New taps - what to look for and where to buy?

zudecke

Hiya,

Been told by a plumber that my bathroom and kitchen taps are both finished. Despite them only being relatively new (about 2/3 years old), he thinks limescale may have blocked them.

I live in central London - an area known for its hard water.

Does this sound plausible?

Any who, I was wondering where one might go to buy taps for a reasonable price and what I should look for when buying?

The bath tap is a mixer/shower and the kitchen it a mixer.

Regards,

Z

Canucklehead

Hi.

No it doesn't sound plausible.

What's wrong with them, why are they 'blocked'?


GSR.

zudecke

Hiya,

I don't know why they're blocked... The hot tap on both the kitchen and bathroom mixers seems to be faulty.

I get about a 20 second trickle of hot in the kitchen, before it pretty much disappears completely and only get about 2 CM of open flow from the hot tap in the bath.. Which means in VERY low-pressured showers because of the sparse spray coming out.

I've had 2 boiler engineers out, who, granted, are not tap/water specialists, both confirmed that the boiler is working perfectly and that said the water flow from the cold taps is fine, which indicated a problem with the hot side of the taps...

Sound any more plausible? If not, any further insight/help?

Regards,

Z

Canucklehead

Hi.

Are the taps quarter turn (ceramic disc) or screwdown (washers)?

Kinked flexi connectors? (under the sink/bath)

Don't see any reason why they couldn't be serviced . Unless they were/are cheap rubbish in the first place.

GSR.

Tr1pp

I live in london too so I know how annoying the hard water is but seems like an odd problem you have.

the taps I have are several years old and have no problems, my g/f's parents have had the same taps for about 20 years with no issues either.

I would suggest you do to your taps what I do to the inside of my kettle when it gets all limey...soak it in vinegar.

Disconnect the taps (disassemble them if you can) and put them in a bowl/sink of vinegar (or proper descaler if you want) and leave them for a few hours. hopefully lime scale will be broken down.

I will point out ive never done this with taps so i cant comment on success rates but I have done it to various other items in my house and it worked.


thinking about it, it seems odd that you get some flow to begin with before it stops, if your taps are blocked then they are blocked. you either get full / reduced / no flow, not a gradual reduction in flow. how curious

Jonesya

I had similar problems with a number of basin taps, in my case it was due to the tap valve /cartridge getting clogged with limescale and ceasing up - you can get replacements for a few pounds each, much cheaper and easier than replacing the whole tap.

zudecke

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi.

Are the taps quarter turn (ceramic disc) or screwdown (washers)?

Kinked flexi connectors? (under the sink/bath)

Don't see any reason why they couldn't be serviced . Unless they were/are cheap rubbish in the first place.

GSR.

I'm not sure if you can tell much more from the photos below, but it's worth a try...

Jonesya wrote: »

I had similar problems with a number of basin taps, in my case it was due to the tap valve /cartridge getting clogged with limescale and ceasing up - you can get replacements for a few pounds each, much cheaper and easier than replacing the whole tap.

How can I diagnose to see if this is the problem, given the set up shown in the photos below..?

Appreciate all your replies so far guys!

Beginning to believe this might not be purely a faulty tap issue!


Kitchen:


Kitchen 2:


Bathroom:


PS. Please forgive the horrible state of the taps and surrounding.. HD cameras aren't flattering clearly! How embarrassing lol.

keystone

"Plumber" is talking carp. As others have said if they are clogged up then after only 2/3 years its fixable and if not then just replace the cartridges or tap head gear as appropriate. You certainly don't need to replace the whole tap assemblies. It really isn't rocket science, very very DIYable and TBH you could have saved yourself the embarrassment of those pics .:D

BTW I live in SW London, have had the same taps in my kitchen and bathroom for the best part of 15 years without any problems whatsoever. Only considering changing now as it appears that kitchen and bathroom upgrades are on the agenda for the near future (how these projects got added when I wasn't looking I really haven't the faintest idea. )

Cheers

zudecke

So how do I change the cartridges and tap heads etc?

27col

Congratulations on actually managing to put up pictures that are in focus and well lit for a change. Even though they don't have much relevance to your question. I live in South Hants which also has very hard water. I have never had a tap that failed due to lime deposits in over 50 years. The main problem is the build up of scale on the outside of the nozzle of the tap or mixer. Which is quite easily removed.

zudecke

I have no idea how to change/clean tap cartridges or heads though.

I have a local plumber who will charge £50p/h.. Is it a job within a plumbers range to do?