American Standard Brands released this circular in a press kit. (Click to enlarge the image so you can read it). The item shown is one of only SIX plumbing products American Standard still manufactures in the U.S., out of the thousands it sells here. Over 99.99% of its manufacturing is overseas — mostly in Mexico,

American Standard Brand companies have exported nearly 65,000 American manufacturing jobs since 2007.

If American Standard really wants to make a contribution to “economic prosperity” in the U.S. it should bring those 65,000 jobs home.

And, we should do our part, as suggested by American Standard, by buying from a company that still makes its products here — in the U.S.A. — Like Brizo, Delta, Moen, Symmons and Chicago Faucets. See the complete list below.

Still Made in the U.S.A.

Quite a few faucets are still manufactured, or at least assembled, in the United States. Many traditional faucet suppliers have reduced their domestic manufacturing, but most still retain at least some U.S. factories. Here are the faucet manufacturers still making their faucets in America.

Made in USA
Brizo
Chicago Faucets
Delta Faucets
Kohler Plumbing
Moen
Peerless Faucets
Phylrich
Symmons Industries
Waterstone
Wolverine Brass

Assembled in USA
California Faucets
Elkay
Newport Brass
Sherle Wagner
Sigma
Strom Plumbing

An Overview of Faucets:
Faucet Reviews and Ratings

This is part 2 of a 2 part article on home faucets. The information contained in Part 1 is extensively referenced in this part, and it is strongly recommeneded that you read it before continuing on. To go back to Part 1, click here.

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.

How Much Should a Good Faucet Cost?

It is entirely possible to pay more than $20,000 for a faucet, but also possible to buy a good, well-made, stylish faucet for less than $200.00. 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 probably never been lower.

Under $100

Index to Reviews

As a general rule faucets priced below $100.00 are suspect. They probably contain critical parts made of plastic. But, if you are careful, you can find good, all brass and/or stainless steel faucets for less than $100.00. You just have to know what you are looking for. We generally take the faucet apart to see what it's made of. If its all brass or stainless, we burn a little incense to the fickled gods of good bargains. If it's plastic, we take it back.

$100 - 300

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 quality 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 probably still be in business and any necessary repair parts are still available.

Over $300

Above $300.00 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 $300.00. And, even at this level, prices run the gamut. Just for fun, we priced a KWC Domo kitchen faucet that we know to be of excellent quality. The price ranged from $300.00 to $805.00 from reputable on-line retailers. High-style faucets produced in limited runs tend to cost more, which is why a mass-produced Chicago faucet will usually cost much less than a hand-crafted Waterstone faucet, although the quality of both faucet lines is generally excellent.

Our Street Prices

All prices quoted in our ratings are for sink faucets. Tub fillers and shower valves (which are technically faucets) are not considered. Our prices are for chrome, or, where chrome is not available, the manufacturer's standard finish. Faucet finish affects faucet pricing. Unusual or difficult finishes will cost more. Exotic finishes: nickel, oil rubbed bronze, stainless and so on, are almost always higher — sometimes as much as 100% higher.

Made in America?

There is no U. S. law that requires faucets sold in the U.S. to disclose the amount of domestic content. Many companies do so, however, for marketing purposes, and if a company voluntarily discloses its products' content, then it must comply with the "Made in USA" policy of the Federal Trade Commission. Here are the rules:

When is a Faucet "Made in USA"?
To qualify for a "Made in USA" sticker on the box, a faucet must be �all or virtually all� made in the U.S. This means, at minimum, that&hellip:

Its final assembly that results in the "substantial transformation" of the product into its final form must be in the U.S. 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 the final assembly.
It must contain "all or virtually all" U. S. made components. While some incidental parts may be made elsewhere, the critical parts must be made here. 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, valves or body were manufactured outside the country, it is not made in U.S.A. because these are critical parts of a faucet, and certainly not de minimis.

When is a Faucet "Assembled in USA"?
A faucet that includes substantial foreign content may be marked "Assembled in USA" when it has undergone its final assembly in the United States. Again, the assembly must result in a "substantial transformation" of the product. Merely adding a few parts to the finished faucet, or bolting a few major components together — so-called "screwdriver assembly" does not qualify.

Thinking of Buying American?
If you are looking at…		Consider instead…
	Aquabrass	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass
	American Standard	Chicago Faucets • Delta • Kohler • Moen • Symmons • Wolverine Brass
	Belle Foret	California Faucets • Delta • Moen
	Blanco	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Cifial	Chicago Faucets • Delta • Kohler • Moen • Symmons • Wolverine Brass
	Danze	California Faucets • Chicago Faucets • Delta • Kohler • Moen • Symmons • Wolverine Brass
	Dornbracht	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Eljer	California Faucets • Chicago Faucets • Delta • Moen • Symmons • Wolverine Brass
	Elizabethan Classics	Delta • Kohler • Moen • Strom
	Fontaine	Delta • Moen
	Franke	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Freuer	Delta • Moen
	Glacier Bay	Delta • Moen
	Graff	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Grohe	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Hamat	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Hansgrohe	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Ikea	Delta • Moen
	JADO	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Kraus	Delta • Moen
	Kingston Brass	Delta • Moen
	KWC	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Lacava	Brizo • California Faucets • Ginger • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Sherle Wagner • Waterstone
	MGS Progetti	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Mico Designs	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Paini	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich
	Peerless	Delta • Moen
	Pegasus	Chicago Faucets • Delta • Kohler • Moen • Symmons • Wolverine Brass
	Perrin & Rowe	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich
	Pfister	Delta • Kohler • Moen
	Porcher	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Restoration Hardware	California Faucets • Sigma Faucets • Strom Plumbing • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Rohl	Brizo • California Faucets • Chicago Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Strom • Symmons • Waterstone • Wolverine Brass
	San-Ei/TOH	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Schon	Delta • Moen
	THG	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Toto	Brizo • California Faucets • Kohler • Newport Brass • Phylrich • Waterstone
	Vigo	Delta • Moen
	Water Ridge	Delta • Moen
	Whitehaus	Delta • Moen

Manufacturers may also use "Made in USA of Imported Materials" or a similar qualifying language to describe products 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.

"Buy American" Laws
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 literally hundreds of boutique faucet suppliers, 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 web site for public view.

Contact us at Faucet Reviews.

The federal Buy American Act (BAA), first enacted in 1933 in response to the first Great Depression and last amended in 2009 in response to the second Great Depression, requires products and materials purchased by the Federal Government or used in federally funded public works projects have "substantial" American content. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act applies similar (although not exactly the same) rules to economic recovery projects funded under the Act.

Manufacturers wishing to provide products or materials to the U.S. government or for public works projects have to identify those that comply with ARRA/BAA requirements. These lists are available, usually by merely asking for them. While the requirements for domestic content under ARRA/BAA are not exactly the same as the Made in USA requirements of the FTC, they are close, and any item on an ARRA/BAA list is likely to be at minimum "assembled" in the U.S.

Of course, some companies cheat. Home Depot is now being sued for passing off some China-made products as ARRA/BAA compliant, and Fastenal has paid a multi-million dollar fine for the same offense. But, generally the ARRA/BAA lists are reliable, and as we get them, we will provide a link to each company's ARRA/BAA products. Keep in mind that these are usually not very descriptive. Often they are just lists of model numbers. But, if you have a faucet in mind and want to check it for Made in America, the lists are useful.

Our "Made in USA" Ratings
The critical components of faucets are valves, spouts, bodies and handles. Everything else is incidental or cosmetic. Manufacturers that make faucets in the U.S. cast and machine their own bodies, spouts and handles. Few, if any, make their own ceramic valves. This is a very specialized manufacturing process that requires expensive machinery that most faucet companies just don't have. So most valves are outsourced by all but the largest faucet makers.

The best ceramic valves are made in Europe, so better faucet companies go to Europe to buy them. (And, we're going to get a bucket-load of e-mails from American valve makers who disagree.) This is not a new practice. European, especially German, valves have been preferred ever since ceramic valves were invented.

Furthermore, just about every U.S. faucet maker buys simple fittings from China, even steadfast made in U.S.A. companies like Chicago Faucets and Symmons Industries. So the chance of 100% American content in a faucet is pretty slim.

In our Made in USA ratings, we do not discount for a foreign ceramic valve or incidental fittings. To do so would eliminate just about every U.S. faucet maker from consideration. If the basic metal parts are cast and machined in the U.S. and the faucet is assembled and finished here, we rate the faucet "Made in USA". If the cartridge is also made here, then so much the better.

If the faucet is assembled in the U.S. from imported major components such bodies, spouts or handles, we rate it "Assembled in USA". If it is also finished here, so much the better.

Otherwise, it is "Imported", and we do our best to ferret out from which foreign country or countries the company imports its faucets.

Most faucet manufacturers, especially the large manufacturers, sell a complex line of faucets composed variously of faucets made in the U.S., imported faucets, and faucets assembled from imported components. Large companies, like Delta, even manufacture the same model faucet in two or more differently countries. We try to judge the overall composition of the manufacturer's products when assigning a rating. We may be wrong, and if we are we would like to hear about it. Be fairly warned, however, that if you claim your product is Made in U.S.A. we will want proof based on FTC enforcement guidelines, including the precise locations(s) where the faucet and all its components are manufactured.

Our researches have led to a few surprises. American Standard, a very old and well-established American company that sells literally thousands of different bath and kitchen products, manufactures barely a half dozen of them in the U.S. American Standard is not exactly forthcoming about where its products are made. Unlike other sanitary-ware manufacturers it does not publish a list of its manufacturing facilities. But, by researching U.S. Customs records, it is possible to ferret out where American Standard manufactures, and it's not here in America.

By contrast, Toto, the giant Japanese bath wares company, makes well over a thousand different sanitary-ware and accessory products that qualify for the "Made in USA" label in its U.S. manufacturing plants in Georgia. We find it very weird sticking a "Made in USA" label on a Japanese toilet, but there it is. Toto has earned the "Made in USA" label, and ought to have it recognized. Unfortunately, none of the products made by Toto in the U.S. are faucets. All Toto faucets are imported.

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's almost impossible to tell who makes what and where they make it without a scorecard. Companies that make most of their products overseas are often reluctant to disclose the fact, and most are very secretive about which foreign factories actually manufacture their products. It's a "trade secret", don't you know. So, if you are interested in buying American, always check the origin of the particular faucet you are looking to purchase by calling the company's customer service. They have to tell you where it's made. Even the most steadfast "Made in America" companies sell some foreign faucets — so check every time. We do.

The Five Basic Business Models

Just about every faucet company describes itself as a manufacturer. Few, however, actually make faucets. Most buy faucets, or at least the components required to assemble faucets, from outside manufacturers. It is no secret that many North American faucet manufacturers have shifted much, if not all, of their manufacturing to foreign, primarily Chinese, companies. It is less well known that many Western European faucet manufacturers have done much the same thing; shifting manufacturing to companies in former Soviet Bloc countries 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 foreign-made 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 foreign manufacturer, with only slight stylistic changes.

Faucet companies can be divided into five broad categories of business, with much overlap. Small and mid-size companies are fairly easy to pin down. But, the mega companies such as American Standard and Kohler are a little more difficult since they incorporate parts of several models. Generally, however, we can identify an overall model. If we can't, then we won't publish a rating until we can.
Manufacturers
Companies that manufacture their own faucets in factories they own are the manufacturers.

