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Racy Building Strategies-46 |
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A huge variety of bathroom fittings is available these days. Cost range is beyond imagination. Controlling factor in choosing them is your budget. A tap may cost as little as Rs. 100 and as high as Rs. 25,000. There are chrome plated, coloured, golden and special colour fittings. There are pillar cocks, basin mixers with or without pop up wastes, Telephone bath shower mixers, Swivel mixers, hand showers, swan neck taps with left or right hand and 3-tap hole mixers. Among CP fittings, top brands are Kohler, Axor (Hansgrohe), Duravit, Viega. Most of these are from Germany. Next are Jaquar, Marc, Hind and Parryware. Prefer single lever mixers. Further, choose quarter turn mixers than full turn mixers. See that the levers are of brass instead of zinc or white metal. This ensures durability and long lasting shine. Further ensure that the lever has no play. In poor quality lever mixers, a play develops very soon in levers. Wherever a plastic bush is provided in levers, this play gets eliminated. So check for it. As the cost of CP fittings touches the sky, warranty period is also being increased and good companies provide 7 to 10 year warranty. Obviously, choose fittings with high warranty period.
2 Whenever you are choosing to provide mixers on the walls, always keep the center to center distance of hot and cold pipe fittings as 165 mm as this distance allows perfect installation of mixers. All bath fitting manufacturers recommend this distance for effective use of mixers.
3 If you are providing a wash basin in the lobby or dining room, try sensor operated tap for it. Water will come out when someone takes his hands below it and will stop itself when he pulls his hands away. Such taps don’t need any touching or turning of the knob or lever (many people wish for that). There is a saving of water also as flow of water stops as soon as one has finished washing hands. Such a tap needs no maintenance as there are hardly any chances of repair because of zero handling. Above all, such a tap will add to your style. Sensor operated taps have a microchip and need a battery that is to be replaced after about 4 lac cycles. While buying such a tap, ask for a remote to adjust flow of water and its timing. As these taps are costly, in the range of Rs. 11000 to Rs. 15000, ask for a minimum 5 years warranty. While the basic purpose to be served is supply of water, a common urge to have something stylish is satisfied by this kind of tap.
4 Provide aerators in the fittings. These help in getting a foam like flow. Aerators are of single as well as dual type. Both aerated jet as well as wide spray can be received in dual type at the flick of a finger. Aerators help in saving of water. Always take care to clean these aerators at regular intervals. To remove the aerator for its cleaning, most of CP fitting manufacturers provide an aerator key which helps in taking out the sieve insert. Simply rinse it thoroughly in water to remove any dirt or scale deposits or otherwise add 10% vinegar to water and leave them in it for a few hours.
5 Choose pillar taps if you are not going for mixers. Pillar taps are individual hot or cold taps. Besides checking the shape, Make and ISI mark of Pillar taps, see that these are nickel chromium plated with high polish. Look for IS 1795 mark. Weight of pillar tap matters a lot. A ½” size pillar tap should weigh minimum 650 grams and should be made of cast brass. See that it is fitted with anti splash device also. A ¾” size pillar tap weighs minimum 1175 grams.
6 Install Cockroach traps in the drains to get rid of these ugly and allergy causing nuisances. Prefer stainless steel cockroach traps. These come in all sizes to fit in any kind of drain. These use a water barrier mechanism to prevent cockroach entry into the house and trap the cockroaches in themselves. Cockroach traps are easily washable also. Generally, people complain of problems in drainage due to provision of cockroach traps as hair locks and particles get stuck in these traps. This needs to be viewed in a reverse manner. Cockroach traps in fact prevent blockage of drain pipes by this garbage. In cockroach traps, only the ring is fixed and the jalli, the inner cup and the outer cup are removable. Just take out these three parts from time to time, wash them and put them back in position. Cockroaches as well as blockage of drain pipes are thus avoided.
More tips will follow next week. Till then, happy building!
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Tip of the Moment
Take extra care in matching the colour of bathroom fittings with main sanitary fittings. Prefer to have all major and minor fittings of a single colour or matching shades.
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