Bathroom faucets: list of parameters, choice by price range,

What are the signs of choosing bathroom faucets? What to look for when buying? Are there any signs that allow you to purchase inexpensive, but high-quality and reliable devices? Let's try to answer these questions.

List of parameters

What exactly do we have to choose?

1. Bath faucet with shower switch.
2. Actually a shower - a watering can with a hose and a holder, or a bar to it.

Specify: the majority of inexpensive faucets shower included in the original equipment. The watering can with the holder is purchased separately from products from the mid-end and high-end price ranges (in other words, if the price of the shower faucet exceeds 4-5 thousand rubles).

1. Washbasin faucet (usually onboard, with installation directly on the sink shelf).

Technically, the location of the faucet above the bathtub near the sink, if it has a long movable gander (spout), allows you to do without a separate sanitary device for the sink. However, such a scheme is less practical: there is a risk of breaking the gander by accidentally hitting it; besides, constant turns will mean frequent replacement of a wearing rubber seal under the gander.

What are the signs we have to choose the products listed above?

• By way of adjusting the flow and pressure of water. Possible options - screw kranbuksy, ceramic kranbuksy and single-lever scheme with a ceramic cartridge.
• Product for the bath - the type of switch to the shower. There are faucets with lever, push-button and ceramic switches on sale. What a button looks like, I think, no need to explain; Ceramic differs from the lever in that the switch knob can rotate 360 ​​degrees, not 60-90.

• According to the case material. It can be silumin, brass, bronze, plastic, ceramic and made of stainless steel.

In addition, we have to choose the type of shower hose and watering can, as well as evaluate the quality of the mixer as a whole.

Go shopping

So, we are in the store; dozens of mixers of various shapes and designs are piled up in the shop window in front of us. We proceed to the democratic elections.

Price range

How much does a decent bathroom faucet cost?

If we are not talking about products of famous manufacturers, in the case of which the buyer willy-nilly noticeably overpays for the brand, the price ranges are approximately as follows:

• A quality faucet with a shower and a gander can be purchased for 1.5 - 2.5 thousand rubles.

• The device for a decent quality washbasin costs about 1000 rubles.

Often on sale you can find a set of faucets for the bathroom 3 in 1 (two faucets and a shower). In this case, a reasonable price tag - no more than 4000 rubles per set.

Accordingly, much cheaper products will make you doubt your quality. In the case of a significantly higher cost, you will pay most of the amount either for the manufacturer’s attempts to introduce into the design any technical innovations like an electronic thermostat or an automatic activation sensor, or for his name.

Note: the more complicated any device is, the more likely it is to break down and the less maintainable it is. In the case of plumbing, you can safely say: the truth is simple.

Cranes or lever

Of all types of locking devices, the most reliable are ceramic cranes.

Arguments? For comparison, we present several typical problems of competing solutions.

Ceramic bushings do not have these disadvantages. They differ from the cartridge in a much smaller area of ​​the plates: even when producing a lubricant, the force required to turn the crane will not grow any noticeable.

All breakdowns of this type of cranes are associated exclusively with attempts to close them with plates stuck in scale or sand. Coarse filters after valves eliminate the likelihood of such a situation.

Shower switch

Instructions for choosing the type of switch is quite clear: the most reliable ceramic switch. Arranged about the same as ceramic Kranbuksa, he practically does not wear out in the process; if you still manage to break this part - it is easy to replace the cartridge with a new one with your own hands.

Curiously: in terms of fault tolerance, a no less reliable option is a bathroom mixer with a cork switch. These products were made up to the 80s of the last century; now they can still be found in a completely good condition: there is simply nothing to break in a simple construction.

Material

Our choice is brass. Chrome plating of its surface is an option that affects only the appearance, but not the functionality: the metal is not susceptible to corrosion and on contact with a moist environment only darkens with time.

All other materials are either unnecessarily expensive at comparable performance, or much less mechanically durable.

Hint: chrome silumin is easy to distinguish from brass by weight. It has a much lower density (3 g / cm3 versus 8 - 8.5).

Quality

Suppose that we have a set of bathroom faucets suitable for all the listed characteristics.

How to visually assess the quality of its manufacture?

• The walls of the gander should not be excessively thin - otherwise, even a weak, random blow will leave dents on them.
• The stroke of the switch and cranes should be smooth, without jamming, with moderate effort.
• The chrome plating, if any, should not flake off or noticeably thin out on the threads.
• Silicone (translucent) gaskets supplied in the kit are more durable than rubber and better tolerate contact with hot water.

Tip: if when installing a wall-mounted faucet you have to install a faucet in front of it to connect a washing machine, buy an extension of the faucet in the bathroom that is the same length as the faucet. It is installed on hot water and compensates for the difference between the liner in the distance from the corners or water outlets.

• It is better that your chosen sanitary appliances (or a 3 in 1 bathroom faucet set) are equipped with aerators on the goose: they significantly reduce water consumption.

Shower

Here you can make only three simple recommendations.

• A plastic hose is more durable than a hose with a rubber core and metal armor. However, if you like to take a cold shower, it will seem inconvenient to you: plastic loses its flexibility during cooling.

• A watering can with a mode switch is very convenient.
• The rubber liner in the watering can will not allow the nozzles to overgrow with lime deposits on hard water.

Conclusion

We hope that our recommendations will help the reader to make a choice that will not make him disappointed in the purchase in the future. An additional source of information can be a video in this article. Successes!