	Faucet Business Models
	Manufacturer	Assembler	Specifier	Marketeer	Rebrander
Design & Engineering	×		×
Component Manufacturing	×
Process QC	×
Assembly	×	×
Final QC	×	×	×
Marketing & Brand Awareness	×	×	×	×
Sales	×	×	×	×	×

The key processes involved in faucet manufacturing are casting, machining and finishing. Companies that own their own foundries and machine shops and apply their own finishes are the manufacturers. They control manufacturing from initial design through final quality inspection and are able to insert quality assurance measures throughout the process. There seems to be a direct correlation between having control of the whole process and a low number of defects and, thus, consumer complaints.

Faucet companies that fall into this category are, for example, Kohler, Symmons Industries, and Chicago Faucets: all U.S. companies that manufacture primarily in the U.S. Some other "American" faucet companies are manufacturers, but the factories they own are in foreign countries. For example: American Standard Brands, manufactures mostly in Mexico, as does Pfister, using components manufactured mostly in China.

Foreign manufacturers whose products are widely sold in the U.S. include Globe Union, a Taiwan-based company that sells under the Danze nameplate, Toto, a Japanese manufacturer, Grohe and Hansgrohe from Germany, KWC and Franke, both Swiss companies, Paini an Italian faucet maker, THG, a French firm, and Hamat based in Israel.
Assemblers
The faucet makers who assemble and finish faucets from critical parts cast and machined by others are Assemblers. Assemblers control some of the faucet making process, but rely on basic faucet components made by outside companies. All faucet manufacturers use outside parts to a certain extent. For example, few faucet makers have the capacity to manufacture the ceramic disks needed for some faucet valves — a very specialized process. But, if all casting and machining is surrendered to others, the company loses much of its ability to assure the quality of some very key processes needed to manufacture faucets.

Many Assemblers are also Specifiers. Newport Brass, Strom Plumbing, California Faucets, and Sherle Wagner are examples. All of these companies design their own faucets, but subcontract the manufacturing of component parts to overseas suppliers. They then import the components, assemble, finish and inspect the faucets in the U.S. These companies make ver good products, so it looks like the process works pretty well overall.
Specifiers:
While Assemblers are also likely to be Specifiers, the reverse is not true. Specifiers are not usually assemblers. Specifiers design and engineer their faucets, and do their own in-house quality assurance, but farm out all of the actual manufacturing — usually including final assembly and finishing. Most of these have been doing this for many years and make no excuses for the fact they consider themselves the creative end of the industry, leaving the nitty-gritty business of actually producing their creations to the less imaginative.

Some very good faucets are built using this model. Companies in this category include Mico Designs, and Lacava: both of which produce very high quality, high end products, with prices to match. Because they do their own designing and testing and have strong internal quality control, they also have a reputation for very good quality faucets with very few defects.
Marketeers
Some companies do nothing more than assemble collections of faucets manufactured by others. These collections are given a brand name and sold under that name. The faucets are usually made by a variety of manufacturers with no particular commonality other than being repackaged for sale under one brand name.

These are marketing companies. They don't design, manufacturer or assemble their own faucets. They usually provide no internal quality control, but rely on whatever quality assurance is available from the actual manufacturers. They generally buy inexpensive foreign, primarily Chinese, faucets and sell through discount retailers, but not always. Rohl, for example, buys premium European faucets which it sells through showrooms, interior designers and high end internet retailers. Aquabrass, the Canadian importer, buys many of its faucets from Italy. Whitehaus imports from Hamat, a well-regarded Israili faucet company.

High-end products, however, are the exception. The fort� of most Marketeers is the discount marketplace. One such company, Fontaine makes no excuses for its marketing model, and does not claim to be anything but an importer of inexpensive Chinese faucets for the discount market. But, others in this category present themselves as more than they are. Kraus USA, for example, goes to considerable lengths to pass itself off as a manufacturer of quality faucets. But, even a brief inquiry reveals that it owns no factories and, in fact, imports all of its faucets, already boxed and ready to ship, from large Chinese manufacturers. Other companies in the category include Vigo Industries and Kingston Brass. Home Depot follows this model with three of its faucet collections: Elizabethan Classics, Belle Foret, and Schon; all sold by its subsidiary World Imports. Freur faucets also fall in this category, at the low end of the group.

One commonality among Marketeers that we find very troublesome is the availability of replacement and repair parts, or rather the lack thereof. While some Marketeers, notably Rohl, provide full support for their products, including an extensive parts inventory, most do not. Kraus, for example, guarantees to have parts available for its faucets for just five years, which is about average for this group. Vigo and Kingston Brass have not been as forthcoming about their intentions, but offer only a 5 and 10 year warranty respectively. Five or ten years of parts support is not enough for a product intended by most buyers to last a lifetime. At the very low end, Freuer doesn't make even a modest attempt to provide after-installation support.
Retail Rebranders
Large retailers have been rebranding for decades. Big box and lumber stores, and hardware cooperatives buy faucets directly from manufacturers then rebrand and sell them under a store trade name. These are, unfortunately, the faucets that seem to be the hardest to get warranty support or parts for. Pegasus and Glacier Bay faucets from The Home depot are a case in point — but certainly not the only case. Home Depot faucets are made by factories in (mostly) China. There is no central parts source, so if you need a part, you had better hope you kept the brochure that came with the faucet so you will know how to contact the actual manufacturer. Home Depot can't help you. They don't keep those kinds of records — or at least no one seems to know where they are.

The problem is hardly insurmountable. Some Rebranders have completely conquered their after-sale servicing issues: notably Sears, whose nationally famous Craftsman tool and Kenmore appliance brands are all made by others. But, unlike other retailers, Sears stocks all the parts and provides all warranty and repair service out of its local stores — proving that the after-sale issues inherent in retail rebranding can be overcome. But, it takes an institutional commitment of resources to do so, and none of the major hardware or lumber store brands that we know of has made the commitment. Home Depot has the ability and the infrastructure in its subsidiary, Your Other Warehouse, Inc., to store, catalog and distribute parts for its in-house faucet brands, but it has not bothered.

Other retail rebranders included in reviews are RONA, Inc. the Canadian hardware company that supplies Uberhaus faucets to company-owned stores, franchises and cooperating independent hardware stores throughout Canada. RONA, lke the Home Depot, its chief competitor in Canada, imports its faucets already in the box from a variety of Chinese manufacturers.

Is There a "Best" Business Model?
We are not prepared to categorically state that one business model is overwhelmingly better than another. Most seem able to produce good, and not so good, faucets. There is no necessary relationship between business model and faucet quality. A company that is determined to offer a good quality faucet will sell good quality products irrespective of its chosen model. A company that is competing only on price is not as likely to offer a reliable product. This includes many Marketeers, and some Retail Rebranders. But, by no means all. Kraus, for example, is a Marketeer that seems focused on quality despite its relatively low prices. Retail Rebranders Ikea and Home Depot sell many excellent faucets, but also some real clunkers, and it's not usually possible to tell which is which. But, Delta and Moen, both Manufacturers, also sell junk faucets, although their reputation for quality is generally good. However, with Manufacturers it's usually possible to avoid poor quality simply by following our two basic rules of faucet-buying: stay away from plastic, and be wary of any faucet retailing below $100.00.

The real difference among business models is in after-sale support. It is clear that the Retail 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, the stores usually don't know. Plus, store brands are often not the manufacturer's regular line of faucet, so replacement parts may not be in inventory anyway.

Marketeers generally offer little after-sale support. These companies usually rely on their retail outlets to provide customer support, and have virtually no in-house support facilities to speak of. Companies such as Kraus admit that they will keep replacement parts on hand a few years. Freuer provides virtually no customer support of any kind, and does not even have a published customer support telephone number.

At the other end, Manufacturers and Assemblers are more likely to have comprehensive support operations, making it easier to get parts and warranty service. But, some Specifiers also excel in product support. In the complaints we receive about these companies' products, the issue is seldom with customer support, which is often praised to the sky, but with the product itself. But, some of these companies do have customer support issues. Mico Designs, for example, a Specifier of high-end faucets, is quickly earning a reputation for some of the worst customer support in the industry. By contrast, California Faucets, gets frequent praise for its after-sale support, as does Waterstone. However, the American companies, Kohler, Moen and Delta are the stand outs in this area, and the models that other faucet companies would be wise to follow.

How We Determine a Company's Business Model
Kohler, for example, is mostly a U.S.-based manufacturer, but its faucets contain parts made by other companies under contract, and some are simply manufactured by others to Kohler's specifications. Delta, Moen and Elkay are doing the same thing. Rohl, has recently designed its own complete collection of faucets, sanitary ware and accessories, and seems headed, at least in part, away from Marketeer and toward Specifier.

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

Getting Parts

A name brand faucet not only has a history and a reputation that can usually be relied on, but also a massive investment in parts and an organization to keep track of and distribute the parts. Even if all a company does is buy faucets from overseas factories, it generally also buys the parts required to keep those faucets operating. Most faucet companies try to use the same parts in many faucets, especially parts like cartridges and hoses that get a lot of wear and could be broken. This practice helps reduce the cost of stocking a large number of different parts. Still, few parts operations are self-supporting, so some part of the cost of purchasing, cataloging, stocking and distributing those parts is going to be added to the price of your faucet. What you get for the few extra dollars you pay for a name faucet is peace of mind: If the faucet breaks, the parts to fix it are available. They might be costly, but not usually as costly as replacing the faucet.

A reliable supply of parts is an important part of any faucet-buying decision. Kraus, for example, does not guaranteed parts for its faucets after five years. Vigo, which guarantees its faucets for just five years, probably stocks parts for just the five-year warranty period. Of course, after the guaranteed availability period, there may still be some parts left on the shelf, but you can't rely on it.

These are discount-sellers, and they naturally look for ways to reduce costs. But, the consequence is that after a few years, when the faucet is most likely to break, there may be no parts to be had in the U.S. for the Chinese faucets these companies sell. By contrast, we just bought a new valve seat for a bathroom faucet manufactured by Kohler in 1918. The fact that the seat lasted almost 100 years gives you a good indication of the quality of Kohler products made in 1918. The fact that we can still get parts for it tells you a lot about the depth of Kohler's parts inventory.

Home Depot, Menards, Lowes and other large home centers and hardware stores sell numerous faucets their own in-store brand names. In most cases, unless you know who made the faucet, it's almost impossible to find out where to get parts — even if parts are available. This seems to be a systemic weakness of Retail Rebranders, and is discussed above under Business Models, and in our rating of Home Depot faucets below.

Our Faucet Ratings

We don't sell faucets. We don't accept payment of any kind from faucet companies. We don't recommend faucets to our customers unless specifically asked to do so. We do a lot of kitchen and bath remodeling, so we buy a lot of faucets. That is our only connection to the faucet industry.

We have no interest in promoting any specific faucet, faucet line or faucet company. All of this is preamble to the following statement:

We rate faucet companies as objectively as we can, often after extensive investigation. We don't care what faucet you buy. We just present you with the facts we have, and leave it up to you to make an intelligent choice.

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 that is too new to have a track record, or where information is too sparse for us to form an intelligent opinion. Eventually we will (if they are still around in a few years), but not yet. If we can't tell who made the faucet, as is often the case with Retail Rebranders, then we usually will not rate the faucet line.

We don't try to review and rate every faucet company. There are far too many. There are hundreds, if not thousands of boutique faucet companies. What we do try to review and rate are faucet companies that readers ask about. So, if your preferred faucet is not reviewed, and you would eke to see it rated, contact us. We have added six company ratings in the past year, and have another six in the hopper. When we have enough information to support a rating, these will appear in the list.

