Recommendations for Bath fixtures

The Steam Whisperer

Hi,

We're putting in some new baths and was wondering what faucets, fixtures you recommend. I'm looking for solid, easy to maintain equipment

Looking at an American Standard "Americast" 60 inch alcove tub and The Glenwall 2 piece wall hung toilet. I also saw a Gerber Maxwall toilet…. this one seems to have lots of room underneath for easier floor cleaning.

Grohe or Moen professional faucets?

The only cast iron tubs I've seen are Kohler. Definitely not a fan of Kohler ( I found they size things like basic kitchen sinks so you can't use a standard dish drainer and have to buy thiers, for instance) and have been seeing reviews of poor quality finishes on the tubs, for what thier worth.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, I like Chicago Faucets, but find "new, old stock" on Ebay for much, much less than new. 🤑

Yours, Larry

delcrossv

Agree on Chicago Faucets. I like Symmons for shower valves.

Try Waterworks for cast iron tubs. I believe they have a showroom at the Mart.

https://www.waterworks.com/us_en/fixtures-bathtubs-sinks

mattmia2

Probably won't learn anything about faucets that hasn't been discussed here. Maybe a little bit about grohe. Moen unless the commercial stuff is different has been junk for about 20 years.

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/200253/faucet-brands

Steamhead

Between Grohe and Moen, I'd use Moen since parts are easier to get.

TAG

What is the point of a two piece wall hung toilet ?

I have used the Geberit In wall Carrier w/ Duravit toilet bowl in my last two projects. Duravit now sells/makes an in wall carrier but I have not used it. The simple Geberit two circle wall control is the way to go BTY.

Geberit owns Chicago now … I always liked Chicago for some items because it was "Old School" in weight and look. Can't comment on recent Chicago quality. Like and use the pot filler.

Waterworks is great looking stuff but it is very expensive … the guts are German. Some of it must be Grohe because they match but are not interchangeable. I have used the wide set vanity sets and bowls in a few places.

I have mostly used Grohe bath and kitchen faucets but IMO the shower stuff is not as nice as it was 25 years ago … in fact when I just redid a shower I bought NOS off eBay so I could get the old twin knob temp/ flow Grohe shower control. The old Grohe wide sets are great as well.

We bought a place in SC when Covid hit and the whole place is Delta from about 2012 … Last summer when I called Delta they sent me any part I needed for free .. I sent them pictures while I was on the phone with CS. The valves have more plastic vs Grohe but they work as well and are easy to fix. Grohe CS is not as friendly as they once were and they want proof of purchase sometimes. Some parts get discontinued and they say …. too bad.

I have had good luck with Kohler cast iron — just used a a Kohler CI farm style kitchen sink and round bar sink in the last project. Kohler CS is still first rate. They will send you any part you need for free as well.

My last interaction with Waterworks was fine but they don't give you anything … one of the wide sets was leaking and I figured I should switch out both sets …. $225 for 4 valve inserts and that was with a 50% "Courtesy" discount.

IMO it mostly comes down to look and feel. If it feels expensive it will be. Go to a real plumbing store and try them out .. a waterworks wide set vanity faucet can be $2k

I have Grohe in one shower project from 30 years ago and many visible parts are plastic/ chrome — high quality plastic and it looks like new. So — plastic does not = bad. The Delta stuff in the SC house looks and feels like standard/ basic plumbing … not going to mistake it for Franke. Years ago when I was building more rentals I did use Moen .. but, I don't see it being any different than the other basic plumbing today

The Steam Whisperer

Wall hung toilet….. a few reasons. Ease of cleaning the room, Standard rough ins place the toilet flange right on a joist and we have only 2 x8 to work with and cannot easily double up joists. We have plenty of room for a wet well behind the toilet. I expect a 2 piece would also be much easier to service than the newer ones built into the wall.

Long Beach Ed

Beware of Americast. When it was first introduced, we replaced dozens of their sinks we installed. They were ceramic on plastic. Apparently the plastic was flexible. Ceramic is not. The resultant flexing chipped the ceramic coating too easily. Standard offered a "delamination department" to deal with the problems — pro-rated replacements that we wound up selling rather than take the chance and getting burned by them again.

Now I believe American-Standard is an "all-China-made" supplier.

Perhaps they improved the product in the subsequent 30 years, but I wouldn't go near any ceramic coated plastic anything!

mattmia2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1850337#Comment_1850337

It is not ceramic coated plastic. It is porcelain on steel with a plastic coating on the back. The idea is to make it more durable than ordinary porcelain on steel by stiffening the steel with the plastic coating on the back to make it perform more like cast iron. steel fixtures would chip easily if you dropped something on them because the steel is flexible. cast iron fixtures are much harder to chip because the cast iron is much more rigid. americast is designed to be better than ordinary steel fixtures (which mostly disappeared with fiberglass fixtures) but still won't be as tough as cast iron.

RTW

I have two bath faucets that are Delta circa 1960's. Since 1996 I only replaced the washers in one for pennies, but the previous owner may have replaced the other before 1996. The appearance is fine, but not sure if the brand is still as good - likely made in China

Regards,

RTW