Faucet Basics: Part 8 How to Buy a Faucet
Choosing a faucet is largely a process of elimination. Typically your range of choice is limited by budget, style, and finish. Your budget may eliminate the very high-end choices, and your need for reliability should exclude the very low-end faucets.
You should not even consider a faucet that has not been certified as required by your local or state plumbing code. Uncertified faucets may not be lead-free and cannot lawfully be installed in your house.
You certainly want your faucet to match the style of your home. A contemporary faucet in a cape cottage or Arts & Crafts house may not be a good fit style-wise. But, even after you have eliminated the faucets you definitely do not want, there are still many considerations to think about.
How Much Should a Good Faucet Cost?
A manufacturer's list price is a good indicator of the esteem in which a company holds its own products, but not necessarily a guide to their actual selling price.
Faucets, especially high-end faucets, are often steeply discounted by retailers and suppliers.
The prices you should be interested in (and the prices we publish in our reviews) are the actual "street" prices at which a faucet can be purchased.
Street prices for faucets these days are all over the place.
Alternative retailing through the internet has created tremendous price pressure on established local retailers. For value received, faucet prices have never been lower.
It is entirely possible to pay more than $20,000 for a faucet, but also very simple to buy a good, well-made, stylish faucet for less than $250.00.
Forget about style, and a solid, all brass faucet from a reputable company can be had for $50.00. It won't be much for looks, but it will provide trouble-free service for years and years.
"Top of Mind" Faucet Brand Awareness
Survey Results
Our survey question — When you think "faucet", what is the first faucet brand that comes to mind. — was answered by 1,771 readers. Discounting multiple answers from the same reader, blanks, and nonsense responses, here are the results. (The totals may not sum to exactly 100% due to rounding error.)
Rank | Company | Percent |
---|---|---|
1 | 30.97% | |
2 | 24.15% | |
3 | 21.49% | |
4 | 6.73% | |
5 | 2.15% | |
6 | 1.43% | |
7 | 1.00% | |
8 | 0.86% | |
9 | 0.72% | |
10 (tied) | 0.57% | |
0.57% | ||
0.57% | ||
11 | 0.53% | |
12 (tied) | 0.43% | |
0.43% | ||
0.43% | ||
0.43% | ||
13 (Tied) | 0.29% | |
0.29% | ||
0.29% | ||
0.29% | ||
0.29% | ||
0.29% | ||
0.29% | ||
14 (Tied) | 0.14% | |
0.14% | ||
0.14% | ||
0.14% | ||
0.14% | ||
0.14% | ||
0.14% | ||
15 | All Other | 4.01% |
The brand awareness survey reveals no surprises. The top three U.S. faucet makers — Moen, Delta, and Kohler — are the top brands in the minds of over 75% of potential customers — a reflection of their percentage of sales in the U.S. and Canada — also 75%.
Importers of Chinese and Taiwanese faucets 6%, The hundreds of other brands, including the upscale European brands, divide up 19% of the market, but their share is growing.
Under $100
As a general rule, faucets priced below $100.00 are suspect. Not always, but much of the time. They probably contain critical parts made of zinc or worse, plastic.
But, if you are careful, you can find good, brass faucets for less than $100.00. You just have to know what you are looking for.
The golden rule of faucet buying is that "weight equals quality".
Metal is heavier than plastic, and brass is heavier than zinc. A true, thick-walled brass faucet like one from the can easily tip the scales at a hefty 5 lbs. or more.
Hose Bibbs: To see how much a good faucet should weigh, ask the sales clerk for a brass hose bibb — the faucet used outside your house. Your lavatory faucet should weigh at least this much. A kitchen faucet should weigh more.
We usually go the extra step of taking the faucet apart to see what it's made of. If it's brass, we burn a little incense to the fickle gods of good bargains. If it's plastic, we take it back.
Thanks for Your Help
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 hundreds of boutique faucet companies and some major manufacturers 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 website for public view.
E-mail us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com.
We won't immediately veto a faucet that contains a little zinc. It depends on what part is zinc. A zinc handle or plate is not a deal killer. Zinc body or spout, toss it back into the sales bin.
How to tell if a faucet is zinc? Unscrew the and peek inside the spout (a keychain flashlight might be useful here). If it is "brassy" or brown, it's brass. If it's gray, black, or silvery, it's zinc.
