How to change tap direction and water pressure stuff?

barydos

Hi all,

Finally getting around to changing some of the older taps in the home.

We have a few inconsistencies, where both hot + cold taps turn off the "normal" way - counter-clockwise (CCW), but in other rooms, the left (hot) tap turns on CW while the right (cold) tap turns on CCW - and even the opposite way in the shower!

  

Before I go out and buy some new taps, are these simple to change (the direction) up? Would there be any considerations I need to make?

Also, I might lump this question here also, but I noticed in many sinks the water pressure isn't great, but then one day one of these poor water pressure taps suddenly popped out the "aerator" (?) and the pressure was decent after fortunately, 

Are these available to buy at Bunnings? Do they come in standard sizes? And do they offer variants which can improve water pressure?

 

And finally, also related to water pressure, the toilet tanks seem to refill at a slow pace, is there a fix to this (anything similar to the faucets?) or is it just based on the cistern (I plan on replacing the existing cisterns).

Thanks everyone, appreciate the patience on this wall of text 🙂 

MitchellMc

Hi @barydos,

There are two main types of taps. In the older style, the hot and cold are turned anti-clockwise to turn on and clockwise to turn off. With newer 1/4 and 1/2-turn ceramic disc taps, the hot is turned anti-clockwise to turn on, and the cold is turned clockwise to turn on. This could possibly be the opposite if the spindles have been swapped. You can't change the directions on either style, apart from the ceramic disc, by swapping the hot and cold over. However, you could replace all the taps with ceramic disc versions to get all the handles operating in the same fashion.

Having a clogged aerator will certainly reduce your pressure. Typically, they are replaceable, and I'd suggest taking yours in to match it up with our aerators.

If you plan to replace the existing cisterns, I'll hold off until then. It will just be an additional cost to try and replace your inlet valves in the current ones. You could try swapping out the inlet valves to see if there is an improvement in fill times. Also, check to see that the wall cock is turned fully on. You'll generally find it on the wall connected to a hose. I have mine turned right down to reduce the flow so as not to wake the sleeping baby when refilling. It does take a couple of minutes to refill like that, though.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Mitchell