North Leeds Plumbing & Heating – Home Improvement and DIY Advice

Archive for July, 2009

The choices in bathroom basin styles are ever expanding. Of course, a basin is an essential and it must function effectively, but it needn’t be boring. Basin style variations now include shape, size, and colour and come in a range of types including pedestal basins, vanity units, wall hung basins and cloakroom units. Most suppliers will have a range of options available which will suit any bathroom size, design concept or budget.

Bathrooms are usually the smallest rooms in the modern house so the space available should be used wisely. The basin, along with the other fixtures and fittings, should be proportionate to the space. Specific basins are designed to fit smaller en-suites or cloakrooms. Larger spaces can accommodate the larger, more flamboyant basin designs.

The most popular basin material is ceramic which is both durable and hygienic. These basins achieve longevity with some care and are a wise investment. However, modern more stylish alternatives are available. You could now opt for a steel or glass basin but these would certainly require more work to maintain in terms of cleanliness and appearance.

Watermarks would need to be wiped from a glass basin after every use while steel is durable but easily scratched. A marble basin would certainly provide the ‘wow’ factor but it will cost you a lot of money. Wood is a relatively recent development in the manufacture of basins, taking advantage of the demand for organic home accessories. However, the combination of wood and water will result in a darkening of the basin over time.

The installation of power showers can only happen where there is a gravity-fed, low-pressure water system. This is mostly the case in older residences where there is a higher likelihood of a cold water tank in the attic and a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard. Power showers are definitely not recommended for those using a combination boiler. This is because a combination boiler heats mains-pressure water the moment the tap is turned on. So in this case what would be advisable would be a mixer shower. Should the need for a higher rate of water flow arise, then the solution would be an electric shower. A power shower is also not necessary if using a system that is high pressure and mains-fed.

Some of the features that come with modern power showers include the thermostatic control which is basically a device for automatically adjusting the temperature of the water. That way a set temperature is maintained without erratic movements.

Then there is the eco-setting feature which assists in the saving of water by decreasing the power and making use of the natural gravity of the system. There is also the feature which lets the shower user choose the kind of shower spray they want – whether a gentle one or a forceful one. Other features include automatic shutdown in case the supply of hot or cold water fails. The shower head also possesses a height-adjustment capability.

An important tip for anyone wishing to install a power shower is that as a result of the high pressure of the shower spray, the water can’t be contained by the use of a bath screen or a shower curtain. The job is better done by a shower cubicle or a wet room.

Small bathrooms in particular suffer from the misting mirror problem. Regardless of how well your room is ventilated, the mixture of heat and high humidity can result in fogged up mirrors. This problem however, can be solved in a simple, easy, and most importantly, in a stylish way by installing mirror heaters that will allow you to put on makeup or shave without worrying about the bathroom mirror steaming up. These mirror heaters are 230 volt self-adhesive heating pads that adhere behind your bathroom mirror.

The mirror heaters can be applied on any type of bathroom mirror. You just have to remove the protective paper and attach it to the back of your mirror, but make sure that the heater is properly fixed to the back of your mirror, not to the wall. Hang the mirror and then take pleasure in a mist free reflection. The extraction fan circuit is ideal or it can have its own circuit if there’s no supply nearby. Simply flip a switch and your mirror heater will automatically warm up to keep your mirror mist free, leaving a clear image reflected. Though this is easy to install, it is recommended to ask a qualified electrician to install the heater.

To suit most mirrors, the heaters are made available in all common sizes that can be utilised individually or in multiples to clear the entire mirror. Some product options include 400 x 450mm 70W 230V, 300 x 600mm 70W 230V, 500 x 600mm 85W 230V, 570 x 760mm 85W 230V, and 600 x 1100mm 132W 230V. These mirrors are superbly reliable and provide an equally distributed heat across the surface for additional comfort and convenience.

The bathroom vanity offers consumers an elegant, functional, and in some cases necessary pedestal for their sink. Some would choose a sink-in-vanity over a freestanding basin because of the storage space the former offers. Depending on the theme of the bathroom, the vanity can also serve as an important design fixture, acting as a focal point in the room and tying other elements together.

Among the most elegant and most distinctive bathroom vanities are those made by Madison, Imperial Bathrooms, and Villeroy & Bosch.

