Interior Renovation Trends

Help Your Clients Transform Their Kitchen & Bathroom with New Fashionable Fixtures

Bathroom and kitchen fixtures and faucets may be physically small, but they’re a major part of every renovation or new build because homeowners place so much visual importance on them. That’s why it pays to know the fixture scene and prepare yourself to talk intelligently with clients when planning a project. Focus on three things as you talk.

Recommend Quality

 

When it comes to plumbing fixture quality, let’s just say that some clients can be interesting. It’s not unusual to find yourself working with a homeowner who pushes for low-cost fixtures. This is especially true because buying plumbing fixtures usually happens at the end of a project, as people feel queasy about all the money they’ve spent. But then, a few years later, after a faucet handle breaks,  they forget that they’re the ones who chose those cheap things.  As a contractor you’ll sometimes get the blame for this, at least in a client’s own mind. Perhaps even beyond in their conversation with friends and family, too. This is why it’s important to recommend bathroom and kitchen fixtures of high quality that won’t make you look bad in the future. Even if you need to strongly insist on choosing quality, it’s in your best interests and your client’s.

Brand names with support from your local Home Hardware is key, and don’t forget about warranties. It’s not unusual for some brands to extend a lifetime warranty on cartridges and seals. It’s also not enough to simply recommend fixtures with a solid warranty and leave it at that. You need to explain the details with clients so they understand the value involved. Besides, good quality fixtures simply work better and are more enjoyable to use each day.

Talk About Trends

While all plumbing fixtures serve the very practical purpose of allowing control of water flow, practicality is rarely what people base their fixture-buying decisions on. Appearance is everything when it comes to plumbing fixture choice, and some people want to know what’s current in the world of fixture fashions. You need to be able to tell them.

Right now, black and gold fixtures are popular, and they have been for a while. In fact, black is now the second most popular fixture finish of all, pushing brushed nickel down to 3rd. But regardless of colour or style, explain to your clients that replacing faucets is a fast and inexpensive way to upgrade the look of a bathroom or kitchen. It generally takes less than an hour to install a new faucet, with no mess or disruption to the room.

Technical innovations are definitely worth discussing with clients, too. Faucets with touchless automatic controls are getting more popular with residential clients, and better handheld detachable faucet heads are part of many shower and kitchen fixtures. Explain that some of the best faucets provide reduce water usage while still being every bit as effective and enjoyable to use.

Easier Installations

Once upon a time it took a master plumber hours to replace a bathroom or kitchen fixture. That’s because all models needed soldered copper water supply pipes brought right up to and into the fixture. It was a tricky job, but not anymore! Almost all modern fixtures and faucets are now supplied by flex hoses that often don’t even require tools to make a final connection. Any handy person on your crew can do the job in a fraction of the time it took a plumber to do the same thing years ago.

Got a client who wants a bathroom or kitchen upgrade on a budget? Installing new fixtures into an existing sink, tub or shower makes a surprising improvement to the overall look, and at minimal cost. Many fixtures come with an adaptor plate that allows single-hole fixtures to be installed in sinks with two or three holes.

As a contractor you may be in the business of renovation and construction, but that’s not really what people pay you for. What you really deliver is satisfaction, beauty and enjoyment of the home. Equip yourself to give good advice on plumbing fixtures and you’ll be better able to give people what they really want.