$100 - 500
Most faucets priced between $100.00 and $300.00 are going to give good service for many years. The key is good materials — brass and stainless steel — and a known brand name.
The faucets at the lower end of this range tend to be the traditional, established styles, while those at the upper end are often somewhat more au courant. Generally, the innards are about the same, so the quality of a tested and certified faucet at this level is rarely an issue.
Getting parts might be. If the faucet fails, you will want to know that the company that made it will still be in business and any necessary repair parts are still available.
Over $500
Above $500.00 you are paying a premium for style, status, finish, a prestige brand name, boutique manufacturing, and/or small production runs. The quality of the mechanics of the faucet will probably not be much better than a faucet you can buy for less than $500.00, and in some cases are actually worse.
Even at this level, prices run the gamut. Just for fun, we priced a KWC kitchen faucet that we know to be a good quality faucet. The price ranged from $300.00 to $805.00 from reputable online retailers.
High-style faucets produced in limited runs tend to cost more, which is why a faucet mass-produced by faucet, although the quality of both faucet lines is generally very good.
Made in North America
If you are interested in buying a North-American-made faucet, there are a few things you should know.
First, disregard the popular notion that almost nothing is manufactured in the U.S.A. or Canada these days. Not true, at least when it comes to faucets.
Some manufacturing has been moved overseas, but scads of excellent faucets are still manufactured by U.S. and Canadian companies in North America — faucets equal in quality and craftsmanship to any in the world.
In fact – and here's a shocker – Most of the faucets sold in North America are still manufactured or assembled in North America. Foreign-manufactured faucets account for less than 45% of faucet sales in the U.S. and Canada.
Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to tell which faucets are made here. Companies that have moved their manufacturing overseas often take great pains to "deemphasize" the fact. It's not that they actively conceal the fact. They just don't talk about it.
for example, despite its name and distinguished pedigree as a pioneering U.S. sanitary wares manufacturer, does not manufacture or assemble a single faucet in the U.S. or Canada. It is now a Japanese-owned company, and while it still designs its faucets at its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey, the faucets are made in Mexico and China from components manufactured in Asia, mostly China.
American Standard no longer has any faucet factories in the U.S. or Canada. They have all been closed at the cost of thousands of good American manufacturing jobs.
(formerly Price-Pfister) also does not manufacture any faucets in the U.S. or Canada. It, like American Standard, manufactures, in Mexico and China.
Price-Pfister once owned the largest foundry west of the Mississippi. Its Pacoima, California plant manufactured Pfister faucets for most of 40 years, making 1,500 faucets a day at its peak and employing 1,600 Americans.
On the other hand, a Japanese manufacturer, assembles hundreds of its sanitary ware products in the U.S. Dozens of Toto's sinks, toilets, and bath accessories quality as "Made in U.S.A". Go figure! All of its faucets, however, are made in China and imported.
Many traditional U.S. faucet companies are still manufacturing, or at least, assembling faucets, in the U.S. including the old standards: and some less well-known old-line American faucet companies like Up-and-coming newcomers such as also produce their faucets in the U.S.
Brasstech, the Masco manufacturing company, assembles and finishes its faucets in the U.S., although from mostly Chinese components.
The Replacement Parts Problem

Not much though is given to getting replacement parts when buying a faucet, but it should be a primary concern.
No faucet lasts forever. Eventualy it will fail. It may be in a few months or after many decades, but ultimately it will need repair. Most repairs require parts.
With North American-based faucet companies, parts are seldom an issue.
If you have a problem with a Kohler, Moen, or Delta faucet, you don't call Home Depot or the Ace hardware store where you bought it. You call the manufacturer's support hotline to get it solved.
If you need parts, the faucet manufacturer provides you with the parts – not the retail seller or distributor.
If the faucet manufacturer is not located in North America, the product support solution gets a little trickier.
Most major foreign faucet manufacturers sell in North America through a local subsidiary that provides the necessary support for North American buyers.
Companies like Danze, Dornbracht, Grohe, Hansgrohe, KWC, Paini, and Toto, to name just a few of many, handle post-sale support issues through customer service based in the U.S. or Canada.
A few European and Asian faucet manufacturers that make store-brand faucets also maintain service centers in North America to handle back-end support for the retail chains that buy their faucets for private branding.