Ratings range from 1 to 10, with 1 being completely worthless to 10 being nearly perfect. Four to six 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. Most companies make a range of faucets. They have an economy line, middle line, and top line. This is why we usually post ratings as a range, from 3-7, for example. Three is below standard, seven is above average. So while our ratings give you an idea of the overall quality of the company's faucets, it's always necessary to investigate the particular faucet you are planning to buy. There are good and not-so-good faucets in most product lines.

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty

Imported Mexico/China Rating: 4-7 Updated: 2/19/13	American Standard American Standard Brands One Centennial Avenue P.O. Box 6820 Piscataway, NJ 08854 (800) 442-1902	4-7 $150-600 Mexico/China	Manufacturer The Home Depot, Lincoln Winnelson, and many on-line faucet stores	Lifetime to the original owner.

	Founded as the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company in 1875, American Standard shares with Kohler the credit for pioneering the technique of attaching porcelain to cast iron just after the Civil War, a process that made sanitary bath ware possible. For more than a century American Standard was an American manufacturer of sanitary ware selling its products worldwide. Today, what's left of American Standard in the U.S. is merely the design, marketing and distribution arm of overseas, mostly Mexican and Chinese, factories.
In 2007 the old American Standard Companies was "Bained". Its air-conditioning division became Trane, Inc. which was immediately snapped up by Ingersoll-Rand. The kitchen and bath division, along with the American Standard brand name and logo was sold to Bain Capital Partners, a private equity investment fund, now famous due to its ownership by presidential aspirant Mitt Romney. Bain Capital reorganized the division as a new corporation, American Standard America, a majority of which was then sold to Sun Capital Partners. Crane Plumbing, a well-known maker of excellent, mostly commercial, bath fixtures, and Eljer Co. were joined to American Standard America in 2008 to form American Standard Brands. This is the name under which the company now does business. The original American Standard Companies, Inc., founded in 1875, ceased to exist. Now, it gets really interesting. In 2009, Bain split the assets of American Standard Brands into U.S. assets and non-U.S. assets. American Standard Brands kept the U.S. assets. The non-U.S. assets were allocated to Ideal Standard, formerly American Standard's European subsidiary, but now recast as a separate company wholly owned by Bain Capital. As part of the deal, Ideal Standard got the right to use the American Standard name and logo on plumbing products outside of the U.S. Then, in 2010, Bain split out the Asian portion of Ideal Standard's assets, including the well-regarded American Standard (China) Co., Ltd. and sold these, along with the right to use the American Standard brand name and logo in Asia, to INAX, a Japanese sanitary-wares company. In 2011, JS Group, a Japanese private investment corporation (NOT, as far as we can tell, owned by Bain Capital), bought INAX and consolidated it with four other Japanese home-improvement products companies to form LIXIL as a wholly owned subsidiary of JS Group. So, here is the cast of characters as of today. At least five separate companies own the American Standard brand name and the right to use the American Standard logo on its products: INAX/LIXIL, a Japanese company owns it in Asia; American Standard Brands, headquartered in New Jersey, owns it in the U.S.; and Ideal Standard, a Belgian company controlled by the U.S.-based Bain Capital, owns the name and logo everywhere else; Grupo Industrial Saltillo, headquartered in Mexico, owns the right to use the American Standard name and logo on water heaters sold in North America. It bought the right along with the water heaters themselves from the old American Standard Companies in the 1990s, before the breakup. Finally, Ingersoll-Rand has has the exclusive right to use the American Standard name and logo on heating and air-conditioning products, along with the Trane brand. So, if you buy an American Standard faucet, only God and American Standard know where it actually originated — and maybe not even American Standard knows. The new private equity group owners of American Standard Brands are all about the bottom line and nothing but the bottom line. Nearly as soon as Bain Capital obtained control of American Standard's kitchen and bath division, it began closing U. S. factories and laying off American workers. Today, of all the thousands of different plumbing products sold in the U.S. under the American Standard logo, exactly six of them are made in the company's one surviving factory in Missouri. (To download a list of the six products American Standard still manufactures in the U.S, click here.) None of these are faucets. American Standard no longer makes faucets in America. In the 1980s the combined American Standard Brands companies, including Crane and Eljer, employed over 68,000 American workers, mostly in manufacturing plants spread across the county. Today it employs barely 3,000 Americans, just a few hundred in manufacturing. American Standard Brands is very cagey about where its products are actually made. It claims on its web site that “Due to the fact we change the manufacturing location from time to time, we are not able to give you country of origin by model or even product.”. Well, even though American Standard Brands does not appear to know where its products are manufactured, we do. The company is still in the business of manufacturing faucets, just not in the U.S. It owns five large factories in Mexico, employing over 6,000 workers, and has just finished investing an additional $20 million in modernizing its Mexican facilities and adding hundred of Mexican jobs. Most of the Mexican production is ceramic and acrylic resin bathroom and kitchen fixtures such as sinks, toilets and bathtubs. But, its Monterrey plant produces faucets using mostly Chinese-made components and parts. Eighty percent of Mexican production is exported to the U.S. and Canada. It's hard to imagine that 6,000 Mexican workers can do all the manufacturing that used to be done by over 60,000 Americans, and they can't. For the most part, the Mexican operations are not manufacturing facilities, but assembly plants. They don't make the basic components that go into American Standard products, they just put them together. Most of the actual manufacturing is done in China. American Standard has an unspecified "interest" in three sanitary ware factories in China: A-S (Shanghai) Pottery Co., Ltd.; A-S (Guangzhou) Enameiware Company, Ltd.; and A-S (Tianjin) Pottery Co., Ltd., which make a lot of the company's sanitary wares including sinks and toilets. (Bet you can't guess what the "A-S" stands for.) It also owns an "interest" in an enamelware factory in the Dominican Republic: Sanitarios Dominicanos S.A. (also known as Sadosa Standard). In addition, the company buys both finished products and various components from a veritable international who's who of sanitary ware suppliers located in Canada, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Taiwan. Ideal Standard supplies many of the faucets sold in the U.S. by American Standard, including the upscale Porcher and JADO faucet lines, as well as many of the faucets branded with the American Standard and Eljer logos. Bain's Ideal Standard inherited all of the old American Standard, Porcher and JADO factories in Europe, but almost immediately closed most of them down, moving manufacturing to Asia. It now imports the vast majority of its faucets from Chinese factories, including the old American Standard factories in China now owned by INAX/LIXIL. So, an American Standard faucet not hecho en Mexico from Chinese parts was probably sourced from Ideal Standard which had the faucets made by contract manufacturers in China or Taiwan owned by a holding company based in Japan. It's no wonder American Standard Brands claims it doesn't know where its faucets are made. American Standard has never been especially well known for faucets. Its main line of products has always been ceramic-ware: toilets, sinks and bathtubs. Faucets seem to have always been sort of a sideline with American Standard, offered just to round out its sanitary ware lines. In plumber polls, fewer than 6% of plumbers identify American Standard as their preferred faucet. In our top of mind faucet survey, American Standard is the first name that comes to mind in only 2% of our respondents. But, in fact, the company sells a pretty good faucet. Not particularly stylish, but well engineered in American Standard's design facility at its U.S. headquarters in Piscataway, NJ. What we don't like about American Standard is that most, if not all, of its faucet valves contain significant amounts of plastic. There are also some issues with quality control in the Mexican (or Chinese, or Taiwanese, or Dominican) factories. We have had some bad experiences with part failure and corrosion in lower-end American Standard faucets. For high-style faucets from American Standard, you have to move to the upscale Porcher or JADO Faucet lines, both owned by Ideal Standard, but distributed in the U.S. by American Standard Brands. There are no longer any American Standard or Eljer faucets made, or even assembled in the U.S. They are all foreign-made. For a "Made in USA" faucet from an American company, look to Moen, Symmons, Chicago, Delta Faucets, California FAucets, Phylrich, Signa, or Waterstone, to name just a few quality American faucet companies who make or at least assemble their faucets here, in the U.S. American Standard recommends (see sidebar, "American Standard� Is It Still American?", above) that as loyal Americans, in order to help the U.S. economy recover from this recession, we should not buy foreign-made American Standard products. We think all of us should carefully follow that recommendation and consider buying American, not American Standard. If you have experience with American Standard faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .
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Imported Canada/Italy Rating: 5-8 Updated: 11/11/12	Aquabrass Faucets Aquabrass, Inc. 9805 Clark Street Montreal, QC H3L 2R5 800-867-8484	5-8 $200-1,500 Canada/Italy	Marketeer eFaucets.com, Build.com, QualityBath.com, Amazon.com. List of authorized dealers on the company web site.	Mechanical working parts "lifetime limited warranty to the original purchaser." Five-years on most finishes.

