The supply of kitchen faucets is huge, and within that multitude,
you need to find the one that is yours. It will certainly require some
research. Technology has evolved a lot during the recent decades, and
experts know that some ideas that may once have been true are now
outdated. Here you have a collection of seven most widespread myths, and
I hope that getting these things right will assist you in your
research.
1. A great kitchen faucet is expensive.
In
fact, you will be surprised to find how low the price is for which you
can get a beautiful kitchen faucet with a lot of helpful features. The
word of wisdom says, "He pays a lot who buys cheap", and to a certain
degree that still applies. If you consider purchasing a faucet below $
80, you might want to find an answer to a question, what makes it that
cheap.
It can be cheap because it is very basic but still
good-looking and reliable. In this case, there is no problem. But beware
of too low-priced faucets that offer you a ton of advanced features
like pull-out spray wand, fingertip operation of the handle or even
touch sensitivity. If your faith is strong enough, such can serve you
well for some time, but I fear to make a guess how long or short it can
be.
However, within the price range between $120 and $200, there
are a lot of faucet models from well-known brands that offer leak proof
operation for a lifetime, a set of handy features and eye-catching
design.
2. You need a plumber to install a kitchen faucet.
If
you have never held a wrench in your hand, you probably do need a
plumber to help you with the installation. But if you know how to
connect an end of a pipe to the supply, you can do all the things on
your own. Every faucet that is worth your attention will come with
detailed instructions. But the process is highly intuitive, too.
Basically, the lower part of the faucet comes through the installation
hole on your sink or counter-top, hot and cold water pipes connected and
the faucet fastened with nuts from beneath.
For pull-down models,
the hose needs to be guided through the faucet body and spout, for
touch sensitive models, there will be a battery pack that needs to be
connected to the contacts.
The biggest challenge you can face in the installation process is removing the old faucet.
3. Pull-out wands will not sit snugly enough.
The
faucets with detachable spray wands have become extremely popular
during the last decades. But there is always some doubt whether the
pull-out wand will have a snug enough fit into its dock. If the wand
does not sit very well, the faucet loses a lot. It can be beautifully
designed, but if the spray head does not sit where it should, the whole
faucet will look cheap and inferior. That is why the leading
manufacturers of kitchen faucets have done their best to secure the wand
firmly in its place.
Some use strong magnets that do a good job
to hold the wand in the dock. Others use a smart combination of weights,
extremely precise docks and flexible hoses. Whatever the method used in
the faucet to keep the spray wand in its place, it might be wise to
consult the users' feedback to see if there are problems with loose fit.
Apart
of that, you may want to know how long a distance the wand retracts
from. On some faucets, the wand will come back to the dock from any
point where you release it. Others will need to be brought close to the
dock to activate the forces that pull it in.
4. Touch sensitive faucets are uncontrollable.
Uncontrolled
operation is the main fear that makes people who would otherwise have
chosen a touch sensitive faucet decide to have a non-sensitive one. It
is easy to believe that such faucets are not suitable for families with
young children or pets that stay in the kitchen.
For modern
faucets, the truth is quite opposite though. The touch function is
reliable and under normal conditions always works as expected. These
faucets cannot be activated by pets, and they are helpful for families
with children.
The cleverly engineered touch sensitivity system
distinguishes between "touch" and "grip". When you tap it, your hand
needs to be removed from the faucet within a fraction of a second. If
the hand stays on the faucet, it is identified as a "grip", and the
faucet does not respond. So it is practically impossible for pets to
activate it.
But when there are small children, the touch function
comes in particularly handy. It is easier for them to get the water
they need without asking adults for help. They don't need to reach the
handle and operate it. All they need to do is to tap somewhere on the
faucet. It is not likely either that they would leave the water running.
It has been found that children often find it fun to tap on the faucet
to turn the water off.
But even if the children forget to turn the
water off, all touch sensitive faucets from reliable manufacturers come
with security systems that turn the water off automatically after a
certain period of inactivity.
5. All faucets show stains and fingerprints.
Much
is lost from the elegant look when water spots or fingerprints are too
explicitly visible on the surface of the faucet. They can be really
annoying when you need to keep watch and clean them many times a day.
All faucets everywhere in the world will be exposed to this nuisance to a
certain extent, and cleaning is the only remedy.
But there are
faucets on which the spots will be much less visible and easier to
clean. You only have to find a faucet with a surface designed especially
for the clean look. If you do an online research, you can find
references to such a feature in the descriptions that are available on
the manufacturers' or retailers' sites. If you find a site that does not
offer you a detailed description, it is a good reason for you to leave
that site. There are a lot of customer oriented sites on the Internet
that supply even more information about the items they feature than you
can possibly get at your offline store.
Especially for places with hard water, it might be worth finding a faucet with a surface designed to hide spots.
6. One faulty faucet is enough to tarnish a brand.
When
I hear a story of a leaking faucet, I am tempted to judge the whole
brand. Moreover, I know that I am not the only one. Such approach,
however, often leads to wrong conclusions.
Here it is appropriate
to remember that no human produced item is perfect. Among thousands of
great faucets, there can always be one with a problem. With all that,
the risk is minimal because most faucets have lifetime warranties from
their manufacturers.
A good method would be finding the available
user feedback, reading reviews and technical documentation. You can also
ask a plumber. Even if they may not be able to comment on a particular
model, they still can give you a lot of useful information about the
brand. They may have worked with similar faucets, so they certainly know
a lot more than me and you.
7. It's too risky to order faucets online.
In
an offline store, you can touch the faucet and feel what it is made of.
When ordering online, it is not possible. It may feel a little like
buying a pig in a poke. But it does not have to.
A good online
store supplies plenty of information about the products they offer. You
can find there detailed descriptions from manufacturers, user comments
and ratings. You can learn practically all there is to learn about the
functionality, dimensions, advantages and drawbacks of a faucet. In
short, you can get all the information needed for a qualified decision.
When
it comes to the price, it is the online shops that offer the best
deals. Fantastic faucets can be found there for just a fraction of what
they normally cost.
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