We've recently moved into a rented new build house and the landlord has skimped with the fittings. We have a mixer kitchen tap that doesn't have any form of aerator on it and when the hot water is on we get a hot slim jet of water that shoots out splashes off anything it hits. We were simply going to buy an add on aerator but after pulling off the end of the tap there isn't any thread inside the spout to screw one onto. We've noticed the spout can be unscrewed from the mixer taps themselves so we're wondering if can be as simply as to swap the spout for one with an aerator on the end of it or is there any other type of aerator that can attach to the existing tap that isn't ugly to look at? Thanks a lot.

Hello Michelle, I love a very pronounced swan neck style.. Consider a swan neck with a pull out spout perhaps.. Also nickel as opposed to chrome.. These might suit.. If you're interested in something somewhat different.. What is really fabulous at the moment is the idea of diy made taps.. Really it boils down to the style of kitchen and sink... Any of these can work in a modern or traditional but of course it's entirely down to your personal preference.. There are so many and more I could suggest.. There's also the question of budget.. I can specify anything from £100- to well over a G! If these aren't your idea of style on tap... Traditional style brass fittings... One thing I'd say, like you I like a tap that is useful... if you don't have that then you need to consider other ways to rinse, clean and fill.... : ))

I think the key to being creative is knowing what you like, what you can buy, and then accepting that usually it doesn't exist.................so go down the 'create it yourself route'. By that, I mean have a plumber make what you want out of copper fixings, then you can have an older looking type of tap set up. Copper is easily bent and soldered so you can pretty much have whatever your heart desires with the right guy to install it. I think you'll need to get your head around the fact that 'copper taps' are a new thing, old fashioned taps were brass and still are. You can mix up the two metals without any problem. Just get creative and get a good plumber!

We have a Quooker Flex. Like you we used to have a spray tap in our old kitchen, which I thought I'd miss terribly, because I too used it all the time. Truth is we actually don't miss it at all - the benefits and ease of the boiler tap (with filtered water also) far outweigh the loss of the spray. What I would have missed more is the hose element of the tap. But the hose of the Quooker does a good enough job of rising down and also provides that essential long distance filling for buckets etc. which I find so useful and saved hefting full buckets and the like, in and out of the sink.