	Organized in 1986, Aguabrass, Inc. is a Canadian importer of faucets and kitchen and bath accessories for sale through authorized dealers in Canada and the U.S. The company imports very good designer faucets from well-established, reputable Italian faucet manufacturers. Its chief suppliers are IB Rubineterie S.p.A. and Rubineterie 3M S.r.l.. The faucets are usually part of a collection composed of faucets, showers, tub fillers, and accessories. In some cases coordinating architectural and cabinet hardware is available to finish off the look. Aquabrass is a Marketeer, not a Specifier. The various collections offered by Aquabrass are not designed or engineered by Aquabrass. They are designed and engineered by the Italian factories that make the faucets. All Aquabrass does is rebrand them to wear the Aquabrass name plate. But, Aquabrass deserves kudos for selecting some very contemporary and interesting collections. Some of these faucets have no parallel in North America. Aquabrass indicated a few years ago that some of its faucets are manufactured in Canada and others in Spain but we have been unable to identify the company's Canadian or Spanish manufacturer. So, it may no longer source faucets from either country. A call for clarification to Gaelle Marrass�, the media and marketing director for the company, has so far not been returned.
As with all Italian faucets, the valves are ceramic disk cartridges, and from our examination, very good, all brass cartridges. But, we cannot examine every faucet offered by the company. It offers a wide variety with a large number of different cartridges from different manufacturers. Our favorite cartridge replacement parts guru says that many Aquabrass cartridges have plastic bodies and some plastic-on-plastic contact parts — a sure recipe for future problems. Ask specifically if a faucet has an all brass and/or stainless steel cartridge. Don't buy a plastic faucet cartridge. The Aquabrass web site is unfinished, and has been unfinished since 2009. We despair of it ever being finished. The site does not display essential information such as the company address or customer service telephone number. We had to go to the Quebec telephone directory to find the main corporate telephone number, and call to get the toll-free customer service number. We also note that a lot of the faucets offered by Aquabrass do not seem to be shown on the web site. It's had to tell, since the site greatly overuses Flash(y) media, making it very hard to navigate. The company provides full support for the faucets it sells, including parts replacement and warranty service. The consumer experience with this company has been very good overall. The faucets themselves have very few problems, and the customer support is capable — and in three languages. Plumbers report that some of the faucet models are a little fussy to install, but no serious installation issues. Of course, we get the usual plumber gripes whenever they have to install a faucet this is not a Moen or Delta. But, that's just plumbers. Foreign-made faucets comparable to Aquabrass include Kraus, Rohl, The Whitehaus Collection. Comparable American-made faucets include Sigma, California Faucets, Newport Brass/Ginger. We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Aquabrass faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Germany Rating: 6-8 Updated: 11/09/12	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. Founded in 1925 as Blanc & Co. by Heinrich Blanc in Oberderdingen, Germany, its main business is the manufacture of kitchen sinks. It is the largest sink manufacturer in Germany, and one of the largest in the world. Starting with stainless steel sinks in 1951, the company has since added granite composite sinks, and porcelain ceramic sinks to its lineup. Today the company is wholly owned by E.G.O. Elektro-Garate GmbH & Co. Holding KG of Oberderdingen , Germany; a manufacturer of mostly high tech components for home and industrial appliances.
More than most main-stream faucet companies, Blanco seems to have a lot of trouble with counterfeiters and infringers. It's name is a large part of the problem. It means "white" in any number of Romance languages, so any faucet manufacturer who uses "blanco" in a model name has to be careful of Blanco's ownership of that name. Blanco is suing Vlanco Industries, LLC and others in federal court for trademark infringement. Vlanco denies all wrongdoing. Blanco is a sink company that also makes faucets. But, it makes an excellent, mostly stylish line of faucets out of solid brass using uncompromising German ceramic cartridges. In quality Blanco faucets are comparable to Grohe, Graff or Hansgrohe and similarly priced. Blanco's faucets are intended to complement its sinks. Many can be finished to exactly match a Blanco sink. The company's faucets emphasizes style, and in fact refers to itself frequently as a "design" company although it does manufacture most of its own products in Germany, Canada and Turkey. If you have experience with Blanco faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 5-8 Updated: 11/12/12 Download BAA List (PDF)	Brizo A division of Masco Corporation 55 E. 111th Street P.O. Box 40980 Indianapolis, IN 46280 (317) 848-1812	5-8 $250-800 USA/China	Manufacturer 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 — in fact, the most popular faucet in the U.S., 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 line at a lower price but not a much lower quality. Also look at Ginger faucets and Newport Brass. Both are owned by Masco, although both of these are foreign made. Equivalent to a high-end Kohler faucet. Stylish and generally a good value for the dollar. For more information on Masco products, see Delta Faucets. While much of the Brizo collection is made in the U.S.A., some items are made in China, and others are merely assembled in the U.S. from foreign-made parts. Brizo imports from Guangzhou Seagull Kitchen and Bath Products Co., Ltd a major Chinese supplier of faucets and faucet parts; and from Lota International Co. Ltd. an even larger Taiwanese supplier of faucets and components. Check the model on the box or the Brizo web site to verify U.S.A. origin. If you have experience with Brizo faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in USA Europe/China Rating: 5-8 Updated: 08/02/12 With very few exceptions, all California Faucets are assembled and finished in the U.S.A.	California Faucets 5231 Argosy Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649 (800) 822-8855	5-8 $200-1,000+ (Customization can add considerably to the price.) USA/Europe/China Assembled in USA	Assembler California Faucets provides an on-line retail source guide.	Lifetime on ceramic cartridges and PVD finishes. Ten years on other faucet components and most other finishes. No warranty on certain "architectural" finishes".

	Founded in 1988, family-owned California Faucets is a specifier and assembler of bathroom and bar faucets from components made elsewhere (primarily China, Germany, France and Italy) then assembled to order and finished in the company's Huntington Beach, California factory. The company does not make kitchen faucets (although the rumor is that it is planning to expand into this area), but does sell a complete line of coordinated lavatory faucets, tub sets, shower sets, bidets and bathroom accessories.
California Faucets has a reputation for innovation. It has recently designed a series of smart, new StyleTherm thermostatic shower control valves priced to compete with the pressure control valves used more commonly in the U.S. The older pressure control technology (invented by Symmons in 1929) prevents scalding when water pressure to the shower suddenly changes (as when a nearby toilet is flushed), but does not provide the precise temperature control of the newer, but more expensive, European thermostatic technology. By engineering its own thermostatic valves, California Faucets has avoided the patent entanglements and heavy licensing fees charged by European companies to manufacture thermostatic valves in the U.S., and is able to drop the price considerably. Innovation also underpins the company's faucet technology. Its approach to making its heavy, all-brass faucets is, we think, smart and creative, helping to keep its prices relatively low without sacrificing quality. It engineers virtually all of its faucets around just a few standard ceramic 1/4 turn valves (most of which are made by the German company, Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, known for its stunningly flawless products). Decorative items such as bodies, spouts, handles, etc. for each type of cartridge are largely interchangeable, so a great many different faucet looks can be created without altering the guts of the faucet. Customers are free to choose one of the company's hundreds of factory faucet designs. But, the company allows customization to a previously unheard of degree. Indeed, "customization" is probably not the right word. Customers can literally design there own unique faucet creation. The company estimates that about six million different faucets can be created just by swapping parts and finishes: sort of like ordering in a Chinese restaurant — take one spout from column A, two handles from column C, and a housing from column B, and so on. Of course, most of these would be drop-dead ugly, but that still leaves several hundred thousand take-your-breath-away combinations. California Faucets even has what it calls a "Virtual Faucet Creator" on its web site to make it simple for a customer to design the perfect faucet for his or her bathroom. We've used it and it works quite well. (And, it can keep our plumbers entertained and out of trouble for days at a time.) California Faucets offers about 30 different finishes, twelve of which are durable PVD finishes. Many of these are not available anywhere else, including the Polished Rose Bronze finish shown in the image above (The picture does not do the finish justice, by the way.) The company also offers split finishes, with the body in one finish, spout in another and handles in a third. Of course, fancy and split finishes can add considerably to the price of the faucet. Design, engineering, assembly, finishing, packaging, shipping, testing, quality control, sales, marketing and customer service are located in the U.S. But, because essential parts of California faucets are made elsewhere, most California Faucets do not qualify for "Made in U.S.A." status. However, the company has received the coveted "Made in California" designation based on its �employing more American labor per faucet manufactured than most any manufacturer in the industry.� So, while not quite "Made in USA", the company's faucets are pretty darn close. We don't usually rate customer service unless it is awfully good or very bad. In this case, very good. We were favorably impressed by California Faucets' handling of our (purely imaginary) faucet installation problems and give it a big thumbs up. If you have experience with California faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Our thanks, and a tip of the hard hat, to Noah Taft, Senior VP, for information provided about California Faucets sourcing and manufacturing; and an interesting discussion of the company's history, philosophy and culture. If you see anything in these ratings that you believe is incorrect, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 7-9 Updated: 07/12/12 With very few exceptions, all Chicago Faucets are made in the U.S.A. Tour Chicago Faucets' American Factories	Chicago Faucet Company 2100 S. Clearwater Drive Des Plaines, IL 60018 847-803-5000	7-9 $200-450 USA Made in USA	Manufacturer Chicago Faucets	"Lifetime limited warranty to the original buyer, 5-years on the finish. Chicago also guarantees to have parts for every faucet it has ever made since 1913.

	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. Heavy solid, lead-free brass with the unique Quaturn compression cartridge invented by Chicago over 100 years ago. The cartridge was revolutionary then, and is still one of the best around. These are distinctive 100+ year faucets - and reasonably priced for the quality. These faucets started life in commercial kitchens and residential versions still show that good heavy-duty, nearly indestructible, commercial breeding. All components are interchangeable so replacement parts are available for products as far back as 1913. So, no matter how old your Chicago faucet may be, you can get parts incorporating the latest technology. If you are not happy with a Quaturn compression valve, you can, in most cases, get a ceramic disk cartridge valve made by Anton Traenkle GmbH & Co KG, one of the best in the world, that fits in the same slot. Even if your Chicao faucet was made before ceramic disk cartridges were invented, it will still fit. Show us another faucet company that can do that, and we'll buy you a beer — what the hell, we're risk takers — two beers. Chicago, founded in 1901, has always concentrated on flawless performance rather than high style, and its faucets are a little "industrial". Of course, "industrial" is now "in" as a preferred look for kitchen faucets, so the world has caught up with Chicago's style rather than Chicago consciously trying to make its faucets stylish. But, this may be changing. Chicago Faucets was bought up in 2002 by Swiss-based Geberit AG, a manufacturer of excellent, high-style, bathroom plumbing fixtures, including its own line of high-quality faucets, which is growing a strong presence in the U.S. market. So, a little style is slowly starting to creep into the Chicago Faucet line; and this trend can be expected to continue. But, for right now, the design-glitterati might want to look elsewhere. The rest of us, who just want a guaranteed dependable, lifetime faucet, can do a whole lot worse than a Chicago Faucet.
Selecting a faucet has been made easier, but not entirely foolproof, by the web site "configurator" which allow you to narrow down your faucet choice based on mounting type, hole configuration, etc. Still, as always when selecting a faucet, consult with your plumber before making your final selection. Research, development, design, engineering, manufacturing, testing, quality control, assembly, packaging, shipping, sales, marketing, technical support, customer service and the employee cafeteria all in the U.S.A. It's foundry is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Duffin Manufacturing in Elyria, Ohio makes the Quaturn cartridge and miscellaneous faucet parts; and final assembly, packaging and shipping take place in Michigan City, Indiana. However, it does buy some components made in China. We have found records of purchases of hoses and compression rings from Lota International Co. Ltd. of Taiwan/China. However, we don't think these rather insignificant parts will disqualify the company's "Made in USA" status. At one time, some faucets were imported by Geberit and sold under the Chicago name. That has changed, according to company sources. The reverse is now true, Chicago is exporting faucets to Europe to be sold under the Geberit name. If you have experience with Chicago faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Portugal Rating: 6-7 Updated: 07/31/12	Cifial USA 6540 Peachtree Industrial Blvd. Suite A Norcross, GA 30071 (800) 528-4904	6-7 $200-450 Portugal	Manufacturer Cifial USA lists a dealer directory	Lifetime "during normal residential use for as long as the original purchaser owns his/her home."

