Faucet Reviews and Ratings: Part 2
"The society which scorns excellence in Plumb­ing as a humble activity and tol­er­ates shodd­i­ness in philosophy because it is an exalted ac­tivi­ty will have neither good Plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."
John William Gardner
This is the second part of a two part article. If you missed Part I, you can go back here.

List Price vs. Street Price
A manufacturer's list price is a good indicator of the esteem in which a company holds its own products, but not necessarily of their market value.

Prices of many high-end faucets are discounted steeply by retailers and suppliers. The prices listed here are the actual "street" prices at which the faucet line can be purchased.

Your Comments
Thanks and a big tip of the hard-hat to the many readers who suggested improvements to this page. Most of the suggested changes have now been incorporated.

Our gratitude also to all who wrote in to suggest faucet lines that we ought to review. We regret that we cannot, however, review every faucet made. We limit our reviews to faucet lines with which we have some experience. There are A tip of the hard had literally hundreds of boutique faucet suppliers, and some major manufacturers like Newport Brass that we don't know anything about simply because we have never bought one of their faucets. We do not mean to imply that by leaving a faucet out of these ratings the faucet is a bad product. It means only that we just don't know enough about the faucet to rate it. We appreciate the feedback, however, so keep it coming.

If you are a faucet manufacturer and feel we made factual mistakes about your company or products or have not treated your company or products fairly, let us know your specific objections and we will reexamine our review. Anything you write, however, is subject to being reprinted by us on this web site for public view. All prices listed are for chrome, or, where chrome is not available, the manufacturer's standard finish. More exotic finishes: nickel, oil rubbed bronze, stainless and so on, are usually higher.

Business Models
Tell Us About Your Experiences
Have you had a good or bad experience with any of the faucets rated here?

Do you believe any of the information presented here is incomplete or incorrect or unfairly presents a brand?

Tell us about it.

Our e-mail is reviews@starcraftcustombuilders.com, or we are always reachable through our contact page. It is no secret that most North American faucet manufacturers have shifted much if not all of their manufacturing to other countries, primarily China. It is less well known that many Western European manufacturers have done much the same thing; shifting manufacturing to former Soviet Bloc countries in Eastern Europe where there is an abundance of lower-cost skilled labor and existing manufacturing facilities. Many traditional American faucet makers have become little more than marketing companies, lending their brand names to Chinese products. This is one reason that the various faucets offered by various brands seem to look so similar. They are often made by the same large Chinese manufacturer, with only slight stylistic changes.

Distinguishing between companies that actually manufacture faucets and those that order from third-party offshore factories has become increasingly difficult. When asked directly, most companies will disclose whether a faucet is made by a foreign manufacturer (in fact, by law, they have to), but rare is the company that actually advertises the fact.

Because of the nascent "buy-American" attitude developing in the United States, we though it would be interesting to find out just who manufactures a company's faucets. The results suggest that faucet companies can be divided into five broad categories with much overlap.
Is There a "Best" Business Model?
We are not prepared to categorically state that one business model is necessarily better than another. All seem able to produce good, and not so good, faucets. Having said that, it is clear that the Rebranders all seem to have the same after sale support issues. It is usually not possible to tell who actually made the store brand faucet, and therefore where to get replacement parts. And store brands are frequently not the manufacturer's regular line of faucet, so replacement parts may not be in inventory anyway. Otherwise, service and support may be good or poor, but it seems to have little relationship to the company's business model, and much more to do with how seriously they take customer service.

Few companies fit cleanly into one business-model category. There is a lot of overlap, especially in a large company with several divisions and diverse product lines. Kohler, for example, is mostly a U.S.-based manufacturer, but some of its faucets are assembled from parts made by others, and some are simply manufactured by others to Kohler's specifications. American Standard Brands is quickly abandoning direct manufacturing to become a Specifier as it shifts most of its acctual production overseas to third-party-controlled factories. Kraus, now a fast-growing and well-established Marketeer, has hired a well-respected industrial designer and has started creating its own faucets to be built to its specifications by contract factories; indicating a coming shift in its basic business model from Marketeer to Specifier.

In the ratings below, where a company seems to have multiple or overlapping business models, the overlap will be indicated.

Faucet Ratings
The ratings on this page range from 1 to 10, with 1 being completely worthless to 10 being nearly perfect. Four and five are average. We know of no manufacturer who rates a 10 — although a couple are very close — and will not list any company whose products do not reach at least a 4.

Our ratings are based on our own hands-on experience with these pro­ducts and the experiences of building professionals we know and trust. Building professionals we don't know and manufacturers themselves may disagree with our ratings. If so, we'd like to hear from them. We do not rate any faucet line with that is too new to have a track record, or where information is too sparse for us to rate them. Eventually we will (if they are still around in a few years), but not yet.


 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
American Standard American Standard
American Standard Brands
One Centennial Avenue
P.O. Box 6820
Piscataway, NJ 08854
(800) 442-1902 		4-7
$150-600
China, USA 		Manufacturer/Assembler

The Home Depot, Lincoln Winnelson, and many on-line faucet stores		 Lifetime to the original owner.
You have to have enormous chutzpa to call yourself the "American standard", but American Standard has and does and gets away with it because it has actually become over many years the de facto standard for toilets and bath sinks. The company estimates that 3 out of 5 residential bathrooms in the U.S. contain at least one of its fixtures.

American Standard is probably the oldest American bathware manufacturer still in business. It pioneered the technique of attaching porcelain to cast iron just after the Civil War, a process that made the first sanitary bathtubs possible. They were so well made that thousands of American Standard tubs are still in use 150 years later.

The company has undergone a number of major transformations since it was founded as the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company in 1875. The latest is possibly the most significant. In 2007 American Standard sold its domestic kitchen and bath division to an investment fund — taking it from a public to a private corporation. In 2008 Crane Plumbing, another well-known maker of excellent, mostly commercial, bath fixtures, and Eljer were merged with American Standard to form American Standard Brands. So far we have not seen any lessening of quality due to these changes — but it's early yet — these new owners are all about the money, and can be expected to shift most manufacturing and assembly out of the U.S. as soon as possible.

