Bristan N VAN C CD 1901 Vanity Basin Pillar Taps - Chrome

Such a utilitarian household product but I love these taps. For years I have put up with taps that had round handles, were ugly, and hard to turn with soapy hands.These taps look and feel classy and are a delight by comparison. I’ve always loved the traditional look of this tap design but had not bought them as I thought they would be hard to fit and I didn’t want the expense of a plumber to replace my old taps that weren’t actually broken.Well I was right about the hard to fit part due to the cramped space I was working in, but I’m proud of myself for managing it.Apart from looks, and their solid feel, I also like how they are so easy to turn and they release a lot of water at once due to the large spout, which means the water doesn’t come gushing out everywhere.My only gripe was that the hot tap turns clockwise to turn on. The hold and cold taps turn on in opposite directions which I think is stupid! So I paid a little extra for a cold tap valve to put into the hot tap and now they turn on the same way - ahh bliss.

I mulled the “easy to install” score a bit. They’re as easy to install as any basin tap....i.e. not very. But they’re no worse. We’ve had two sets of these. The first I installed in our downstairs cloakroom on a small cloakroom basin. The first time I’d done this job. I ended up buying two types of basin spanners (the fixed type and the ones with toothed claw which self adjusts). It was a horrible horrible job as clearance on the basin was so tight. Not a fault of this product hence the score, but be warned!Only other niggle was that first set arrived with a small but obvious nick in the chrome on top. Had to replace but Amazon made this easy.I fitted the second set on a normal sized bathroom basin. With the right tools already in the toolbox and a little experience it went very smoothly.The taps are usual Bristan quality (we have replaced all our taps gradually and now have Bristan throughout. Only the kitchen mixer is slightly suspect with green corrosion forming at the swivel point, but we do have very hard water). Brass threads and nuts mean you can tighten these up easily and confidently. I was able to reuse the existing olives when fitting the basin taps. No leak issues.The washers between tap base and basin top are a decent thickness so these sit well. We have a modern Bristan mixer on another basin and the washer on that is not adequate).Cartridge operation means these are nice to use. Our original taps had very little use (its a little used bathroom) but had leather washers which disintegrated alongside the tap washers, did not feel nice to use and leaked green corrosion even if not used. They were so bad that we’d ended up going to our ensuite to wash our hands even if using the other bathroom just to avoid using those taps. So having these is a transformation.Let’s hope they last a while. The cloakroom ones have been in for about 18 months and are still perfect.

They look nice with a high quality flawless chrome plating. I initially mistakenly thought the valve covers were chrome plated plastic, but they are definitely metal! Incidentally, the quarter-turn ceramic valve means the legends on the handles always stay in the optimum lined-up orientation when they are turned off. The perfectionists will like this, but the authenticity seekers might not.

Available in two sizes regarding spout length so they reach into basin properly, great price and a solid warranty backup from Bristan has been my past experience

Replaced an old pair in the bathroom sink and noticed the ease of turning on and off with ease, plus the benefit of no drips.Only issue is one turns on one way whilst the other is the opposite way, doesn’t take long to get use to it.

Hi all, I'm a plumber of 34 years experience.A common problem I have found in the past is individual taps swivelling round when they are turned off.This happens because they are the traditional tap washer variety and when the tap washers get old, one has to crank the tap heads firmly to stop the tap dripping.This is a problem that only affects individual taps as opposed to mixer taps, and period brassware tends to be affected more as there are more installations of individual taps with victorian/edwardian/deco taps as that was the norm back then.The answer is to find a tap that doesn't require cranking shut to stop the dripping-enter these Bristan ceramic disc taps.I have been fitting Bristan taps for at least the last 25 years if not, more.They have an excellent after-sales service division (one of the reasons I fit them) apart from their brassware being quality.I mention the after-sales service because it's important with taps as even the excellent ceramic discs can fail, unlikely, but they can, and you need to know the manufacturer will help out under warranty, even out of warranty, they'll still supply spares.I've lost count the number of times I've been asked to repair a tap and without knowing its provenance, I can't even get the spares. This applies even moreso to shower valves.Even if you lose the paperwork, the make and model is printed in the hot/cold disc on the top!

Nice taps but dripping after 6 years despite being 'ceramic' washer type.The blue plastic seal not a spare part so no better than ones with rubber washers

Really pleased with these new taps - they look really smart and I managed to install - WD40 and a basin wrenched needed to loosen off the old taps nuts and had to use a gripper to stop the old taps turning as I undid the nuts. Really liked that instructions are given on cleaning i.e. only use fairy liquid or similar.

Leaked within 6 months. Can’t reach seller. Buying new cartridges would be insane for brand new taps that are supposedly under warranty.

I love these faucets. Really dressed up my old 1925 sink. They do not have air rater things on which means the water comes full force but I like it that way! Just don't turn fast to all the way up. 3/4 way is good. I do not think that I could have found a nicer faucet than these esp. for the price. Thanks Bristan!