Stand alone tub faucets will serve you with a number of advantages. Some people call them freestanding tub faucets because of the way they are installed beside the tub. Today, I have prepared you this simple guide that explains to you why you need to buy standalone tub faucets for your bathrooms.
When it comes to your bathroom design and appearance, the choice of the bathtub matters a lot. One of the critical features of the tub that adds beauty to your bathroom is stand alone tub faucets because of the pros of freestanding tub faucets that we will cover in this discourse. Prominently, freestanding tub faucets make your bathrooms look unique with a modern and luxurious design.
Additionally, with their excellent functionality, you have a lot to benefit. Considering that your bathtub is one of the most used items in the bathroom, you should think carefully about the choice of the bathroom faucets you need to install. Even though stand alone tub faucets demand a little more space, this comes with many advantages.
Why should you buy the stand-alone tub faucets? If this is the question that is bothering you, then you are in the right place to find answers. This guide is focused on equipping you with the pros of freestanding tub faucets, properties to consider, what you should avoid when buying one plus a simple installation guide.
So, let’s get started!
Contents
What are the Benefits of Stand Alone Tub Faucets?
The most important aspect of this post is to check the pros of freestanding tub faucets. These faucets come with several benefits, from their beautiful design to proper functionality. Since your bathroom is a place that you visit on a daily basis, having one stand-alone bathtub that is impressive is essential. Here are some of the main benefits:
A Stand Alone Tub Faucets Offer Flexibility
While built-in faucets are fixed to a single spot in your bathroom, stand-alone, tub faucets can be placed anywhere. This feature allows you to reuse it in different bathroom remodeling sessions. Additionally, when you need to move it, no extra work needs to be done plus no tile is going to be broken.
If your bathroom is spacious, one of the suitable positions to place it is in the centre of your bathroom. This spot is quite impressive to anyone walking into your bathroom. Another spot is setting your freestanding tub faucet close to the window; it enables you to enjoy the sun rays while you take a bath.
You will have Better Utilization of Space with the Use of Stand Alone Tub Faucets
Stand alone tub faucets occupy more space than built-in taps. However, since they are raised, they offer you ample space when bathing as compared to fixed faucets. However, if you have a smaller bathroom, it might not necessarily fit. Nevertheless, you can use it in a smart way to get an impression of a bigger bathroom.
Stand Alone Tub Faucets have a Unique Style
Stand alone tub faucets have a unique appearance, which makes your bathroom exceptional. As well, you can use it with other bathroom details such as a pedestal sink or bronze claw to enhance the appearance of your faucets giving you a royal look. Adding a seating near your tub will create a luxurious look in your bathroom to the tune of a spa.
They Enable Easy Replacement
From time to time, you might need to replace your stand-alone tub faucets. Replacing freestanding tub fillers is one of the simplest things when it comes to bathroom remodelling ideas. Moreover, it offers incredible effect when redesigning your bathroom for an improved appearance.
Wide Choice of Materials to Choose From
Stand alone tub faucets are designed in various materials as compared to build in tub faucets. This means that you can get faucets that can last for a long while still maintaining their cute appearance. Since taste, varies a lot from one individual to another, no one is left out since you can get a design that best fits what you need. Why not add timeless elegance to your bathroom with freestanding tub fillers?
Stand Alone Tub Faucets have an Easy Installation Process
Freestanding tub fillers have a simple installation process, especially when remodelling your bathroom. The process is simple and involves just fixing some few waterlines. This means that you don’t need any experience for you to get them working.
The Stand Alone Tub Faucets Buying Guide
Quality
What is the quality of material used to build the faucet? It is quite evident that no one wants to spend much money buying faucets regularly. This is why ensuring that the quality of the tap is impressive before committing yourself is crucial. Purchasing high-quality stand-alone tub faucets mean that you won’t need to meet repair expenses from time to time. Commonly, all taps designed with brass reflect good quality.
Additionally, the right quality faucets usually come with high flow rate. It is wise to ensure that the tap has a high flow rate since tub faucets demand higher flow rate as compared to other valves in the market.
Style
If you are replacing stand-alone faucets when remodelling your bathroom, then you should be careful to ensure that its style suits the room. However, if you will renovate the whole bathroom, then your work is much more comfortable. For instance, if your bathroom has a modern appearance, faucets with modern styles will fit your bathroom.
If the bathroom is vintage, then you should consider acquiring vintage looking faucets. For these reasons, when making purchases, it is advisable that you buy the tub, sink and the faucets together to ensure their styles rhyme.
Finishes
When it comes to selecting a suitable finish, there are a variety of options to choose from. Hence, you can never miss a stand-alone tub faucet that best fits your bathroom. Some of the most popular finishes include brass, polished nickel, and chrome among others.
However, the choice of finish you settle on should fit your bathroom to avoid tarnishing the appearance of your bathroom. Also, something to note is the variance in warranty. This is because some extravagant finishes lack similar assurance like the basic ones.
Standout Elements of the Buying Guide For Stand Alone Tub Faucets
When buying stand alone tub faucets, there are some vital things that you should take into consideration. This is due to a large number of free-standing tube fillers in the market. Most of them have different designs, and the functions could slightly differ.
