Burlington sink with Crosswater taps? Burlington taps - apparently, not good?

[obsessedwithinteriors]

I love the Burlington sinks and am hoping to get the Edwardian one for our new bathroom. I love the design and engraving on it .

I DID want to get the Burlington long nosed taps to match, but our local plumbers merchant stock the range and have advised against buying the taps. They say the Burlington chinaware is beautiful, but they've had lots of problems with the taps they've sold to accompany the sinks.

They said to go for Crosswater (Belgravia range) taps to put on sink. There's only £11 difference, but I am 'worried' they won't match.

Sink will have Burlington engraved on it and taps Belgravia, 1902 and Hot/Cold. Our home isn't a period home, so we're pushing it in a sense by going for a traditional/period bathroom, although I'm hoping it's going to be more of a 'classic look.

Ideally, I want the Burlington taps to match, but not at the expense of them breaking. Any reviews of the taps? Any thoughts on whether Crosswater is better for taps?

Having sleepless nights over a bathroom (well, not quite, but want to get it right of course!)

[RaisingSteam]

I know Crosswater is a good brand for brassware generally, our plumber recommended it too. I have Burlington sanitaryware (good choice ) and I have a different brand of tap. Looks fine IMO - no need to be all matchy if it's complementary in style.

The other thing is that the Crosswater taps, whilst they look traditional, are modern ceramic disc quarter turn ones so will last longer and seal better. The default Burlington ones are screw valve so will get stuck and develop drips in an authentic Edwardian way if you want. (According to their website you can order a ceramic disc as an alternative, but perhaps people have not been aware of that)

Only after installation did I realise if you have one of those monobloc mixer taps, you nearly hit your nose on it when you bend over to wash your face. So good idea to go for the two taps IMO . I'd recommend getting the under-basin towel rail.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Thanks RaisingSteam.

The thing is (as much as I hate to admit it), but they don't really go. I've looked at the Bristan taps (as Piglet John seems to like then), but they have Bristan engraved on them. I could almost just do with a H and W on a pair of long nosed taps?

What taps did you go for in the end?

Yes, not going for mixers for partly that reason (and cost!) do you have all the Burlington sanitaryware? Thanks for heads up about ceramic disc, will look into that further now.

The thing about the towel rail is you then have to have an immaculate towel on display ALL the time and it takes away the beauty of the pedestal. If I was going for a washstand however, I probably would.

[RaisingSteam]

Oh dear we don't have an immaculate towel on the rail, but it's our ensuite so nobody but me to notice. One less extra thing to buy and fix to the wall.

We have the smaller semicircle basin and the low level WC. Everything else is mixed and matched. IIRC the tap was Hudson Reed Jade, but I wanted a smaller scale, curvy tap for that basin than what you are looking at.

I'm not so worried about matching up and I suspect neither will you be when it's fitted - it's just when you have to choose that these things take on massive importance IME.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Yes, this our main bathroom and as you can tell I am particularly anal...the sink is the first thing you see.

I can't seem to find that ceramic valve you were talking about on Burlington's website?

[obsessedwithinteriors]

I know yours was Jade, but HR's tap aren't long enough: www.hudsonreed.co.uk/products/taps/topaz/basin-taps-BC301

[Momzilla82]

Have you looked at heritage taps? Iirc they were a good match for the Burlington sinks.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Just looked at them Momzilla, they have Heritage written on them.

My other option would be a St James's sink and matching taps. Taps are similar price, but they don't list the prices of the sinks on their website and their showrooms aren't close to me. I suspect their basins will be around the £300 mark?

I think it's going to have to be all Burlington or Burlington sink with long nosed taps with just H and W on, but can't find any?

[grumbleina]

I know I've seen taps with just the temp labels in a burlington-ish style somewhere.

Try imperial: imperialbathroom.com/index.php/landing-pages/uk-landing

Also CP hart: www.cphart.co.uk/

And maaaybe perrin rowe or lefroy brooks:
www.perrinandrowe.co.uk/
www.lefroybrooks.co.uk/

They're the main 'fancy old fashioned looking taps' people I can think of. Though if you're open to giving up on the Burlington sink, some of them also do sinks which you could then match with their taps.

[grumbleina]

Oh wait, try Bristan as well. They're PigletJohn's favourite, dontcha know.

www.bristan.com/epages/Bristan.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Bristan/Categories/%22Advice%20and%20Inspiration%22

[PigletJohn]

and see how cheap the spares can be!

For many imported taps, spares are either very very expensive, or unobtainable.

[PigletJohn]

btw I don't agree at all about the reliability of ceramic cartridge taps. When they wear and start to drip, they are quite expensive to replace. Ceramic mixers with a single joystick handle are especially troublesome, and lead to plumbing problems if you have high-pressure cold and low-pressure hot, as they will leak internally and cold water will get into the hot system and cause an overflow.

Screw-down taps last for 30 years or more, unless you have an old person in the house who grew up with worn-out taps and screws them down with great force.

[MrsFlorrick]

Pigletjohn. I'm interested in your comment re ceramic mixer taps.

I have several of the single joy stick kind which work fine and no leaks. However I have a freestanding bathfiller. It has two ceramic cartridges and controls, one for hot and one for cold. Both hot and cold are high pressure (externally pumped system and megaflo).

