5 Tips to Help You Choose the Right Bathroom Taps

Taps are the finishing touch to a luxury bathroom. Whether it’s a mixer tap or a classic pillar tap, the style you choose to adorn your washbasin or bathtub can make all the difference to your bathroom remodel. So let’s take a look at how to pick the perfect taps.

Know your style

There are just so many different types of taps on the market, which is partly what makes it so hard to decide on them. There are wall-mounted taps, which do not sit on the basin at all but come out from the bathroom wall, giving you more basin top space. There are ball taps, which have a round appearance due to the hollow ball that controls the temperature and flow speed, inside. There are your classic pillar taps—one marked hot and the other marked cold. There are mixer taps... The list goes on.

The main thing is to do your research and then go with your gut. If it feels like it reflects who you are, then you’re probably in the right ballpark.

Wall Mounted Dual Lever Washbasin Tap - 20223901 Tres

Measure the hole in the washbasin and bathtub

Sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people have to return taps they’ve bought because they were so wowed that they didn’t think to measure up before buying. The hole through which you thread the tap has to be bigger than thread, itself, but the base of the tap has to sit neatly atop it.

It’s a good rule-of-thumb to measure up every aspect of your bathroom before remodelling and taps holes are just another one to add to the list.

Consider the material

What kind of metal is best for taps? Are steel taps better than brass taps? Do copper taps turn green? Do brass taps go rusty? If you’re discerning about interior design, your mind is probably racing with questions around what kind of metal to choose for longevity and quality.

Apart from the copper question (yes, they copper taps do acquire a green patina over time, due to their interaction with oxygen—but it can look nice), you’re generally pretty safe with all the major tap metals. They’ve been designed to withstand years of high-pressure water flowing through them. The main thing you need to ask yourself is: which one do you like best for your particular bathroom?

Brass taps have a classic, old-fashioned feel. Chromed, steel taps feel more modern and sleek. Copper taps, meanwhile, might fit into a more industrial-style or retro-futurist bathroom.

Deck Mounted Washbasin Tap - 20210501 Tres

Decide what kind of finish you like

Your tap may be finished in an external lacquer or chrome. You need to decide whether you prefer the highly polished style, which can either look very highly stylised or very utilitarian, or the brushed style, which gives a country-cottage type of feel. Just be mindful that you’ll need to clean the taps effectively to maintain that finish—never use aggressive cleaning products that destroy the enamelling.

Make sure your bathtub and washbasin taps complement each other

Don’t buy taps that clash—you may think it’s cool to get really different types of taps for the different areas of your bathroom, but it’s a bad idea. Taps help to pull all the different aspects of your bathroom together into a unified whole precisely because they are complementary. So make sure to get taps that match or that, at least, feel like they belong in the same space.

You may even choose to get exactly the same taps and use them in multiple locations. Can washbasin taps be used on the bathtub? Absolutely, in many circumstances—it all depends on the type of tap it is. If it fits and if you like the look of it, though, go for it.

Looking for something else to read? Check out the Top 5 Reasons to Choose Marble for Your Bathroom.