N BAS C CD 1901 Basin Mixer with Pop-Up Waste - Chrome

Easy to fit, feel quality

I never imagined I'd be writing a review for a bathroom tap, but this product to replace a more prosaic, rubber-washer tap that needed increasing force to stop the flow, has been all we'd hoped for. The other tap had an undercut groove deeper than the supplied rubber seal, so it leaked through the sink hole to the floor when cleaning the sink. Bristan has everything dimensioned properly, and the ceramic valves turn water flow on and off with precision (and the plug's a better quality than the one it replaces, a real bonus). Oh, it looks great as well. Our plumber recommended Bristan taps, so all we had to do was choose the style. We've previous experience with ceramic valves, so knew what to expect. The Amazon price is better than from Bristan - a win-win choice.

I bought the gold tone 1/4 turn mixer tap and could not be happier. The quality is outstanding. I only used it for a few days but it is far superior to my previous one. So far I would highly recommend it for looks and functionality.

This review is for this single product which had a manufacturing defect. This is not for any other product and at the time of writing a brand new Bristan 1901 Mixer is due to be delivered by Amazon. That should at least say something about the range. However as a cautionary tale this tap had come from the Amazon Warehouse and was sold from there in new condition when it was obviously defective. Perhaps the original purchaser had not informed them of the defect when they returned it. Where I made a mistake was not checking for leaks before fitting. If I had I would have saved some time. The tap is made of chromed brass. Bristan point out that you should only clean this tap with washing up liquid and a soft cloth. From experience Bristan 1901 taps can be cleaned with a sponge but Bristan advise not to use a non scratch scouring pad. The tap body comes with M12 holes for tap tails. Those supplied are copper but can be cut to length. Flexible M12 tails can be used but have to be purchased separately. Tails should be tightened by hand as not to overtighten. The tails do not leak when fitted this way. Due to the nature of porcelain sink manufacture the seals supplied may require additional plumbers mait to be applied depending on how even the porcelain surface is. In any event this would help fix the tap into place on the basin and prevent movement over time. The tap body is wide ensuring a good fit. The rubber seal fits snuggly into the underside groove of the body and a thin layer of plumbers mait on the outer area of the tap body ensures a good seal. There are alternatives available to plumbers mait but no sealing putty is supplied with the tap and has to be purchased separately. The instructions for the tap are written in english and can be followed easily. The instructions recommend using silicone sealant and a white sanitary sealant is what I had selected for this job. I used plumbers mait on both sides of the underseal contrary to the instructions and I am glad I did as I subsequently had to remove the tap completely due to the leak coming from a hole as fine as a human hair at the back of the tap body. This tap comes with a very sturdy pop up waste and connecting rods of good quality and using plumbers mait fits snuggly to the basin and behind the pedestal. This fitted to new McAlpine pedestal waste trap 32mm straightforwardly without leaks. The connecting rods are easy to fit to the tap and waste but a short or stubby crosshead screw driver is useful for this. The connecting rod ball fitting does not leak when correctly tensioned. On the whole it was disappointing to find the defect after fitting but this was resolved by speaking to Amazon Customer Service directly. The issue in this case belonged with the Amazon Warehouse who had they checked the product carefully on return would have seen the hole on the back of the product. I did not look carefully enough either. Lesson learned.

Bought this to replace an older version of the same tap (not ceramic cartridge), which had lost some of its chrome finish, and was getting harder to turn off. However, one thing that the old tap did was to shut off immediately when turned off, with no lingering drips. This new version doesn't. Turn the tap off and it continues to drip for 3-4 seconds. Doesn't sound much, but when you use the tap every time you go to the loo, that's a lot of drips over a tap's lifetime. Expected better from an expensive brand.

This is a really good quality tap but beware it has copper tails. We didn't know what that meant until it arrived and we had the problem of trying to find flexible tails to fit our French taps, which after a month of searching was proving impossible. Highly recommend the tap (which we have never fitted) if you can deal with the copper tails. It looks great and if it performs as well as it looks, it would be a great buy. Sadly ours is going back.

This is a very good quality and a properly engineered item. Well worth paying a bit more for decent bathroom equipment. Good value for money and looks great in my bathroom.

We had to get a new one as the old one couldn't be repaired. We talked to a plumber and he recommend this tap ,it's solid and well made we're very pleased with the product