check valves

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i am buying a wall hung basin with fancy bottle trap and it all looked nice in the brochure :D but the builder tells me I will have to have hot and cold water pipes exposed leading to the basin because he needs to fit check valves to the supply. :( This will look a bit naff and I am wondering whether the check valves could be installed about 2 metres away and the pipes then chased into the wall from there to the taps.

Is there anything in the building regs that states how near to the taps the check valves have to be? :?:


many thanks, Denzil
 
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Might be able to give you a better answer than you hoped for.

The requirement for check valves (backflow prevention) lies within the water regs [Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999] not building regs.

Backflow prevention is already catered for with the design of most basin/tap setups. This is in the form of the "tap gap" which is refered to in the regs as a Type AUK2 Backflow prevention arrangement. This means that the tap outlets are above the spillover level (edge) of the basin.

If they are individual taps then you don't need check valves. You will only need check valves on the supplies if it is a mixer tap (to stop hot water going back into cold pipe and vice versa).

So the big question is have you got two taps on the basin, or a single mixer tap?

Run it past your builder and see what he says.
 
Thank you for the reply BB, much appreciated :LOL:

I was going to have a monobloc mixer tap, but if it means that I wont have to look at the exposed supply pipes while sitting in the bath I'll go for 2 separate taps.

Thanks once again, Denzil
 
Thats not always the case.

The water Regs requirement usually only applies to taps fed from the mains supply.

If you have a hot water cylinder and a loft cistern then the loft cistern usually provides the air break required ( but not always! ).

Even so, its good practice to fit isolating valves in the feed to the taps anyway.

Unless this is a VERY competent builder he probably said "check" valves but actually meant "isolating" valves because he did not realise that non return ( check ) valves were sometimes required !

Check valves are rarely fitted to kitchen mixer taps even though they are sometimes required under the water regulations!!! This does not apply when its a coaxial spout and mixing does not occur within the tap. Many of the joystick taps do require them.

Tony
 
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Hello Tony, the builder said "check valves", but I was speaking to a neighbour who is a bit more clued up than me and he said, like you did, the builder probably meant "isolating valves".

I'll speak to the builder again next week, but if he was talking about isolating valves is there any reason why they could not be placed about 2 metres away from the actual taps and then the rest of the pipework chased in? Also, would it make any difference whether I had a mixer tap or 2 separate taps?

thanks, Denzil
 
The purpose of the isolation valve is to permit maintenance of the plumbing downstream of the valve. I would locate the valve with that principle in mind.
 
if its wall hung your going to see pipe work anyway. why cant you have service valves and all pipe work in chrome. if done properly you should'nt be able to see the pipe work anyway.i do a lot of work for a designer bathroom company and chrome plated copper looks a treat if done properly.sometimes you cant hide everything, just make it look as good as possible.
 
You can get a tap connector with ballofix valve built in merchants call this a "service valve", though it doesn't deserve exclusivity of title.

If those won't fit in, I would be content not to use a form of isolation as long as there other sufficient provisions made.
 
Most wall hung basins are designed to take a half size pedestal which hangs off the underside of the basin. Everything needed (valves, bonding etc) will fit within that.
 
Hi bathjobby - other half has been to look at basins again to see whether any of the half size pedestal basins will go with the rest of the bathroom suite. If not, it looks as if holty's suggestion will be best.

Holty: This may be the way to go. It's funny that things you think are going to be an eyesore can actually merge into the background when you live with them. I can see that chrome pipes would fit in with the rest of the bathroom design but I had concerns about the tiling around the point where they come out of the floor. Firstly it means that I (or the other half) cant clean the floor so well, and secondly can the tiler make a good finish around the pipe. Would it look better for the pipes to come out of the wall about half way up to the basin to avoid issues at floor level?

thanks everyone for your input. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions given the size of the job (see my other post :eek: )

Denzil
 
Denzil said:
I can see that chrome pipes would fit in with the rest of the bathroom design but I had concerns about the tiling around the point where they come out of the floor. Firstly it means that I (or the other half) cant clean the floor so well, and secondly can the tiler make a good finish around the pipe. Would it look better for the pipes to come out of the wall about half way up to the basin to avoid issues at floor level?

I'd have the pipes chased into the wall, it would definetly be an eyesore coming from the floor even if it was chrome. If you're worried about the tiler cutting around the pipes (and possibly not looking very pretty) get some of these.
 
Lee-King: thanks for that link. Yes, that would look better than badly fitting tiles around the pipe. A bit of a trap for dust and all that gunge you get in bathrooms round the pipework though. Where does all that muck come from anyway?? :eek: :eek:
 
at least make sure the builder chases the pipework into the wall and have them protected, then come out of the wall just under the basin. also for any future headaches, might sound stupid i know, but i dont know what your builders like, but make sure the pipes have bends that are being buried in the wall, then there's less chance for any fitting to go wrong in the future
 
holty said:
at least make sure the builder chases the pipework into the wall and have them protected, then come out of the wall just under the basin.

Hello holty, that was what I wanted originally but the builder said that the pipes would have to come out of the wall quite a way below the basin so that there was room to fit one of these check (or maybe he meant isolation) valves in which case you would see some bendy pipework below the line of the basin. That's why I wondered whether the isolation valve could be fitted some way away inside the boxed in area for the concealed WC cistern. Then the pipework could be chased into the wall straight up to just behind the basin. It is these ruddy valves that are causing the problem :evil:

Denzil
 
right the valves your talkin about (check valves). there totaly different to service valves so what hot and cold arrangement have you got e.g combi boiler, system boiler, gravity hot water with mains cold water.if its a combi you have then it will most proberbly that you will not need check valves.
 

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