Madison’s double basins with wall hung vanity unit – with Stonewood accents and available either in an oak or walnut finish – seems to float in the air. Raised and balanced on a thin footing, the Madison vanities are the perfect addition to the clean-lined, Scandinavian-inspired bathroom.

The Imperial Bathrooms Cuda open vessel bowl vanity unit is a true landmark in bathroom elegance. It’s distinctive, luxurious, and a true achievement in interior design. It fuses natural wood, chrome, and stone elements using clean, geometric lines. It evokes both modernity and ancient washing places all at once. It’s also practical since its natural elements almost never need cleaning and will, for all intents and purposes, last for a lifetime. The Cuda vanity unit has three drawers and a large shelf underneath the basin for storage.

The intricate and handsome Imperial Bathrooms North Shore three bay basin and vanity unit seems best suited to the country. Wood elements perfectly accent the taupe front and the chrome faucet.

Finally, true to form, Villeroy & Bosch also offers a line of simple, clean porcelain vanities that would look great in almost any bathroom.

No bathroom is complete without a diverse range of accessories including cleaning brushes, soap dishes, shower organizers, and toilet roll holders. Imperial Bathrooms understands this and offers its customers a diverse collection of these accessories and fittings in a variety of elegant styles that range from the historical to the contemporary. Accessorising with this collection allows consumers to give their bathrooms the sort of attention-to-detail that separate ordinary and extraordinary forms of interior design. All lines include a core range of must-haves – toilet roll holders, towel rails, and shelves – and a few offer additional exciting accoutrements.

The intricate York line weaves airy lines together to create an almost medieval sense of elegance. Cast in chrome and antique gold, this product line includes a tumbler holder, a wall-mounted soap dish, a single towel rail, a toilet roll holder, a robe hook, a towel arm, a double towel rail, and a glass shelf with towel arm. Less intricate but no less elegant, the Avignon has a timeless, well-proportioned feel to it. Composed of glass and chrome, the Avignon line includes the same items as the York line but also offers a wall-mounted and free-standing toilet brush and a more diverse range of towel rails and toilet roll holders.

The rustic Meleto line takes its design cues from Provence and Tuscany, from rustic conversions and distressed materials. Brushed Nero and white porcelain form the pieces in this line which include everything already listed and an elegant wall mounted mirror and towel ring.

Those interested in hand-crafted bathroom accessories can do no better than Imperial showers, furniture, mirrors, tiles, and radiators. However, Imperial’s most exciting offerings may be their ceramic collections. Diverse and creative, these ceramics are made to exacting standards by craftsmen who use time-honoured techniques. Perfectly harmonized ceramic elements arranged in twelve themes fuse visual and functional space into amazing bathroom experiences.

The Westminister uses timeless and modern lines and a richly coloured cast iron tub while the Delille and Bergier fuses natural wood with porcelain elements for a natural, organic, and modern Scandinavian feel. Drift uses clean, white porcelain units to allow other bathroom fixtures, flooring, and decorations to dominate. Isis utilizes heavy, obsidian accents and clean porcelain to achieve a harmonization of opposing colour. Like Drift, Oxford uses clean, period-styled pieces to achieve a timeless sense of history merged with a contemporary sensibility.

The Astoria and Astoria Deco collections employ 1920s Art Deco lines and layers sweeping across clean white porcelain, while the Classic would seem appropriate in any setting. Sparse wood accents and cool white porcelain define this collection. The Firenze fuses Europe with a hint of Asia, its black tub resting on a wooden pedestal evoking scenes of traditional Japanese housing.

The Etoile collection softly shimmers like the light of its namesake. Accents include patina-enveloped metal tub feet and a beige-coloured tub. Boldly coloured, generously proportioned, and cleanly lined, the Amena collection is itself among the most distinctive lines of bathroom fixtures on the market today.

The Imperial collection of roll top baths offer clean, simple lines and pure white porcelain for those hoping to achieve a clean sense of order in their bathrooms. The cool lines and surfaces of these tubs are inviting and they are extraordinarily elegant, allowing bathers to enjoy their bathrooms with all their senses.

The Derwent slipper has elegantly swooping lines that invite the bather into warm waters while the Coniston single-ended is more balanced from end to end. Each has elegant hoses and gleaming chrome fixtures, making them dead-ringers for the Victorian originals that inspired them.

