Wastes

Wastes — How to Choose the Right One, and What Fits What

A waste is the fitting the plug sits in, at the bottom of a basin or a bath. It is not the trap and not the pipe. Almost no tap includes one, so it is the part most often remembered late — usually by the plumber, standing in your bathroom.

Everything here is click clack: press the plug to close, press again to open. There is no pull rod behind the tap and no linkage underneath, which means fewer parts to seize over the years and a tidier look at the back of the basin. It replaced the traditional pop-up waste for good reason.

Start here: three questions that decide it

• Basin or bath? They are not interchangeable. A bath waste is bigger, uses a G1 ½ thread against the basin's G1 ¼, and comes with a linked overflow assembly. See basin wastes or bath wastes.
• Does the bowl have an overflow? Look inside for a small slot near the rim. If it is there you need a slotted waste, whose side opening lets that water reach the drain. No slot means unslotted, solid-sided. This is the check that prevents most returns in this category. Baths almost always have an overflow, so bath wastes come with one as standard.
• What size is the hole? Measure the visible opening in the bowl, not the old plug. Basins are usually 60 mm at the cap; thicker ceramic ones take 70 mm, and 66 mm covers the gap between.

Matching the finish

A black tap above a chrome plug is the mismatch we see most often, and on a basin the two sit close enough together that it always gets noticed. Chrome, matt black and brushed brass all run through the range, alongside white ceramic on the basin side — which sidesteps the question entirely, since a ceramic cap on a white basin reads as part of the bowl whatever colour your tap is.

Most taps are supplied without a waste, so budget for one alongside. Two Deva basin mixers are the exception — the Ethos and the Adore Mini come with their own, so if you are buying either of those you need nothing else. Check What's Included on any product page to be sure.

About the trap

The trap is the U-bend below the waste, holding a little standing water so drain smells cannot travel back up the pipe. It is a separate part, and a sound existing trap can almost always be reused when you change the waste above it — which saves both money and a considerably more awkward job. Check the seal and the threads before you refit it; a hardened washer is the usual reason a reassembled waste weeps.

Still deciding? Our guide to slotted versus unslotted wastes walks through it in a couple of minutes, or browse bathroom wastes to see everything together.

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