Globe Union, Lota, and Paini all provide warranty and parts support for the U.S. and Canadian retail stores that buy and re-brand their faucets. These include Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Costco, Sam's Club, and the Ace, True Value, and Do-it-Best buying cooperatives.
If you call the technical support telephone number for a Pegasus faucet purchased at the Home Depot or an Aquasource faucet from Lowes, you will likely reach Globe Union or Lota customer support.
However, if the companies that supply the faucets do not maintain customer service or parts operations in North America for the faucets they sell in wholesale lots to North American importers, and most don't, the parts problem may be unsolvable.
Unlike larger operations with deep pockets, small companies cannot reasonably afford to maintain large parts inventories for every faucet they now sell or have sold in the past. Typically the company can scavenge parts from faucets still on the shelf as long as a particular faucet model is being sold but when it is discontinued, there is usually no further availability of replacement parts.
Canadian manufacturers are still going strong, just not as strong as in times past.
These include
Some major U.S. faucet companies manufacture in Canada, including
Not a single Grohe faucet is now manufactured in the U.S. or Canada and only a very few in Germany.
Many Canadian faucet companies no longer manufacture in Canada, if they ever did.
When is it Made in North America?
The "Made in USA" and "Made in Canada" labels still count for something among many faucet buyers.
Companies are required to disclose where a faucet is made only if the faucet is imported.
U.S. law provides that the country of origin must be disclosed if it is not the United States – "marked in a conspicuous place as legibly, indelibly, and permanently" on the faucet or the box in which a faucet is packaged. (19 U.S.C. § 1304)
Canadian law is similar. The country of origin of imported goods must be clearly marked on imported goods in a visible place that can't be covered. (Canada Border Services Agency, Memorandum D11-3-1)
These laws need to be updated for the internet age in which an increasing number of products are purchased before a consumer has a product or box to look at.
The rules governing "Made in USA" and "Made in (Not USA)" are very different, and enforced by two different agencies of the federal government.
Imported Faucets
In the U.S., "Made in (Not USA)" labeling required under the Tarrif Act (19 U.S.C. § 1484) is enforced by Customs Enforcement. The fundamental purpose of the law is not to inform customers, but to collect the right amount of import duties. That it also informs consumers is a happy accident.
Customs considers a product made in a country if it is assembled in that country and the assembly is "transformative," that is, the product is "substantially transformed" into what is recognizably a new or different product.
The concept is actually quite simple although our pals in Washigton have done their very best to make it seem very complex.
If I take a pile of parts and components and assemble them into a faucet, the assembly changed the pile into a faucet. That asembly was transformative.
If parts and components made in Britin, China, Indonesia, Sigapore, and Vietnam are sent to Japan where they are assmbled into a faucet, the faucet is "Made in Japan" even though not a single part used in the fauct was actually produced in Japan.
This definition obviously results in a lot of chicanery. Companies wth high import duties can simply ship pieces and parts to a county with low or no import duties where they are assembled into a product. Lots of products are assembled in Mexico for that very reason.
Canadian customs enforcement is generally along the same lines.
Made in U.S.A.
"Made in USA" policy of the Federal Trade Commission or the "Made in Canada" rules or Competition Bureau are entirely different. The focus on informing the consumer where the product is made.
Did you know that...

What Canadian company owns them and what are they used for?
To be laeled made in U.S.A…
- The final assembly must be done in the U.S. and result in the "substantial transformation" of the faucet into its final form.
- For example, it is not sufficient if all the company does is attach handles to a foreign-made faucet, because the resulting transformation is not "substantial". The faucet was already a faucet before the handles were attached. It was not transformed into a faucet by that last attachment.
- "All or substanially all" of the components used in the faucet must also be made in the U.S. Some incidental parts may be made elsewhere but the critical parts must be made in the U.S.
The FTC's enforcement policy allows only a "de minimis or negligible amount of foreign content." For example, a faucet may have "hot" and "cold" label buttons made elsewhere and probably still be "Made in USA". But, if its handles, valve or body were manufactured outside the country, it is not made in U.S.A. because these are critical parts of a faucet, and not at all de minimis.
Made in Canada
The Canadian rule is similar, but somewhat less strict.
A faucet must be given it transformative assembly in Canada and at least 51% of the total direct costs of manufacturing the faucet must have been incurred in Canada.
