any kitchen faucet brands to avoid?

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My favorites are Delta and Kohler.But most favorite faucet is Delta and I have set Delta everywhere in my current house.After trying various brands I have settled on Delta.
Moen, Pfister, Kohler, and Delta all have a good reputation. Probably Delta would be the cheapest of the others.
 
I recommend ball valves for the supply lines.

A supply valve washer failed and partially jammed the faucet. Couldn't find all the pieces.

The plumbing supply house could not furnish me with a right-size screen like found in washing machine supply hoses to prevent this debris from causing problems.

The new faucet from overseas was only $79 but needs tweaking, balancing the hot & cold supply lines.

So, get a faucet that can be completely disassembled, if you can find it. Not one with the check valves stamped in place.

Centering the faucet rotation-wise is another whole project, the hoses/pipes want to torque the thing away from your setting, not to mention that it shifts when you tighten the large nut.
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majakdragon is absolutely right about faucet made for lowes, they are made cheaper just for lowes, For example go and pick up any faucet that you are thinking about buying at lowes, then go to a real pluming store and pick up the same faucet, you will notice that the lowes faucet weighs considerably less that the plumbing store faucet
then return the lowes faucet. and install the plumbing store one.
Bill
 
I've had good luck with Delta faucets, plus their customer service is great, something that I think is really important. I needed to change the cartridge in our shower. Delta sent me the part at no cost and their video on how to change it really helped.

I think when it comes to faucets, it's not worth buying cheap to save money. Buy a well-known brand with good customer service and warranty.
 
Having worked in the plumbing wholesale industry as well as for plumbing manufacturers, I would say go with Delta. Like most manufacturers, they do make private label/exclusive products for stores like Home Depot or Lowes. You will get better products through a plumbing supply store (also known as the trade channel). Brizo is their premium brand and can be found at a place like Ferguson Enterprises.
From my experience, plumbers like Moen because they almost always guarantee an easy service call. Kohler makes nice looking stuff, but the replacement parts are terrible as they are often not interchangeable. I have had good luck with American Standard, Chicago Faucet, and Pfister too (both selling and installing in my own home) but would still say Delta is my goto faucet.
 
Pfister is guaranteed for life. Bought one years ago and the sent a replacement control element for FREE when the old one broke. Later, when the faucet started leaking they sent a complete brand new faucet....for free. Don't know if Delta does this.

Dave Mason
 
I picked up a Moen sample at the Restore, it was mounted to a nice plastic base and everything under the plastic had just been chopped off. I called Moen and told them what I had and they sent me everything I needed to put it back together. Free. I like that service. I could not complain if they had said no.
 
I have a Volk Tuscany commercial-style pulldown faucet. Bought it at Menard's for about $130. It replaced a broken P.O.S. Delta faucet that was there when we bought the house.

Pros of the Tuscany:

- Easy to install
- Hose can't get stuck or not retract properly because it's already out in the open
- Flexible: easy to get to any part of my sink or even fill a pot on the counter next to the sink
- Durable: made from metal, not plastic
- Less expensive than the top of the line faucets of this type, but not suspiciously cheap either
- Nice strong water flow
- The moving parts feel sturdy and well-made
- Their customer service is excellent: they immediately resolve issues by sending new parts, no questions asked

Cons:

- The thing broke twice in the first 6 months we owned it. (First the screw keeping the main hose part connected to the base, so water went EVERYWHERE, and then later the hose sprung a leak.) They were always good about sending replacement parts as mentioned but it was still inconvenient and it just shouldn't have broken in the first place.
- If you turn the water on full blast suddenly, it sometimes sends a kind of shockwave through the hose in a way that makes the head jump out of the holster and it ends up spraying water on you or on the floor. The holster should do a better job of keeping the head in place even if the hose moves.

So, I'd recommend this faucet, just make sure you address those issues by making sure you aren't buying a model that's sat on a shelf for a long time, and don't jam the water on full blast (until I learn about and can report a fix for that issue).
 
Does anyone know anything about Jiuzhuo? They have some crazy cool faucets on amazon but I 'm leery of unknown brands.
 
@zannej liking my post about my Tuscany pull-down faucet above prompted me to go back and read it, and since I wrote it there's been an update: the company's fix for the "hose jumping out of the holster" issue was to send me a new replacement hose. It solved that issue but now my maximum water pressure is relatively weak. It's strong enough to do dishes and it's probably saving me water so I don't complain too much, but I definitely don't get that satisfying blast of water I expect from a kitchen sink.

My new recommendation is to avoid this brand and go with a better one. If you buy stuff at auction like I do you can frequently find the same style faucet from a more reputable brand. Wish I'd had the patience to do that initially.
 
Stay with the name brands as mentioned earlier....that is why they are "name" brands. I have a Delta that has worked flawlessy for years. It has the pull out feature that is attached via magnet. So it grabs itself when it rests in the base. My brother has a similar model that is slightly loose when it is in base as it doesn't have the magnetic feature. Spend the money on a name brand. Delta, Moen, Kohler.
 
My brother bought a few Grohe faucets years ago. They were expensive. They last a long time. The good thing is that when they break it is a bit hard to find parts LOL.
And the other good thing is that the parts are expensive LOL
But seriously, they are very well built.
 
I have been unable to determine if the pull downs are full flow. My old Elkay has a full flow side sprayer and I do not want less pressure and flow that it provides.
 
I like moen, but there are two types of moen, One you buy at a real plumbing store, the other you buy at one of the big box stores. if you buy both and take them out of the box you will see one is much heavier that the other. guess which one is made better .
 
Avoid Glacier Bay, Home Depot's home brand, since they are pure junk and like to leak right out of the box.
 
Avoid any no-name brands from Amazon or anywhere else.

They will be hard to get parts for eventually, and those weird vendors come and go.
This goes for tub and shower valves also.

If you do buy one of these mystery brand faucets or valves, buy some extra cartridges or repair kits right away, before the company disappears.
 
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