Which monoblock kitchen taps?

[momist]

Hi everyone, it's time for my new kitchen to be finished off. One of the items is a new swan-neck chrome finish monoblock tap for the new undermount sink.

Now, I've been searching around on this forum for quite a bit, and there's lots of posts about these taps and their problems, most of which I was already aware of. However, I can't see anywhere a recommendation of who makes better taps. The cheap end of the market seems well covered by "I had problems with xx", but nowhere can I see a good brand named.

My last set of taps were Bristan, who I always thought were a reputable or at least often chosen manufacturer, but when the ceramic inserts failed (as they do) I found that the same model now takes a different insert, and the old insert is no longer available. Maybe I bought some old stock? I don't know, but I'm wary of repeating the same error.

Please can someone suggest whose taps I ought to consider?
Thanks!

 

[longdogs]

Unfortunately the ceramic valves are a problem on all makes of tap. They were supposed to last a lifetime but it is actually just a few years. Bristan were excellent but like everything, the quality has suffered.

Avoid anything Plumbsure from B&Q

Franke seem to be reasonably good, had mine for about ten years now.

Whatever you choose, keep the paperwork so that you can order replacements from the manufacturer when the valves inevitably fail.

 

[momist]

Franke seem to be reasonably good, had mine for about ten years now.

Thanks squeaky, of course that begs the question: are Franke as good now as they were ten years ago? Let's hope so, and I'll ask SWMBO to look at their range.

 

[momist]

Following up on squeaky's suggestion, I've been looking at the Franke range of monoblock kitchen taps and they are all listed as requiring either 0.3 or 0.37 or 0.39 bar. My taps are fed from stored hot water with a head of 3.6m to the top level in the cold storage tank that feeds it. The cold is at mains pressure.
Is there a way to convert that to bar? I am aware that I need (I think) a bi-flow type tap, not a mixer.

[EDIT] Never mind, I've found another web site that states minimum 0.5 bar and maximum 5 bar for the same taps. Also says suitable for low or high pressure supplies. Presumably, the 0.37 is the absolute minimum, and rounded to 0.5 for consistency across the supplier's site.