Assembled in The U.S.A. or Canada
A faucet that includes substantial foreign content may be marked "Assembled in USA" when it has undergone its final assembly in the United States.
Once again, the assembly must result in a "substantial transformation" of the faucet. Merely adding a few parts to the finished faucet, or bolting a few major components together — so-called "screwdriver assembly" does not qualify.
Manufacturers may also use "Made in USA of Imported Materials" or similar qualifying language to describe a faucet assembled in the U.S. As a consumer you must remember that anything other than an unqualified "Made in USA" claim actually means "Assembled in USA" no matter how clever the qualifying language — "90% Made in USA" just means "Assembled in U.S.A.", nothing more.
There is no "Assembled in Canada" mark per se. The Candian equivalent of "Assembled In USA" is "Made in Canada" with a qualifying statement such as: "Made in Canada from imported parts" or "Made in Canada with domestic and imported content".
Content made in the U.S. is "foreign" content for purposes of "Made in Canada" and vice versa.
In Summary
Made in (Some Other Country) means that a faucet was gives its transformative assembly in that county. The parts and components used in the assemble may have come from anywhere.
Made in USA means that the faucet received it transformative assembly in the U.S. and all but a very small number of non-essential parts were also made in the U.S.
Assembled in USA means that the faucet received it transformative assembly in the U.S. but all or some of the parts and components were imported. "Made in USA from Imported Compoents" or similar wording also means "Assembled in U.S.A."
Made in Canada means that the faucet received it transformative assembly in Canada and 51% or more of the costs of manufacturing the faucet were incurred in Canada.
Choosing a Faucet
Now that we have a good grasp of faucet prices, style, configuration, certifications, finishes, warranties, and how to determine "made in" status, we can go ahead a choose a faucet. If you have not read the previous seven sections. You should go back where you left off, and resume.
There are still a few things to consider, however.
Choose the Sink, Faucet and Countertop Together
There are many more faucet styles than there are sink styles. It's much easier to match a faucet to a sink than it is to match a sink to a faucet, so choose your sink first, then your faucet. Then go back and review your sink choice.
Most drop-in sinks have a ledge at the back with one or more mounting holes for the faucet. The number of mounting holes must fit the faucet. If you have selected a single-hole faucet, you don't want a 5-hole sink. You have to cover those extra holes with hole covers, which is unsightly.
If your faucet requires three holes, but your sink has just one, you are going to have a mighty agitated plumber, although most plumbers know how to punch a hole in a stainless sink. If the sink is cast iron, you are just plain out of luck. Hope you kept the receipt.
If your sink is an undermount style, then the faucet will most likely mount through the countertop next to the sink. If your countertop is laminate or solid surfacing like Corian it can be drilled at the time it is installed. But, if it is stone or an engineered product, it may have to be drilled at the fabricator's shop before it is delivered.
Reach and Clearance
The faucet you choose should swing in an arc large enough to dispense water to a good portion of the sink's basin(s).
This is the faucet's "reach", and it is determined by the horizontal distance from the spout opening to where it joins to the faucet base. This dimension will be printed in the faucet's specifications.
The faucet should also be tall enough so that you can fit your largest pot under the spout for filling.
This is called the faucet's "clearance" and it is measured from the base of the faucet to the highest point of the spout's arch.
You then need to add the depth of the sink to that measurement. If the faucet's clearance is 8" and your sink is 6" deep, the tallest pot you can fill is 14" (actually about 13", you need some room to maneuver the pot).
Keep in mind, however, that pull-out faucets and faucets with side sprays greatly extend both reach and clearance and may eliminate any problems. Just place the pot on the side of the sink, and fill it with the hose.
Another option is a pot filler faucet. These are faucets installed over the range so you can fill a large pot without having to then lug it from the sink to the stove.
We seldom install them because we don't like them. Putting a faucet over an expensive range without any means of draining the water is to us just a tad short of insanity, especially if you have children in the house who like to "experiment".
Say "No" to Plastic
Plastic has no place in a fixture meant to give many, many years of trouble-free operation. Look for all-metal construction — by that, we mean only brass and stainless steel with possibly a little zinc where it does not matter – handles and baseplates, for example.
Even plastic handles are suspect. Acrylic plastic faceted handles imitate fine crystal glass handles on very high-end faucets, but turn yellow and harbor mold.
