The kind of faucets you use in your bathroom is likely affecting its overall appearance. Faucets are among the first things people notice when they enter your bathroom. The bathtub, of course, is the primary eye-catcher. People at once form an opinion of you when they see your taste as reflected in you choice of bathtub faucet.
It is consequently important that you exercise great care in selecting bathtub faucets. As much as possible buy a faucet model that will match your other faucets and your shower. If you are just constructing your bathroom or having it remodeled, put off buying the faucets until everything is done and painted. Then take a look at bath faucet models available on internet sites or in real live stores. If your bathroom goes with a certain color and pattern motif, bring a sample of that color and pattern along when you go out shopping for your bath faucets. Don't think about rugs and curtains and towels yet until you have installed faucets.
Before buying the bathtub faucets, check with the dealer if the material is corrosion-proof or stainless. Whether you should choose proofed or completely non-corroding materials will depend as much on your budget as on the type of water you have running in your house. Acidic water will easily rust corrosion-proof metals. Choosing stainless metals might be your best choice after all if you are not sure about how acidic your water at home is.
Some models of bathtub faucets feature an additional hand sprayer. If you feel that you would like to use hand sprayers while bathing, then select such a model. Otherwise, the hand sprayer may just serve to get you tangled up while bathing.
The type of knob(s) or operating mechanism that your faucet has should also be considered before you purchase one. Some knobs are simply caps with small indentations for twisting to the left and right. Others feature arms radiating from the center of the knob, also operated by twisting. Such knobs have gaskets underneath that keep them from leaking. When the gaskets are worn out, the faucet leaks.
And then there are the types of faucets that have levers for turning them on or off. Lever-type faucets will also eventually leak but will take longer than the twist-type faucets. This is because the force with which knobs are twisted may be too strong, causing the gasket to wear out easily. Another type of faucet has buttons at the base of the spout for letting water run through them.
The most durable and the easiest repaired are still the original twist type bathtub faucets.
Before settling for a faucet to buy, apart from the design, material, color and price of the bathtub faucet, consider the warranties from the manufacturer and guarantees from the vendor. After that, ask the vendor if he has other bathroom accessories, like soap dishes, waste paper baskets, lotion holders, towels and rugs which are custom made for the specific model you chose. Consider throwing them into the purchase too in order to install all your bathroom gadgets at one time.