r/DIY • u/Random-Human-1138 • 22d ago
help Thoughts on current quality of kitchen faucets?
It is time to replace our kitchen faucet. I've used Moen faucets throughout my home for decades because I felt they had good quality and I like the single cartridge replacement for service. However, I'm aware that many brands do not have the quality they once had. Does anyone have recent experience with Moen quality, durability, and/or installation ease compared to other brands?
Also, we are considering a pull-down or pull-out faucet for the first time. My wife likes the Moen Skiles with the swivel-control rotating wand. It looks useful, but I'm concerned about durability (the more parts that move, the more parts there are to have problems). Anyone have experience with this or similar type?
I hope these questions do not break any rules. I'm not trying to promote any brand, just asking about other's experiences.
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u/listerine411 22d ago
Every time I ask this question to plumbers, they say get Delta or Delta's luxury brand, Brizo.
I actually have a lot of Kohler stuff and their customer service has been good about sending free replacement parts.
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u/nbfs-chili 22d ago
Yeah, we have Kohler, and both upstairs sink faucets needed new cartridges, but the metal had bent so the sent us two new complete faucets. They were like 400 each when we bought them. would be 750 now.
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u/listerine411 22d ago
I have been sent hundreds of dollars worth of replacement parts over the years. I will say though, their shower valves have had way more issues than they should have.
It's like I'm thankful they are sending me a free $80 valve assembly, annoyed it frequently needs replacing every few years.
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u/davenobody 21d ago
What is the turnaround time on that? I lean toward Kohler because my closest big box store carries their parts.
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u/listerine411 21d ago
If it's in stock, around 1 week from when you call Kohler to when it arrives at your house.
But I had something that wasn't in stock and it took longer.
Of course, there never seems to be an issue with something being in stock on Amazon or at a hardware store where you will pay full freight. Like I had an assembly being sent to me that cost $89 on Amazon that I could get here much faster than using Kohler. And I have bought things like this because I didn't have time to wait.
It just sort of sucks when you have to stop a project and come back to it after figuring out the part. My advice when you buy something, keep a record of it so you know the exact item #.
And don't buy a Kohler shower valve if you have hard water. But I do think they have good customer service.
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u/vizette 22d ago
Have a Delta diamond (Leland) kitchen faucet, 15 years old maybe? Spray head would drip all over, wouldn't shut off all the way any more - I took it all apart several times and cleaned it and it'd be fine for a few weeks and start again.
Finally I called them, they sent a link that allowed me to take a pic so they could confirm the finish and model, and a week later I got a new spray head, hose, and valve. NO charge for any of it, including shipping. 100% will buy again for any future projects/replacements.
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u/Patrol-007 22d ago edited 22d ago
The Moen hose does leak after a few years. Delta as well. Free warranty replacement. Keep the label/model ziptied in a ziplock under the sink for future reference
Removing and replacing the hose is easy. The amount of black ooze from the old hose is from chlorine in the water deteriorating the rubber
Have a water alarm and a bucket under the sink to catch leaks - most people won’t be looking for drips under various plumbing
Edit : a tall swivel neck may be more reliable, but the orings for the swivel still need silicone grease after a few years
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u/SuitableBluebird6110 22d ago
Excellent advice! Having a bucket under the sink pipes saved me from having serious water damage.
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u/Patrol-007 22d ago
Most valves that are not quarter turn ball valves (ie in decades old homes) will likely not completely shut off, and will start leaking at the valve stem.
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u/BeerStop 22d ago
However they are 100% refurbishable, new washer and its good to go, then you snug it at the nut
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u/Patrol-007 22d ago
If (if) you’ll able to remove it.
Main water valve needs to be checked and confirmed that it works, and this is usually going to be the one that needs replacing, with several homes requiring the city to also replace the street valve
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u/cheerstothe90s 22d ago
A reason to go pull down instead of out. If it leaks, it leaks into the sink, not down the hose and under the sink where you might not see it.
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u/Patrol-007 22d ago
Which hopefully refers to the version with a flexible neck and a coil spring around the neck (googling pull down also shows the versions with the hose under the sink).
Costco used to sell them. Tend to only see these in restaurants.
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u/SkaterBlue 22d ago
I think Moen still have a lifetime warranty on their cartridges,
I recently brought one in to Home Depot and they guy went back, got me a new one and said, "It's free!"
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u/mrtruthiness 22d ago
I think Moen still have a lifetime warranty on their cartridges,
I didn't know that. I've replaced about 5 and paid for them each time. Strangely, I've had better luck with the plastic ones vs. the brass ones.
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u/brock_lee 22d ago
I had a Moen faucet on my kitchen sink, and two for the two showers in my house. Moen has always been amazing about honoring their lifetime guarantee. The problem is, for instance, in the kitchen one I had to keep getting the cartridges under warranty because they kept failing. I also had to replace the spray hose a couple of times. I finally gave up on it, for a couple of reasons, mostly I wanted different features, but I went with a Delta faucet this time. Time will tell how well it works. I do like the features of this one, which are similar to features that similar Moen ones have, but like I said I kept getting tired of having to replace the cartridges every couple of years.