	Cifial USA is the U.S. distributor of Cifial S.G.P.S., S.A., a Portuguese manufacturer of mid-priced brass faucets with good quality ceramic valves. A dominant manufacturer is Portugal, the company is seeking to expand its market in the U.S. by opening a distribution and customer service center in Georgia to support its over 2,000 retail sellers. The faucet is good quality, and for the price, an excellent value. The designs are traditional and transitional and fit well in most kitchens and baths. The company's U.S. web site has pictures of every faucet in every finish it sells, making selection very easy. But, for some reason, the web designers forgot about the "contact" information, so finding out Cifial's U.S. address and telephone number requires you to go to the Portugal web site and look under "locations".
Founded in Portugal in 1904, Cifial has over a century of plumbing and hardware manufacturing experience, and has a solid reputation in Europe for quality products. In addition to plumbing fixtures it makes door and cabinet hardware through its subsidiary Centro Industrial de Ferragens, S.A. Its collections are intended to be coordinated. You can buy a Cifial doorknob to match your Cifial faucet. For a quality, mid-priced faucet with a solid reputation and U.S. based parts support and customer service, Cifial is worth a look. For an equivalent American made faucet, look at Delta or Moen. If you have experience with Cifial faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Rating: 5-8 Updated: 11/26/12	Danze Globe Union Industrial Corp, Ltd. 2 Territorial Ct. Suite A Bolingbrook, IL 60440 (888) 328-2383	5-8 $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 the Globe Union 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).
Globe Union is a full line manufacturer. Its products range widely in quality, an effect of making product at every price point. But, Danze is positioned as Globe Union's upper tier faucet line. As a whole, the Danze line is stylish and seems to be well made. In the past we saw the occasional defect that suggested spotty quality control at the Chinese factories that make Danze, but we have not seen any 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 styles and they are very good, even excellent. Globe Union seems to have conquered the parts and warranty issues that formerly plagued the company's products. Parts, warranty support and installation help are available from on-line sources and at 1-888-328-2383. Other than for general questions, you will need your brand name and model number to get any assistance. We have had reservations about the quality of Danze faucets in the past, but they are now largely gone. Our recent experience with the Danze line has been favorable. The product line contains a full range or faucets from economy to luxury, so it falls generally in the middle-high range of quality. Line for line, it compares favorably to Delta and Moen; not quite a Kohler yet. If you have experience with Danze or any other Globe Union faucet, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 4-8 Updated: 11/19/12 Download BAA List (PDF) Watch Delta Faucets Being Made	Delta Faucet Company A Division of Masco Corporation 55 E. 111th Street P.O. Box 40980 Indianapolis, IN 46280 (317) 848-1812	3-6 $75-500 USA/Canada/China	Manufacturer Menards, The Home Depot, Lowes, 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 — the world's largest faucet manufacturer, owner of Brizo, Delta, Peerless, Ginger, Hansgrohe and Newport Brass faucet brands in the U.S. and Bristan Group, Ltd. in the U.k. The company is also a huge player in cabinets (Kraftmaid, Merillat, Mills Pride, Quality Cabinets) paints (Behr, Kilz), bathtubs and showers (Aqua Glass), water, gas and steam fittings and connectors (Brasstech and BrassCraft), replacement windows (Milgard), decorative hardware (Liberty Hardware), and even staplers (Arrow). Founded in 1929 as Masco Screw Products Company by Alex Manoogian, an Armenian immigrant, the company became Masco Corporation in 1961. Delta faucet started in 1954. The company history states that Alex Manoogian invented the company's signature ball valve. He didn't. It was actually invented by Landis H. Perry who started tinkering with the design after his discharge from the military in 1945. In 1952 he patented it and started shopping for a company to make it. Manoogian realized its possibilities, and after improving the design to eliminate some defects and make it more easily manufactured, started Delta Faucet, initially as a separate company, later as a division of Masco to make single handle faucets using the new valve. In 1958, four short years after the product was launched, Delta's sales topped $1 million for the first time. Delta is still the best selling faucet in North America, and one of the faucets most preferred by plumbers.
Masco is one American faucet manufacturer that has resisted exporting all of its manufacturing to China. Delta makes most of its faucets in Greensburg, Indiana, with additional production in Jackson, Tennessee; and Morgantown, Kentucky. It has two more plants in Ontario: one in London and another in Cambridge, that mostly serve the Canadian market. Delta claims that over 4,500 of its products (not just faucets) comply with the Buy American Act (BAA), including its new Diamond Seal Technology ceramic disk cartridges. Delta employes over 1,300 Americans in the U.S. But, not all Delta faucets are made in North America. Delta closed one of its factories, in Chickasha, Oklahoma, laying off 600 American workers, soon after its new plant in Panyu, China became operational. The China plant makes Delta products for the growing Asian market, but also provides faucet parts to Delta's U.S. and Canadian factories. And, import records show that Delta routinely imports Chinese faucets from Stream Tapware Corp. and the giant Lota International Co. Ltd., which also supplies Fontaine faucets, some Pegasus faucets to Home Depot, and a few Pfister faucets. So, you cannot assume that a particular Delta faucet was made in the U.S. In fact, there are indications from plumbers that the same model faucet may be made in more than one factory, some in the U.S., some not. Peerless, Delta and Brizo are really the low, middle and high ends of the same Masco faucet line, and they overlap quite a lot. Newport Brass and Ginger are brand names of another Masco Company: Brasstech, Inc., and there is a lot of overlap between these two similarly priced brands. Hansgrohe , the upscale faucet manufacturer in Germany, recently acquired by Masco, is the last player in Masco's faucet roll call, at the very high end of the line. Among plumbers, the Delta line of faucets is a perennial favorite. In every plumber poll we have ever read, Delta is almost always the first or second choice as the go-to faucet. Plumbers like faucets that don't give any trouble. This pretty well describes Delta faucets to a "T". And, if it does break, Delta gets the plumbers' vote as the easiest faucet to fix, even easier than Moen. Delta also ranks well in our homeowner "top of mind" survey. Consistently between 25-28% of the readers taking the survey identify delta as the first brand to come to mind when they think "faucet". Delta is a good, solid, reliable, durable and stylish faucet. But, you get what you pay for. Look for all metal and ceramic construction. Stay away from plastic parts, especially plastic ball valves. Delta does not usually disclose on the box that critical parts are plastic, so be wary of any Delta priced below $100.00. At the other end of the quality scale, Delta's better faucets are as solid and reliable as any mid-priced brand on the market. Delta was one of the early faucet innovators. The pioneering Delta ball washerless cartridge has been widely copied and sometimes outright counterfeited. The ball cartridge is now being replaced in upper end Delta faucets by a company-designed ceramic valve cartridge that features a diamond impregnated ceramic disk. Delta claims this Diamond Seal Technology is a quantum leap in cartridge design. We think it a major improvement — "quantum leap", however, remains to be seen. Most Delta faucets are available with the company's patented Brilliance® PVD finishes developed by Vapor Technologies Inc., another Masco company. Delta was the first faucet company to offer PVD finishes on all of its faucets. The finish is guaranteed never to corrode, tarnish or discolor for as long as you own a Delta Faucet. There's a good reason Delta has been the most popular faucet in America for over 80 years. It's overall a very good faucet, and reasonably priced. We rank Delta on about the same level as Moen. Both companies have a deep lineup of residential and commercial faucets at almost all price levels. It would be hard to go wrong with a faucet from either company, so long as you stay away from any plastic. 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 for more information.) It's the American way, folks. Go to a plumbing supply house for a regular, no-nonsense, main-line, true, genuine, original Delta faucet, or better yet, see your local plumber. (Ahem! Contributions for that plug are being accepted. contact us for the name of our bank.) Faucets comparable to Delta include Moen and Kohler. If you have experience with Delta faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Germany Rating: 7-9 Updated: 10/15/12	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.
If you have experience with Dornbracht faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Mexico/China Not Rated See: American Standard Brands. Updated: 10/23/12	Eljer Faucets American Standard Brands One Centennial Avenue P.O. Box 6820 Piscataway, NJ 08854 800-442-1902	Not Rated $100-450 Mexico/China	Manufacturer Look for a distributor on the company web site.	Lifetime on mechanical to the original owner. Lifetime on some finishes, but mostly 10 years.

	Founded in 1904 by Raymond Crane and Oscar Bacus, Eljer Co. had a long and distinguished history as an American sanitary wares manufacturer. The company invented the vitreous china toilet tank (or more politely "water closet cistern") that replaced the wall-hung wooden or copper-lined wooden cistern. In the 1930s the company was well known for its suites of pastel bath fixtures which it advertised widely. These were a luxury item during the Depression, but caught on and were widely copied during the Post-War housing boom of the 1950s and '60s. The pink, peach, robins egg blue and turquoise colors that dominated mid-20the-century bathrooms were an Eljer innovation. Eljer's reputation for its heavy duty, exceptional quality toilets, sinks and bathtubs never did translate to its faucets. Eljer was always the Rodney Dangerfield of the faucet world. It got no respect. 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, but very few people seemed to notice.
Unfortunately that historical quality is eroding fast. In 2008, the Eljer Co. was purchased by Sun Capital Partners and merged with American Standard America along with Crane Plumbing to form the new privately owned American Standard Brands. Sun Capital immediately closed Eljer's American factories, and laid off its American employees. The former Eljer Co. ceased to exist. Eljer is now just a model name used to brand some of its American Standard bath wares and faucets. American Standard Brands is basically a marketing company, and what name it gives its products is determined primarily by which brand name it thinks will best sell the product. There is a lot of cross branding. For example, the Eljer Titan a very well-known (in plumbing circles) toilet is showing up in stores as the American Standard Titan Pro and the Crane Titan Pro. The American Standard's Cadet 3 toilet, exclusive to Home Depot, is also exclusive to Menards stores as the Eljer Diplomat. (See The Model Game for more information on exclusive store-specific branding.) We do not rate Eljer faucets separately from American Standard Brands since Eljer is now just a model name for American Standard's products. It does not even have its own customer service telephone number. See American Standard Brands for ratings and more information about the company. If you have experience with Eljer faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in USA China Rating: 5-8 Updated: 12/07/12 Residential Faucets Commercial Faucets Report broken links.	Elkay Manufacturing Co. 2222 Camden Ct. Oak Brook, IL (630) 574-8484	5-8 $100-450 USA/China	Manufacturer In Lincoln, Winnelson or Briggs, Inc. In Omaha, Lund Ross Company. Elsewhere in the country, go to "Category • Retail Source" on the company web site.	"…[F]ree 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 90 years, is a privately owned global player in the kitchen and bath world. It owns the Elkay brand of sanitary ware, faucets and bath accessories, and also MasterCraft, Medallion and Yorktowne cabinetry — all major brands, with eight factories in the U.S. — and the Revere line of plumbing fixtures. With manufacturing facilities in Broadview, Illinois; Lumberton, North Carolina; and Ogden, Utah, Elkay manufactures many of its sanitary-ware products (toilet, sinks, etc.) domestically. But, it also owns Zhuhai Daya S.E.Z., a manufacturer based in Zhuhai, China. And, only a few of Elkay's faucets are actually manufactured in the U.S. Most are merely assembled here from imported, mostly Chinese, components. See the Buy American Act list at left for faucet models actually manufactured in the U.S. Elkay is currently embroiled in a dispute before the U.S. International Trade Commission in which the company claims that Chinese manufacturers of stainless steel sinks are selling heavily subsidized products in the U.S. at 24% below market prices. In July, 2012 the USITC ruled that subsidies provided by the Chinese government to Chinese manufacturers of stainless steel sinks "violate U.S. trade laws', the first step in imposing punitive, anti-dumping, tariffs on Chinese stainless sinks.
Elkay has never been a name that immediately springs to mind when thinking about residential faucets. But, if you are building a hotel, restaurant or public restroom, it may be the first catalog you reach for. Its designs are conservative, but so are most faucets, and most buyers prefer more conservative traditional or transition styling which is Elkay's strong suit. Elkay faucets were, historically, famous for their reliability. We're not sure that is true any longer. Elkay seems to have begun using plastic in essential parts of their faucets to contain costs. The Arezzo faucet, shown here, used to be a heavy, all brass faucet. Now significant parts are plastic, including the nozzle and grip. We don't like this trend. Look for a heavy, all brass, Elkay faucet. If you have experience with Elkay faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China No Longer in Business Updated: 4/4/13	Fontaine Faucets FSA Imports, Inc. 20372 Hermana Circle Lake Forest, CA 92630 (800) 476-2950	No Longer in Business $100-450.00 China	Marketeer Faucet.com; Faucet Direct; Amazon.com; Costco; Wayfair.	5-year limited warranty to the original purchaser on mechanical parts, 10-years on finish. Outside of the warranty period, replacement parts may be available for purchase.

