Plumbing Terms

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Stopcocks, tit of a trap, female union, male line union and ballcock are all plumbing terms that describe certain fittings. And yes, some fittings have a sexual reference which I wrote about here.

But I’m going to write about different plumbing terms today and it seems that I need to explain to the world when a basin is a basin and when a sink is a sink.

I remember watching The Block earlier this year and the design judges would discuss how they loved the sink in the bathroom and I would throw up my hands in frustration saying IT’S a BASIN!

Well actually, I didn’t get that agro about it but my mother did. And so I thought I’d share with you the difference today.

A basin is installed in a bathroom and a sink is in the kitchen.

It’s that simple. But so many people get it wrong.  And why does it bother me so?

Because a basin has a 40mm waste outlet and a kitchen sink has a 50mm outlet, so when a client calls to say that their sink waste is leaking and I come out with 50mm fittings when it’s actually the basin that is leaking and I need 40mm ones… it’s pretty frustrating.

So always remember a sink is in the kitchen and a basin is in the bathroom. If you think you’ll mix them up… think b for basin in the bathroom and k in sink for the kitchen.

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