Manufacturers avoid use of the word "plastic" using code words instead. The usual codes are "ABS" or "DOM" (types of plastics), "polymer," composite," "hybrid," and "non-metallic." All of thee code words just mean "plastic."
You can usually tell a good all-metal faucet by its weight. It's heavy and feels solid.
If you are not sure how heavy it should feel, ask the clerk to see a hose bibb (the outside faucet your hose attaches to). These are almost always heavy, solid brass. Your faucet should be at least this heavy.
Test the faucet out of the box. There are often heavy things in the box (a hose weight, for example) that are not part of the actual faucet.
If parts of the body, spout, or handles are made of plastic, you can feel the difference. Metal feels cold to the touch, plastic does not.
Watch out for pull-down and pull-out sprays. Increasingly the heads are made of plastic.
Manufacturers will tell you that plastic is better because it does not get hot and is more comfortable to hold. Plastic is not better. We are finding quite a few problems with plastic spray heads. If you have a choice, and with many brands, you don't, choose metal.
If you are concerned about the problem of a spray that can get too hot to handle, the solution is to reduce the temperature of the water. Nothing needs to be washed or rinsed in scalding hot water.
Smooth Operation
Turn the handle(s) full on and full off. The operation should be smooth with no hitches, and certainly no scratching or grinding noises. If the handle seems to bind or stiffen in certain positions, there is probably a problem with the faucet. Leave it alone.
Firmly Attached Pull-Out
Make sure any spout pull-out device operates smoothly without catching.
It may be hard to tell before it is installed, however, because the hose counter-weight is not fitted until installation.
Any pull-out spout can be damaged if it is pulled too far and too hard. You probably won't do this, but your children will.
Look for a solid metal-to-metal attachment. No pull-out is immune to damage, but well-attached hoses resist damage better. Just look, don't yank. If you break it, you have probably just selected your next faucet.
The faucet industry has been slow to adopt PEX as a hose material, but it is slowly coming around. PEX is considerably stronger than the rubber and cord hoses now the standard.
A Lifetime Valve
Just about any faucet-buying advice, you will read other than ours will tell you that the style and finish of a faucet are the most important elements to look for. (See, e.g. "Before Buying That New Faucet, Think Finish First", HGTV).
Certainly, they are important. But, the critical element is the faucet valve.
The valve is what makes your faucet work. If it fails, you don't have a faucet, you have a stylish, nicely finished chunk of useless metal. So, if you want reliable performance year after year after year, a good valve is essential snd should your first considration.
Find out the life cycle rating of the cartridge. The fact that a faucet valve is identified by its seller as "certified" is not enough information. You need to know by what standard.
A cartridge should be certified under the U.S.-Canadian standard (See "Make Sure the Faucet Is Certified" below) which requires a life cycle test of 500,000 on/off cycles without failure.
A faucet certified to meet the requirements of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), Canadian National Plumbing Code (NPC), or the International Plumbing Code (IPC) has passed this test.
Many cartridges used in foreign-made faucets are rated under the European EN817 (CE/EU) or Chinese GB18145-2003 standard that require as few as 30,000 on/off cycles.
The standard also requires what is informally called the "Burst Test." The valve is subject to ten times normal household water pressure for one minute to see if it will leak or deform. The test simulates the pressure surges that can occur when a faucet is shut-off sudenly.
Never buy a faucet you have not heard of.
Unknown brands have often justly earned their obscurity.
Jerry Francis Leonard, MSE, PE
Engineer, Master Plumber, and Steamfitter
Certified Safe, Lead-Free and Reliable
All faucets sold or installed in the U.S. or Canada must be certified safe, lead-free, and reliable. A faucet that is not certified cannot be lawfully imported, sold, offered for sale, or installed in either country.
Thirty years ago, it was nearly impossible to buy an uncertified faucet. They were simply not sold here.
In todays internet-buying world it is a different story.
Uncertified faucets are the rule and widely available. Our research has shown that most of the brands sold on popular internet venues such as Amazon and Wayfair.com are uncertified, and therefore illegal.
Well over 90% of the faucet sold on Amazon are illegal to sell in the U.S. and illegal to install in a drinking water system in either the U.S. or Canada. Most have no warranty and virtually all have no source of replacement parts.
One of the most prolific traffickers in illegal faucets on Amazon is Amazon itself.