The company is not especially well known for faucets, but makes a good one. Not particularly stylish, but very well engineered and manufactured, although we have had some bad experiences with lower-end American Standard faucets including part failure and corrosion. For high-style faucets from American Standard, you have to move to the company's upscale Porcher or Jado Faucet lines.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Blanco Faucet Blanco Faucets
Blanco America, Inc.
110 Mount Holly By-Pass
Lumberton, NJ 08048 		6-8
$230-1,000
Germany, Eastern Europe		 Manufacturer

Gotcha Covered, (402) 420-5566; e-faucets; The Plumbing Store 		"[A]s long as the original consumer owns the home in which the faucet(s) are installed."
Blanco America, Inc. is the American division of Blanco GmbH + Co KG, Oberderdingen, Germany. Its line is limited to kitchen faucets. The faucets are intended to complement its main business: kitchen sinks. Blanco emphasizes style, and it fact refers to itself frequently as a "design" company although it does manufacture most of its own products. This is an excellent, stylish faucet line comparable to Grohe or Graff and similarly priced.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Brizo Loki Faucet Brizo®
55 E. 111th Street
P.O. Box 40980
Indianapolis, IN 46280
(317) 848-1812 		5-8
$250-800
China/USA		 Specifier

Ferguson Enterprises, Lincoln, 402-328-8589; Look up your local showroom on the Brizo web site. 		"...warranted to the original consumer purchaser ... for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns their (sic) home."
Brizo® is a Masco Corporation company and really just the name given to Delta's high-end designer faucets. Not that this is anything to be ashamed of. Delta sells a very good faucet — which makes one wonder why company management though a different name was necessary for the high-end line. In many instances a similar style is available in the Delta or Peerless® (another Masco brand) lines for a much lower price but not a much lower quality. Also look at Ginger faucets, another Masco brand. Equivalent to a high-end Kohler or Price-Pfister faucet. Stylish and generally a good value for the dollar.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Chicago Faucet Chicago Faucets
A Geberit Company
2100 S. Clearwater Dr.
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847)803-5000 		7-9
$150-350
USA/China 		Manufacturer

Chicago faucets.com; on the internet from a variety of faucet sources. 		Lifetime limited warranty to the original buyer, 5-years on the finish.
We have never heard of, nor do we know anyone who has ever heard of, a defective Chicago faucet. Chicago might be the best faucet line made. We certainly know of no better. Chicago has made one of the world's best faucets for over 100 years. Featuring heavy solid brass bodies and solid metal parts, every piece of a Chicago Faucet is replaceable including its Quanturn cartridges — one of the oldest and still one of the best around. These are truly 100+ year faucets — and very reasonably priced for the quality.

The faucet line is built around a unique compression cartridge called the Quantum Cartridge which as been unchanged for over 100 years. It ws revolutionary at the time it was created, and is still pretty amazing. It has been updated over the years to incorporate new technology and materials, but is still interchangeable with any Quaturn Cartridge manufactured since 1913.

Chicago faucets started life in commercial kitchens, schools, hospitals and hotels, and its faucets still show that good heavy-duty industrial breeding. The product line is targeted primarily at the commercial market where quality and longevity are king, and has never been known for high style. But, things may be starting to change since the company has been bought by style-conscious Geberit Group, the upscale Swiss manufacturer of contemporary sanitary enamelware. Geberit focused in on Chicago not because it was a good fit style-wise, but because it was a good fit quality-wise. It's much easier to add style than it is to upgrade quality. Expect more stylish offerings to be slowly integrated into the Chicago lineup. For right now, however, the design-glitterati might want to look elsewhere.

But, those who just want a guaranteed lifetime faucet that probably will outlast both you and your house can do a whole lot worse than a Chicago Faucet. Design, manufacturing, research and development and customer support located in the United States. However, a few faucets are made elsewhere, so check the box, or the web site if ordering directly from Chicago Faucets. American-made faucets are clearly identified as complying with the Buy American Act (BAA).
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Danze Faucet Danze
Globe Union Group
2 Territorial Ct.
Suite A
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
(888) 328-2383 		4-8
$60-500
China		 Manufacturer

Handy Man Home Remodeling Center, Lincoln (402) 474-0550; on the internet from a variety of faucet sources. 		"[W]arranted to the original consumer purchaser to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the consumer purchaser owns it."
Introduced to the U.S. in 2000, Danze is a name under which Globe Union Group is growing a brand identity in the U.S. It is the most actively promoted of the many faucet, fixture and accessory brands owned by the gigantic Asian company controlled by the Ou-yang Ming family of Taichung, Taiwan.

Globe Union is the dominant faucet manufacturer in Asia under its GOBO brand. Its faucets are made primarily in mainland Chinese factories by its subsidiary Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp. of Shenzhen, China (with a small bow to Canada for some automatic faucets). It supplies dozens of in-house lines for large retailers such as the Pegasus, Western Pride and Glacier Bay faucets for Home Depot, Do-It-Best brand for Do-It-Best affiliated hardware and lumber stores, Water Ridge for Costco, and the Ace brand for Ace Hardware, among others. Over 90% of its products are exported to the United States. The company's bath and kitchen lines appear under many names including: Fusion (Fusion Hardware Group, Inc.), Gerber ( Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, L.L.C), Ameristream, Corrego*, Eurostream*, Florin, Ideas in Motion, Opulence*, Plumbers Collection*, Ruscello, Sempre, Thames, Water Ridge*, Woodridge*, and Western Pride*.

Many of the same faucets appear under multiple brands as well as under private store labels, and many seem to have been discontinued. For example, we can no longer find Ameristream faucets anywhere. Brands such as Water Ridge and Corrego are now available only from discounters, which suggests they are being phased out. Or, maybe not, now that Water Ridge is being carried by Costco. Some brands have been merged with the Danze line. Antioch, Anu, Brandywood, Bannocburn, Como, Estrella, Fairmont, Melrose, Orrington, Plymouth, Parma, Sirius, Sonora and Tiburon faucets, for example, are now collections under the Danze brand.

Globe Union has had somewhat of a checkered history. It has been accused several times of counterfeiting faucets from other companies, and had to settle with Delta Faucet for pirating Delta's patented valve technology or face a U.S. International Trade Commission order excluding its products from U.S. markets. But it has matured as an international trading partner in the past twenty years. We earlier reported that there was just not enough information to rate Danze, but that has changed. The brand has had a terrific market penetration over the past five years, with retail sources springing up everywhere.

As a whole, the Globe Union lines are stylish and seem to be well made. In the past we saw the occasional defect that suggests spotty quality control at the Chinese factories, but we have not seen many lately. The quality is largely outstanding for the price. Many of the faucets are very stylish, and while Globe Union in the past mostly copied existing European and American designs, the company has recently begun introducing its own designs - and they are very good, even excellent. Parts and installation help are available from on-line sources, including Globe Union's customer service department. For Globe Union brands marked above with a "*", and most private label brands, the best place to start for customer service and parts is Globe Union North American Technical Support at 1-888-328-2383.

We have had reservations about the quality of Globe Union products in the past, but they are now largely gone. Our recent experience with the line has been favorable. The product line contains a full range or faucets from economy to luxury, so it falls generally in the middle range of quality. Line for line, it compares favorably to Delta and Price-Pfister, and may be, overall, just a touch better.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Delta Faucet Delta Faucet Company
A Division of Masco Corporation
55 E. 111th Street
P.O. Box 40980
Indianapolis, IN 46280
(317) 848-1812 		3-6
$75-250
USA/China 		Manufacturer/Assembler

Menards, The Home Depot, Lincoln Winnelson. Outside of Nebraska, visit the company web site's dealer locator, or try any of the web sites that sell faucets.		 "[W]arranted to the original consumer purchaser to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns their (sic) home."
If there is an 800 lb. gorilla in the world of kitchens and baths, it is Masco Corporation — owner of Brizo®, Delta, Peerless® and Ginger® faucet brands. The company is also a huge player in cabinets (Kraftmaid, Merillat, Mills Pride, Quality Cabinets) paints (Behr) and bathtubs and showers (Aqua Glass). Masco is the creation of Alex Manoogian, a refugee from Turkey who fled to the U.S. in 1920 to escape the Armenian Genocide.