	Chartered as a Wyoming corporation 2003 by Andrew Martin, but operating in California since 2005, FSA Imports, Inc. was dissolved by the Wyoming Secretary of State on March 1, 2013 and is no longer an active corporation. Formerly, the company was an importer of Chinese-made bathroom and kitchen products that are branded and sold under the Fontaine name. FSA made no pretense that it was anything but an importer, selling inexpensive faucets to discount retailers such as CostCo and Wayfair. A substantial percentage of its faucets were made by Lota International Co. Ltd., a large mainland China manufacturer that makes discount faucets to be sold under a variety of private labels, including some Pegasus faucets for Home Depot, and Globe Union Industrial Corporation, which seems to make private label faucets for half the world and provides faucets parts or components to the other half, including Mico Designs, Sherle Wagner, and Symmons, to name but a few.
FSA's prices, quality and marketing put it in squarely in competition with other Marketeers of discount Chinese faucets such as Kraus USA, Vigo Industries and Kingston Brass which have adopted a similar business model. The company appears to have quit business sometime in the first quarter of 2013, and abandooned its warehouse facility in Lake Forest, CA. All telephone numbers used by the company are disconnected and not in service. There is no record as of this writing that the company has applied for bankruptcy protection. If you have experience with Fontaine faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Switzerland Rating: 7-9 Updated: 10/21/12	Franke Franke Consumer Products, Inc. Luxury Products Group Kitchen Systems Division Hatfield, PA 19440 (800) 626-5771	7-9 $300-2,200 Switzerland	Manufacturer Faucet.com; Faucet Direct; Amazon.	"All faucets installed in a private residence carry a limited lifetime warranty on all mechanical parts" and chrome finishes. All other finishes, 5 years.

	Franke Holding AG is a Swiss company based in Aarburg and operating in 70 countries on a global scale. The company was formed in 1911 by Herman Franke as a sheet metal shop. It did not make its first kitchen sink until 1925, but has since become one of the world's leading suppliers of kitchen sinks and the equipment that goes around them, such as faucets, ovens, vent hoods, and waste disposal systems. Franke also manufactures food service equipment, beverage containers (including beer kegs), coffee systems, aero-space and gas turbine parts, and devices for disinfecting medical equipment. It has operating subsidiaries in more than 70 countries around the world, employing 12,500 people.
Franke makes excellent faucets, but only for the kitchen. It makes no bathroom faucets. The faucets are all brass and stainless steel with excellent ceramic valves. The designs are stylish but not particularly cutting edge. The quality, however, is superb. Franke manufacturers most of the faucets it sells, but some specialty items are manufactured by others. The Triflow filtering system offered in some Franke faucets is manufactured for Franke by Triflow Concepts, Ltd. (UK). The Triflow system allows the delivery of hot, cold and filtered water through one faucet, rather than having a separate faucet for filtered water. These faucets are instantly identifiable by the third handle used to dispense filtered water (see image above). Similar faucets, also manufactured by Triflow, are sold by Rohl. These faucets are expensive. The quality is excellent, but no more so than a Kohler or Waterstone, which are usually about 30-50% lower in price. But, if you like the look, and you can find one on sale at a deep discount, go for it. You will not be disappointed with Franke quality. If you have experience with Franke faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

F R E U E R	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported China Rating: 4-5 Updated: 11/16/12	Freuer Spohn Global Enterprises, LLC Office: 5181 N.W. 108th Ave., Sunrise, FL 33351 Warehouse: 800 International Parkway, Sunrise, FL 33323 Telephone Not Published (See Review)	4-5 $50-150 China	Marketeer Amazon e-Bay Faucet Artist Mix Wholesale.	The company claims to offer a 5-year warranty, but we are unable to verify the terms of the warranty.

	Spohn Global Enterprises, LLC is a Florida company owned by James Spohn that imports a wide variety of Chinese consumer goods which it sells over the internet. The company makes a determined and sustained effort to fly well under the radar. It does not publish its telephone number and requires that all customer contact take place through e-mail. It does not associate its name with any product that it sells. It does business under fictitious business names, none of which is registered with the Florida Secretary of State as required by Florida law. Florida requires fictitious business names be registered to enable customers and creditors to identify the actual person or legal entity behind a "doing business as" trade name or trade mark. Conducting business under an unregistered fictitious name is a criminal offense in Florida, and in most other states.
The Feuer name is also not on record anywhere. It is not registered through the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (USPTO.gov) nor trademarked with the Florida Secretary of State. The company is rated "F" by the Better Business Bureau for its poor handling of customer service issues. The BBB does not require that all customer complaints be resolved to the satisfaction of the customer, but does require a business to make a reasonable effort to handle a complaint. By this standard, Sphn Global failed the test. Spohn Global buys its faucets through Zhejiang Yuhong Import & Export Co., Ltd., a general export company licensed by the Chinese government. Based on design, finish and features, we have identified the most likely manufacturer of the faucets as Zhejiang Aquafacet Import & Export Co., Ltd.. Spohn Global sells these imported faucets under the Freuer brand name through two unregistered business aliases: Mix Wholesale which sells Freuer faucets through Amazon, and Faucet Artist, which sells Freuer faucets on e-Bay and through its own web site. These are nothing more than the names on virtual sign board. They don't have an actual legal existence. All of the various aliases used by Spohn Global operate out of the same Spohn Global warehouse in Sunrise, Florida. Spohn Global does not have a web site under its own name that we can identify. It has registered a domain name, sgeusa.com, according to "whois" records, but the domain is not being used. Freuer faucets get a lot of consumer interest because they are attractive, stylish, and very inexpensive. But, while the style is there, the quality is not. They are not very good faucets. Reports of problems with Freuer faucets are numerous and widespread, as are reports of a lack of post-sale customer support. In our test of customer support, it took 5 days for the company to respond to our first e-mail, and then the response did not address the questions we asked. Our second e-mail, asking for a contact telephone number, was not answered at all. Spohn Global says it will replace a faucet that is broken when you receive it, and will send replacement parts if some are missing or defective. These are things Spohn Global has to do in order to stay affiliated with Amazon and e-Bay. It keeps very few parts, essentially just enough to service faucets delivered on sale with missing or defective parts. Otherwise there is no after-sale availability of parts for Freuer faucets. Spohn Global does not have any sort of systematic replacement parts organization. The company offers a 5-year limited warranty in bold print on faucets sold through e-Bay. But, in reading the fine print we discovered that the warranty does not extend to items offered for sale "as is", and, according to the company's "terms of sale", all Freuer faucets are sold "as is". If there is an actual 5-year written warranty anywhere, we can't find it. If you install the faucet and it proves defective at some point in the future, you are on your own. The company's terms of sale disavow any responsibility for "latent" defects, that is, defects not evident from a visual inspection of the faucet. If you are in the market for a good faucet that is supported after the sale, and for which replacement parts are available, we suggest you look somewhere else. Buy a Freuer faucet only if you feel unusually lucky. Of course, if you feel that lucky, take the money and buy lottery tickets instead. It would probably be a far wiser investment. If you have experience with Freuer faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Not Rated (No Longer in Business) Updated: 10/12/12	Fusion Hardware FH Globe Danze Globe Union Group 2 Territorial Ct. Suite A Bolingbrook, IL 60440 (888) 328-2383	Not Rated (See Danze) China	Manufacturer (Globe Union) Fusion Hardware Group is out of business.

	A former brand name of the huge Globe Union Group, the dominant faucet manufacturer in Asia under its GOBO brand, that has created a brand identity in the U.S. with its Danze line of sanitary ware products, faucets, and accessories. Its faucets are made primarily in Chinese factories by its subsidiary Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp. of Shenzhen, China. Fusion was marketed as a coordinated "theme" of faucets; window, door and cabinet hardware; lighting, and bath accessories (towel racks, etc.). But, Globe Union has apparently decided to no longer support Fusion as a separate brand identify. In 2010 the company sold its Door Hardware division to Schlage Lock Company, along with the Fusion brand name. The company's bath products were rebranded FH Globe.
Then in 2012 Danze announced that it was absorbing all of the remaining Fusion bath products and adding them to its line, and Fusion Hardware ceased to exist. Its web site is still up, but no one is answering the phones — literally. They just ring. Not a good way to handle the transition. For warranty support and parts, try the Danze customer service number. For more information on Globe Union and its many brands, see the review of Danze Faucets, above. If you have experience with Fusion faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Rating: Not Rated Updated: 02/19/13	Globe Union Industrial Corp., Ltd. 22, Chien-Kuo Rd. Taichung Export Processing Zone, Taiwan, R.O.C. 886-4-25349676	Not Rated China	Manufacturer Globe Union Brands in the U.S.: Ameristream Corrego Danze Eurostream Water Ridge	Varies

