Bathroom

Choosing bathroom fittings

Almost every bathroom disappointment traces back to one thing that is easy to check first: water pressure. Establish that before choosing anything.

Know your system before you buy a shower or tap

• Combi boiler — high pressure, no tank. Most taps and showers work, but a combi can struggle to feed a very large rainfall head at full flow.
• Gravity-fed — a tank in the loft and a cylinder in the airing cupboard. Pressure is low, so fittings must be rated for low pressure or the shower will disappoint.
• Unvented cylinder — high pressure and high flow. Handles anything.

A tap specified for 1.0 bar minimum on a 0.3 bar gravity system will trickle. This is the single most common and most expensive mistake in a bathroom refit.

Measure the practical clearances

Allow around 60cm of standing space in front of a basin or toilet, and check the door swing against the basin — in small bathrooms a door that catches the vanity is discovered too late.

Furniture versus pedestal

Vanity units hide the pipework and add the storage bathrooms almost always lack. Pedestal basins are cheaper and suit period rooms. Wall-hung units make a small floor look larger and make cleaning easier, but need a solid wall or proper noggins behind the plasterboard.

Finishes are not equally durable

Chrome is hard-wearing and shows water spots. Brushed finishes hide marks far better in hard-water areas, which is most of the south and east. Matt black looks superb and shows limescale most of all.