Imperial’s line of acrylic baths are intended to be sunk into wood or tile panelling. The Westminster, Astoria Deco, and Consus baths have elegant oak wood panelling surrounding their outer edges while the Serene is wrapped in decadent obsidian-coloured acrylic. Like the Serene, the Windsor has black accents but also includes metallic panelling for a true Art Deco look and feel. The Oxford and Drift are plain white inside and out and differ only from the Indulgence in that the latter has a sweeping S-curve at the front and a small glass shower screen for showering.

Imperial’s whirlpool baths come in 8, 10, 16, and 20 jet models offering homeowners a range of relaxing and invigorating options. Self-draining and self-pumping, utilizing an electronic touch pad for control and level sensors for dry running protection, the Imperial whirlpool baths resemble wooden wainscoting common to the Imperial acrylic panelled baths.

For tiled floors, underfloor heating is the best option, particularly in winter. Unlike central heating, underfloor heating will heat a cold tiled floor, providing more comfort.  Thermal insulation boards are ideal for tiled floors.  They are easy to manage and are suitable for both electric and hot water underfloor systems. Insulation boards are also waterproof and less likely to rot.

For tiled floors, you may wish to opt for Marmox tile backer boards, which are stronger than standard polystyrene boards.  Marmox thermal tile backer boards consist of waterproof polystyrene, making it ideal for rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms, which often have tiled floors.  They work particularly well with electric underfloor heating cables, allowing the floor to become warm in just a few minutes.

Marmox tile backer boards also work well with heating mats, which can be placed onto the board and then tiled over.  They are a great option if you are looking to save energy.  The differences in the thickness of the boards mean that you can find ones suitable for particular rooms, such as thicker ones for conservatories.  You can opt for thinner boards if you wish to keep your floor at a particular height.

Underfloor heating mats are a good option if you are looking for a product that is quick and easy to install.  Heating mats can easily be cut to fit most rooms.  They are ideal for tiled rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms.  For areas where a heating mat cannot be fitted, heating cables can be used. Both underfloor heating mats and cables can be connected to a thermostat.

The bathroom vanity offers consumers an elegant, functional, and in some cases necessary pedestal for their sink. Some would choose a sink-in-vanity over a freestanding basin because of the storage space the former offers. Depending on the theme of the bathroom, the vanity can also serve as an important design fixture, acting as a focal point in the room and tying other elements together.

The Vitra Pera Bathroom vanity unit and basin is a simple white box, perfect for small, simple lavatories. Likewise, the shelf-based Laufen PRO B is a minimal, economical solution for everyday living.

Those looking for more distinctive vanities would do well to look at the Gelson Rhone and Elbe vanity units. Both long rectangles with rooster-looking taps, the former sits flush on the floor while the latter stands atop elegant chrome legs. Also creative are the Laufen PRO A vanity units, which wrap around and conceal the sink’s pipe without themselves touching the floor. The Laufen PRO A comes in single door and two versions of a double door variety. All have frosted sliding doors that opaquely reveal the cabinet’s contents.

Imperial Bathrooms and Ideal Standard also make truly elegant and truly distinctive vanities. The former’s Westminster Oaky Esteem and obsidian Linea both look like fine furniture, giving the bathroom sink the look of an heirloom. The Ideal Standard Create, in a choice of finishes, looks more like cabinetry or a chest of drawers. In this way, the Create is perfect for seamlessly integrating bedroom and bathroom.

One very visually appealing option currently available for the bathroom is the concealed cistern toilet. With concealed cistern toilets you have the option of having the cistern resting on the floor like any ordinary toilet or, alternatively, it can be wall-hung which means it is not resting on the floor. A wall-hung concealed cistern toilet creates a lot of space but they also require a lot of support.

One of the advantages that come with a concealed toilet cistern is the fact that they are not visible to the eye and this not only releases a lot of space creating room in the bathroom but also makes the bathroom look very neat. Another advantage is that the noise that results from flushing a toilet is greatly reduced since the flushing action and refilling of the water closet is happening inside the bathroom wall.

When concealed toilet cisterns are mentioned to most people, the misconception they have is that should a plumbing problem arise, it will be very difficult to solve – probably even requiring bringing down the wall. The truth is that any plumbing expert can easily service the cistern. This though is dependent on how the installation was done. In situations where the cistern is hidden in the wall of the bathroom, all that is required for servicing and repairing is opening the access panel. If the cistern is hidden in bathroom vanity units or atop the ceiling, the access panel is not necessary since external access is the obvious option.