Plumbing Selections for Your New Home
Room by room here is what you need to select regarding the plumbing fixtures for your new home.
Let's start with the kitchen.
First off, we will not be talking about appliances like a dishwasher or disposer, although these are items that the plumber will install for you.
We will cover those things in a future article about appliances.
The sink; you need to think about its function, care and your preferences.
The basic options are Stainless, cast iron with a porcelain finish, polymer, steel, and ceramic.
I feel a sink functions better if it has some depth to it.
Most builders install a 5" deep sink as sort of a standard.
My suggestion is to look at 7-8" for a little better utility.
Sinks can have a stainless rim, be self rimming or be under mount.
The rimmed and self rimming can work with any type of counter top and the under mount is normally used with a thicker counter, like granite or quartz.
Again my choice would be self rimming for ease of cleaning.
The stainless is by far the easiest to clean.
The other sinks mar when you place an aluminum pan in them and move it around.
Some will stain with coffee and tea.
If you don't mind the extra effort to keep them looking good, then you can get the other sinks in an assortment of colors.
You can find sinks with one, two or even three bowls and the bowls can be different sizes.
A sixty, forty sink with a big and little bowl is popular.
Everyone wants a faucet spout tall enough to get a big tea picture under, and some women even wash their hair in the kitchen sink.
Faucets come with both hot and cold controls separate or single handle.
The advantage of separate controls is that you don't accidentally place a demand on your water heater when you reach to turn on the cold water and have it slightly over on the warm side as you might with a single lever.
A small child will walk up to a single handle faucet and just give it push to turn on without thinking about moving it to one side or the other.
I find it easier to set the temperature better with dual controls.
Stick with the name brands on you faucets and you won't go wrong.
See the URL's below for some choices.
In the baths the majority of the lavatories we use are either man made marble (MMM) or porcelain.
The MMM sinks are cast into the vanity top and the porcelain is mounted onto the vanity usually over ceramic tile.
There are others made of copper, glass, polymer and steel.
The MMM lavatories are available in many colors and sink styles and are a good value.
The bath faucets, like the kitchen faucets, can be either dual control or single lever, wide spread or narrow.
For the same reasons as the kitchen, I prefer the dual controls.
Note that the faucets of both areas can be selected in several finishes.
Chrome has been the most popular for generations; however you may select, at a little higher price, fixtures with an oil-rubbed bronze, nickel, brushed stainless or other finishes.
Again check the URL's below.
http://www.
moen.
com/ http://www.
deltafaucet.
com The types of tubs and showers available will be the topic of the next article.
Copyright ©2008
Let's start with the kitchen.
First off, we will not be talking about appliances like a dishwasher or disposer, although these are items that the plumber will install for you.
We will cover those things in a future article about appliances.
The sink; you need to think about its function, care and your preferences.
The basic options are Stainless, cast iron with a porcelain finish, polymer, steel, and ceramic.
I feel a sink functions better if it has some depth to it.
Most builders install a 5" deep sink as sort of a standard.
My suggestion is to look at 7-8" for a little better utility.
Sinks can have a stainless rim, be self rimming or be under mount.
The rimmed and self rimming can work with any type of counter top and the under mount is normally used with a thicker counter, like granite or quartz.
Again my choice would be self rimming for ease of cleaning.
The stainless is by far the easiest to clean.
The other sinks mar when you place an aluminum pan in them and move it around.
Some will stain with coffee and tea.
If you don't mind the extra effort to keep them looking good, then you can get the other sinks in an assortment of colors.
You can find sinks with one, two or even three bowls and the bowls can be different sizes.
A sixty, forty sink with a big and little bowl is popular.
Everyone wants a faucet spout tall enough to get a big tea picture under, and some women even wash their hair in the kitchen sink.
Faucets come with both hot and cold controls separate or single handle.
The advantage of separate controls is that you don't accidentally place a demand on your water heater when you reach to turn on the cold water and have it slightly over on the warm side as you might with a single lever.
A small child will walk up to a single handle faucet and just give it push to turn on without thinking about moving it to one side or the other.
I find it easier to set the temperature better with dual controls.
Stick with the name brands on you faucets and you won't go wrong.
See the URL's below for some choices.
In the baths the majority of the lavatories we use are either man made marble (MMM) or porcelain.
The MMM sinks are cast into the vanity top and the porcelain is mounted onto the vanity usually over ceramic tile.
There are others made of copper, glass, polymer and steel.
The MMM lavatories are available in many colors and sink styles and are a good value.
The bath faucets, like the kitchen faucets, can be either dual control or single lever, wide spread or narrow.
For the same reasons as the kitchen, I prefer the dual controls.
Note that the faucets of both areas can be selected in several finishes.
Chrome has been the most popular for generations; however you may select, at a little higher price, fixtures with an oil-rubbed bronze, nickel, brushed stainless or other finishes.
Again check the URL's below.
http://www.
moen.
com/ http://www.
deltafaucet.
com The types of tubs and showers available will be the topic of the next article.
Copyright ©2008