	Globe Union is one of the world�s largest suppliers of plumbing and sanitary products to other companies (ODM and OEM), operating over 5 million square feet of manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities located on three Continents and in nine countries. Its products are marketed through a dozen or so company brands worldwide and scores of private brands. The publicly traded company, controlled by the Ou-yang Ming family, is headquarted in Taichung, Taiwan. Its faucets are made primarily in mainland Chinese factories by its subsidiary Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp. of Shenzhen. It makes faucets for many other faucet companies, including Uberhaus FAucets for RONA in Canada, Toto, Kraus USA, Fontaine, Ikea and some faucet parts for Mico Designs, Sherle Wagner and Symmons Industries. And, it is the dominant faucet manufacturer in Asia under its own GOBO brand.
The company supplies dozens of in-house lines for large retailers such as the Pegasus, 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, Corrego for Sam's Club and in-store faucets for Menard's lumber stores, among others. Over 90% of its products are exported to the United States and Europe. The company's bath and kitchen lines appear in the United States under many names including: Ameristream, Corrego, Danze, Eurostream, Fusion, Gerber, Plumbers Collection, and Water Ridge. In other countries, they are sold as Moods, K, Milim, Prima, Lenz and HBI. In the U.S., its flagship brands are Gerber and Danze. Gerber Plumbing Fixtures Corp. was an American manufacturer of sanitary ware founded by Max Gerber in 1932. It's assets were purchased by Globe Union in 2003, and the company reorganized as Gerber Plumbing Fixtures LLC with Globe Union as majority shareholder. Most of Gerber's American factories were closed and manufacturing moved to China. Globe Union kept Gerber's name and strong distribution network. Gerber now has manufacturing facilities in Laredo, Texas, Shenzhen, China and Weifang, China and distribution centers in Bridgeton, N.J., Woodridge, Ill, City of Industry, Calif, Montreal, Canada and Weifang, China. Danze, introduced to the U.S. in 2000, is the brand under which Globe Union is growing a name for itself in the U.S. faucet and decorative fixture market. It has been a success, having grown to impressive proportions in a dozen years with hundreds of brick and mortar retailers and a strong internet presence. It has been so successful, in fact, that Globe Union appears to have made the decision to throw all of its marketing muscle behind Danze and phase out other, less successful brands. We can no longer find Ameristream faucets anywhere, although its showers are still available. Brands such as Water Ridge and Corrego are now for sale only by discounters: Water Ridge has become a Costco in-house brand, and Corrego is sold by Sam's Club. Other Globe Union faucet brands have been merged into the Danze line. The former Fusion Hardware Group, Inc. was disbanded by Globe Union in 2012 after selling its Door Hardware division to Schlage Locks along with the right to the Fusion brand name in 2010. The Fusion faucet collections, including Bella Villa, Colonial Crest, River Rock, Sonoma, South Beach, St. Charles, Samui, Lilly, and Bordeaux, have been taken over by Danze as of 2012. Many of these are staring to appear at deep discounts from internet retailers, suggesting they they are being phased out as existing supplies are exhausted. Still other Globe Union brands have more or less disappeared in the U.S., but are still sold in other places. Eurostream, for example, maintains a Canadian web site, but is rarely seen in the U.S. except for sale by internet discounters. Plumbers Collection seems to have been banished to e-Bay. Globe Union has 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 ball valve technology or face an International Trade Commission order banning its products from the U.S. But, it has matured as an international trading partner in the past twenty years. Danze supports its faucets and other products with a well-organized U.S.-based parts and warranty service located in Illinois. Since opening this U.S. center, earlier parts and warranty support problems seem to have largely disappeared. If you have experience with a Globe Union faucet, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Poland Rating: 7-9 Updated: 11/05/12	Graff Faucets 3701 W. Burnham St. Milwaukee, WI 53215 (800) 954-4723	7-9 $200-1,300 Poland	Manufacturer Graff dealers (see web site for listing) 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 Faucets, founded in 1922, is owned by Milwaukee-based Meridian International Group, Inc., a family of related companies involved in the casting, machining and finishing of metal products. The faucets are gathered into two broad collections: Traditional (including "Country Traditional") which is stylish but conservative, and Contemporary from designers Angeletti Ruzza Design and Davide Oppizzi, which will make any kitchen and bath planner do the "ooh and aah" thing. They are sold in most parts of the world and in most venues, including an extensive presence on the internet.
All are high-quality all-brass and/or stainless fixtures with ceramic disk valves; engineered, and quality controlled in the U.S. but manufactured in Poland by Meridian's wholly owned subsidiary, Valvex, S.A. Valvex faucets are sold in Poland and other parts of Europe under the Valvex name. They appear frequently discounted on the German Amazon web site. The styles sold by Valvex are similar, but not the same as the styles sold under the Graff name. The upscale faucets are intended to compete with KWC, Grohe, Hansgrohe or Kohler. We like these faucets. We are very impressed with the quality and almost total absence of consumer complaints about Graff. The prices are very competitive. Graff is almost the only foreign-made faucet we buy regularly when we can't find a required style or feature in an American-made faucet. If you have had an experience with a Graff faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Germany Rating: 6-9 Updated: 10/12/12	Grohe America, Inc. 241 Covington Drive Bloomingdale, IL 60108 (630) 582-7711	6-9 $175-1,500 Germany Canada Portugal Thailand	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 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.
Imported Germany Rating: 6-9 Updated: 10/12/12
Pronounced "grow-HEE" in the U.S., Grohe America is the U.S. distributor of Friedrich Grohe AG & Co. KG, the largest European manufacturer of sanitary fixtures. The company's share of the world sanitary fixtures and accessories market is estimated to be more than 10%. That's a lot of sanitary. The company is headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany, but manufactures in Portugal, Canada, Turkey and Thailand as well as in its three German factories. Founded in 1911 as Berkenhoff & Paschedag the company changed its name to Fredrich Grohe Armaturenfabrik in 1948 and to its present name in 1999.
The parent company offers a broad range of sanitary fixtures, faucets, shower systems, fittings and accessories at almost every price level in Europe, most of which are not available in the U.S. Grohe America distributes only the high-style, designer end of the parent company's excellent faucets. As a consequence, while Europeans considered Grohe a general duty bath and sanitary-ware company, similar to Moen or Kohler; Americans view it as a luxury faucet maker like Graff and Mico Designs. Friedrich Grohe AG is wholly owned by Grohe Holding, GmbH, which is in turned owned by London-based BC Partners, a private equity group specializing in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). BC Partners also owns Office Depot and Intelsat, among other holdings. Grohe was de-listed in 2000 and is no longer a public company. In the past, owning a Grohe faucet was a status thing as well as a solid investment in a lifetime faucet. The faucet is expensive, and recognizably expensive, and came with some heavy-duty bragging rights. Most Grohe faucets have style characteristics that make them instantly recognizable. Dealer prices range from merely breathtaking all the way up to "you-otta-be-arrested" — handles often sold separately. But, Grohe's new bottom-line-oriented private investor owners are changing the rules. Grohe faucets are showing up in very un-exclusive and un-Grohe-like places, including mass retailers such as Home Depot, Amazon and even Wayfair. What's next, Walmart? So, we don't think the cach� of the Grohe brand will hold up much longer. Expect the price of Grohe-branded faucets to come down nut also expect considerable overall quality erosion as the new owners attach the Grohe marque to it cheaper, mass market faucets priced to sell at discount retailers. We hope we're wrong. It would be a shame to cheapen such a great faucet name, but this is how we read the tea leaves at the moment. We don't think a Grohe is a wise investment right now. Let things shake out a little, then we'll see. If you have had an experience with a Grohe faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Israel Rating: 6-8 Updated: 11/11/12	Hamat Faucets c/o Subcon Products 100 Bomont Pl. Totowa, NJ 07521 (973) 785-1150	6-8 $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."
Imported Israel Rating: 6-8 Updated: 11/11/12
Hamat Sanitary Fittings & Castings Ltd., 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. Unfortunately, most of the valves used by Hamat contain a lot of plastic, and we don't think plastic in a faucet component meant to last a lifetime is a good idea. Hamat does not really stand out for either design or quality. Both are good, but not particularly distinctive and not better than similar 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. The company also makes faucets and faucet components for Blanco, Franke and the Whitehaus Collection. The company lost points in its rating for plastic in it valves, and for a very skimpy warranty. It's had to have much faith in the longevity or durability of a faucet when its manufacturer will not guarantee it for more than five years. Prospective buyers should keep in mind that the company that makes the faucet does not have very much faith in it. If you have had an experience with a Hamat faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Germany Rating: 6-9 Updated: 11/02/12	Hansgrohe AG Hansgrohe, Inc. 1490 Bluegrass Lakes Parkway Alpharetta, GA 30004 (800) 488-8119	6-9 $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 and impeccable 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 Graff,Grohe,KWC, and JADO.
Until the 1990s Grohe and Hansgrohe were owned by the same family, the descendants of Hans Grohe who founded the company in 1901, but the two companies always operated as separate organizations, often in competition. They fought over the brand name "Grohe" for several years, finally reaching an agreement that gave Friedrich Grohe AG & Co. KG the Grohe brand name, while Hansgrohe, AG got the Hansgrohe name. In 2002, the huge Masco Corporation, which had owned a minority stake in Hansgrohe since 1984, acquired a majority share in Hansgrohe by buying the interests of Grohe family members for an undisclosed sum. 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. The brand was recently grouped with Brasstech, which manages the Newport Brass and Ginger brand faucets for Masco. Masco will probably sprinkle a little Hansgrohe styling onto the Ginger and Newport Brass lines. Hansgrohe manufactures some of its extensive line of products in Forsyth County, Georgia, including some faucet and shower assembly, but all component manufacturing and most assembly is outside of the U.S. At present Hansgrohe is pretty much what it has always been, an excellent German faucet maker — now under American ownership. Over the years, Hansgrohe AG has built a reputation as one of the innovation leaders in the technology and design of kitchen and bath faucets, receiving over 300 international design awards. Its panel of designers include Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio, Jean-Marie Massaud, Patricia Urquiola and the Bouroullecs — all famous names in the world of product design. A small number of Hansgrohe faucets, those assembled in Georgia, appear to qualify as "Assembled in U.S.A." But, we have so far been unable to get a list of the qualifying faucets. If we do, we'll make it available for download. If you buy a Hansgrohe faucet, you are paying for high design and very high quality. But, if even a Hansgrohe faucet is not enough luxury for you, the company also has what it calls its luxury line (what the rest of us would probably call a super-luxury line) called Axor. We have never heard of a properly installed Hansgrohe faucet giving any trouble. If you have, or you have had any experience with a Hansgrohe faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China/Italy Not Rated Updated: 11/14/12	Home Depot Faucets Pegasus Glacier Bay Western Pride 2455 Paces Ferry Rd. NW Atlanta, GA 30339-4024 (770) 433-8211	Not Rated $30-350 China/Italy	Retail Rebrander Home Depot Stores, Home Depot on Line.	"[G]uaranteed for parts and finish for as long as you own your home."

	Glacier Bay, Pegasus and Western Pride are in store brand names under which the Home Depot sells faucets. 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. Western Pride is a little different. It is actually a brand name owned by Globe Union Group, but the only place Western Pride faucets seem to be sold is at Home Depot: usually on some sort of super-duper sale — often from a pallet in the middle of the aisle. Even if you paid absolutely nothing for these very low-end faucets, they would not be worth the price charged. The Home Depot, of course, manufactures not a single faucet. The faucets are sourced from many different manufacturers and merely packaged by Home Depot under one of its in-store brands. Today many of the faucets are manufactured by the huge Taiwanese conglomerate, Globe Union Group and by the more massive Lota International Co. Ltd. of Taiwan. Both of these firms manufacture almost exclusively in China.
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. Some high-end Pegasus faucets, such as the Pegasus Arko Pulldown Faucet (shown at left), are manufactured by Paini Spa Rubinetterie, a very well known and respected Italian manufacturer. Paini also sells its own faucet brand, La Toscana in the U.S. through a Home Depot subsidiary, World Imports, Inc. 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. Post sale customer service is a huge and continuing problem with these products. 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 seems to be a mystery that would baffle the abilities of Hercule Poirot. There is no central clearing house for replacement parts for Home Depot faucets. The company tried it, and it did not work out, so it was discontinued. As matters stand now, each manufacturer that makes faucets for Home Depot maintains its own replacement parts and customer service operations. The problem is finding out who actually made a particular faucet. If you did not save the installation instructions that came with the faucet, you may be entirely out of luck. Pegasus and to a lesser extent, Glacier Bay products are increasingly sold through venues other than those owned by Home Deport. They are offered through Amazon and internet faucet outlets such as Plumbers Surplus. This expansion into new sales venues is in line with Home Depot's efforts to establish Pegasus as a major faucet brand independent of Home Depot Stores. The company already has a number of faucet brands that it sells through on-line faucet and fixture sites including Belle Foret, Elizabethan Classics and Schon as well as Paini's La Toscana collection, all marketed through Home Depot's subsidiary, World Imports, Inc. 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. 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 pass on rating Home Depot faucets at this time, as we have for the past seven years. If you have had an experience with a Home Depot faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Italy/Turkey Not Rated Updated: 10/17/12	Ikea Faucets 496 West Germantown Pike Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 (800) 434-4532	Not Rated $40-250 Italy	Retail Rebrander Ikea lists its retail stores on its web site.	Residential limited warranty for ten years.

	Ikea is new to selling faucets, and has not quite got the hang of it. It, obviously, does not manufacture its own faucets, but has them made by a variety of faucet manufacturers. Globe union Industrial is one such manufacturer, as is Artema, a Turkish manufacturer owned by Eczacibasi Holdings. Globe Union makes store brand faucets for a large number of retailers including Pegasus and Glacier Bay faucets for Home Depot, as well as for the dozen or so of its own brands, including Danze and Water Ridge that it sells in the U.S. Paini Rubinetterie S.p.A. appears to be yet another manufacturer building Ikea faucets. Paini makes some Pegasus faucets for Home Depot, and also its own LaToscana line of very good faucets which it sells through Your Other Warehouse, Inc., a Home Depot subsidiary. The Ikea collection is fairly broad style-wise. It contains fewer than 20 kitchen faucets, but there seems to be at least one style for just about every decor. Certainly, as expected from Ikea, the prices are very reasonable for all brass faucets with ceramic disk cartridges. But, there have been many reports of problems getting parts, as is the case with all of the Retail Rebranders we have reviewed. Ikea does not stock repair parts. So, while a defective faucet will be cheerfully replaced by Ikea, if the faucet is still being made, and if it is in stock; 10 of 15 years down the road, it may be impossible to get parts if the faucet breaks.
We have no basis on which to rate these faucets. Ikea has not established a reputation for its faucet line, and since we don't know who makes which faucet, it is not possible to use the reputation of the manufacturing company as the basis for a rating. For now, at least, Ikea faucets will have to stay unrated. If you have had an experience with an Ikea faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Germany Rating: 6-9 Updated: 12/6/12	JADO Faucets JADO Corporation 6615 West Boston Chandler, AZ (800) 227-2734	6-9 $250-800 Germany/China	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.

