5 Tips for Choosing Quality Bathroom Fixtures

Before you buy your bathroom fixtures, do some research on the products you are choosing. Investing in quality faucets for your bathroom vanities, showers, and bathtubs will help maintain the new look of your remodel for years to come. Check out this list of our five tips for choosing quality bathroom fixtures.

Tip #1: Find out what the bathroom fixtures are made of.

If durability is what you are looking for, you might want to invest in solid brass bathroom fixtures. When you think about how much use your bathroom vanities, showers and bathtubs endure, it is not surprising that over time bathroom faucets can become corroded from exposure to water. Solid brass tends to be more durable than other materials and requires less care.

Tip #2: Don’t break your budget.

Although you want quality faucets in your bathroom vanities, showers, and bathtubs, you may not want to break your budget buying the best of the best. Be willing to sacrifice some longevity to stay within the price range that works for you. Spending less now may mean spending again later, but no bathroom fixtures will last forever. If it makes more sense financially for you to purchase a lesser quality material, such as die-cast zinc alloy, then do it. Die-cast zinc alloy will still get you good use and can be half the cost of solid brass.

Tip #3: Avoid bathroom fixtures with plastic bodies.

While we want you to stay in your budget, we also don’t want you to be swindled by a low price tag. Bathroom fixtures with plastic bodies just don’t last, and when comparing the price to those made of die-cast zinc alloy, you will agree that the price difference isn’t worth the sacrifice.

Tip #4: Pay attention to finish.

Aside from the make of your bathroom fixtures, finish is the other most important aspect you will want to take in to consideration. First of all, the finish is what needs to complement the style of your bathroom vanities and the overall look of your bathrooms. Second, depending on what type of finish is used, it can affect the quality and longevity of your fixtures. A popular finish is chrome, which is applied to both brass and zinc faucets. This type of finish has a clean look and should last you a pretty long time. For homeowners who prefer the look of natural brass, you will want to make sure it has a proprietary lifetime finish, which stops oxidation. Painted or enamel fixtures may give you the custom look you hoped for, but these finishes can chip or scratch easily since they are not bonded to the metal.

Tip #5: Get a shower faucet that controls temperature.

When purchasing the faucet for your shower, look for a style that features pressure-balance valves. This is easy to do and something many people don’t think to look in to. Pressure-balance valves detect change in temperature (often caused by someone flushing a toilet) and balance the temperature so that the person showering doesn’t get hit unexpectedly with icy water. Instead, the valve will reduce pressure so that the temperature only varies a couple of degrees.

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