BATHROOM SANITARY WARE

The Order to Decide Things In

Decide in the order the builder will work, not the order you get excited about.

Water closets and basins come first, because their waste and water positions get fixed into the wall and floor. A wall-hung water closet needs a concealed cistern and a carrier frame built into a false wall, so that decision has to be made before any wall goes up. A floor-standing one is more forgiving. Basins are the same story: a wall-hung or semi-recessed basin sets the height and the pipe position, while a counter-top basin needs a cabinet or a slab under it.

The bathtub or shower area is next, because it sets the wet zone and the fall of the floor.

Taps come after the fittings they serve, not before. A basin tap has to match the tap hole and the basin height, and a shower set has to match the wall it is fixed to.

Bathroom accessories and furniture go last. Towel rails, holders, mirrors and cabinets are the only items you can still change your mind about once the tiling is done, so leave them until the end and choose them against the finishes you have actually installed.

Bring the floor plan. Half an hour laying the sanitary ware out properly saves a hacking job later. A basin cabinet is worth deciding at the same time as the basin, because it sets the height.

What Sanitary Ware Holds Up in a Malaysian Bathroom

Malaysian bathrooms are wet bathrooms. Water gets everywhere, humidity stays high all year, and nothing in the room ever fully dries. That changes which sanitary ware you should be buying.

Finishes are the first thing to get right. Chrome is the default and holds up well. Matt black and brushed finishes look good but show water spots more, so they need wiping rather than just rinsing. Whatever you pick, keep it consistent across taps, shower and accessories in the same room, because two near-matching finishes look worse than two openly different ones.

Material matters more than finish for anything screwed to the wall. Cheap accessories corrode from the inside, where the fixing meets the wall plug, and you only find out when the towel rail comes off in your hand.

Water pressure is the quiet problem. Plenty of older units and landed homes run on gravity feed, and rain shower heads and thermostatic mixers often need more pressure than that. If the shower dribbles, the fitting is usually not at fault. A booster pump is the normal fix.

Ventilation last. An extractor or an openable window is what keeps mould off the grout and off the cabinet doors.