Is it time to renovate the look of your kitchen? A spanking new kitchen faucet could be just the flair to produce an entirely new appearance to the area! A shiny new faucet is a great place to begin! As the faucet is the 'crown' of the sink, it certainly stands out.
If you have the hard water 'curse', it's most likely it's been recking havoc with the guts of your kitchen faucet. Besides contributing a steady drip-drip-drip. Plus hard water scum most likely tainted your fixture leaving you with an ugly mess. Replacement time!
But what do you actually get when paying for big bucks for a spanking new kitchen faucet? Odds are all you’re actually receiving is less money to use on the rest of your kitchen upgrade. A leading consumer reports association did some evaluations on kitchen faucets to get the real scoop. In a unexpected turn of events, their evaluations discovered that despite the marketing hard sell, faucet prices have little to do with performance. In this case, you don’t always end up with what you paid for!
When speaking of faucets for the kitchen, it’s the external surface - not the brand - that ultimately provides enduring resilience. There's a news flash!
Naturally, investing extra cash does make available more options to choose from. But how do you choose which is the right faucet for your kitchen? Especially when prices stretch from $50 all the way to $600 or more! Let’s examine what to keep an eye out for.
Fortunately lifetime warranties that protect against leaks and stains is about typical in the faucet trade. Thanks to technology, most perform the job of delivering water extremely well. Barring the least expensive faucets available, modern kitchen fixtures are manufactured with better valves and tougher finishes. So performance is not really the true test - they all perform reasonably well. What is worthy of watching out for is what happens to the faucet with everyday use. Just how does it repel scratches, stains, bumps and bruises?
What the consumer group decided to do was run their testing on the faucet's finish and not the brand. In the final analysis, this is what really want when purchasing a kitchen sink faucet.
Okay, a little chemistry class. Faucet exteriors are battered with charged metal atoms. These metal atoms chemically bond to the surface of the base metal in a procedure called physical vapor deposition, or PVD. The thing is that different metals affect assorted finishes. Including nickel and bronze. The review team revealed that faucets with PVD finishes withstood punishment despite their honest attempts to scratch and mar them. PVD finishes are not bullet-proof however and heavy-duty corrosives (i.e. drain cleaner) can lightly stain them.
A shiny chrome plated faucet is popular in scores of kitchens today. Chrome is quite durable but can be scratched with an abrasive scouring pad. If you like the look of chrome, use care when cleaning your faucet.
Tested models included single-handle pull-out faucets; the fastest-growing style. They combine spray head and spout for further convenience and flexibility. But the test results apply to other faucets too.
For a distinguished look, bronze is a fine alternative if you’re not into shiny fixtures. Choosing the correctly treated bronze is important though. Tests proved that a faucet with PVD finish faired well in abrasion tests where the bronze without the PVD finish - not so good.
If you’re considering a kitchen upgrade, a new faucet will unquestionably provide a totally new appearance to the sink and the complete kitchen. Kitchen sink faucets are relatively inexpensive (in comparison to other items in a kitchen remodel!) and provide a unique look you’ll enjoy for a long time.
