| Fixture Basics |
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Plumbing fixtures include tubs, showers, and sinks and their water controls. During many remodels installing tubs, showers, and sinks is considered part of rough plumbing and adding the faucets and other water controls is the last step before you get to turn the water on. A faucet is a terminal valved outlet. That is, it is the last component in a water system and it is built around a valve, a device that regulates the flow of water. As you know, there is a wide variety of faucets. Lavatory faucets serve the sink, bathtub faucets control water entering the tub, a shower head and controls are used to mix and deliver water to the shower. There are several types of valves—compression (sometimes called stem-and-seat), disk, ball, and cartridge are the most common. Faucets also use different configurations of levers and handles to open and close the valves. That's why they look different. Some faucets have a spout separate from the valves, such as in many tubs, while others combine both hot and cold valves and the spout into a single unit, such as on many sinks. A related fixture is the drain system. Most are relatively simple. They are located in the lowest part of the sink, tub, or shower and designed to allow either a tight seal against water flow or a quick flow of water when you’re ready to drain it. Most drains include a lever system that allows you to control the seal.
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