What tap goes with a freestanding bath?
A floorstanding bath filler, in most cases. Sculptural and roll-top baths rarely have a flat rim that would take a deck-mounted tap, and a genuinely freestanding bath has no wall behind it to fix to. A floorstanding filler rises from the floor on two fixed risers and is plumbed independently of the bath, which is exactly why it became the standard for the format.
Can you use a deck-mounted tap on a freestanding bath?
Only if the bath is built with a flat rim designed to take one. Check the specification rather than the photograph — a bath can look like it has a usable rim and not have the drilling or the depth for a tap. Back-to-wall baths are the more common case for a wall-mounted tap, since there is a wall to fix to.
Where should a floorstanding bath filler be positioned?
Close enough for the spout to reach comfortably over the bath, far enough that it is not in the way when you get in. The critical point is timing rather than position: floorstanding fillers are fed by pipework running beneath the floor, so the location has to be fixed before flooring goes down. Retrofitting one after the floor is finished usually means lifting it again.
What water pressure do bath taps need?
Bath fillers move more water than basin taps, so pressure matters more. A gravity-fed system with a loft tank typically delivers around 0.2–0.5 bar, which will fill a bath slowly. Mains-fed combi and unvented systems have no such problem. Check the tap's minimum bar rating against your system before ordering — a tap that technically works at low pressure can still take a long time to fill a 1700mm bath.