All of these sites have policies against the sale of unlawful merchandise, and none of them seem to enforce the policy when it comes to faucet sales.
Builder sites do a better job of screening out uncertified faucets. They seldom appear on those sites, and when they do are, in most cases, immediately removed once we point them out.
Be careful, however, of Build.com and its associated sites. When we pointed out the contraband faucets for sale it this website, we were asked, politely, to mind our own business.
On-line sites connected with big lumber stores: Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards at one time did a good job of keeping uncertified products from being sold, but that's no longer true. Ace, True Value, and Do-It-Best hardware store sites however, are more careful.
Online auction sites such as e-Bay are some of the worst offenders, even though they also have policies prohibiting the sale of unlawful merchandise.
In a count conducted in April 2023, we found 69% of the new-in-the-box lavatory faucets offered for sale on e-Bay were illegal to sell in the U.S. or Canada. In many listings, the brand name of the faucet was omitted — a sure sign that the faucet is illegal — and some listings go so far as to proclaim that certification "does not apply" to the faucet.
But, the worst offenders of all are internet retail sites originating in China. These sites totally disregard U.S. and Canadian laws regarding certification. We found no certified faucets at all on AliExpress, LightInTheBox, or FaucetSuperDeal, even though these sites target U.S. and Canadian customers, even going so far as to establish fulfillment centers in the U.S. to reduce shipping time.
So, where can you be sure that the faucet you are buying is legal in the U.S. and Canada? First, most faucets made or assembled in the U.S., or Canada are legal. There is one exception, however. All of the German and Italian faucets sold in the U.S. and Canada are legal.
While most major Chinese- and Taiwanese-made faucet brands are careful to comply with U.S. and Canadian laws, some do not bother. And, determining whether a brand of Asian faucet is legal for sale in North America often requires a lot of sleuthing..
But, the best course is just common sense. If you have never heard of a brand, check it out thoroughly. Our faucet reviews can help. We identify faucets that are being sold unlawfully without certifications or compliance with federal regulations..
If the faucet is being sold with no brand name mentioned, avoid it like malaria. This is especially true if the faucet is being sold through an online auction site like e-Bay or an internet general merchandiser like Amazon. A no-name faucet from one of these sites is almost guaranteed to be uncertified.
Never buy an uncertified faucet. Certification is the only way to tell if a faucet is free of toxic materials and safe to use. All plumbing codes in use in the U.S. and Canada require that a faucet be tested and certified to meet both ASME A112.18.1/CAS B125.1 (safety and reliability) and ANSI/NSF 61/9 (lead-free/drinking water safety) standards..
Without certification, you also don't know anything about how a faucet is likely to function over the long term. Certification testing ensures that a faucet meets at least a minimum standard of robustness and durability. With an untested, uncertified faucet, you can't possibly have any idea how well it will function.
Easy to Clean
Look for a faucet that is easy to clean – not just the faucet itself, but area around the faucet. You have to be able to get your fingers in those small recesses. Remember that even the most stylish faucet does not look so good crusted and rusted.
Fingerprints can be a problem with some faucet finishes. Polished stainless steel is a particular culprit, but almost all highly polished faucet finishes will show online and water spots that have to be wiped off from time to time.
Some manufacturers recommend using a household wax on the faucet to reduce spotting and online. (Before you do this, go to the faucet seller's website to see if a specific wax is recommended. Using the wrong wax may void your warranty.)
In one sense, are the easiest to take care of because you don't have to take care of them. They will show dirt, oil from your hands and cooking, water spots, staining, fading, and color changes.
None of this is a problem because that's what they are supposed to do. It's what makes them "living" finishes They are designed to look like they are not being taken care of. It's a feature
of the finish and part of their "charm."
However, if you don't want a finish that looks like it has never been taken care of, then prehaps you should avoid living finishes. [>
Most manufacturers publish maintenance and cleaning procedures for their faucets which should be followed. Almost all recommend against harsh detergents and any sort of scouring — both of which can ruin a finish very quickly. We find the original Windex to be an effective cleaner that does no harm. But, for most finishes, a little soapy water works just fine.
Select a faucet that matches your personal style, but still is easy to maintain and keep spotless with just a little effort.
A Durable Finish
The durability of a finish is determined primarily by the process used to produce the finish.