Peerless, Delta and Brizo are really the low, middle and high ends of the same faucet line, and they overlap quite a lot. Delta is a good, solid, stylish faucet. But you get what you pay for. Look for all metal and ceramic construction. Stay away from plastic. Delta does not usually disclose on the box that critical parts are plastic, so be wary of any Delta priced below $100.00.

Home centers often carry "private label" Delta models made just for them so they can guarantee to have the "lowest price" (since no one else in the world has exactly the same model). It is probably no surprise that to make this happen identical Delta faucets are sold under different names and model numbers. (See The Model Game.) It's the American way, folks. Go to a plumbing supply house for a regular, no-nonsense, Delta faucet, or see your local plumber.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Dornbracht Faucet Dornbracht Faucets
Dornbracht Americas, Inc.
1700 Executive Drive South, Suite 600
Duluth, GA 30096
866-818-3199 		7-9
$500+
Germany 		Manufacturer

Briggs of Omaha, 14549 Grover Street, Omaha, NE 68144, Phone: (402) 330-3400; Ferguson Enterprises, 15005 Grover Street Omaha, NE 68144, Phone: (402) 330-1203; FaucetSupply.com and many other internet sources. 		"Dornbracht grants a warranty of two years for the surfaces of fittings and accessories. A claim under guarantee can be rejected in the event of failure to comply with directions as to care and maintenance as well as inappropriate handling or because of external influences."
Dornbracht Americas is the U.S. division of Aloys F.Dornbracht GmbH, a designer and manufacturer of an extensive line of luxury kitchen and bath faucets distributed worldwide from its Iserlohn, Germany headquarters. Sold primarily through high-end design showrooms and authorized dealers, the faucets are unblushingly luxurious in a variety of finishes — with prices to match.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Eljer Faucet Eljer Faucets
14801 Quorum Drive
Dallas, TX 75254
800-423-5537 		4-7
$100-450
China/USA 		Manufacturer/Assembler

In Lincoln, Kiner Supply (402), 477-6936; Lincoln Winnelson, (402) 423-1610. Elsewhere look for a distributor on the company web site. 		Lifetime on mechanical to the original owner. Lifetime on some finishes, but mostly 10 years.
The vitreous china toilet tank (or more politely "water closet cistern") that replaced the wall-hung wooden or copper-lined wooden cistern was invented by Eljer in 1903 and has become the industry standard.

Eljer is well-known for its heavy duty, exceptional quality toilets, sinks and bathtubs. But for some reason the companies sterling reputation for quality has not translated to Eljer faucets, which are the Rodney Dangerfield of the faucet world. They get no respect. Not particularly stylish, but very well made and reasonably priced — well worth serious consideration if a high quality trumps high style in your decision making. The faucets were originally designed for commercial use in restrooms, hotels, and factories, and the commercial quality has crossed over to Eljer's residential offerings.

In 2008, Eljer merged with American Standard to form the new privately owned American Standard Brands. It is the announced intention of the new owners to shift most manufacturing to China. But as of now, much of Eljer's product line is still made in North America. Call customer support to find out where the faucet you are interested in was made.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Elkay Faucet Elkay Manufacturing Co.
2222 Camden Ct.
Oak Brook, IL
(630) 574-8484 		4-7
$100-450
China/USA 		Manufacturer/Assembler

In Lincoln, Winnelson or Briggs, Inc. In Omaha, Lund Ross Company. Elsewhere in the country, go to "Category,Where to Buy" on the company web site. 		"Elkay warrants to the original consumer purchaser that the Elkay faucet purchased will be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns the faucet."
Elkay, headquartered on Chicago's Near North Side for over 80 years, is a global player in the kitchen and bath world. In addition to its Elkay brands of residential and commercial sinks, it also owns MasterCraft, Medallion and Yorktowne cabinetry — all major brands — and the Revere line of plumbing fixtures. It has recently acquired the Phylrich International line of luxury, high-style bathroom faucets to round out its offerings (See Phylrich, below). A lot of Elkay manufacturing is being moved to China, accelerated by its 2005 purchase of Zhuhai Daya S.E.Z., a manufacturer based in Zhuhai, China. The extensive Elkay line of faucets combines good reliability and a wide selection that includes mundane as well as high style fixtures. It is comparable to and competes toe-to-toe with Kohler in most markets. Elkay is always worth a second and even a third look.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Fusion Garden Trellis Faucet Fusion Hardware Group, Inc.
Globe Union Group
Fusion Hardware Group, Inc.
3145 Northwoods Parkway, Building 100
Norcross, GA 30071-4797
(877) 215-4683 		5-8
$200-500
China 		Manufacturer (Globe Union)

"We sell our products through select authorized dealer showrooms, some of which have internet divisions. To ensure full warranty and after-sale assistance make sure your purchase is made through an authorized Fusion dealer."
The Hardware Hut
Luxury Home Products
KitchenBath.com 		"[W]arranted to the original consumer purchaser to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the consumer purchaser owns it."
A brand name of the huge Globe Union Group, the dominant faucet manufacturer in Asia under its GOBO brand that is trying very hard to create a brand identity in the U.S. with its Danze (See Danze, above.) and Fusion lines. Its faucets are made primarily in Chinese factories by its subsidiary Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp. of Shenzhen, China.

Fusion is marketed as a coordinated "theme" of faucets; window, door and cabinet hardware; lighting, and bath accessories (towel racks, etc.). The choice of this brand name in the U.S. is almost certain to cause confusion between the Globe Union product line and the Fusion brand owned by Bristan Group Ltd., the UK's largest faucet manufacturer — and maybe that's the idea.

For more information on Globe Union and its many brands, see the review of Danze Faucets, above.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Ginger Faucet Ginger® Faucets
460-N Greenway Industrial Drive
Fort Mill, SC 29708-8117
(800) 842-4872 		5-7
$350-1,300 		Specifier

In Southeast Nebraska see Briggs, Inc.; available from many internet sources. 		As long as the original purchaser owns the home on ceramic valves, PVD and chrome finishes, otherwise, 10 years.
A Masco company (see Delta Faucets, above for more information) that is better known for its fine quality commercial and residential bathroom accessories, Ginger has recently extended its line of products to bathroom faucets. And the results are impressive. The faucets are stunningly styled and made from solid brass. We think of Ginger as high-style Delta faucets. They are made by the same company and some styles similar to Ginger are available in the Delta line for about the same price.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Glacier Bay Faucet
 Glacier Bay Faucets
The Home Depot
2455 Paces Ferry Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30339-4024
(770) 433-8211 		Not Rated
$50-250
China/Italy 		Retail Rebrander

