North Leeds Plumbing & Heating – Home Improvement and DIY Advice

Archive for the ‘Basins’ Category

The best choice of design, size, colour and shape in a new bathroom basin will depend very much on what is in the rest of the room. It will need to match or to complement the other fittings and the décor. If the bathroom is small then a corner basin can make it look considerably bigger.

Once you have decided whether you want a corner basin or not, it is wise to take a look around at what is available. A basin can be integrated into a vanity unit and add a whole new dimension to a bathroom. Measure the area available for the new basin and allow for the pipes as buying a basin and getting the wrong size can be a very costly mistake.

Asking a professional to measure and fit a new bathroom sink can save a lot of work and ensure that everything fits snugly the first time. A professional looking installation is essential, so if you do it yourself, ensure that the finished job is perfect.

If you have correctly measured the space available for a bathroom basin you will be able to compare it with the model you choose. Taking a look on the packaging will tell you how much room you will need for the sink and fittings and anything else you might need to know about installing it. It will also tell you what kind of taps you need to buy.  If you are in doubt, or cannot find the right information, always ask for advice.

Whether they are traditional or contemporary in design, there is a huge range of basin taps designed to complement the basin unit of any home. With a vast array of basin taps to meet all budgets, take your pick from stylish mixer taps, single lever taps and basin taps in pairs, that offer that finishing touch to any bathroom.

Many basin taps are marvellous to look at and most modern basin taps have many features that allow you to have complete control over the water flow.

Mixer basin taps allow you to mix hot and cold water at your convenience and also allow you to control temperature. Basin taps now even possess automatic features that mean you do not even need to touch the tap, allowing you further convenience, but also with great style.

Most basin taps are made to standard sizes, so fitting your basin taps to a new unit should not prove difficult, however, if you’re replacing taps on an older fitting, be sure to check that your new basin taps cover the access holes correctly. Also remember to check that the spout is long enough to deliver water where you want it to go – there must be enough overhang to wash your hands underneath the basin taps, for instance.

Furthermore, whilst you have the water turned off, fit service valves to the pipes serving the basin taps so that the taps can be serviced in future without having to turn off the water.

Installing new bathroom taps is not recommended if you are in any way unsure about how to go about doing it correctly. However, knowing how to install your own bathroom taps can greatly cut the cost of your bathroom. Of course, whether you are using a single-bloc mixer or just a regular two-tap pair, each will add its own degree of difficulty to the procedure.

The most important thing to do before you start to remove existing taps and connect the new ones is to ensure that the main water system has been shut off and completely drained. Also, you should never fix the bath into place before installing the bath taps, as this will make the job a lot harder, especially when you are trying to connect the pipe work to the taps.

The taps should be secured by hand on to the base of the bath or basin before the pipe work is connected. If you find that the existing pipes are unable to make a proper connection to the taps you will need to use corrugated copper piping, which you will be able to bend into shape, or flexible tap connectors to make a secure connection. You should then secure the copper piping to the insert of the taps before the existing pipe work.

Once the taps and the corrugated copper piping are in place connect the pipes and secure them tightly with a spanner. You can then tighten the bathroom taps to the bath or basin and turn on the water again.

One of the most important accessories in bathrooms is the basin tap. Besides the shower, a bathroom basin tap is the most commonly used accessory in people’s vanity zones. People select the best quality and time-tested durability of basin taps because they are often used and, if not good quality, they can easily be worn out.

There are numerous brands available in the market and most of the time they are already included in the bathroom accessories package. It is ideal to visit online for basin tap choices that best suit your taste, needs, and lifestyle. These bathroom accessories found online should be studied well to see if they suit the qualities mentioned and provide better selection and convenience, as well as ample savings, rather than to buy directly from shops.

The modern styles of basin taps include those which are metallic in colour and match any colour of the current bathroom interiors, as one of the considerations to be made is the tile and wall colour of the bathroom. The colour combinations of the basin taps can match different themes and colour schemes like the forest, rock star, rainfall, and spring inspired bathrooms. Commonly, brightly and strongly coloured basin taps, such as green, purple, and red, are used in children’s bathrooms to stimulate their senses and create a happy child-friendly atmosphere.

Modern basin taps comes in numerous designs, which are suitable to match the design of new and modern houses. Some even provide a distinctive advantage of providing both cold and hot water from the same spigot by merely twisting the basin tap lever in opposite directions.

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.

Bathroom remodelers with limited space to work in may be interested in corner basins. Smaller and more compact than other basins, they take up significantly less space than traditional sinks and fit in almost any bathroom space. And consumers need not sacrifice style for utility. Several brands make distinctively designed corner basins.

Roca’s Giralda Corner Unit & Corner Basin utilizes light oak to achieve a clean, Scandinavian look. The rectangular mirror, which is bordered top and bottom by oak, rests above a porcelain basin whose pipe-work is covered by an elegant towel bar and wooden cabinet. Roca also makes the Hall Corner Basin and Angular Corner Basin – simple porcelain basins with chrome taps and pipes – as well as the truly distinctive Senso Corner Basin. Its pipes totally disguised, the Senso basin seems to rest lightly atop a wooden shelving unit, making it a visually interesting design piece as well as a functioning sink.

Other brands make simpler, more basic bathroom basins composed of white porcelain and chrome taps.

Vitra’s Arkitekt floats above the bathroom floor with exposed pipes while their Round Corner Basin sits atop and elegant pedestal column. The Laufen Pro C corner hand basin has clean lines and seems almost impossibly small. It’s perfect for truly limited bathroom spaces. Similarly, the Jika Mio corner bathroom sink basin is incredibly compact.

Of these ultra compact corner basins, perhaps none is more compact than the Bauhaus Ninety corner hand washbasin. Shaped like a right triangle, this sink is, like the Laufen and Jika, perfect for tiny lavatories.

Imperial’s line of hand-crafted stone and marble sink bowls are truly unique bathroom pieces. Connecting you with the history and ancient peoples in Europe and America, these are among the most ancient materials one can use for home design in general and bathroom design in particular. Decadent, smooth, clean, and organic – the Imperial line of hand-crafted stone and marble sink bowls are exciting because of their simplicity, naturalness, and decadence. Each is handcrafted from solid pieces of stone and marble, allowing the unique grain to shine through and accent your one-of-a-kind bathroom with flair and elegance. A range of shapes and a wide range of tones also ensure you’ll find the right piece to capture the mood you prefer for your bathroom, as well as perfectly accent your other fixtures.

The round Agri bowl is ivory with pink accents while the shape and colour of the Denzi suggests nothing so much as fine terracotta pottery. The dark blue, square Attis Midnight pushes the eye toward the dark tones of a midnight ocean while its sister pieces – the Attis Twilight ad Attis Dawn – each move progressively toward white in the colour spectrum. The arresting slate-blue of the Twilight would be a sumptuous accent in an otherwise white bathroom while the ice-blue Dawn suggests the purity of an iceberg. The Seline Midnight, Twilight, and Dawn are very similar in colour to the Attis. Like the Attis, they move progressively from deep blue to ice-white. However, these pieces are shaped as shallow bowls instead of squares.