Chapter XV
on plumbing where we have taken up the necessities of plumbing fixtures. All you need to remember here is to buy your fixtures at the best possible shop and then get the best plumber obtainable to install them. The installation of all good plumbing work should be in the beginning, in the plans of the architect, for it is difficult and quite complicated to put in plumbing installation after the house is well advanced. There is nothing quite so important to the successful builder as the early consideration of pipe requirements. The plumber is equipped with the sanitary code, which, of course, the architect knows too, and any householder can get one to read and digest. However, with a licensed plumber, a good architect and a faithful builder, this is unnecessary.
THE BATHTUB
The most interesting fixture in the bathroom, to Americans and Britons, at least, is the bathtub. Aside from the kitchen stove, this is the nucleus about which our content is generated.
Civilization has been kind enough to leave us two generally used types of bathtubs--the solid porcelain and the enamel over iron (enamel lined or porcelain over iron) tub. The tin tub has gone out, the glass tub is too perilous, and the porcelain or porcelain lined proves about the most satisfactory when we can’t have marble or old Italian basins for our bathing.
Recent advances in methods of manufacture and design have made the choice between solid porcelain or enamel iron baths a matter of personal liking as influenced by their fitness for positions assigned to them in a room. On account of the losses sustained for the manufacture of clay products, selected grades of porcelain baths are of necessity higher in cost than the porcelain lined or enameled iron. The porcelain bath is fine in appearance, but it is not reasonable to expect the same perfection in shape and uniformity of glaze. This is due to the difference in methods of manufacture, and allowance should be made for the irregularities occasioned by the baking of glazed clay products. In the past when English porcelain baths were being imported it was perhaps considered distinction to have a solid porcelain bath. With the present extensive manufacture of these products in this country, this condition has, of course, changed. The porcelain lined bath is preferred by some on account of its requiring less hot water to hold the desired temperature. Against this is the fact that cheap porcelain lined baths should be avoided.
There are some points in favor of the enameled tub. It doesn’t absorb so much heat from the water; hence a hot bath can be obtained in it more quickly. It is lighter in weight, therefore more easy to install in frame houses and its plumbing is easier to handle. Furthermore, greater uniformity can be had in its construction.
In the tub which is built into the wall, there is a tendency to neglect proper piping conditions. When installing a solid tub, it is necessary to build a bulkhead in back of the tub so as to take care of the waste pipe which should be available to the plumber as it often needs a new washer. Or it must be built against a closet wall so that the pipes are easy to get at, or against a hall wall or some stable place.
VALVES
There are myriads of styles of faucets, vents and outlets used to-day in tubs.
It was at first thought advisable to have the inlet as near the floor of the tub as possible in order to make the pour of the water practically soundless after the first inch or two came in. This is about the only advantage of this arrangement. It is far better to have the inlet higher up, either on top of the wall of the tub, or even in the wall above the tub. If it is in the wall of the room it is impossible to hit your back while bathing; and you may have a shampoo nozzle attached; or draw water from it whether you are in the tub or not, and when necessary, fill a pail or dish. There is more noise when the water is running into the tub, but what of it? If you have a good door on your room, that will silence the sound.
With the low inlet, there is a remote danger of drawing in through the pipe dirty water from the apartment above if some one is bathing in the tub which is a twin to yours. It is quite possible for this to happen unless the plumbing system is very well contrived.
You can have a hot water and a cold water faucet or one faucet from which both hot and cold come. This is a matter of taste. More often there are two, but many people like one, so that there can be a mixture of water, giving a comfortable temperature.
Tubs, of necessity, have to be placed in many ways. When in recesses or in a corner, the valves, etc. can be placed at one end. When against a wall, the piping can be placed above the bath in the wall. This method often lends a luxurious air to a room and has been utilized in the most elaborate ones.
THE SHOWER BATH
Nearly every modern bath has a shower of some description.
The difficulty with the shower is the splashiness of it. The first protective device was a cloth on a bracket. This is still used to a great extent, but the ideal arrangement is to have the shower in a closet designed for it, opening into the room. This closet may be of glass, marble, or tile, with a cloth curtain or a door to match the material of which the section is built. The door should be as small as possible. Twenty inches is quite large enough. The smaller the opening, the less chance for the escape of water. Besides, a large door is a nuisance to clean.
When the compartment is used there can be, besides the ordinary head bath, a needle bath. This may consist of from eight to twelve nozzles pointing in from the four corners of the compartment, or it may be a series of apertures in metal pipes hung around the inside of the compartment. When the separate compartment for the shower is not desired, you may find a substitute for the sheet in the arrangement seen in the Warburg bathroom--plate glass leaves. The glass sheets are practical and not cumbersome. Nevertheless, they involve more cleaning, and in the average home this must be considered to-day.
MIXING THE WATER
There are various propositions on the market to mix the water in the shower so that it can not scald the bather. One manufacturer offers a little toe pipe, with which to test the temperature of the water before starting the bath. These things are more or less desirable and dependable but are not at all necessary.
It is best to have the valves at the entrance as you walk into the shower, so that your arm may not be under the flow when it begins. If the piping is well done and the valves work, the mixture of hot and cold water can be tempered sufficiently to be safe and comfortable. Here, as well as in every other department of purchasing, you are told a lot of things, and if inexperienced, you may be horribly taken in, and led to buy a lot of unnecessary things, which though good in themselves, are quite dispensable.
