Latest Designer Bathroom Ideas and How To Guides for your Home

Bath taps can be fashionable as well as functional and come in a huge variety of different styles and finishes, as well as meeting all levels of budget requirements.

When choosing your bath taps be certain to check the quality, particularly if you are buying for the long term. Chromium-plated brass taps are the most durable. Also check that the taps you are considering will fit the holes in your chosen appliance.

Choosing the right bath taps is an important step when it comes to finalising your bathroom furniture. Whether you are aiming for a bathroom refurbishment, or simply looking to replace those old looking bath taps, there are many factors that could influence your final decision including style, appearance, durability and price.

If you’re installing a new bath, it’s much easier to fit the new bath taps before the unit is put into position as this will provide easier access to hard-to-reach nuts.

When replacing bath taps, you will want to use the existing plumbing if possible, but disconnecting old, corroded fittings can be difficult. Apply some penetrating oil to the tap connectors and the back nuts that clamp the bath taps to the bath. While the oil takes effect, shut off the cold and hot water supply to the taps.

Even when you have disconnected the pipe work and back-nut, you may find that the bath taps are stuck in place with putty. Break the seal by striking the bath tap tails lightly with a wooden mallet. Clean the remnants of putty from around the holes in the bath and then fit new bath taps.

Trying to get to sleep in your bedroom while listening to a dripping tap in the bathroom, in the dead of night, can be a form of water torture. Thankfully, you won’t have to fork out on eye-watering call-out fees for a plumber, because fixing a dripping tap is a relatively straightforward DIY job to remedy the problem. Unlike a painting and decorating task, this one will be done and dusted within a quarter of an hour.

Isolate the tap from the water supply; you may have to close off at the mains, but use the servicing valve on the tap’s supply pipe if there is one. To avoid losing any small bits, put the plug in the bath or sink. Prize the decorative badge off the top of the tap and undo the retaining screw beneath. To protect the tap, wrap a cloth around it and hold it firmly in place with a large adjustable spanner. Unscrew the large brass headgear nut with a second spanner; you might have to give it a good squirt of WD40 if it’s seized. The tap’s rubber washer, the culprit causing the drip, will be on the headgear’s underside. Remove it, throw it away, replace with a new one of the same size and screw the headgear back into place, taking care not to over-tighten.

If you’ve still got a drip, take the headgear off again and look into the base of the tap and remove any limescale. If there’s a scratch, you’ll need to remove it with a re-seating tool. Just attach it to the tap and rotate it until the scratch or the debris has gone.

So, you have installed your new bath, chosen your sink, selected tiles and flooring, shopped for matching towels and bath mats, hung the bathroom mirror and fixed your towel rails. Yet something is still not right. The answer could well be the taps on your new bath and sink.
 
Nowadays, taps come in as many shapes and sizes as your bath or sink. Whether it is a traditional or ultra-modern design you have chosen for your bathroom, you will surely want a tap to mirror your design choice.
 
Have you thought about a wall-mounted sink tap? These wall-mounted models add a dash of elegance to any bathroom. Easy to install and available in many styles, they are sure to be a focal point for you and your guests.

Have you considered the range of designs now available for that perennial favourite, the two-handled model? Sleek Italian or chunky Victorian designs, choose one that is right for the overall look of your bathroom and your domestic needs. For example, a centre-mounted tap would be ideal for households with children.
 
The finish of your tap is another important consideration. Nickel-plated taps are difficult to clean and easily lose their shine. A chrome fixture would be better or what about solid brass taps? Simple and elegant, they can add a touch of elegance to any bathroom and work especially well if you have wooden bathroom accessories. Be sure to match them with your lavatory handle or toilet roll holder.

No matter what style you are trying to achieve in your modern bathroom there will be a wealth of choice when it comes to the bath taps. As well as other bathroom accessories and fittings, such as towel rails and soap holders, it is often bath and sink taps that will define the style of your suite.

Sleek and minimal design is the latest trend for modern bathrooms and you will find that the majority of choices will come in a chrome finish, with brass usually the second most common choice. Single taps (also known as single-bloc mixers) are easily the most sought after when it comes to bath taps as they save the hassle of mixing hot and cold water from different taps. However, if you are hoping to add one of these to an older-style bath, you may run into the problems if the taps were originally separate.

Of course, one way to overcome this is to purchase a split single-hole mixer – where the hot and cold pipes enter from where the original  taps were placed – but also well worth considering, especially if you want to go for the most modern look, is to install wall-mounted bath taps. Not only will it give a stylish finish to your bathroom, but there will also be less cleaning involved around the base of the tap.

If you want to add a showerhead to your bath taps, there will still be a wide range available to complement any style, and these can also come wall-mounted.

Choosing the right basin taps will be extremely important when putting the finishing touches to your bathroom suite. It is often small fittings like basin taps, bath taps and other bathroom accessories that add character, and trying to mix and match different styles, especially in traditional bathrooms, is never recommended. You will also find that, as these taps will be replicating an older style, there will be very few single-bloc taps available.

There is a wide range of traditional basin taps on the market, which can mean making a decision can be quite difficult, but most of these are separated into different categories, depending on the style – and time period – from which they have been designed. Victorian taps are ideal for a real 1800’s-style bathroom suite, but Edwardian fittings have proven to be the most popular, and are one of the more common traditional styles displayed in bathroom showrooms.

As well as the variety in different basin tap designs there are also plenty of different manufacturers offering an array of products. If you are looking for new bathroom accessories as well as bath and basin taps, it will be recommended to stick to the same brand, as even though they are all trying to replicate the same style, there will be slight variances between manufacturers.

Many people start off with one feature when designing their traditional bathroom, such as a roll top bath or bathroom sink, and it is important that you find the right basin taps – as well as bathroom furniture – to suit.