Does a Floor-Mounted Faucet Touch a Pedestal Tub or Not?

Pedestal Tub

• Unlike traditional tubs, a pedestal tub is not built against a wall or into a specific shower or bath enclosure. Instead, it is freestanding, with all four sides visible. It is a lot like a claw-foot tub, except it doesn’t rest on legs. It has an oval-shaped pedestal base, which gives it its name. Floor-mounted water faucets and taps usually supply pedestal tubs with water.

Floor-Mounted Faucet

• A floor-mounted faucet is based on the floor, rather than rising from the rim of the tub. A pedestal tub is only a tub; the drain connects to a drainpipe, but it has no connection to your home’s water supply. A pipe running under the floor supplies water to the floor-mounted faucet. It is easiest to install a pedestal tub and floor-mounted faucet when first building the bathroom; installing them during a remodel will involve moving plumbing lines.

Styles

• Floor-mounted faucets can have separate hot and cold water supply pipes coming up from the floor, with a mixing valve connecting them. Some faucets have the mixing valve located under the floor, so a single water supply pipe comes up from the floor and connects to the faucet. The supply pipes are usually covered with a thin chrome veneer to improve their appearance. The pipes are placed close to the tub, but they do not touch it.

Considerations

• You can take showers in a pedestal tub by installing a handheld showerhead that connects to the floor-mounted faucet. Even with this addition, the faucet won’t touch the actual tub. Pedestal tubs offer a few advantages over claw-footed tubs. You can choose where to place the floor-mounted faucet, rather than having to use the pre-drilled faucet holes found in a claw-footed tub. Because the tub rests on the floor rather than on legs, you don’t have to clean beneath it.