Water Fall wall mounted taps - are they all the same but rebranded?

[Farrella]

Hi, I am about to buy a wall mounted water fall basin tap, and a builder warned me to be careful as a lot of them are "very low quality" and he's had to replace quite a few. Not sure how correct he is, but I shopped around and saw many different sellers on amazon, ebay and various online shops selling a tap/mixer that look identical but at different prices (from £40 to over £100), different brands (Vellano Reve, Zenith Dunk, Desire etc) and different lengths of guarantee (5 years, Life guarantee, 10 years).

Do they vary in quality or are they all just rebranded versions of the same tap? Here are two of many "versions":

Vellamo Reve Wall Mounted Waterfall Bath Mixer
Waterfall Wall Mounted Modern Sink Chrome Lever Bath Filler Mixer Tap TB3203 | eBay

I'd be happy to pay extra if the more expensive ones actually have a better finish and are higher quality despite having exactly the same dimensions and design. I know that there are lots of bathtubs that have identical designs but differ hugely in quality in materials and finish.

Thanks for your advice!

Elsa x

 

[Harvest Fields]

Wouldn’t recommend buying anything like this from online. It is not unusual for different suppliers to sell the same tap but with a different brand, but they are not always the same tap. Sometimes they are made differently or have a different quality insert or cartridge. I would go with a Bristan Tap if you can find one that you like but that is just my preference.

 

[Farrella]

I know about Bristan, but I specifically like this minimalist design and have not found any higher range brands with this design.

 

[Harvest Fields]

Can you Post a picture of what you are after?

 

[Harvest Fields]

Have you looked at the Bristan hampton?

 

[Farrella]

The pictures are on the two links I included in the first post. I saw Bristan Hampton not seen any wall mounted ones...

 

[Farrella]

Here's a photo:

 

[Harvest Fields]

Ohh ok. The link wasn’t working to begin with.

 

[Farrella]

As you can see from the links (and there are loads more), there are different sellers selling what looks like the same tap under different brand names with different prices. Just wondering if they differ in quality/finish as the photos look pretty much the same...

 

[Harvest Fields]

Asnpreviously states mate. They may look the same on the outside but 9 times out of the 10 the ones online are cheap Chinese rip offs with poor quality internals

 

[Farrella]

Yes so I'm hoping someone here knows which shop sells good quality water fall taps. Also as I'm sure you know, not all Chinese "rip-offs" are bad quality nowadays, that assumption was true 15 years ago but now they have both good and bad (and very bad) quality "rip-offs". I have a few friends in manufacturing and they all say some of the new factories there are more advanced than European factories.

 

[Harvest Fields]

I would go to somewhere like city plumbing and tell them What you are after.

 

[Farrella]

They don't sell this design unfortunately. But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Sharp Point]

Buy branded or buy thrice ....

 

[Harvest Fields]

Buy branded or buy thrice ..

I’m with you mate. I wouldn’t buy online. Never lasts as long in my opinion.

 

[townfanjon]

Take your time and keep looking , I loathe fitting taps from manufacturers I have never heard of , have you tried Roca , grohe , nabis ( plumbcenter) deva , peglar ?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Grohe have something that your looking for

 

[king of pipes]

Fitted plenty of them in a hotel they are a absolute nightmare to keep clean leaving scale and watermarks in the spout, unless you are lucky enough to live in a soft water area or have a water softner i would say reconsider always buy branded taps so spares are available . cheers kop

 

[king of pipes]

These look better and will be easier to keep clean . kop

 

[Farrella]

Thanks. But as stated before I specifically want a water fall wall-mounted tap because I want the water to flow out and not down, and I like the minimalist design. I have not found any famous brand making such a tap. Happy to pay up to £350 for a new tap but not found any alternatives.

This is what I intended to buy:

Vellamo Reve Waterfall Wall Mounted Basin Mixer Tap

Never heard of the brand probably just rebranded cheap stuff but it does come with lifetime guarantee (whatever that means)....

 

[king of pipes]

Why bother asking for advise on here you have made your mind up buy them have them fitted and enjoy descaling and polishing them every week , it wont be long till they look tatty your choice thats me done now . kop

 

[Farrella]

Maybe you haven't read my original question? I asked if anyone knows of high quality versions of this water fall design as there are so many different sellers selling this design, but so far the only suggestions have been different designs. Not sure why you feel the need to be so aggressive?!!

So far I have bought mostly branded items by Hansgrohe, Villeroy & Boch and Keuco. But they don't make the water fall design I'm after.

And I'll be installing a water softener/descaler too.

 

[king of pipes]

Not being aggresive Farrella thats not in my nature far from it but i have been doing this for a very vey long time have fitted dozens of these taps bath , basin ect they look nice to start with but unless you address the scale issue you will regret you decision sorry if you took my recommendations the wrong way i am sure my colleagues will be along soon to add their comments. Regards kop

 

[Gasmk1]

Water Square bath 2 hole set

there you go bit more expensive

 

[Farrella]

Thanks for the suggestion, that is closer to the design I like (the basin version)

So why wouldn't the Crosswater Water Square suffer from scale issues compared to the cheaper one I linked before? The cheaper one's design does look better too (and I have no problem paying more, my sink unit is Villeroy & Boch and was sadly rather pricey... )