The Home Depot 		"[G]uaranteed for parts and finish for as long as you own your home."
Please see the review of Home Depot faucets, below.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Graff Faucet Graff Waterworks
3701 W. Burnham St.
Milwaukee, WI 53215
(800) 354-4723 		7-9
$200-500
USA/Europe 		Manufacturer

Graff dealers (see web site) and numerous internet outlets. Not all products are available on the internet. 		"[A]ll Graff faucets are covered by a Lifetime Warranty on mechanical parts."
Graff Waterworks is a Meridian International Group, Inc. company. Meridian is a family of related companies most involved in some manner in the design and manufacture of plumbing fixtures. The synergies among these interrelated companies must be terrific. Graff faucets are gathered into two collections: Traditional which is stylish but conservative, and Contemporary from designers Angeletti Ruzz Design and Davide Oppizzi, which will make any kitchen and bath designer do the "ooh and aah" thing. All are high-quality all-brass fixtures with ceramic disc valves, assembled and quality controlled in the U.S from components manufactured in Meridian factories in the U.S. and, increasingly, overseas, mostly Europe. No more expensive than a KWC, Grohe or high-end Kohler, Graff may be a slightly better faucet by no more than a whisker. All things being equal, we will generally buy a Graff over any other similar quality faucet from another manufacturer.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Grohe Classic Faucet Grohe America.
241 Covington Drive
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
(630) 582-7711 		6-8
$175-800
Germany
Canada
Portugal
Tailand 		Manufacturer

Grohe used to make a big effort to discourage discounting by restricting sales to authorized dealers only. No longer. Since being acquired and privatized by investment groups in 2004, Grohe has expanded its availability to the internet and to mass retailers such as the Home Depot. 		"A Limited Lifetime Warranty is provided on all mechanical parts to be free from manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for as long as the original purchaser owns their (sic) home." 5-year limited warranty on most finishes.
The American arm of Grohe AG, a German company headquartered in Dusseldorf, Grohe America distributes the parent company's excellent, high-style, designer faucets. Most Grohe faucets have style characteristics that make them instantly recognizable. Dealer prices range from merely astounding to truly outrageous. Handles sold separately. Grohe makes a good faucet, but so do others for less money.

In the past, owning a Grohe faucet was a status thing. The faucet is expensive, and recognizably expensive, and came with major bragging rights. But Grohe's new owners have radically changed its business model. Grohe faucets are showing up in very un-exclusive places, including mass retailers such as Home Depot. So, we don't think the caché of the Grohe name will hold up much longer. Expect the price of Grohe faucets to come down nut also expect considerable quality erosion as the new owners attach the Grohe name to cheaper, mass market faucets.

We hope we're wrong, but this is how we read the tea leaves at the moment.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Hamat Faucet Hamat Faucets
c/o Subcon Products
100 Bomont Pl.
Totowa, NJ 07521
(973) 785-1150 		5-8
$250-600
Israel 		Manufacturer

Home Annex,
The Inside Store,
Faucet Direct

The company web site's dealer locator does not seem to work. We checked for dealers in Lincoln, Omaha, Los Angeles and New York and in all cases got "No Records Found" whatever that means. 		Manufacturing defects, five years; finishes three years - "to the original owner."
Israel's premier faucet manufacturer, wholly owned by the Merhav Group, located in Ashdod, Israel, is represented in the U.S. by Subcon Products. A heavy duty faucet, Hamat makes contemporary stylish and traditional lines. Construction is solid brass with a ceramic valve. Hamat does not really stand out for either design or quality. Both are good, but not particularly distinctive and not better than similar high-quality lines. The company, however is distinctive in that it is one of the most vertically integrated of faucet manufacturers, controlling every step from processing raw materials to in-house casting, machining, polishing, finishing, assembly and final quality control.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Hansgrohe Faucet Hansgrohe AG
Hansgrohe, Inc.
1490 Bluegrass Lakes Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(800) 488-8119 		5-7
$250-1,000
Germany/USA 		Manufacturer

In Southeast Nebraska see Briggs, Inc. or
on the web
Hansgrohe In Stock,
Home Annex, Specifier House Jewelry 		"Lifetime limited warranty to the original owner."
Better known worldwide for its innovative hand showers (it is the oldest and largest and probably the best hand shower company in the world), it also makes an excellent, high quality and stylish line of faucets. On par with Grohe (no relation), Graff, KWC and Jado, Hansgrohe is definitely worth consideration.

The huge Masco conglomerate acquired a majority share in Hansgrohe in 2002. The Masco faucet lines include Brizo, Delta, and Peerless faucets, as well as Hansgrohe. (see Delta faucets above for more information on Masco). We have yet to see much integration of the Hansgrohe line into the other faucet brands owned by Masco, but undoubtedly it will come. At present Hansgrohe is pretty much what it has always been, an excellent German faucet — now under American ownership. We have never heard of a properly installed Hansgrohe faucet giving any trouble. If you have, please let us know.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Pegasus Faucet
 Home Depot Faucets
2455 Paces Ferry Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30339-4024
(770) 433-8211 		Not Rated
$80-350
China 		Retail Rebrander

The Home Depot, Home Depot on line. Some Pegasus products are available from internet suppliers outside of the Home Depot umbrella. We take this limited availability as an effort by Home Depot to show that Pegasus is an independent brand. It isn't. Home Depot owns the trade name according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 		"[G]uaranteed for parts and finish for as long as you own your home."
One Customer's Experience
We get lots of mail about bad experiences with faucets — mostly the complaint is poor customer service rather than problems with the faucet itself. It certainly seems that a disproportionate number of the bad experiences people have with their faucets are with store brands — maybe that's because the big box stores sell so many faucets. Anyway, the following story is sadly typical.

I have an experience with Glacier Bay that I would like to share. I purchased a faucet at Home Depot under the brand name of Glacier Bay. It is leaking and I couldn't find the original instructions, so I went to Home Depot to try to get the seals to fix it. I incorrectly assumed that they would know what seals I needed or could give me a phone number or Countertops address, where I could get another copy of the instructions, which had a blow-up of the faucet with part numbers. They couldn't.

I tried looking up the customer service number on the site for Glacier Bay and had the experience you noted. I called Home Depot Customer Service. They gave me another number. After waiting [about] 10 minutes, I was told that it was the wrong manufacturer and given another number. I called that number and waited for 1 [hour], 45 minutes, only to be told that it was not the right manufacturer either.

I was given the number for Paini [Spa Rubinetterie] but at this point, they were closed! I could not find a Countertops for them, so I am now waiting until Monday and will try to find the part I need to fix the faucet.

I like the faucet, but would not recommend buying one because of the deplorable customer service.

Ms. D. R.
New Haven, Connecticut Glacier Bay and Pegasus are Home Depot's two main in-house store faucet brands. Glacier Bay is Home Depot's name for its mid-range and Pegasus the name for higher end faucet and fixture line that includes sinks, toilets, and bath hardware as well as faucets. There is a lot of overlap between the brands.

