The 10 Best Clawfoot Tub Faucets
Special Honors
Vintage Tub & Bath If nothing above quite caught your eye, or even if you just like seeing a lot of options before settling on any, Vintage Tub & Bath is a great catchall dedicated to clawfoot tubs and the like. Their site has advanced search features to help you find exactly what you're looking for, whether its a faucet or hardware to match. vintagetub.com
Armitage Shanks Founded in the UK in 1817, Armitage Shanks produces high-quality sanitary ware for residential and commercial properties. Their comprehensive product range includes freestanding and clawfoot bathtubs, wall, floor and deck mounted faucets, and matching shower kits. armitageshanks-mena.com
Editor's Notes
April 21, 2021:
A freestanding bathtub isn't fastened to the wall and is an elegant choice that is gaining popularity, as they come in many different designs, from ultra-modern to traditional. A clawfoot tub has a Victorian-style, sculpted ball-and-claw design, and as such is usually paired with a vintage-style faucet. The mounting requirements are the main dominating factor when choosing a suitable model. Some baths are designed with pre-drilled holes on the ledge or the bath wall, while others have no suitable mounting points at all and require a free-standing or wall-mounted faucet. In this update, we added several new models to the ranking, making it more comprehensive for a wider range of installation requirements.
Similar to the Kingston Freestanding and the Artiqua Floor Mount we added the Senlesen Single Lever and the Pelham & White Vintage. The advantage of these freestanding models is that they provide versatility when choosing the location of the bathtub, allowing them to become the center point of the room, also the faucet can be positioned anywhere around the tub for the perfect combination of convenience and aesthetics. The Senlesen Single Lever is a pedestal style option that is designed to look like an old-fashioned water pump, and is available in chrome, antique brass, or oil-rubbed bronze. The Pelham & White Vintage, although somewhat expensive, is a high-quality, all brass model with a brushed nickel finish. Wall-mounted faucets are more restrictive in their location options as the tub needs to be positioned with at least one end close to the wall. The Sumerain Hand Shower, the Kingston Antique, and the Ez-Flo Bathcock all remained on the list, and to these, we added the Aolemi Shower System, which incorporates both a handheld sprayer and an overhead rainfall shower. The showerhead on this one is permanently mounted to the wall and is fed via a rigid pipe that connects to the mixer, therefore, it is recommended that a suitable shower curtain is installed to prevent water damage.
February 29, 2020:
We would like to stress once more that you should consider getting a licensed plumber involved when it comes to installing bathroom hardware, even if it’s just for a consultation or basic guidance. Being that this is the do-it-yourself age, if you do decide to install your own faucet, please be sure to follow manufacturers’ directions, local building regulations, use the right tools, shut all running valves off, and be ready with buckets, towels, and more in the event of flooding. A lot can come up while plumbing you might not expect. For instance, you should have a first aid kit with bandages and a disinfecting astringent on hand because pipe threading can be sharp and slice your fingers. While we’re on the topic of cuts, have you had and/or are you up to date on your tetanus shot? Plumbing an old-world tub shouldn’t entail contracting old-world diseases.
Moving forward, poor plumbing can cause serious and lasting damage to structures, so even if things appear to have been installed correctly, you should do what you can to follow up on your work, looking for leaks that lead to rot, mold, and worse. Similarly, if for one reason or another your valves aren’t properly shutoff, or somehow start running again, water is going to start spraying everywhere, so you might want to waterproof yourself and your work area in addition to having some protective eyewear on hand. Again: Consider a professional’s assistance when installing any bathroom hardware.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, when choosing a faucet, be sure to pay attention to what sort of intake you're dealing wit as well as its specific measurements. Freestanding models like the Artiqua Floor Mount and the Kingston Freestanding require plumbing that comes up from the floor, while the Kingston Victorian is decidedly deck mounted and needs to be installed on some ledge with holes that align with its intake arms. Meanwhile, models like the Ez-Flo Bathcock cannot be adjusted to suit different inlet distances, while the arms Sumerain Hand Shower can. As with sewing or carpentry, in all things plumbing, measure twice, cut once.