I'm a little gun-shy as far as trying another brand that I'm not familiar with. When I originally researched this, I went with the Cheviot tub filler based on not finding complaints. Boy, was that stupid. Because in hindsight, I didn't find glowing reviews either. The Cheviot tub filler continues to run full force for about 6 seconds after shutting off the water and then drips for another 10 seconds, leaving a puddle of water on the floor behind the tub. The wand does the same thing. According to Cheviot, this is normal. I'll be damned if I'm setting out a bowl to catch dripping water every time I use my brand new tub. I have had good luck with Kohler, Moen, Grohe, and to a lesser extent, Hansgrohe. I intend to stick with something from those brands. There is a comparable filler by Toto that's a stretch but probably no more expensive than building the pedestal, topping it with quartz, re-doing the wainscot, painting, buying a roman deck set etc. I need to find some glowing reviews about Toto!

I saw one in a magazine that filled from the center of the ceiling, so if it's the proper spout for the application it's obviously available. Mine isn't installed, but it's a waterfall. It comes out of the wall to just over the edge of the tub and the base of the faucet (where water flows) is just a few inches up. Any further away from the rim and your drips will dribble on the ledge, which isn't really desirable. For the waterfall, I was told that if it's too high we'll not get enough arch to flow comfortably into the tub, and too low is unsightly (which ruins the waterfall effect). My plumber suggested that we use a garden hose to the back of the spout and see how it flowed. We used this when we figured out where to place it.

"I could also just get a pull-down faucet for the sink and aim it at the tub to fill it." You could - but you won't like it. The most one of those will fill is 2.2 gallons a minute - some less that that. Divide your tub's capacity by that and you're looking at 20 minutes to fill +/- Not good. beekeeper - I have one of these and have placed more than half a dozen in projects over the past few years. What you get for your money is a machined brass body that mounts in the ceiling or wall and a plated trim piece. The body is a substantial piece of hardware and chrome,brass, nickel plating costs $$$ too. Whether that's all worth 500 + bucks, is up to you. Like davidro says, it doesn't matter what the delivery system is, this is just an opening for hot water to come out of, albeit one with a bit of engineering. GD & Spanish - the splashing is very much dependent on the mounting height of the unit AND the tub selected AND the location of the water column inside the tub. Mine hardly splashes at all. The ones I have seen that splash only do so for a minute or so until their is enough of a pool in the tub to counteract it. Flat bottom tubs with tall ceilings are going to splash more than one from 7' into a sloped contact point in the tub. Besides , we're talking water in a bathroom, generally tiled so what's the big deal ??? It's not like the amount of splash is the same as taking a shower and leaving the door open. 2. While you are correct in that "the water cools off much more than it would from just a regular tub filler", it's not as if it cools off enough for anyone without a thermometer to tell a difference, and a very sensitive one at that! Sure the air cools the water more from a stream falling from 8 feet than one falling from two feet. But bath water that is 100 + degrees is not going to cool down to 90 deg. in the xtra 1-2 seconds it takes it to fall from the ceiling- get real. Additionally , that filler produces a very dense column of water (laminar) that has little to no air in it, so one might argue it will be hotter and less prone to heat loss than a "regular" filler that introduces room temp air into it's stream - thus cooling it off on it's way to the tub. So don't worry Spanish -your tub will still be plenty hot with that filler if you choose it. IT'S A NON -ISSUE people. I've already alluded to the real issue for lower tub temps - FILL TIME. That's directly related to the delivery system ( valve). If your valve and accompanying filler will only deliver 5 gallons a minute it's going to take a while to fill an 80 gallon tub, and there will be some heat loss. Select a valve that delivers 20 gallons a minute and you can be soaking quicker that most people can undress. Here is a link that might be useful: laminar valve body - see page 2

When I look at vintage houses, I think there are always things that I would never choose myself if I were building a new house, or if I have to replace something. But if there are there and they are in good shape, I would live with them and try to like them for what they are. I would never pick out the elaborate pillar and arch style cabinet doors in the kitchen and other areas of this house, but I wouldn't take them out either. The bathroom I am renovating now is bathroom #2 for that space. It was poorly done in 2000 subway tile style with pedestal sink. (Style is fine, handsome sink, not quite right for the house). There was a crack in the plumbing that could be accessed only by making a hole in the floor of this bathroom, so the whole thing is demo'd. Evidence shows that the original original was white tile with gold sparkles with a gold and black mosaic floor, unknown fixture color, maybe gold. I could as it turns out, replicate the tile in this bathroom (Daltile Golden Granite tile for the white with gold sparkles, and Daltile Keystones porcelain mosaic in Luminary Gold and Black.) The fixtures would have to be black or white, but it would be the original color scheme. I am not going to do that. If it was still here and in good shape I might keep it, but I am not going to duplicate it. But I am going to try and do something that looks like it could possibly be original--just not gold and black.