OT: Reliable Kitchen / Bath Faucet Brand??

This morning the kitchen faucet sprung a geyser-like leak from the spout swivel joint. A razor of chrome plate, peeling from the spout sliced through the O-ring seal. But, I shouldn't have been all that surprised since the whole spout is speckled with patches of blistering chrome that look like they would eventually turn into pinhole leaks.

It's a five-year-old name-brand faucet, and this morning's leak isn't its first. Both the hot and cold "lifetime ceramic" valve cartridges have already been replaced.

Is there such a thing as a reliable kitchen or bath faucet? I've owned Price-Pfister, Moen, Delta, Harden, and American-Standard faucets that either needed a new cartridge every couple of years or corroded badly enough to hurt the faucet's functioning in some way or another.

When it comes right down to it, the best faucet I've ever owned was a house-brand Taiwanese import bathroom faucet that Home Depot sold somewhere around a decade and half ago . . . no leaks, no corrosion. I'd replace my kitchen faucet with that faucet's kitchen cousin if I could, but the lookalikes HD sells today are sourced from China and I hesitate.

I do hear good things about Kohler and Grohe faucets, but then I've heard good things about Moen and Delta and been disappointed.

My water comes from the big-city mains, and it's moderately soft.

I'd sure be glad to hear your suggestions, especially if you have favorable experience with a particular faucet brand (or brands).

John

We got Blanco in the kitchen, only installed it in december when redoing everything but as far as I know its good products. By the weight of the faucet we got I'd say its pretty solid. Perhaps not plated. Might vary with the product line, there's always the lower and higher line. Quite expensive either way.

http://www.blancoamerica.com/home.php

Btw, they're made in Germany. They got videos showing how they make them in different pieces, laser welded and ground. Video is worth watching just or the automation and machining aspect.

http://www.blanco.co.uk/ ( tour icon on left )

Ain't it the truth....

You'll be Moening about your Delta or Harden faucet in no time. Price-fixer isn't worth the money.

I dunno what we have in teh Kitchen now, but its got two faucets, regular washers, and has worked for 10 years.

Those cartridge ceramic ones leak. The one-piece valves leak. The swivel spouts on the one-piece valves leak.

Most faucets suck. And quite a lot of the "lifetime" ones have no parts available when you need them. They've been changed a little, and the old parts are not made. New ones either are incompatible, or need a chintzy plastic adaptor.

Hardly anyone makes a reliable faucet. And price is not a guarantee....

Kohler! You will pay more! but they are really built well. We just remodled the bathroom and went with all kohler. we also went ith brushed nickle finnish, which added to the price. the fawcett for the sink was over $300.00, but it is a solid cast pieceof brass. Not that stamped out stuff.

Chicago brand are nearly indestructible. Used in every laboratory I've ever worked in.

Rip out your walls & countertops, and re-plumb your entire house with alum-bronze ball valves.
That'll fix it!

Grohe! (sp?) I put one in the main bathroom 20 years ago and have not touched it since.

I installed a Moen monolever unit when I redid the kitchen about 7 years ago. It began to weep from it's underside a few years later. When I talked to their tech support line and said that the problem was absolutely the result of a porous silver soldered joint where the feed tubes enter the faucet body, they very politely took my information down and overnighted me a new faucet free of charge.

That said the Grohe stuff seems really well made too.

My plumbing friend owns his own company,, he swears by Kohler, but I have no personal experience with them, I have Delta in my house and am not a real big fan of them.

Kolher products are being updated regularly, the facuets I have, are no longer made, of course, and parts are impossibe to get. I bought a dozen sets of spare cartridges and am down to my last 4 after 12 years of use. Not really right for I paid a preminum price for them. I bought a crapper with power flush that after 9 years started to leak and the company that supplied the flush assembly to Kolher is not longer in business. Scrap one $900 crapper. It goes on and on with them, pretty products but poor support after 10 years. Your choice?

Get any brand but Delta or Moen. The Delta I used in my kitchen for a replacement for the Moen has leaked from day one. I'd buy a better brand if I only knew what to buy. The Moen only lasted about three years.

Here's a vote against the Moen single-lever units with the pull-out feature, unless they have improved them in the last few years. Two large components, one nylon, one plastic, are important for the lever control and its outside appearance. And they wear. And replacements aren't available five years after the model was sold.

The delta faucet in the kitchen sink has leaked for a year, new parts won't fix it. It has a very tiny no leak sweet spot, but you gotta be sober to find it. Yes, I'm gonna replace it. Most likely with something mentioned here. WWQ

Heck, I have yet to see ANY single lever kitchen faucet that does not leak after a small number of years, at least later ones.

Bath ones seem to work slightly better.

Get faucets with two knobs, if you can. Here, they are against code for baths, you HAVE to put in a single lever type if you replace. Since most houses also have 80 year old unfindable tile walls in teh bath, that's gonna be a problem. Before I had a shop, I had a new set of stems made custom to fix mine.

For sinks, they haven't gone that way yet.