Floor-standing bath faucets: features, types and choices

Anyone who has carried out repair work in the bathroom is aware of how important it is to calculate every little detail. For a comfortable and enjoyable shower, you need to choose high-quality plumbing fixtures and fittings. Recently, practical, comfortable and reliable floor-mounted mixers have won an extraordinary demand among our fellow citizens.

Floor mixers are stand-alone stationary devices without fixing parts to the hot tub or wall. The device is mounted directly into the floor, therefore the pipeline must be laid at the stage of repair work, before laying the floor covering. When this requirement has not been met, concealing pipes in specialized boxes that are arranged along the walls can help.

Floor faucets are becoming more and more popular due to a number of advantages.

1. Height. Since the floor unit is a free-standing structure, it can be anything in height (within reason). The main condition is that it is user-friendly when using it. The same feature makes it possible to make the installation quite powerful and reliable, and there will be no excessive pressure on the font itself.
2. Free installation and repair. If you need to replace or repair the device, you do not need to dismantle or move the bath.This optimal location allows unhindered access to all elements of the mixer structure.
3. Scope of use. This device can be installed not only in the bathroom, but also next to the outdoor pool, shower (in the sauna and steam bath) or on the veranda.
4. Long service life. Buying a good faucet from well-known brands and adhering to all the installation rules, you can ensure a long product life.
5. Design. Attractive, extraordinary floor-standing mixers are available in a variety of styles. It is absolutely simple to choose the one that will be the ideal "application" of the existing design or even its feature.

The disadvantages of floor-standing devices are associated with the material side of the issue. High-quality samples are quite expensive, and their installation will also cost a pretty penny. And of course, it should be noted that these modifications are intended mainly for large rooms, where there are conditions for mounting a hot tub in the middle. The device itself will also borrow space.

The market is saturated with products of Russian and foreign trade brands.

• 2-lever or 2-valve. This is a traditional design solution for this class of sanitary products, however, it has drawbacks: the gaskets on the crane-axle boxes quickly become unusable due to wear, and you have to adjust the temperature of the water flow with 2 hands for a long time.

• Single lever the product is more comfortable because it can be adjusted with one hand. The main plus of the product is the presence of a ceramic cartridge, however, with high water hardness, it will often have to be changed.

• Cascading faucet with shower looks great, but in reality they are not comfortable enough. Moreover, a structure that reproduces a waterfall quickly breaks down.

• Thermostatic modifications are suitable for admirers of practicality in the interior: temperature data are displayed on a mini-screen, which simplifies the adjustment process, there are regulators that are responsible for economical consumption, a leak valve, an aerator.

• Contactless mixers are controlled by infrared sensors. This is a fairly hygienic design, since users do not touch the valves with their hands, and it also contributes to great water savings.

Another 2 types of floor-standing devices occupy their own niche in this group of plumbing products.

1. Electronic - this is an improved modification of a non-contact device, it makes it possible to form individual modes of water supply, for any of them you can set the temperature level and pressure force.
2. Combined floor The faucets are equipped with an elongated swivel neck that can be used alternately over a washbasin and a bathtub. The sample is quite convenient, attracts with an interesting design, however, its moving parts quickly break down.

The material of manufacture of the plumbing device is also important. At the moment, several varieties are offered.

1. Metals and their alloys. They are the most reliable and strongest if they are non-corrosive or coated with a protective material against rust formation. Brass, nickel, bronze, steel are mainly used. The most practical and reliable is brass. There are also modifications with a combined body or coating. The optimum finish is chrome.
2. Ceramics. Most often, internal elements are made from it, and they do not corrode and are durable. However, the body of the spout can also be made of ceramic.

Hansgrohe - reliable and uncluttered products with traditional German quality. On the market for over 100 years. The range of products of the company contains hundreds of samples, among which any buyer can choose what he needs.

Pros:

• 5 years warranty;
• ergonomic design.

Minuses:

• fragility of individual elements, which will have to be purchased on order and wait several weeks.

Grohe - progressive German technology in fashionable design. The consumer receives equipment that has undergone rigorous quality approbation, with a 10-year guarantee of uninterrupted operation.

Pros:

• there are all possible types of mixers in a wide variety of styles;
• high quality;
• ease of installation.

Minuses:

• lack of genuine spare parts in our market, so repairs may take a long time;
• high price.

Understanding the general economic situation and the client's solvency, it manufactures its products in China.

Thus, their product is much cheaper than European prototypes, while not inferior to them in quality. Variety of styles. Retro, classic with a hand shower and hi-tech, matt, colored and chrome finishes, complex kinks or clear lines - all this makes it possible to choose a device for any bathroom: for commercial or personal use.

The material of the case is of great importance. Brass products are more expensive and have a long service life. Mixers with plastic parts fail very quickly.

To determine a fake silumin for any material, one has only to compare a number of samples with similar dimensions by weight - an inexpensive option will be an order of magnitude lighter than any metal. Purchasing a cheap product is advisable as a temporary solution for a rented apartment.

Stainless steel has proven to be the most durable metal, capable of serving for more than a dozen years, only the cost of such structures is overstated. The price is justified by the high strength characteristics of devices made of this material. Bronze is a strong metal, but during long-term use it becomes dark, a greenish coating appears.

The number of "legs" is an indicator that determines the reliability of fixing the floor device. A monotube specimen is much easier to twist or pull out when loaded or pressed. 2-levers fix the device more thoroughly in the floor, but require more space.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fittings: the fewer parts the control component has, the more reliable. The valve structure requires regular replacement of gaskets, lubricants need to be added to the cartridge to facilitate rotation, and the ceramic valve head benefits from the integrity of the structure and the absence of the need to lubricate the internal elements.

Of the auxiliary functional advantages, modifications with a built-in aerator should be preferred., which will give a silent pouring of water and partially cleanse it of chlorine.

How to choose a bath mixer, see below.