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Hi all,
Have just moved into a rented property. Annoyingly it has separate hot and cold taps in the bath, bathroom sink, and kitchen sink. Most annoying is the kitchen sink as it makes washing up pretty tricky (mainly as the taps are so low).
I would like to either retrofit some kind of tall mixer nozzle to the existing taps, or remove the taps and fit a mixer tap in place of one of the current taps (will the hole be big enough?) and blank out the other tap hole.
I have never done any plumbing before, but fairly handy at DIY. Can anyone give me insight into whether either of the above is possible/easy/cheap? Depending how kitchen tap goes I could be keen to do similar in the bathroom sink.
Thanks, Duane.
It's fairly easy to do, especially if you make sure you get flexible tails to connect to the water pipes.
But the thing you MUST DO is check that the tap is compatible with your water system. If you have a low pressure hot water feed (you have a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard) and mains pressure cold water, then your tap must mix the water at the end of the spout. Otherwise it sends cold water back up into the hot water cylinder.
If you have a combi boiler you need a tap suitable for a high pressure system.
You can get some mixer taps (deck/bridge) with two mount points but whether they would fit in with where you current holes are I don't know - would surprise if there weren't kits to specifically convert though.
You've told the land lord of your plans I presume
Are there isolating valves on the pipes to the taps.... ?
If there are turn them off and give it a go.... the worst that will happen will be no water to the kitchen sink.
If there aren't isolating valves and you mess it up, you'll have no water to the whole house !!
Good luck ...
Will discuss with landlord before doing anything (and maybe asking him to pay...) - but want to figure out what the options and prices are first 🙂
Pretty sure we have a combi boiler - no sign of a water tank anywhere.
The taps are at the corners of the sink, so don't think we will find a mixer tap that can straddle over to both. One option is something like this, but doesn't help with the taps being too low:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RETROMIXER-adaptor-separate-bathroom-Aquamarine/dp/B01IBJ3RRY
British taps are always a source of amusement to visitors from foreign parts.
I particularly like the ones in public places that say "caution very hot water", so you can't wash your hands under the hot tap, and running a bowl of warm water would require a) a plug, which is invariably missing, and b) a toxic site cleanup
OK, so landlord won't pay to sort the taps (apparently he only recently fitted these separate taps...). He also says the tap holes won't be big enough to fit a single mixer tap.
So it looks like something like this may work:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076ZH6M1T/ref=twister_B07C86RJ2B?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06W5J1GH4/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza
Which takes from both existing pipes. As above - I live in a ground floor flat, gas boiler with no visible tank - which should mean I have a high pressure system, meaning both the above taps will work?
Can I expect all the fittings to be universal etc? Or do I need to measure thread diameters etc next?
Thanks,
Duane
Having recently changed my kitchen tap I would get advice from a plumber or check the under sink fixings are compatible - I ended up getting to B&Q with about 5 mins spare to grab the correct fixings.
The first one will give you adjustable spacing due to the wobble legs but is a big ugly.
Personally I don't see the problem of sticking with the taps you have and wouldnt mess with the plumbing in a rental house.
it might be really straightforward, it might be really tricky depending how the plumbing is done and what the access is like. If there are flexible tails, isolator valves and access is good its fairly simple. If not then it could get very complex and tricky. Have a look under the sink and see what the access is like to the tap fixings. Then think how you could undo them. Look at the supply lines. all copper? braided tails? isolator valves?
I have replumbed houses and fitted central heating systems and changing taps is a job I hate and will go a long way to avoid.
OK, so landlord won’t pay to sort the taps (apparently he only recently fitted these separate taps…). He also says the tap holes won’t be big enough to fit a single mixer tap.
....but he said it's OK for you to crack on and do what you want anyway?
A pro plumber could probably do this in an hour so cost you £70ish...