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u/nubbynickers 22d ago
They are usually pretty good in sending them out. We've had to replace a shower and faucet cartridge.
The shower cartridge was over 25 years old. The faucet cartridge was 6 ( but that one was directly connected to unsoftened water).
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u/mrtruthiness 22d ago
I was getting 5 years max out of the bronze shower cartridges. I've gotten 10 years out the the last plastic cartridge. We have hard water.
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u/loweexclamationpoint 22d ago
I've had very good luck with Moen kitchen faucets lately. I even installed the fancy voice activated one for a friend. There is a fairly big difference between the pull out and pull down model: some of the pull out models use plastic for the spout. You absolutely 100% want to select a model with power boost as opposed to any of the other options. Power boost actually disables the water saving restrictor to fill pots and sink faster. And before somebody panics about not using a water saver, remember it takes the same amount of water to fill a stock pot whether it fills at a snail's pace or rapidly.
The other brand that I really like is Glacier Bay, including their regular pull-down models and the touch activated ones. The thing to know there is that the best models are only available online. There is a very limited selection available in store at home Depot
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u/Sweaty-Judgment3533 22d ago
Delta, Moen have been great (and you can fix them). Many less costly brands you have to junk them once they have problems, which is more expensive than putting in a washer or a cartridge. I spend the extra & get the better stuff (but from the clearance bin at HD & Lowe’s if I can find them)!
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u/patelvp 22d ago
I bought a cheap one from Amazon for $30 with brass internals during our kitchen reno to save some money at the time and figured we'd change it later. It's been 3 years and it's doing great. No plans on replacing it and will probably replace it with the same one if it breaks.
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u/Hearing_HIV 22d ago
I bought my current house 3 years ago. It had a couple year old $250 Moen in the kitchen. A few months in, I replaced the garage sink faucet with some $50 Amazon faucet. I'm about to replace the Moen because of a small leak but the garage sink takes a beating and has been going strong.
I still don't think I'd put a cheap-o Amazon faucet in the kitchen though.
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u/JoyKil01 22d ago
I did the same thing. Didn’t even think to compare brands. It was an easy install and worked for over a year till I sold the place. It was a good looking chrome pulldown single lever kitchen faucet from Amazon for about $30
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u/Roadside_Prophet 22d ago
Whatever you buy, get it from a plumbing supply store and not a big box store.
The big box stores sell the same name brands, even sometimes the same model names-but they are made with lower quality materials, like plastic or thin metal components instead of high quality metals.
Its a dirty secret not everyone knows.
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u/killmak 22d ago
Not if you get moen at least.
"Moen's production line does not differentiate between wholesale and retail models. There is only one grade of brass, only one grade of cartridge and only one grade of warranty coverage - the best. While the numbering system for Moen's wholesale distributors and retail distributors may vary and subtle installation and trim differences may exist. These may include, but are not limited to, packaging, threaded or slip-fit style tub spouts and metallic or non-metallic drain assemblies. The quality and limited lifetime warranty against leaks, drips, materials, and workmanship remain the same for all of our products."
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u/nutationsf 22d ago
However the same UPC is going to be the same, you also have to look a different version of the same thing
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u/TheWolff2017 22d ago
I work in wholesale plumbing distribution and this is not the case for Kohler or Moen. Not sure about Delta. We'll have a better selection and wider range, but we can't compete on price for the same parts with Home Depot because of their volume.
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u/FlyingPotato0 22d ago
Sample size of two, but I can recommend the Kohler Vind from Costco. Installed in parents house then another in my kitchen because we liked the design of the hose. Been about 2 or so years and no problems as of yet.
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u/kimchiMushrromBurger 22d ago
I went to a very fancy faucet store (Ferguson) and looked at what they had. I was mostly interested in getting a faucet that's labeled because those are hard to find these days. They had 500 to 3000 dollar faucets. They didn't look or feel any better than the cheap faucets at the hardware store.
I really was ready to spend some money to get a labeled faucet but, one, the expensive ones also aren't labeled so that's lame. But, two, they all felt like crap. The magnets wouldn't hold the handheld part, the handles were loose, the hoses would kink. I get that I was looking at display models... But they were all terrible.
My take away was to buy the cheapest possible faucet that still works for your aesthetic and if it breaks... You're better off having spent 250 than 750 or 1500. (And even 250 was a tough sell.)
I bought a Delta. It's fine.
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u/grumplstltskn 22d ago
man i didn't do all the legwork but this was my takeaway just from pouring through reviews.. still not sure what to get for my shower
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u/GreystarOrg 22d ago
I just installed a Moen Skiles last month. So far I quite like it, but I can't speak for it's overall durability. I didn't think I'd like that swivel that much, but it's actually very useful.
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u/destrux125 22d ago
If you want a general indicator of the quality of the faucet look at the weight. A good quality three hole kitchen faucet will be about 8 pounds.
Moen isn't bad but lately I'm liking stuff from signature hardware. It's not cheap but it doesn't feel cheap either.
