Seeking recommendations - taps + looong spout for a huge old stone sink

[KylieS]

Hello, I am renovating an old stone house in France - about 900 years old at the oldest part - and we are trying to use authentic materials in all areas, as far as possible. To this end we re installing an old (300kg!) stone sink in our bathroom. It's pretty cool, but really big - from front to back the measurement is 750mm - so I am wondering if anyone has recommendations on the type of taps we can use on this and where we should place them?

I'm quite short and, if they're on the back wall, it feels a bit far to reach over to turn the taps off and on (almost impossible for kiddies). Also the water needs to be falling nearer the middle or 2/3 towards the front because of the shape of the depression carved in the basin (it isn't really there near the back) so a wall mounted spout needs to be a decent size too - the water would ideally fall at a point 35-40cm out from the wall.

The walls surrounding the basin are stone but need to have a false wall built in front, both on the back wall and on the right hand side (if facing the basin) in order to hide services and some ugly-but-necessary block work. So we are OK for wall mounting except that the size of the fittings need to work. I would prefer not to drill through this old monolith if we can avoid it...but if it has to be mounted on the basin itself it's a possibility too.

Visually, I feel like it would be weird to mount just from the right hand side, however it would probably be OK with a mixer tap was located on the right hand wall, with a long spout coming through the back wall.

Would love to hear if anyone has had experience with this sort of thing or seen it done OR even if you just know of a basin set that would work with this type of arrangement. Our style is minimal, modern mixers for the showers / bath so something that matches that would be perfect. But if we need to go for something in an old/traditional style, that was more of a feature, that could also possibly work.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

 

[Ben-gee]

Why not make your own out of copper pipe, with a couple of gate valves for hot cold.
Spout can be bent to exactly where you want it.

 

[KylieS]

Why not make your own out of copper pipe, with a couple of gate valves for hot cold.
Spout can be bent to exactly where you want it.

This sort of thing? It looks good here but execution will be pretty important... ;D

 

[Chuck]

This sort of thing? It looks good here but execution will be pretty important... ;D

It may look good but it's mixing the cold and hot in a way that wouldn't comply with the Water Regs in this country. IMO, if you are going down this route go for separate hot and cold taps.

Have you considered how much hot water a '300kg stone' sink is going to require to be usable? Authenticity is all very well for a museum but you do need to be able to keep yourselves healthy and clean if you want to live in the place.

 

[KylieS]

It may look good but it's mixing the cold and hot in a way that wouldn't comply with the Water Regs in this country. IMO, if you are going down this route go for separate hot and cold taps.

Have you considered how much hot water a '300kg stone' sink is going to require to be usable? Authenticity is all very well for a museum but you do need to be able to keep yourselves healthy and clean if you want to live in the place.

I agree I don't want the water mixing this way - I think I will use a separate thermostatic mixer perhaps on the side wall and just a spout from the back wall.

Regarding the size of the sink, they're not designed for filling with water, they are really just splash collection areas for the water and it runs down and into the drain. It's a French style of sink you see them all the time in old country houses - see pic attached. But I never fill a basin even if I have normal sized one - I use running water to wash my hands always, it's more hygienic. And a small bowl / large cup is better if anyone wants it for shaving etc. To each their own though!

 

[Chuck]

I agree I don't want the water mixing this way - I think I will use a separate thermostatic mixer perhaps on the side wall and just a spout from the back wall.

Sorry to be a spoil-sport, but that's going to have the same cross-contamination problem. You need to keep 'drinking water', which is clean, separate from domestic hot water, which is not. This means that any mixing has to occur between the two streams as they exit the spout not inside the spout.

 

[KylieS]

Sorry to be a spoil-sport, but that's going to have the same cross-contamination problem. You need to keep 'drinking water', which is clean, separate from domestic hot water, which is not. This means that any mixing has to occur between the two streams as they exit the spout not inside the spout.

Thanks for commenting, but I'm not sure I understand - so this would mean mixers of this kind are not allowed anymore? And does it make any difference that our domestic hot is not stored but runs through our thermal store in a coil to heat?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks for commenting, but I'm not sure I understand

Mixing taps come in two types, (a) biflow and (b) combination or 'blending'. The former have separate channels for the hot and cold water the latter allow mixing to occur within the body of the tap. In my opinion, only the biflow type should be used to supply drinking water. Having said that, however, I've just had a quick look at the current water regulations for England and I can't see this probihition in them so perhaps I'm being over-cautious. (You do need to fit return valves to combination mixers but not to biflows.)

 

[Ben-gee]

Chuck; I’ve fixed many many kitchen taps where mixing occurs in the body and these are clearly meant for drinking water. And these are approved taps from reputable manufacturers, not just far east rubbish.

 

[Chuck]

Chuck; I’ve fixed many many kitchen taps where mixing occurs in the body and these are clearly meant for drinking water. And these are approved taps from reputable manufacturers, not just far east rubbish.

Thanks. I think my opinion, which I've already conceded is not a current regulation, dates back to the time when DHW was normally from a vented cylinder and so was low pressure and biflows were AFAIK universal.

I once found the pieces of a dead rat in a header tank () and it's made me paranoid about any possibility of cross-mixing between stored and drinking water ever since.

 

[Ben-gee]

I’d be more worried about the pieces of the rat which you didn’t find...!!

squirrel and pigeons for me but no rats in tanks...plenty in lofts - usually result in me flinching and then hitting my head.

 

[Ric2013]

You're in France. Steel pipe coming from the wall (more solid than copper) and taps mounted on the steel pipe. Any good?

 

[KylieS]

You're in France. Steel pipe coming from the wall (more solid than copper) and taps mounted on the steel pipe. Any good?

You're in France. Steel pipe coming from the wall (more solid than copper) and taps mounted on the steel pipe. Any good?

Thanks that's what we ended up trying but it actually had huge problems with splashing because of the lack of laminar flow without a factory-made spout. So I ended up getting a longish bath spout with an extender and bringing the back wall forward slightly so the tap didn't need to be do long. I'll try to remember to post some pics when it's finished - needs a surface on the back wall but otherwise nearly there! Thanks again

 

[Ric2013]

Thanks that's what we ended up trying but it actually had huge problems with splashing because of the lack of laminar flow without a factory-made spout.

Not sure I explained myself: I meant you'd put the tap(s) on the end of the pipe and your outlet would be the tap spout. Glad you got it sorted however and I look forward to the pictures.