Faucets:
Faucets, spigots, spouts, shower heads, pop-up drains — all the things plumbers call brass” — constitute the working parts of a bath. Their appearance is important, too, because the fittings you use to finish off a bath tell you lots about the quality of your products. Today’s fittings come in a panoply of styles — high-tech, contemporary, classic, antique, you name it and you can probably find it in a fittings catalogue.
Faucets, the heart of any fitting, fall into just four broad categories.

• Two-valve faucets are still the most popular for lavatories. Each faucet operates a valve that you turn individually to adjust the flow and mix of hot and cold water.

• Single-control faucets operate with a knob or lever. Rocking the control left or right adjusts the water’s temperature; rocking forward or back meters its volume. Single-control faucets are common in kitchens, less so in baths, though they’re gaining in popularity there, too.

• Thermostatic controls employ a heat-sensing device to automatically adjust the hot and cold water volumes. This one gives more precise temperature control than a pressure-balancing valve, and it usually allows the user to control volume as well as temperature. Pressure balance controls typically serve showerheads. The volume of water flowing through a pressure-balancing faucet remains constant. The user sets a temperature and the valve automatically maintains that temperature. A pressure-sensing device accomplishes this by monitoring the flow of water in the hot and cold lines. Should pressure in one line drop, it decreases pressure in the opposite line, maintaining the preset temperature and serving as a safety against scalding.

Accessories:
Once you’ve outfitted a bath with fixtures and fittings, it’s time to crown it off with towel bars and rings, grab bars, wall hooks, a toilet
tissue holder, soap dishes, shelves, glass and toothbrush holders, a shower enclosure, and medicine cabinet.
Here again, don’t stint on quality and appearance. In fact, for only a modest premium you can upgrade a bath that has mid-range fixtures and fittings by polishing it off with high-end accessories.

• Towel bars come in polished chrome, brushed chrome, antiqued brass, 24-carat gold, acrylic, wood, porcelain, ceramic, and crystal. Make sure that metal bars are double-plated for durability. Gold plating is soft, as well as costly, so reserve it for less-used baths such as a powder room or master bath.

• Towel rings take up less space than bars and also fit nicely into tight spots. Realize, though, that towels on rings don’t dry out as quickly.

• Grab bars come as accessories with tubs and showers, or you can order them independently. Install straight bars in a tub, L-shaped versions in a combination bath/shower. For safety, grab bars must be strong and securely anchored. Good ones are made of solid brass tubing, welded stainless steel, or cast solid brass.

• Shower doors demand that you think safety first, then convenience. For safety, specify tempered glass, acrylic, or another non-breakable material. Bypass enclosures have two doors, one or both of which may slide open. Swinging glass doors make sense for shower stalls.

Toilets:
Siphon jet toilets are an improvement on the reverse trap design. They have a larger water surface that covers most of the bowl’s interior. The trap is larger, too, so the flushing action is quieter and less prone to clogging. Siphon jet toilets usually cost more as well.

Toilets are the most complex of a bath’s fixtures, and today’s consumers want to know they’re getting a unit that’s efficient, quiet, and easy to keep clean.

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