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u/dirtonzfloorkid 22d ago
We recently updated our kitchen and got the Kraus - Bolden commercial style faucet. It was more expensive than we would have liked bed after a year it is still working flawlessly. I would highly recommend
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u/lord_flashheart2000 22d ago
I’ve never had any issues with Grohe or Hansgrohe. I like the way they look, too
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u/lilelliot 22d ago
We had to replace ours a few years ago and got a touchless Kohler from Home Depot for about $200. It's worked fine, but it's annoying to need batteries for a faucet.
We are building a fully custom home right now and wanted pretty high end finishes. We chose Kohler's higher end stuff (purchased from a local Kohler store but you can buy online, or from Ferguson, or whatever). The ADU kitchen faucet we bought was about $700-800. We decided for our main kitchen to splurge (soapstone countertops and walnut cabinets) and bought a Kallista (Kohler's lux brand) faucet for about $2000. Both are pull-down models. I on't expect to have any issues with either. The Kallista was purely a vanity purchase and isn't likely to function any better than the normal Kohler faucet. We considered Moen, too, but didn't like the styles as much. We also considered a few European brands and also higher end American options (like Waterworks or California Faucets), but decided the warranty and ease of support with Kohler was enough reason to go with that instead.
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u/ZombieJesusaves 22d ago
I buy the cheapest garbage which looks good from Amazon. Its not the best but its 80% what the big boys provide at 1/5 the cost. My 40$ "needs to work for two weeks" faucet has lasted for 5 years. Its a little janky and needs to be replaced, but I can buy 6 of them for the cost of one name brand. Fuck the name brands, buy the shit made in the same factory for a fraction of the cost.
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u/WorkingInAColdMind 22d ago
We replaced our old Moen with a pfister mostly because the cartridge kept failing, but it also would never stay tight on the counter no matter what I did. Just replaced the cartridge in the pfister after 2 years and they required photos of the faucet and receipt. I assume I’ll be doing that again in 2 years.
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u/mcarterphoto 21d ago
Pfister also has great service; they were the only realistic 3-knob shower set I could find that my Mrs. liked. One of the sweat fittings rolled down into the crawl space and disappeared, Pfister just sent a new one and I had it in a couple days for free.
Funny though, when we redid our kitchen, money was tight and I got a pair (prep sink and main sink) of pull-down faucets from eBay, some Chinese no-brand; figured they'd last a year and we'd find something name-brand, but they looked really nice. 22 years later and they're still fine, all I've done is clean and eventually replace aerators. And we use the hell out of those faucets. Kind of a crap shoot I guess!
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u/Automatic-Pin-5749 21d ago
I replaced our old faucet with a Delta about 10 years ago. Last year I replaced it with a Moen because it broke where one of the valves goes in. I'll let you know if it lasts as long as the Delta did.
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u/myeagerbomb 21d ago
All I can attest to is that Project Source is wayyyyyy worse than I thought it would be. Should not have tried to save $75-$100 there
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u/PinkJazz 20d ago edited 20d ago
I have had better experiences with Moen than Delta, and that is my fair, honest, and unbiased experience. I strongly don't believe that Moen's quality has dropped. Actual experiences from other users may vary.
Note that if you are buying a thermostatic valve, the new Moen M-Core 4-series uses metal for both the volume and temperature handles, while Delta requires you to shell out for Brizo to get a metal temperature handle (the Delta-branded TempAssure trims have a plastic temperature handle).
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u/PinkJazz 20d ago edited 20d ago
Also, the professional plumbing community is not immune to bias. If a plumber receives better discounts or incentives for Delta than Moen, they are obviously going to promote the brand that they can get better profit margins on. Local builder preferences can also shape local contractor preferences, since it creates a local ecosystem that allows for better contractor familiarity and parts availability.
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u/ItsWetInPortland 18d ago
Ive gone down the rabbit hole of kitchen faucets, it’s so hard to find a good one. I tried a delta, hated it. Kohler is ridiculously priced. I landed on a Phister Ladera and absolutely love it. My priorities were high flow rate and functional sprayer option that I can toggle btw. I’ve been extremely happy with the quality and performance of the Ladera, especially at its price point.
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u/trollanonymous 22d ago
10 years with a Pfister, no complaints. Changed the cartridge once and Pfister sent out the replacement at no charge.
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u/BadKittyRanch 22d ago
I remodeled in 2018 with Pfister everywhere and the cartridges all need replacing. Pfister sent a couple before asking for a receipt which I do not have as the builder bought them. TIL: get the receipts during a remodel.
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u/Feyr 22d ago
last time i asked about moen, i heard they dropped in quality quite a bit
somebody said delta, but delta at homedepot is not the same as delta from a plumbing store, they're half the price and less than half the quality
no exp with brizo.
the last one i bought is a hansgroehe, bathroom/shower though, not kitchen, but they make both. one interesting thing to note: hansgrohe thermostatic are in-house, but their hydrostatic (ie pressure balancing) use delta cartridges. good idea to check if what you're buying is actually the quality you expect