Six processes are in use. Some are very common and two are very rare, but we will do through all of them from the most to least durable.
The process used to create a finish are rarely diclosed by the faucet manufacturer on its website, and if it is, it's usually buried somewhere. So most likely you will have to connect with customer service to find out. Don't be surprised is the customer service agents don't know. Insist they find out. If they can't tell you the process, look for another faucet.
- is the old standby. It is a tough finish that will stand up to most abuse. but its durability depends on the metal used. The most common are chrome and nickel.
- Chrome is durable, nickel less so because it is inherently a softer metal (the reason chrome replaced nickel as the faucet finish of choice in the early 20th century.). More rarely gold and silver are electroplated. Gold is very soft and will scratch easily. Silver tarnishes and requires regular polishing.
- (PVD) finishes are 10 to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated chrome. They are also not affected by most household chemicals. In our experience, they are largely invulnerable to harm.
- PVD finishes are often used to simulate more fragile finishes. Native brass, for example, tarnishes and requies regular polishing to retain its bright brass look. PVD brass, by contrast, never tarnishes because it is not brass. It is an inert metal, usually titanium or zirconium made to look like brass through the PVD process. Even chrome, already very durable, can be deposited using PVD to produce a finish that is almost impossible to scratch.
- Thin Film Ceramic paints are new to faucets. They were originally developed for the miliary to protect firearms and field equipment. They are infused with millions of microscopic ceramic particles that make it nearly impossible to scratch or mar the finish. These are color finishes like powder coatings and liquid paint, but unlike these more fragile finish, they are very durable.
- While an increasing number of faucet companies are turning to ceramic paint to replace powder coatings, its use is as of yet not widesprea. For a company that does use it, see of Dallas Texas.
- is essentially a paint applied in a powdered form and then heated in an oven to cure. It is considered semi-durable with about the same scratch resistance as the finish on your car. The finishes are usually matte, without any shine. To give them a litle shine, they can be overcoated with a clear coating, usually some form of acrylic or lacquer.
- Paint and Clear Coats: Liquid paint is a rare finish these days. It has largely be dupplanted by the more durable powder coatings. But clear top coats are still fairly common. If a finish has a lear coat, it is the clear coating that determine the durability of te finish, and lear coats are not usually that durable – about as durable as the finish on your car.
- Uncoated: The finish "finish" is not an applied finish but the material of the faucet buffed and polished. Stainless steel, a durable metal that does not tarnish, is rarely given a finish. It provides its own "finish," Brass, however, is also left uncoated and delivered from the faucet company bright and shiny. It won't stary bright and shiny for long, however. Brass tarnishes readily and will turn a nice shade of medium brow in a few month. Don't choose uncolated brass unless you just love polishing things.
For more information about faucet finishes, including their durability and longevity, see Faucet Basics: Part 5, Faucet Finishes.
Step by Step Guide to Buying a Faucet
Now that you have read all of the parts of this article, starting here, you have all the information you will need to select a faucet that will give you a lifetime of reliable, trouble-free service. Now let's walk through the actual process of buying a faucet.
Step 1: Read Faucet Basics
Read all of the sections of this multi-part article on faucets, starting here.
Already read them? Great! You now have the basic information needed to buy a good, reliable faucet that will give you a lifetime of trouble-free service. You are ready to buy a faucet.
Step 2: Select a Faucet
Follow the guidelines on this page to choose a faucet that meets your needs. To shortcut the process a little, read our Best Value Faucets report listing faucet companies that will give you the best value for your faucet dollar.
Step 3: Read our Review of the Faucet Company
Read our review of the faucet company. Basic information about the company that will help you decide whether its faucets are something you will be comfortable buying as a lifetime investment. If after reading the review, you are not confident in the company, go back to Step 2 and choose another faucet.
Step 4: Read the Faucet Warranty
Go to the company website and read the faucet warranty. Sometimes these are hard to find. If you can't find it, or it's not on the website, call customer service and ask for an e-mailed copy.
You will be able to find out how confident the company is in the durability, reliability, and longevity of its faucets, and if its faucets have any weak points that might cause the faucet to fail. Anything less than a lifetime warranty should be suspect. If you do not know how to analyze a warranty, go back and re-read Understanding Faucet Warranties.
If the company will not provide you with a pre-sale copy of its warranty on the faucet of your choice, go back to Step 2 and choose a faucet from another company.