The Home Depot, of course, manufactures none of these items. They are made by many manufacturers and merely packaged by Home Depot under its Glacier Bay and Pegasus brands. Today the faucets are manufactured largely by the huge Chinese conglomerate, Globe Union Group and by the almost as massive Xiamen Lota International Co., Ltd. which is part of (probably the main part of) Lota International of Taiwan.

Lota International consented to sanctions by the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2000 for counterfeiting Moen Faucets, and thus avoided a general exclusion order that would bar its products from U.S. markets. It does not sell in the U.S. under its own name. Globe Union Group sells under the Danze and other brand names. It entered into a consent order in 1984 for counterfeiting Delta faucet valves. It is reviewed above in these ratings.

In the past many Home Depot faucets were manufactured by Price-Pfister, but this relationship appears to have ended with Price-Pfister's acquisition by Stanley Black & Decker Hardware Group. Some high end Pegasus faucets, such as the Pegasus Arko Pulldown Faucet, are manufactured by Paini Spa Rubinetterie, a very well known and respected Italian manufacturer. But it's not easy to tell who makes what Home Depot faucet. Home Depot, which is pushing the brand identity, is not exactly forthcoming about actual manufacturing sources. Look for "Made in Italy" on the box to identify faucets probably made by Paini or go to the Paini web site to identify Paini faucets then look for the same faucet in a Pegasus box.

Customer service is a huge and continuing problem with these products (See sidebar). We get a lot of mail detailing bad customer service experiences at The Home Depot and with its various faucet suppliers. Home Depot will, of course, replace any defective house brand faucet at any of its stores if, and it's a big if, the product is still stocked. But getting parts and even installation help is a Herculean process requiring much patience and perseverance, and even then is not guaranteed to be successful.

The Glacier Bay web site provided by Home Depot has a "contact us" page that immediately asks for the store SKU number of your faucet — not the model number, which you are more likely to have if you saved the box. And having the SKU number is no guarantee of success. We entered a SKU number of a faucet that is shown right on the web site, only to be told "Sorry, there is o product that matches your entry". All of the products appearing on the Glacier Bay site are Globe Union items, and the only parts telephone number displayed (after a lot of searching) is the Globe Union customer service number (888) 328-2383. If you have another manufacturer's Glacier Bay faucet, then good luck!

The Pegasus web site is even less helpful. The Pegasus web site has a "contact us" page that says
"We value your feedback and are here to support you. If you have questions about your Pegasus products, need assistance with installation, or have comments or requests, please click here to contact us. Much of what we do is the result of feedback from our valued customers. It is our pleasure to serve you."
Home Depot's Response Keenly aware that it has a problem with after-sale support of its in-house brands, Home Depot attempted to establish a single toll-free number for a "proprietary brands clearing house" in 2008. The idea was that you would call this number and be directed to the manufacturer of your particular defective item for parts and assistance.

Home Depot apparently was unable to make it work. The number is no longer active so we won't publish it here. But even while it was active, we know of no one at Home Depot who had ever heard of it, or actually knew the number.

How to Get Home Depot Assistance At present, the best we can suggest is to call the Store Support Customer Service Number in Atlanta, 1-877-467-3409. You must have your model or store SKU number. If you have neither, you are out of luck. If your faucet has been installed for a few years and you have thrown away the box and instructions, you are unlikely to have either number. Our advice: when you install the faucet, cut out the model and SKU number from the box and place them in a baggie along with your receipt. Tape this to the bottom of your faucet. Even if you forget where you put it, the plumber will find it.

Do You Have More Information? If you have found a way to get effective after-sale support from Home Depot for its store-brand faucet parts, please let us know. But in fact, clicking on "contact us" takes you to the general Home Depot "contact us" page that has absolutely no information about Pegasus faucets — does not, in fact, even contain the word "Pegasus". Searching the site for "pegasus faucet parts" produced page after page of drains, shower arms, risers and other plumbing fittings, but not a single faucet part of any kind.

In the FAQ section of the Pegasus web site, the process of obtaining parts is described as follows:
"Your local The Home Depot store stocks most commonly needed replacement parts. You may also order any part at no charge by calling the toll-free customer support number for your product."
First of all we doubt the "no charge" bit. In our experience faucet parts are not free (unless under warranty) and Pegasus parts are no exception. Secondly we know of no Home Depot store that even pretends to stock any but the most basic faucet parts — generic washers, for example — something any well-stocked general hardware store would have on hand — certainly no specifically Pegasus replacement parts. Lastly, no one has any idea what the toll free number for Pegasus parts might be because there is no single number. Each supplier has its own number. The problem is, it is almost impossible to find out which manufacturer supplied a particular faucet. The one solution we have found is to look in the paperwork in the box the faucet came in for a toll-free number. This is how we found out that Home Depot had started buying from Xiamen Lota International Co., Ltd. (Lota) — we called a number that turned out to be Lota customer service.

We asked Home Depot by letter if it wanted to comment on this sad state of affairs. No surprise, it didn't.

Rarely do Home Depot store employees have any idea where any particular faucet is made. They try to be helpful, but the fact is they just don't know and have never been told how to find out.

It is very hard to rate these faucets since we never know where they come from, and the brands themselves are far from being established enough to have a stable reputation as of yet. Home Depot is strong in the initial sale, but proving very weak in customer service follow-up. Until it establishes a working central clearinghouse for parts, Home Depot may never conquer its post-sale customer service problems. We are going to reserve opinion at this time. If you have had experience with Glacier Bay or Pegasus faucets that you would like to share, contact us. Check back next year.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Jado Faucet Jado Faucets
Jado Corporation
6615 West Boston
Chandler, AZ
(800) 227-2734 		7-9
$150-500
Germany 		Manufacturer

Guld Edge, 4702 Prescott Ave., Lincoln, NE 68506, (402) 488-8011; Grabow Hardware Company, 10535 Birch Street, Omaha, NE 68134, (402) 445-2596; Faucet.com 		Residential limited warranty for the life of the house.
The American arm of Jado, GmbH, a German company that is in turn owned by Ideal Standard International which sells Jado products outside of the U.S. In the U.S. Jado is sold by American Standard Brands which owns a controlling share in Ideal Standard International. If you think this is confusing, you're not wrong, it is confusing. But the upshot is that Jado is controlled, if not directly owned, by American Standard Brands.

Jado expressly targets the luxury market. Its product line is primarily bath faucets, although it is expanding into the kitchen and bar market. Each bath faucet style belongs to larger coordinated collection that includes matching bathroom accessories. Striking designs, beautiful finishes and excellent quality, Jado has a case for its proposition that its faucet line is instantly recognizable for its quality and style (although its distinctive look is being copied widely by the Chinese. See Danze Faucets, above). Some of the designs are distinctly Teutonic and may not appeal to an American homeowner. Most, however, will knock your socks off.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Kohler Faucet Kohler Faucets
444 Highland Drive
Kohler, WI 53044
(800)-4-KOHLER 		4-7
$75-550
USA/China 		Manufacturer/Assembler

For Southeast Nebraska see Briggs, Inc. and The Home Depot. 		"Kohler Co. warrants its faucets manufactured after January 1, 1997, to be leak and drip free during normal residential use for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns his or her home."
Wisconsin-based U.S. manufacturer since the 1870s of an enormous line of good to excellent kitchen and bath fixtures ranging in style from ho-hum but very reliable to very, very stylish (and still very reliable). The line does include some lower-end faucets, but even these are pretty good.