The prices also vary depending on their producers and the quality of the equipment. Since changing them after installation could be costly, getting it right the first time when buying is essential. Here are some of the things that you should avoid:
Stand Alone Tub Faucets with Difficult Installation
Some stand alone tub faucets could be hard to install. If you are doing most of the job when renovating and you don’t have enough skills to reinstall the taps, then you should consider those which are simple to fix.
However, you can acquire the services of professionals to help you in changing or installing the freestanding tub faucets. If you have a friend with experience, then seeking help from him/her could be a cost-effective way of handling the issue.
Therefore, when buying a faucet, you should ensure that it has clear and easy to understand installation instructions. If there is something you don’t comprehend in the guide, it is wise to contact the manufacturer and ask for guidance to avoid messing up.
Poor Water Pressure
What is the water flow rate of the stand-alone tub faucets? This is majorly a problem to do with cheap taps. It can be attributed to the fact that most inexpensive faucets are not designed to use rough-in valves. So, even if its installation is smooth and the flow rate is not impressive, then you could end up discouraged.
Depending on the size of your bathtub, if the water flows at low pressure, then it will take longer time filling especially if your tub has significant capacity.
Apart from being boring having to wait for long, the water will start cooling off before it is full. For instance, if your stand-alone tub faucets are designed to produce water at 5 gallons every minute, then it will take approximately 12 minutes filling a tub that holds 60 gallons. Instead of buying such faucets, you should look for one that can produce 12 gallons per minute so that you only need to wait for 5 minutes before the tub filled.
Not Stable Stand Alone Tub Faucets
Stability plays another critical role away from safety issues. It contributes actively to the usability of stand-alone tub faucets. To stay away from worries about your taps, you should consider getting a stable faucet that does not wobble or rattle all the time. Stability matters a lot, especially when using a stand-alone tub filler with hand shower. When you remove the hand spray from the cradle that holds it, the faucet will start swaying.
Pulling the hose to use will worsen the swaying. All this will affect your experience in a big way from soothing and relaxing to worried and nervous. This is why at all times you should buy a stand-alone tub faucet that is sturdy and has excellent stability.
Stand Alone Tub Faucets that have Issues with the Diverter
A significant issue with a poor quality stand-alone tub faucets is faulty diverters. When using this filler, you will notice that the hand spray and tub filler will run simultaneously. This means that you will not be able to use the hand shower separately. This being a problem with the design, there might be little you can do about it to rectify the issue. Therefore, before buying any faucets, it is prudent to ensure that the diverters are functioning well.
Stand Alone Tub Faucets that don’t Meet the Plumbing Codes
If you stay in places that have strict plumbing codes that the faucets should meet, then you need to be careful when buying one. This means that you ensure that the tap passes the inspection before ordering it. You should not risk ordering a faucet with intentions to test after it has been installed because it might be too late to return it. Always ensure that you confirm that the tap will pass the inspection before any plumbing is done.
Stand Alone Tub Faucets that Leak
This is a problem that is commonly seen in cheap cartridges. Even if the drops are few, there is a high chance that they will increase with time. Apart from wasting water when you are not using the tub, they will leave permanent rust or stain on the container. This could be a big challenge especially when you can’t find suitable faucets to use them for replacement.
Thus, to prevent this from happening, you should avoid faucets with leaks no matter how small the leaks could seem. In such a case, buying expensive ones might be the right option.
Stand Alone Tub Faucets with no Replacement Parts and Warranty
If you order stand alone faucets that do not have a brand name, this means that you expect no parts and warranty. Despite the efforts of some companies to offer a warranty limited to the first three years of its use, the time might not be enough since most problems show up nearly after eight years or later than that. This implies that when the parts start developing problems, the company that made it might not be around at that time.
Therefore to cover yourself against any issues that could arise in future, it is essential that you only buy stand-alone faucets from well-known brands that have replacement parts and come with a lifetime warranty.
Installation of Stand Alone Tub Faucets
Despite how hard the installation process might seem, it is simple and won’t take you long. When buying stand alone tub faucets, if you think that it might not be stable enough then you should buy with them suitable stabilizing brackets. These brackets will reinforce the stability of your tube fillers; thus when water will be pouring out, it will be more stable with no movements.
Another thing to confirm is that it has the right height that you need. This is because heights differ from one product to another. Therefore, it is essential to check to find out whether it will work well with your tub. If the tub reaches the filler and it works well, then it is okay.
Conclusion
In summary, while stand-alone tub faucets come with lots of benefits for users to enjoy, some of them have poor quality. This means that making sure the tube filler is built with high-quality materials and works appropriately is so crucial. If the quality is poor, then you will have a hard time using your stand-alone tub faucets since you are likely to encounter several problems which demand regular fixing.
Apart from the features of faucets, your house design is also another factor to consider. It is important to ensure things such as water flow in your house is good enough. This is because even if the tube filler has good water flow rate, it won’t work well if the flow rate at your house is low. Finally, since there are lots of faucets in the market, you should look for one that is within your budget to avoid overspending.