Step 5: Get the County of Origin for the Faucet
If our review shows the company's faucet to be made in more than one country, call customer service to get the county of origin of the faucet.
Anything but a straight answer should be suspect. Be especially wary of the evasive or equivocal answer like: "This faucet is made in several countries, so we don't know". If you can't get a straight answer, go back to Step 2 and choose another faucet.
If the company says the faucet was made in Wisconsin, but the box it comes in says "Made in China", don't hesitate to send it back. It has been misrepresented.
Step 6: Get the Listing Certificates for the Faucet
Any reputable faucet company should be able to provide you with listing certificates for the faucet immediately. They are requested all the time by plumbers and plumbing code officials to verify the faucet's bona fides. It is not an unusual or rare request.
The certificates should show that faucet has been tested and complies with the three mandatory standards for faucets sold in North America: ASME A 112.18.1/CSA B125.1 for overall safety and reliability and with the lead-free requirements of ANSI/NSF 61.9.
These are often three separate certificates but may have been consolidated into two, or even one, depending on the practices of the organization that issued the certificate.
We usually ask the agent to circle or highlight the model number or name on the certificate so we can easily spot it without having to wade through dozens, if not hundreds of model names or numbers.
If the company cannot provide a certificate for each standard clearly showing the model name or number of the faucet you are considering for purchase, pass it by. It is very likely not certified no matter how often or how loudly the customer service rep says it is.
To see what a Certificate of Listing looks like, click here for an example from IAPMO, the most widely used certifying agency, for faucets. Other certifying organizations have slightly different certificates.
Be wary of forged or altered certificates. Any valid certificate will contain the company's name, an indication of the standard used for testing (ASME A 112.18.1/CAS B125.1 or ANSI/NSF 61.9), and the actual model name or number of the faucet you are considering for purchase. If any of those three things is missing, it is probably not a valid certificate.
If you are buying from Acme Faucet Company, but the name at the top of the certificate is Szechuan Wang Shu Happy Golden Way Faucets Co., it is not valid for Acme. Some faucet companies will try to pass off a certificate for another company as their own.
To see what a forged or altered Certificate of Listing looks like, click here (.pdf). This altered listing certificate was e-mailed to our reviewer by to prove
the certification of its faucets.
Not only was it altered to erase the name of the company that actually received the certification, but it also is not even a certificate for faucets. It certifies stainless steel sinks.
If you think you got a forged or altered certificate, email it to us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com and we will check it out.

Here's an old plumbers trick that we learned years ago (from an old plumber, naturally):
Put the paperwork for your faucet, sink, disposer, hot water dispenser, etc., including receipts, installation instructions, user manuals, your plumber's business care and warranties, along with any leftover hardware and special tools, in a plastic bag and tape it to the inside of the sink cabinet under the sink.
Even if you forget where it is, your plumber will find it when he or she starts work under your sink.
Step 7: Pay with a Credit (Not a Debit) Card
Most likely, since you have carefully selected a faucet using all of the information to be found in these articles, your faucet will arrive in working order with all of its parts.
But, if it does not, then your first recourse is to contact the seller and get a replacement or refund.
If the seller is not willing to make it right, you are entitled to cancel the credit card transaction.
Credit card purchases are protected under the Fair Credit Billing Act. This law, administered by the Federal Trade Commission, gives the consumer the right to withhold payment on misrepresented, poor-quality, or damaged merchandise purchased with a credit card.
Contact your credit card company for the complaint form to fill out. Some allow you to fill it out online.
Step 8: Inspect the Faucet
When you receive the faucet, open the box to make certain all of the parts have been provided.
If anything is missing, a call to customer service will often get you the missing parts in a few days.
Read the installation instructions to see if they are intelligible. International companies such as Ikea or American Standard often use pictures and diagrams in place of text. If you can't figure out the instructions, most likely your plumber can't either.
Step 9: Save the Paperwork
Once your new faucet is installed, put the installation instructions, warranty certificate, receipt, spare parts, special tools, and the installer's business card in a plastic baggy and tape it to the back of the sink cabinet (or hang it on a hook).
If your faucet breaks, you have all the information you will need to make a warranty claim. And, even if you forget where you put it, the plumber will find it soon enough when he starts work on your defective faucet.
Rev. 01/14/25