Kohler shares with American Standard the credit for inventing the process that attaches porcelain to cast iron, thereby making the maodern sanitary bathtub possible. But Kohler gets the sole credit for inventing the one-piece recessed bathtub with an integral apron. Before this invention in 1911, built-in baths were cast in two oieces — the tub and separate apron, which were then welded together The new one-piece tub was much more sanitary and more attractive to consumers. Today it is the most common style of bathtub in use in North America.

Kohler is actively pursuing the high end bath ware market, and cleverly too, by providing architects and designers with CAD images that make it easy to specify Kohler products. Be aware that the Kohler products sold in some home centers such as Menards, Lowes and The Home Depot may not be Kohler's regular product line. They are private models made just for the home center and may not be of the best Kohler quality. (See The Model Game.) A plumbing supply house is your best option for main-line Kohler products.

There is a strong consensus among the plumbers we know that it is usually not necessary to look beyond the Kohler line for a good quality faucet at a fair price. There is very little in the way of faucets made by any manufacturer that does not have a rough equivalent somewhere in the extensive Kohler lineup.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Kraus Faucet Kraus USA, Inc.
12 Harbor Park Drive
Port Washington, NY 11050
((800)775-0703 		Not Rated
$100-450.00
China 		Wholesale Rebrander/Specifier

Faucet.com, 877-742-4703; Faucet Direct, (800) 864-2555; Walmart. 		Limited lifetime warranty covers manufacturer defects in faucet function and finishes to the original purchaser for home use only. Faucet replacement or repair only. Kraus "guarantees" replacement parts for its faucet for five years — but fails to mention when the five-year period starts..
Started in 2007 by Russell Levi and Michael Rukhlin, two New York entrepreneurs, Kraus refers to itself as a "manufacturer" of plumbing fixtures and accessories, but there is no evidence that it owns or ever has owned a factory. All of its products are made in Chinese factories, branded and sold under the Kraus name. We have identified from shipping records at least five very large Chinese manufacturers selling to Kraus, including the massive Guangdong Dongyuan company, and there are probably more. How this makes Kraus a manufacturer, we're not sure. But it is probably no different from other U.S. faucet companies who used to own factories, but now just farm out all or most of their manufacturing overseas. Kraus is actually a step ahead of the U.S. manufacturing business model. Instead of having once owned factories, it just skipped that part and went directly to having its products made in China.

Kraus products are not usually cutting edge, but at 30% to 50% below similar faucets from other comapnies, Kraus certainly knows how to market faucets. Its low prices are the primary reason it has spread so widely across the internet in such a short time. Some Kraus faucets are unique, for example the Millennium Single Lever Deck-mounted vessel faucet pictured here seems to be exclusive to Kraus. It has also very recently begun hiring designers to create its own designs which are then manufactured in China.

Kraus has had problems with its ceramic disks leaking, and with its finishes failing. How widespread the problems are, we cannot find out, but we have experienced both problems ourselves. Contacting Kraus customer support for warranty replacement put us in touch with a gentleman who evidently honed his customer service skills as a Marine Corps drill instructor. We were not impressed with Kraus's customer service, although they did eventually replace the problem faucets after a few missteps.

Kraus is too new to have established any sort of reputation for quality or long-term reliability, and, in fact, is still experiencing some obvious growing pains. So we refrain from rating it this year. Check back next year.

If you have experience with Kraus faucets, good or bad, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
KWC Faucet KWC Faucets
770 Corporate Drive
Suite 580
Norcross, GA 30093
(678) 334-2121 		6-9
$350-1,500
Switzerland 		Manufacturer

Roth Distributing, 7930 Marshall Drive, Lenexa, KS 66214. 888-688-3297; The Inside Store; or Faucet Direct 		"[A]ll products installed in a private residence will carry a limited lifetime warranty on all mechanical parts to be free of manufacturing defects in material and workmanship under normal usage."
A Swiss company, KWC is a manufacturer of high-end and high priced faucets known for their reliability. A lot of its style offerings can be had from other companies at less cost — but some are truly unique. One lights the water in a color of your choice — a feature that has been widely copied. Another will carbonate water on demand - for those who need seltzer in extremely large quantities. It is an excellent faucet, all brass with ceramic cartridges. If you value quality and great styling and are willing to pay the price, this may be the faucet that fits you.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Lacava Faucet Lacava Design
Lacava LLC
2243 S. Throop St
Chicago, Illinois 60608
312- 666 - 4873 		7-9
$300-$1000
Unknown 		Specifier

Lacava
 " Lacava does not make any warranties, expressed or implied, except for warranty that our product be free from manufacturing defects in material and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase."
It's hard to classify Lacava. Like American Standard it is an "everything for the bathroom company" that distributes faucets along with other very contemporary bath fixtures and accessories in cutting-edge-design collections. It is very small with only $5 million in gross sales, and tries to be very exclusive. Based in Chicago, it identifies itself as the American inheritor of the Italian design tradition, and its faucets seem to confirm the claim. Aimed solely at the luxury market, it is one of the most expensive faucets; also one of the best-designed and best-made. Sold primarily through the company web-site and by bath design showrooms and select remodeling contractors (such as, ahem, us), it has very limited availability elsewhere, although some Lacava faucets are now showing up on a few web retail sites. But, if you are searching for that one sinfully lavish, luxury feature to highlight your new bath, a Lacava faucet may be just what you are looking for. We have never seen a Lacava faucet we did not like, nor installed one that gave us any trouble.

One of the toughest companies to do business with. It seems to think of customers as a bother that it would rather do without, except for the fact that it has to have sales to stay in business. It has a very limited warranty and an essentially "no-return" policy. It indicates on its web-site that it will not support on-line retailers, like e-Bay, who are not licensed to sell Lacava products. On the other hand, it is so unlikely that anything will be wrong with a genuine new Lacava faucet, these shortcomings may make no difference. Look out for fakes and rebuilds if not buying from an approved Lacava seller. These products are commonly counterfeited.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
MGS Faucet MGS Progetti
MGS Progetti SRL
C.so Milano, 189
28883 Gravellona Toce
(VB) - Italy
39 0323 865218 		7-9
$500+
Italy 		Manufacturer

MGS Progetti. Order direct from the factory catalog.		 "Covered by a warranty of 5 years from purchasing date. During this period, parts with construction defects will be replaced free of charge. This warranty will not respond in the case of faults caused by unsuitable or improper use, wrong installation, natural wear, improper or careless treatment, wrong usage of cleaning or maintenance products."
An established Italian design and manufacturing firm only recently introduced to U.S. buyers, MGS Progetti prides itself on making stainless steel kitchen and bath faucets to the highest standards. Each faucet is individually cast using a lost wax method then carefully machined and brushed to produce a unique finish. The designs are very minimalist modern. MGS may be the only faucet company not to use any brass parts. The faucets are so exclusive that each one is individually numbered. You pay for this exclusivity, of course, but what you get in return, besides major-league bragging rights, is a faucet that will last nearly forever.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Mico Faucet Mico Designs
Mico Designs Ltd.
1423 W. 21st Street
Chicago, IL 60608
(888) 301-8787 		6-8
$300+
(Often the stated price does not include handles, sold separately.)

Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe 		Specifier

Faucet Direct; Shower Buddy		 Lifetime to the original owner. Valves finishes and crystal handles carry a "lifetime guarantee of quality", whatever that means.

An unusual number of complaints about Mico's warranty have surfaced in the past two years. We feel this is more an indication of a faiure of customer servide rather than a problem with the products themselves. See more, below.
Mico is a design studio and distributor. It is not a manufacturer and has never claimed to be one. Its faucets are made in various European factories using Mico molds to "strict requirements" specified by Mico. Most of its ceramic disk valves are made by the German company, Fluhs GmbH, known for its flawless products, and its shower heads by Hansgrohe — probably the best in the world. The company's stock in trade is "customization". You can pick a basic faucet body then add the spout, finish and handle of your choice, including Strass Crystal handles by Swarovski.

In the past 18 months we have received four complaints about Mico customer service, mostly failure to honor its warranty. This does not sound like many, but it is four more than we received in the previous five years. The Better Business Bureau also reports two consumer complaints against the company in the past twelve months. It is very rare to see a complaint about a faucet manufacturer filed with the Better Business Bureau. This recent turns of events leads us to conclude that Mico's customer service in the U.S. is starting to slip.

We have made several requests of Michael Isaacs, the owner and president of Mico Designs, Ltd., for comment on this situation, but our requests have been ignored so far. We are still trying to get information. So, if you have had a customer service experience with Mico, either good or bad, tell us how it went.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Moen Faucet Moen
25300 Al Moen Drive
North Olmsted, OH 44070
(440) 962-2000 		3-8
$150-1,000.00
USA/China/India 		Manufacturer/Assembler

Menards, Bed Bath and Beyond, your local plumbing supplier and hundred of outlets on the internet. 		"If this product fails due to a defect in materials or workmanship at any time during the life of the product, Creative Specialties International, a division of Moen Incorporated (CSI) will replace it free of charge..."
If a plumber in this area chooses a faucet for you, you will most likely get a Moen simply because plumbers after years of experience know Moen to be a good, reliable faucet that almost never breaks. A pretty good reputation for a company that aims most of its advertising at consumers rather than at the pros. We don't agree that Moen is the only good value in faucets. Kohler, Elkay and Brizo®/Delta are, at very least, strong contenders.

Al Moen invented the washerless mixing valve in 1937 that made modern single-handle faucets possible. He also invented the replaceable valve cartridge, swivel spray and push-button diverter — all standard items in a plumber's parts bin today, and which earned Al a nomination by the U.S. Patent office to the Inventors Hall of Fame.

Moen has a strong plumber fan club. So many plumbers complained that we were underrating Moen, that we revisited the ratings this year and bumped Moen up a notch. It's hard to believe in this day and age, but Moen's upper end products, are actually getting better. Most can easily go head to head with some of the upscale faucets from other makers costing much more. Of course, Moen's prices are also rising. A good Moen used to cost under $500.00, now it's $700.00 and more.

At the other end of the quality spectrum, however, Moen (actually Creative Specialties International, a division of Moen which is itself a division of the huge Fortune Brands conglomerate) makes some absolute clinkers — especially it's plastic faucets. Whoever thought these things were a good idea should be fired. Read the specifications on the box. Avoid plastic, especially plastic cartridges. Although some plumbers claim plastic cartridges are as reliable as the higher end brass units — we're pretty sure these plumbers have been bribed by Moen.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Peerless P99575 Faucet Peerless® Faucets
55 E. 111th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46280
(317) 848-1812 		3-6
$50-300
USA/China 		Assembler/Manufacturer

Lowes, Menards, any Ace Hardware and just about any full service home center. 		"[T]o the original consumer purchaser ... for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns their (sic) home."
Peerless® is a Delta Faucet brand owned by Masco Corporation, and really just the name given to Delta's lower-end faucets. Peerless is focused squarely on the do-it-yourselfer and the economy buyer. You have to look hard to find even a modestly stylish Peerless faucet. Many look like visitors from the 1980s. The company literature calls these designs "proven". We think of them as just "old". But, if you are trying to match a pre-1990 design theme, these may be what you are looking for style-wise.

The Peerless web site is filled with tips for the handy homeowner, but its warranty page, oddly enough, "recommends using a professional plumber for all installation and repair." The quality is good, but not exceptional — lots and lots of plastic. The current focus of the company on improving style, not quality. Increasingly made in China.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Pegasus Faucet Pegasus Faucets
The Home Depot
2455 Paces Ferry Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30339-4024
(770) 433-8211 		Not Rated
$150-500
China/Italy 		Retail Rebrander

Home Depot Online, Home Depot, faucet.com. 		"[G]uaranteed for parts and finish for as long as you own your home."
Please see the review of Home Depot Faucets, above.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Phylrich Faucet Phylrich International
2937 N Ontario Street
Burbank, California
(323) 467-3143 		6-8
$300-1,300
China 		Manufacturer

Homeclick
Faucet Line 		"Phylrich warrants that its products and their finish are free from manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the fixture."
Formed in 1959 as an importer of elaborately decorated bathroom faucets, the company was purchased by Elkay in 2004 and is now part of the Elkay line of very good faucets.

Phylrich is positioned at the up-scale, premium end of the Elkay line. Most of Phylrich's manufacturing was always overseas, and this trend is expected to accelerate under Elkay which just bought an entire Chinese factory. Phyrich faucets are intended to be little pieces of art with hand-chased and engraved finishes in everything up to and including gold and semi-precious stones. This is the faucet for the quintessential Hollywood boudoir look. Whether or not you like the look, you cannot possibly do anything but admire the fine craftsmanship that goes into these things. It is truly superb.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Porcher Faucet Porcher Faucets
6615 West Boston Street
Chandler, AZ 85226
(800) 359-3261 		6-9
$250-500
France/Eastern Europe/China 		Manufacturer

Homeclick 		Lifetime to the original owner.
Porcher, a 100 year old French manufacturer, has been American Standard's designer line of bathroom fixtures, furniture and faucets since being acquired in 1992. It manufactures in Dole, Revin and Angouleme, France, Eastern Europe and China. The faucet line does not include kitchen or bar faucets, but does, oddly enough, include kitchen sinks. For American Standard's up-scale kitchen and bar faucets, see Jado Faucets. All of the fixtures and faucets of each style are coordinated, or you can mix and match individual pieces. If you absolutely must have your towel racks match your shower diverter, this is the faucet line for you. The quality is, as expected from American Standard, excellent.
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Price-Pfister Faucet Price-Pfister
19701 Da Vinci
Lake Forest, California 92610
(800) 732-8238 		4-7
$100-350
China/USA 		Assembler/Manufacturer

The Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, most plumbing suppliers. 		"[A]s long as the original purchaser owns the home in which the ... product ... is ... installed."
A pioneering faucet company born in Southern California, it is now just a division of Stanley Black & Decker Hardware & Home Improvement Group, and renamed just "Pfister". Not a nice thing to do to a proud and famous faucet name. The faucet line includes a broad array of mid-range, mid-price faucets. Most of its line is high quality brass with ceramic valves, but it does cut a corner here and there in its low-priced products — so read the product specifications before buying. The company is trumpeting its recent partnership with Kwikset, the lock company, (also a Black & Decker company - who woudda guessed) to design suites of room hardware — evidently for those who want their door knobs to match their shower heads. Something we always longed for. Really. Manufacturing is increasing being shifted to China along with just about all the rest of Stanley Black & Decker manufacturing.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
San-Ei Faucet San-Ei Faucet Mfg. Co. Ltd
c/o Sanicor International Corp
2116 South Grand
Santa Ana CA 92705
714-540-1188 		7-9
$200-800
Japan/Korea 		Manufacturer

Faucetline.com 		Lifetime to the original owner.
Best known in this country for its TOH line of asian-inspired faucets and accessories, San-Ei is a large Japanese manufacturer of faucets and bathroom fixtures based in Osaka with global distributing. Represented in the U.S. by Sanicor, the line is not widely available. Normally the price to quality relation is very good. Most remodelers who handle the line will discount it. But, if you buy through a design studio, expect to pay full retail. The faucets are widely discounted on the internet, but not all models are available from discount sources. There is probably no better faucet for the price. But the price can be pretty stout.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Strom Faucet Strom Plumbing
Sign of the Crab
3756 Omec Circle
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 638-2722 		5-7
$300-1000
China/USA 		Specifier/Assembler

In Lincoln, Conners Architectural Antiques (402) 435-3338 		"[F]ree of manufacturing and mechanical defects for a period of 5 years from date of purchase, when properly installed by a ... plumber."
Designer of good to very good faucets with an extraordinary, hand polished, chrome finish. Strom is strong in reproduction faucets for period bathrooms. Very recently has introduced a few modern lines. A relatively weak warranty.

Strom was once minorly famous for hand making every faucet from casting to final polishing — usually by a single craftsman. This has changed. While still assembled and tested in the United States, the components are increasingly made in China. Unfortunately, Strom has also made design changes that include using plastic in critical valve parts. Plastic does not have the durability of brass, so the quality of many Strom products has declined. For this reason we have downgraded its rating. Strom is just not the faucet it once was.

Stom was once solely a wholesaler, selling only to plumbers and retailers with an existing account — in part because many of Strom's reproductions do not fit today's standard plumbing sizes, and it is important that all the pieces fit together — especially if you are trying to fit them to a vintage fixture. But that appears to have changed. At least some Strom products are now being sold by Lowes, and increasingly by internet suppliers.
Sincere thanks to our readers who alerted us that Strom had begun quietly moving its component manufacturing to China. If you see anything in these ratings that you believe is incorrect, please let us know.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Symmons Faucet Symmons Industries
31 Brooks Drive
Braintree, MA 02184-3804
1-800-SYMMONS 		5-8
$85-400
USA 		Manufacturer

In Depth Marketing
13416 “C” Street
Omaha, NE 68144
Tel: (402) 330-4369
Fax: (402) 330-4578 		"[T]o the original consumer purchaser ... during normal domestic use for the life of your home."
Famous in the plumbing industry as the inventor of the pressure-balanced shower control (that prevents scalding when the cold water suddenly fails - now required in many localities on all showers), The invention is considered by Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine the well-resptected plumbing industry trade journal, as one of the most imporant milesstones in plumbing history.

Founded in 1939, the company is located in Braintree, Massachusetts with regional sales offices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Symmons makes a line of solid kitchen and bath faucets. There is a designer line for the style-minded, but the company is better known for its solid bar and hotel fixtures. As befits their heavy-duty commercial lineage, Symmons faucets will stand up to brutal treatment for a long time. The collection is expanding so rapidly that it is difficult to keep up. The latest wrinkle is their "polished granite" faucet finish. Like nothing we have seen before.
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
THG Atlantide Faucet THG USA
6601 Lyons Road
Coconut Creek, FL 33073
(954)-425-8225 		7-9
$1,400+
France, Eastern Europe 		Manufacturer

"THG products are sold though our network of exclusive bath and kitchen dealers."

"Exclusive" isn't the word. THG does not identify its dealers outright. You can e-mail THG and a salesman will call on you. Some authorized dealers are now showing on the internet, which is quite an innovation for THG.		 Lifetime to the original purchaser.
THG USA is American importer of luxury and high-end bath products from the House of Tetard, Haudiquez and Grisoni (THG) in France. The largest bath, bar and kitchen fixture manufacturer in France, THG's collections are comprised of thousands of designs most of which are custom made to order. THG is one of few faucet manufacturers left in the world to integrate the entire production process in one company — from design and engineering, to tooling and plating. Its faucets range from classical to contemporary-chic, with many variations in between, and are intended to coordinate with its sinks, toilets and accessories. Seeming to fuse the best of Swiss and Italian design, THG's lines are well made and reliable, but very, very expensive. Prices range from mildly extortionate to armed robbery. You can buy a new car for the price of some THG faucets — no, we are not kidding. But in France, it is almost impossible to sell a home that does not have THG faucets. Go figure. The company keeps virtually no stock. All faucets are manufactured to order, so expect long, long lead times. By "long, long" we mean, tell your children it's coming because you may be just a memory by the time it gets here. Is it worth the wait? Well, everything considered, on balance, absolutely!
 
 
  Source Rating, Price, Origin Category,Where to Buy Warranty
Toto Lavatory Faucet Toto Faucets
1155 Southern Road
Morrow, GA 30260
(888) 295-8134 		5-8
$200-700 and up
USA/Japan 		Manufacturer

Division 15 Sales, (402) 597-6353. Homeclick 		One Year Limited Warranty to the original purchaser only.
The USA branch of the major Japanese bathroom fixture manufacturer famous for its automatic toilets (See "The Japanese Toilet" at Selecting Bathroom Fixtures: Toilets). The faucets are very high quality, and very stylish. But just for bathrooms — no kitchen or bar faucets.

Toto's line of products made for the Japanese home market is more interesting, but Toto won't sell them here. The company specialty is product suites: matched sets of toilets, basins, tubs, showers, faucets and accessories. Owned by Japan, but made in Georgia, Toto along with Grohe, KWC and Graff should be the first choice of those who really don't mind paying for beautiful things. Toto may be at the head of this group on pricing, but, if so, not by much.

Rev. 2/2/2012