Abacus Bathrooms Bathroom Taps

Abacus Taps and Mixers

When it comes to deciding what taps, brassware and mixers you'd like, many customers opt for Abacus. The company is renowned for its high-quality finish and offers a comprehensive range of world-class products that will enable you to kit your entire bathroom out hassle-free. They take a design-led approach to manufacturing, which means their designs not only offer strength, stability and practical features, but they also look stylish at the same time. With Abacus you are able to get peace of mind in your choice. Their products are innovative, incorporating the latest technology and trends, and provide you with great efficiency.

We have chosen to work with Abacus because of the many years in which we have found their products to be a popular choice for customers. From basin taps to bath taps, bidet taps to shower kits, the company provides you with everything you could need.

They also sell items such as sanitary-ware and furniture, bath and shower trays, flushing and support systems, heating, and waterproofing and glass screens, amongst other items. They have a variety of different ranges available when it comes to choosing your taps and mixers, including Logic, Ki, Edition, Plan, Ala-C, Twist, ISO and XS.

Each of these offers a variety of designs and accessory choices - you'll be able to get a feel for what these are when looking through the products and the Abacus catalogue.

Key considerations

When you are choosing which taps and mixers to go for, there are several different things to keep in mind. Firstly, you need to consider what your budget will be. This should take into account all the different aspects of your bathroom, as well as how much it would cost for somebody to come and fit the accessories for you. Once you know exactly how much you are looking to spend, this will help you filter out products that won't be suitable for you.

Next up, you'll need to think about the design and what would work for your space. Abacus offers a wide range of different aesthetic options, with more traditional styles available alongside contemporary and forward-thinking models. It is important that whatever you choose matches with the room overall, as well as with the other fittings that you have opted for. If you choose a tap this is more angular, you will need to continue this feel throughout. However, you may opt for something softer and more curved, especially if the room has a lot of soft edges to it.

You will also need to consider how much space you have. Not all taps are created equal, so some will stick out in the sink or bath more than others, while some will stand taller than others. When you are deciding which is right for you, it is a good idea to take the measurements for the tap and check this against the furniture that you have chosen. You will be able to see how it would look and what you'd be getting. You may also need to speak with your plumber who will be able to guide you on what works best for the room you have, and on their experiences.

Additionally, some taps are designed for fixing to the wall while others are fixed to the sink or bath unit at the bottom. What you opt for depends on what type of bathroom furniture you have chosen, as well as how the basin or bath sits. If you go for the wall option, you will need to think about your plumbing well before you have got to the stage of choosing taps to ensure you're able to fix what you want into the room. It would be a good idea to again speak with your plumber and check you can actually have the taps you want in the room and how straightforward this would be. If you have to make significant changes to fix the tap on the wall, you may find it more cost-effective to make a different decision.

Water pressure

It is important that you take into account the water pressure in your house when buying taps and mixers. If you don't, then you could potentially find yourself with a tap that isn't working as effectively or efficiently as it potentially could. It may trickle out slowly, or the hot and cold water could run at different rates. When you get it right, the performance is stellar and you'll be hard-pushed to find anything better. It will be quick to strike a comfortable balance in temperature.

The trick is to know what type of water system you have before buying your taps and mixers. Not all houses are fitted with the same type and it may not be immediately obvious. If you have a cold water tank situated in your loft and then have a hot water cylinder somewhere else in your house (such as in an airing cupboard), you will have a low-water pressure system. You will need to choose products specifically designed for low-pressure houses in order to see the most efficiency. You'll be able to find out what taps are suitable for reading the description and checking what the water pressure bar is for the unit (more on this below).

If you have a combination boiler, you will have a high-pressure vented water system and a lot more flexibility with what you can choose. You can choose pretty much any kind of taps and mixers and aren't so restricted. The same goes for if you have a hot water tank and no cold water tank. This is a high-pressure unvented water system, and again you'll have a lot more flexibility in what you can choose.

You can measure the distance from the bottom of your water tank to the outlet of your tap to find out what the exact water pressure is in your home. You will need to do this in metres and, although you don't need to be exact, you'll need to get it as close as possible. You may have to go through different rooms depending on how your house is laid out. This might involve you measuring up to the ceiling and then going into your loft and measuring from the floor up.

If the distance is 1 metre or less, you have a low-pressure house. Water pressure is measured in bars, and anything less than 0.1 bar is considered low. If you have anything above this, it is considered high-pressure. For example, 2 metres is 0.2 bar. As the metres go up by 1, so does the water pressure (e.g. 3 metres = 0.3 bar).

Basin mixers

Basin mixers are essentially a single tap with a handle on the top that turns side to side. It enables you to have both hot and cold water running from the same tap at varying degrees of temperature. The water combines together to get you an ideal heat. You can either get these mixers mounted on your wall or sink unit. There is a range of different design options, with more curved choices and more squared off options. They are a popular choice for many customers because of the flexibility they offer, as well as the practical and sleek finish.

Bath mixers

These bathroom accessories operate in the same way as basin mixers but are specifically designed for the bath. You can get ones with just one lever that turns side to side, or with two levers that you can move to get the perfect combination of water temperature. You are able to choose from low-down tap options to freestanding bath mixers. This is often a good choice if you have a bath that is freestanding in a room in which taps would make the bathing experience less comfortable. The freestanding tap would stand outside the bathing unit with the water able to pour in, so you would essentially have a bath with no taps at either end.

Bath/shower mixer

You can opt to have a shower head added to a bath mixer to get the flexibility of both a bath and shower. These come in various styles with numerous choices for the shower head design. They are available in a number of their ranges from Vita to Ala-C to XS and ISO.

Bidet mixer

If your bathroom has a bidet, you will need to get a bidet mixer too. Abacus has a choice of two different styles with one more curved and the other more angular. These are relatively similar prices so it largely comes down to design choices and preferences.