Taps come in many different styles and types,
but not every tap is suitable for every situation. As with shower valves, the
type of water system in your home needs
to be considered when you choose a type of tap. As a rule, pillar taps, (where
there are two completely separate taps, hot & cold), will be suitable for
use on any system, but some mixer taps will be suitable only for high pressure
water supplies. A single lever mixer tap will almost always only be suitable
for a high pressure system.
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Basin mixers will usually be supplied complete with a pop up waste fitting, but there are a few exceptions to this. Some types, particularly tall basin mixers, designed for use with a free standing wash basin, are supplied without a waste fitting, so you will need to order this separately. If you are choosing pillar taps, a waste fitting will always be required separately.
Normally a plug and chain fitting is used with pillar taps, but there are other options. A flip top waste has a circular plug permanently fitted on a swivel. It can be flipped open or closed by hand . A push button waste, sometimes called a click-clack waste, again has a permanently fitted plug which is pushed down to seal, then another push releases it again and it springs open. A free flowing waste has no seal and is always open, meaning that the basin can never actually be filled. This is designed for use with a basin which has no overflow, like a glass or natural stone basin.
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Bath taps are available in the same variants as basin taps, but a waste fitting for your bath is always a separate requirement. Some bath taps have a shower attachment and are known as bath/shower mixers, those without are often referred to as bath fillers. Some have a separate spout and hot & cold valves and some have a shower attachment where the hose retracts below the bath rim for storage. You can also have an overflow filler system for your bath which has no spout, but supplies water through the overflow fitting.
The links below will take you to more information and illustrations.
Pillar taps * Mixer taps * Single lever taps * 3-Hole mixer taps * Bath taps * Single lever bath taps * Bath shower mixers
Waste fittings * Overflow fillers
Hot water systems
* Taps home * Tap galleries