bedded in properly it can cause the base of the tray to crack when in the use. The result of this thin it is that if you scratch the tray when installing it, it is extremely difficult to repair.

They are the acrylic capped resin trays, but have the added advantage of being capped in acrylic. They are more resistant to impact and be polished if they are polished. more costly to produce and as such are not available in the same number of sizes as the stone resin.

SHOWER TYPES:

There are four main types of shower, electric, manual mixer, thermostatic mixer and pumped can be either thermostatic or manual.

Electric:

This type of shower has a small kettle type chamber inside it is through the cold water passes and is heated small limited gallons a minute, but the spray is for out out of the head at approximately 1.5 bar (45 feet head).

This means that the droplets of water spray produced are small and do not hold the temperature. This means that whilst the water temperature One other difficulty with the small hole size is that the handsets are constructed to scale build up in hard water areas which results in the spray pattern diminishing.

In order to maximize the amount of water produced modern electric showers use on average 8.5 KW to 9 KW of power. My own opinion is that they are best used in Most electric showers are manual mixers and have a tendency to vary the water temperature when other appliances such as taps and toilets are used.

Manual Mixers:

A manual mixer uses the shower. This is done by blending the amount of hot and cold by means of a lever valve, either side uses an internal ceramic mixer cartridge or uses two separate control to achieve the desired This simple mechanism makes this type of mixer is fair to wild variations in temperature when other than appliances such as taps, washing machines, dish washers and toilets are used. Not a type of mixer to be recommended for families with small children or older people.

Thermostatic Mixers:

The thermostatic mixer works in a similar way to the extra device fitted inside the theater casing which regulates the water temperature to within plus or minus one degree centigrade. If it is unable to maintain that temperature then it will temporarily turn the shower off until it is safe to allow it to function.
This type of mixer is ideal for families with small children and older people.

Pumped Showers:

There are two types of system can only be fitted to a gravity feed hot water system.

1. Inlet Pump (Twin Impellor)

Relatively inexpensive to purchase they provide pressure to the shower of up to 3 bar (100 ft head) at a flow rate of of up to 3 gallons a minute. The most popular pressure is 1.5 bar (45 foot head).

2. Outlet Pump (Single Impellor)

The reason for this is can not safely deliver a higher flow rate and higher pressure. The outlet pump pulls the water through the valve and sets up no such imbalance.

TYPES OF MIXER VALVES:

There are three main types of mixer valve:
1. Fully exposed, where both the body of the valve and the hot and cold water pipes to it are on the surface and on full view.

2. Semi-recessed, where the body of the valve is on the surface and exposed and the pipe work is hidden in the wall.

3. Fully Recessed, where both the main body of the valve and the pipe work are concealed in the wall.

TYPES OF SHOWER HEADS:

There are three types of shower head:

1. This type of head can not be be moved low, but may be fitted with a ball swivel that allows you to turn it to to it the left or right.

2. Handset, normally supplied with a shower rail (sliding rail) which allows you to adjust the height of the shower rose and remove it if necessary to wash a child or wall.

3. They are ideal for people who do not wish to wash there hair or face.

SHOWER SPRAYS:

There are three main types of shower spray:

1. Standard spray common to all types of shower the water is supplied via series of small holes distributed evenly across the shower head.

2. the greater the pressure the show the spirit of the water pressure is used to spin a disc located inside the shower head to pulse the water spray and so produce a massage action. stronger the massage.

3. spray pattern (aerated) can only be used on power showers with a minimum of 1.5 bar (45 feet head). This spray pattern is is soft foamy spray. Also ideal for ladies as a foul prevents the water from splashing up into the face and also expresses more water into wet hair for the removal of shampoo.