The bathfiller has already been replaced once by menu
Manufacturers (Lefroy brooks - xo range). And it's now leaking again after 4 months.

I have same range of bathroom taps which operate in the same way with cartridges and it's exactly the same as the bathfiller. They don't leak and never have.

In fact when you change the ceramic cartridge from the leaking bathfiller and put it into one of the taps, it works and no leaks.

So did I just get a second duff bathfiller or what is going on here??

Please enlighten me. (Sorry about hijack OP!)

[PigletJohn]

don't know. If it is leaking past a screw thread or gland, you can wind PTFE tape round the male part before assembly.

The "seat" that a tap washer presses against can become worn or rough, and can be recut by a plumber, but that should not matter with a ceramic cartridge.

There is a chance that the cartridge is not the right one for the tap, or the tap has not been made to specification.

When you say leaking, I presume you mean dripping from the spout.

Taps can also leak round the spindle, or from assembly joints.

[MrsFlorrick]

Thanks.
The first bathfiller, according to Lefroy Brooks, had a manufacturing fault which meant the thread you screw the ceramic cartridge into wasn't deep enough so leaked.

I just can't believe I am unlucky enough to get two duff ones on the trot. Must be it through.

Thank you.

[RaisingSteam]

OP yes the Hudson reed are a small tap. On my big basin I have a big high rise mixer but it's a modern style - you have to get the proportions right.

TBH the only tap I've ever had problems with, of either design, was a single lever one from Aldi - it disintegrated! I'm no plumber though so take PJ's word for it.

It is true about Bristan, their warehouse is just up the road from us in Warwickshire and they sent me an extra part for my kitchen tap. I particularly love that it was founded by two guys called Brian and Stan

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Thanks everyone for input. Soon it will be over and I'll find something else to obsess over

Raising - where was the cartridge on Burlington's website please? I still haven't managed to track it down!

Soooooo...I've learned SO much this afternoon (bizarrely not from MN either!)

1. Burlington is not a British brand. I, for some reason, thought it was and that was part of the appeal of having a gorgeous British manufactured sink and taps.
   
   
2. St James's chinaware has gone out of business - apparently they didn't manage to crack the market in the same way as the taps.
   
   
3. That means I can't have St James's taps with matching sink.
   
   
4. Imperial was recommended and I could have matching taps and sink - taps same price as Burlington, sink double if not treble, depending on design. Smallest sink is 600, my current one is 560....
   
   
5. Bristan is 'OK' , but apparently not a top end, luxury brand? Besides, the Bristan taps are engraved with Bristan, so again, won't match the Burlington sink and I can't find any long enough - they're not as beautiful as the others are they?
   
   
6. I need to find out whether our system is low pressure gravity or high pressure, that will also depend on what taps I can have.
   
   
7. Crosswater is excellent for taps and apparently, no one really cares if they don't match, unless you're very fussy and pernickety over 'things like that'

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Grumbleina, thank you so much for the links. The Perrin and Rowe taps and sinks are breathtaking, when I get my forever home they will be going in without a doubt. Love looking at all the ranges.....stunning.

[PigletJohn]

I can charge you £500 for a pair of Bristan taps, if that will make you feel better?

[grumbleina]

No problem, I'm doing a bathroom too so I feel your tap pain. I would probably be ok with Bristan, because I like the idea of quality/simplicity, but all their mono basin taps have popup wastes which I loathe, and it has to be a mono tap.

If it's luxury you want, you'll want to be browsing here: www.kallista.com/home.kls
But it's a US site and thus not everything is available or appropriate for here.

I'm also a wee bit in love with this range but it is not cheap, possibly not even that good, and the mono basin is contrary to ALL pigletjohns rules about ceramics, joysticks and nickel, so it's out. Oh and their ridiculous bike sink makes me not want to buy anything from them just on principle. www.arcadebathrooms.com/

If you're up for it, there are very, very good deals to be had on ebay on things that would otherwise not be affordable.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Piglet - they're the same price as Burlington/Crosswater, but uglier: www.bristan.com/epages/Bristan.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Bristan/Products/%22TY%201/2%20C%22/SubProducts/%22TY%201/2%20C%5E3%22

(Awaits the wrath of PJ)

[vjg13]

My basin is Burlington but the taps say Sorrento and hot/cold, doesn't bother me as long as they match the bath! Also love the towel rail.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

I SAW that basket sink when browsing something else - wtf? Can you imagine that with kids around?

www.arcadebathrooms.com/Products/ProductDetail?prodId=80421&name=Pashley%20bicycle

it's £1,500 just for bike.

What range are you going for them grumble?

[grumbleina]

I have a serious jones for the taps, none of the whiteware will work for me so I've mostly ignored it. But even the man in the shop when I went to fondle the taps told me I was being ridiculous, so I have bid a longing adieu to their maximalist minesweeperesque mad gloriousness.

[grumbleina]

And yeah. A bike sink. A BIKE SINK. WTAF. That was part of when I realised I was being ridiculous, as well. I might be a snobby hipster dick, but I know when to stop.

Sort of.

[obsessedwithinteriors]

Just how does it stay upright though? How?