Everything you need to know when recommending a mixer shower

Modern homes have never been smaller. Because of this, homeowners are increasingly looking for ways to maximise space, particularly in the bathroom – a notoriously small but high use room. Enter the shower. Creating more space than the traditional bath and helping homeowners to better manage water usage too.

Mixer showers in particular offer the ultimate in convenience, providing an optimum blend of hot and cold water to the desired temperature. Meeting the need for trend led design, mixer showers are also often modern in style and more attractive due to the option of concealed pipework and elements. However, with many mixer showers on the market, we explore some of the key features that you should consider when recommending the right one for your customer. 


Easy Installation and Servicing

As busy plumbers, we know time saving where possible is key, and innovative products that help you to move from one job to the next quickly are essential. That’s why our popular Carre and Quadrato mixer showers now include our Wallmount 12 bar shower fixing kit.

    

The Wallmount 12 system features flexible inlets with built-in isolation for easy connection to existing pipe work. It’s ideal for scenarios such as new build installations where you may wish to connect water supply at first fix and install the shower at second fix, without interfering with tiling or sealing work, or risking damage to the shower unit.

The Wallmount 12 also allows plumbers to isolate the water supply from the front of the wall for quick and easy replacement of bar showers, making it a great choice for retrofit installations too. It also allows for easier off-wall servicing of the valve if required.


Mini or Maxi valve?

What bathroom style is your customer trying to achieve? Understanding this will help you to recommend the valve that’s right for them. The mini valve is more discreet and minimal, whereas the maxi valve meets the trend for bold bathroom design that makes a statement. That said, both valve options are an ideal choice for retrofit installations.

Both our mini and maxi valves have been designed and tested by Bristan’s expert engineers to provide a consistent high flow performance; ensuring customers have an exhilarating shower experience. Suitable for all water pressures, our range of valves come with optional flow regulators as standard which can be used to aid water saving measures.

Plus, our valves feature adjustable elbows making them easy to install in retrofit applications. As the products can be quickly and simply adjusted to fit over existing pipework, time and hassle is reduced, and the need for retiling is eliminated.


Safety First

For your customers with young families, safety is a top priority. That’s why many of our mixer showers, such as our stylish Frenzy model, offer a safe touch feature that ensures the metal valve body does not get hot to the touch. This functionality offers reassurance to customers that their bathroom can be used by all members of the family, safely.


The perfect fit

Concealed shower valves, which can be combined with a host of options from overhead showers to hand showers and body jets, have grown in popularity. This is probably because modern homes are now built much smaller than older properties. Traditionally, concealed valves have been challenging to fit, often leading to delays and frustrations for installer and customer. This is essentially because of the difficulty in judging how much space is available behind a cavity wall and dealing with particularly tight spaces.

Fortunately, there are now solutions available on the market which cater to even the slimmest cavity areas. When choosing a concealed valve, installers should look for options such as those offered by Bristan which can be fitted into cavities as small as 35mm, as this is the tightest space which is likely to be found in a UK home. Valve adjustability is also an important feature, as this provides the necessary flexibility to ensure the perfect fit every time.

To find out more about our mixer showers, visit www.bristan.com.