The shower bath compartment must, of course, be large enough to permit the bather to stand inside without having to be all the time under the shower. This is an important point. Glass doors are not necessary either for a tiled or for a marble compartment. A light weight curtain is good, with the smallest possible entrance. This obviates the cleaning of the door.
Tiled floors and floors of honed marble are better for shower receptors than are the porcelain ones. They fit into the building problem better, can be made in any size and are less slippery. Be very careful in selecting the plumber who puts in your shower, because unless the drain and curb are absolutely right you will be exposed to the danger of flooding the room and the partitions of the house.
LAVATORIES AND TABLES
The styles of these are legion. The sizes are so well standardized that unless one wants them made according to some bizarre pattern it is not necessary to give dimensions. The usual length is about 33″. This is ample and graceful. The 54″ takes more space than most bathrooms can give up to the lavatory, and makes quite unnecessary bulk. The 33″ lavatory--and any smaller size--can be made of vitrified china, which is handsomer and less absorbent than the solid porcelain lavatory. The vitrified china is fired, and therefore it is difficult to make in large pieces.
Lavatories may be made for corners, or straight walls. They may have two legs, or a center pedestal or four legs, or they may be simply hung on brackets. Two legs, however, is the usual style, although four makes a very luxurious looking table. The legs can be had in nickel, glass, brass or in the handsomest types of gold, with carving or some other kind of design.
There has been a reversion, too, in the lavatory. The new style is to make them of imported marble, cut in one piece. With these the gold leg is suitable, also glass which looks well and is most satisfactory, and is easy to clean. Soft American marble is absorptive and stains easily, so when you use marble, get the imported if possible. Another point should be noted in buying the lavatory,--have enough space on it so that it can hold a glass; otherwise extra cost will accrue from breakage and ruined nerves.
In addition to the lavatory, as we have said, is the bidet, and the dressing table. The latter is sometimes made of glass on gold, nickel or brass standards, but it is oftener made of vitrified porcelain on four legs.
These regal appointments are given to show how some people live.
FAUCETS
The faucets on tubs, lavatories, bidet, shower, etc., require a great deal of care, since they must be cleaned so often. Various materials have been used, such as cut glass, porcelain and nickel, porcelain-like enamel, brass, silver, gold, etc. For a very rich room, gold and cut glass, or the gold alone is beautiful. But for most rooms the porcelain and nickel faucets are the very best and demand the least care. All-white enamel is not durable and is hard to take care of properly.
It is very much better to have one faucet through which both hot and cold water can flow. The faucet should have an overhang of at least 1″ from the side of the lavatory, so that it will be possible to get a glass under it for filling or your hand under for washing, thus obviating the necessity of filling a basin every time you want to rinse your hands. There are fancy faucets which do not meet these requirements, but avoid them.
Faucets which only flow when held are a curse and should only be used in public places where the water tax is high.
What you must look out for in the floor tile is that it be as little slippery as possible. Therefore do not get a glazed tile. More and more floors are being tiled in colors, to match the home scheme. Also, the dull tile obviates the squeak occasioned by the shoes touching it. This is a minor point, but one worthy of notice.
Walls can be tiled to any height desired. In the average room the tile is carried only 4′ 6″ up except at the point where the shower is installed. There it should be carried up 7′.
THE CLOSET
The syphon type is, of course, the best obtainable. Many closets are sold especially from catalog and by mail, as absolutely silent. Never, if you can help it, buy anything of this sort from a photograph. No closet can be absolutely silent. If there is any flow at all, complete silence would be impossible. A minimum of noise is the best that can be achieved, and the best makers have closets of this sort.
The bowls are generally of porcelain, and the best ones are of vitrified china (really porcelain), which is non-absorbent and quite the thing for this use because of the freedom from discoloration.
For general use, the less wood around the seat, the better.
The tank as a flushing medium is still about the best thing to use. There are on the market various flush valve types, some of which operate with a foot button on the floor or with a hand lever on the right side of the closet. These may be good in some locations, but neither the ordinary plumber nor the man in the house can repair them in an emergency. The piping in the valve type of flusher requires careful arrangement to avoid trouble.
Sometimes it is rather convenient to have the closet in a doored recess opening into the room and available from the hall as well. This is especially to the point when there are few bathrooms in the house.
INCIDENTAL FITTINGS
Chairs and stools are usually in white enamel or in fancy rooms are made to match the general style which prevails in the decoration.
The question of closets in the bathroom is entirely dependent upon individual taste. You can have the wall and mirror finished type, or the long door regular closet, or a combination of these, with or without full length mirror. In some rooms a glass shelved linen closet is found to be a real convenience.
The soap racks, etc., have lately become recessed in walls. This system is not popular, however, because, although useful and economical for hotel or institutional use, it adds no charm to the fine bathroom. Rather, it detracts from its dignity.
A nice way to have scales in a bathroom is to have the dial encased in the wall, and the tray on which one stands, sunk into the floor. This arrangement economizes space and is very welcome to fastidious people.
Plan the bathroom of your house early. Talk with your architect. Insist upon the best and get it. Your bathroom need consist of very few things, in the last analysis, and the wisest plan is to get the best. The cost will be from $250 upwards, for fixtures. However, it is wisest to buy the best you can afford so that a replacement cost is obviated. There must be no skimping of plumbing work, because that would be a menace to both health and wealth, and the plumbing costs no more for good material than for bad.
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