I am building a bathroom addition for a client. He has an interesting request: Instead of installing any kind of traditional lavatory faucet, he would like to have a metal pipe sticking out of the wall, with the water going into a vessel-style stone sink. I am wondering how I could attach a pipe to a mixer valve (mixing hot/cold water) and, of course, an on-off valve of some kind. I am not a plumber and would appreciate any practical advice anyone can offer. Thanks. Bonnie
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Why not! Go to your plumbing source and pick up a name brand single lever shower. Standard quality $75-100. More if you wish...less will be "cheap"!
Place the valve wherever you wish the handle to be and plumb the supplies in.
Plug the tub spout port and then run pipe to the wall space above the vessel to where a drop eared ell is mounted in the wall cavity. The DE ell accepts any 1/2" pipe thread...and insert the "pipe" through the hole in the finshed wall, add an escucheon and an elbow or bend into the stone bowl.
The spout could be made from a number of items, pipes, or other artistic creations....but it must have that 1/2" threaded pipe fitting to go inside the drop eared ell. A blacksmith or coppersmith, or a metals scupltor can probably make a very "original" spout!
If you are creative you can bypass the very expensive faucets that are paired with the "vessel" type lavatories.
Send pics when you are done................Iron Helix
Keep in mind whether having an aerator screen on the end will matter or not. If so, you will need to adapt a fitting to hold one. Seems like a shower stub out would work easily, and there will be threaded fittings for those.
Here I opened this thinking someone was going to cast a solid silver or gold faucet. No such luck!
I stayed in a place in Mexico this year that had something interesting for a sink and spout in the "powder room" of the public area.
An old hand pump with traditional spout, like found in old farmhouse kitchens, was plumbed to have the spout discharge into a stone bowl, set into a concrete countertop. An antique iron valve wheel, maybe 10" diameter, on a nearby wall, turned it on, premixed warm just right for hands cleansing.
If you wanted a glass of cool water for a mouth rinse, or to drink, or for washing down a pill, a nice big carafe full of safe water was on a nearby stand, with clean glasses.
In addition to the use of a shower valve, I'm pretty sure that the upscale fixture companies have some stuff purpose-made for this sort of thing (for much more money). This sort of lav setup is commonly seen in the interior decorating rags these days, and Kohler, PricePfister, et al are sure to be cashing in.