	JADO Corporation is the division of American Standard Brands. It sells and provides support for JADO faucets in the U.S. The faucets are made by JADO Design Armatur und Beschlag AG, a German company founded in 1890. JADO was acquired by American Standard companies in 2000 and merged with American Standard, GmbH in 2004. In 2007, with the breakup of the old American Standard Companies (see American Standard Brands, above, for more information) , ownership was transferred to Ideal Standard International, S.A., a Bain Capital Partners company, headquartered in Brussels. Most JADO faucets are now assembled in the former American Standard, GmgH factory in Wittlich, Germany. It is not clear how much of faucet is actually manufactured there since Ideal Standard buys a lot of component parts from China. The brand is sold by Ideal Standard in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Under American Standard ownership, the company's two up-scale faucet manufacturers, JADO and France-based Porcher pretty much went their own way, each making a distinctive line of faucets. Ideal Standard has begun to better coordinate the faucet lines offered by JADO with faucets sold by its sister company, Porcher. Although Porcher sells only bath faucets, many of them are designed to work with kitchen faucet styles offered by JADO, which sells both kitchen and bath faucets. Each faucet style belongs to larger coordinated collection that includes matching bathroom accessories. JADO is in every sense a designer faucet. JADO's designers are world famous and include Christian Bj�rn, Jean Nouvel, Ad Van Berlo and Artefakt. Striking designs, beautiful finishes and excellent quality, JADO has a case for its belief that its faucet line is instantly recognizable for its quality and style. In the U.S. JADO and Porcher are sold and serviced by the same division of American Standard Brands located in Chandler, AZ, and share management, warehousing and customer service. If you have had an experience with a JADO faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported China Rating: 4-6 Updated: 09/12/12	Kingston Bass, Inc. 12775 Reservoir St. Chino, California 91710 909-548-6611	4-6 $40-400 China	Marketeer Lowe's, Menards, Amazon, Target, Kohl's, Build.com, FaucetDirect.com, FixtureUniverse.com, PlumberSurplus.com	"Ten year limited warranty on faucets."

	Started by Erik Chen in 1998, the company is an importer of Chinese-made bathroom and kitchen products that are branded and sold under the Kingston Brass name. Its prices and marketing strategy put it in direct competition with Kraus USA and Vigo which have adopted a similar business model. Its low prices and good styling are the primary reason it has spread so widely across the internet, home stores and discounters in a relatively short time. It is the oldest and most firmly established of the China-Marketeers like Kraus and Vigo, and essentially pioneered the business model adopted by these newer companies.
But, the others definitely do it better. Kingston Brass has had serious customer service problems, resulting in an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau. We found, in researching the company, that it essentially has no customer service to speak of, so we give the company's customer support a "thumbs down". We do like the company's web site, which lists all of its parts inventory, making it easier to identify and order replacement parts. But, the skimpy 10-year warranty suggests that Kingston does not intend to stock a large number of parts for discontinued models. We think that ten year's of support for what is supposed to be a lifetime product is probably not enough, and is a decision that ought to be reconsidered by management. If you have experience with Kingston Brass faucets, good or bad, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Made in USA Rating: 7-9 Updated: 07/13/12	Kohler Co. 444 Highland Drive Kohler, WI 53044 (800)-4-KOHLER	7-9 $75-1,500 USA/China	Manufacturer 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."

	One summer day, in 1883, John Michael Kohler, an Austrian emigrant and the new owner of the Sheboygan Union Iron & Steel Foundry, took some glass powder and sprinkled it on an iron horse trough from the company's product line that had been heated it to 1,700°. The resulting "enamel" coating was so tough and durable that he featured the horse trough as the centerpiece of his next product catalog, with a small footnote that "when furnished with four legs, will serve as a bathtub." It was not an overwhelming success as a horse trough, but as a bath tub, it became the foundation of an American plumbing empire. A privately held, family owned U.S. manufacturer of an enormous line of very good to excellent kitchen and bath fixtures since 1873, Kohler has been a consistent innovator in the plumbing and sanitary-wares industry. In 1911 Kohler introduced the one-piece built-in bathtub with integral apron. This is the tub design that dominates American bathrooms today. By the mid-1920s, Kohler had become the third largest plumbing products company in the U.S. after Delta and Moen.
Kohler is still one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of plumbing and sanitary products, with twelve North American factories. About half of Kohler's 30,000 world-wide employees work in the U.S. Kohler, unlike American Standard Brands (which is a little more than a marketing front for Mexican and Chinese factories), is still very much an American company that manufactures products here for distribution world-wide, and also manufactures in other countries, primarily China. Faucets are an integral part of the Kohler line, ranging in style from ho-hum but very reliable to very, very stylish (and still very reliable). Most Kohler faucets sold in the U.S. are assembled in the U.S from parts made in the U.S., but also in other countries. In the past 24 months, Kohler has imported faucet parts from Nanchang Kohler Co., Ltd., Beijing Kohler Ltd., and Shanghai Kohler Electronic Ltd., all, as you might have guessed, Kohler subsidiaries. Some of Kohler's faucets are entirely foreign made and imported as finished units. So, to get an American made or assembled faucet, read the box to find out where it was made. Kohler, wisely, has avoided the very low end of the faucet business that requires a lot of plastic parts. It 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, however, 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 centers and may not be of the best Kohler quality. (See The Model Game for more information.) A plumbing supply house is your best option for main-line Kohler products. If you have had an experience with a Kohler faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported China Rating: 5-7 Updated: 11/21/12	Kraus Kraus USA, Inc. 12 Harbor Park Drive Port Washington, NY 11050 ((800)775-0703	5-7 $100-450.00 China	Marketeer Express Decor Faucet.com, FaucetDirect.com, eFaucets.com, Sears, and Walmart.	Limited lifetime warranty covers manufacturer defects in faucet function and finishes to the original purchaser for home use 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 "leading designer and manufacturer" of plumbing fixtures and accessories with a "state-of-the-art machining facility". However, there is no evidence that Kraus owns or ever has owned a factory. It is an importer. It stakes a claim to being an heir to the "traditional European principles of timeless style, craftsmanship and uncompromising quality." But, Kraus faucets are neither designed in Europe nor made by European craftsmen. The faucets are designed and made in China. We have identified from shipping and customs records at least four Chinese manufacturers selling faucets to Kraus. Kaiping Euopea Plumbing Apparatus Co., Ltd. provides most Kraus faucets, but the company also buys from Globe Union Industrial Corporaton, Ltd., Yatin Bath Corp., Ltd., and Duan Hua Shui Furniture Trading Co., Ltd. The company refers to its "elite designers" and "our design team" in its literature, but there is no evidence at all that Kraus actually designs its own faucets. The Chinese factories that manufacture Kraus faucet provide design and prototyping services, and this is most likely how Kraus gets its designs.
Kraus seems to be making a serious effort to distinguish itself from other Marketeers of Chinese faucets such as Vigo Industries and Kingston Brass. The quality of the product is generlly good to excellent. All Kraus faucets include ceramic disk valves, some by Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, considered by many to be the best faucet valve made, but also valves made by Kerox in Hungary. Somve valves we could not identify, and presume they are of Asian origin. The faucets are stylish, and at 30% to 50% below similar faucets from other companies, very affordable. Its low prices are the primary reason Kraus has spread so widely across the internet and to brick and mortar stores in such a short time. Kraus has a good marketing plan, and if it sticks to it, will probably do very well. Kraus has had problems in the past with its ceramic disks leaking, and with its oil-rubbed bronze 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 meager customer service skills as a Marine Corps Drill Instructor. We were not favorably impressed with Kraus's customer support process, but we were by the results. In every case Kraus lived up to its warranty, replacing defective faucets promptly. On balance, we will put up with a little rudeness to get a quick and satisfactory result. But, Kraus does need to improve its customer service process. The company guarantees to have the parts needed to fix a defective or broken faucet for just five years. The consequence of this policy is that after a few years, when the faucet is most likely to break, there may be no parts to be had in the U.S. for the Chinese faucets Kraus sells, and absolutely no way to fix the faucet. Kraus is a very new faucet company. It seems to be working hard and intelligently to establish a reputation for quality and value. It is not quite there yet. Still, we are now confident enough in our information about the company and its products that we are prepared to venture a tentative rating. The Kraus faucets we have examined have been of overall good quality — although some better than others — and we hear very few complaints from other remodelers or plumbers about Kraus products. Kraus has been first rate at honoring its warranty on those few items that have been defective. We are concerned, however, about the depth of Kraus' parts support. We do not think five years is long enough to guarantee parts for what most homeowners believe is supposed to be a lifetime product, so we have downgraded the company's rating for lack of long term replacement parts support. However, we applaud Kraus for being up front about its parts policy. Most Marketeers are not nearly as forthcoming. Foreign-made faucets comparable to Kraus include Danze, Pegasus, a Home Depot in-store brand, Elizabethan Classics, Belle Foret and Schon, all collections assembled by Home Depot"s subsidiary, World Imports, Inc., Kingston Brass, and Vigo Industries. Comparable American-made faucets include California Faucets, Delta, Moen and Kohler. Of course, more information is always appreciated, so if you have experience with Kraus faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it. Please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Switzerland Rating: 6-9 Updated: 11/01/12	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. Foreign-made faucets comparable to KWC include Blanco, Dornbracht, Franke, Graff, Grohe, Hansgrohe, and Mico Designs. Comparable American-made faucets include Brizo, California Faucets, Kohler, Newport Brass, Sigma, Symmons, and Waterstone. If you have had an experience with a KWC faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Italy Rating: 8-9 Updated: 09/21/12	Lacava Design Lacava LLC 2243 S. Throop St Chicago, Illinois 60608 312- 666 - 4873	7-9 $300-$1000 Italy	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. It is an "everything for the bathroom company" that distributes faucets along with other very contemporary bath fixtures, furnishings and accessories in cutting-edge-design collections. It is small as fixture companies go, with only $5 million in gross sales, and tries to be very exclusive. Based in the Windy City, it identifies itself as the American heir to the Italian design tradition, and its inspired designs seem to confirm the claim. Its designs easily rival the very best of the Italian design studios — and that's saying something. Aimed squarely at the luxury market for cutting-edge contemporary design faucets, it is one of the most expensive faucets; also one of the best-designed and best-made. If you are searching for that one sinfully lavish, luxury feature to highlight your new contemporary 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.
Sold primarily through the company web-site, by bath design showrooms and select remodeling contractors (such as, ahem, us), it has very limited availability (although some Lacava faucets are now showing up on a few web retail sites). The faucets are almost never discounted. The lavish Lacava catalog, updated yearly, is itself almost a work of art, and clearly indicates that it takes the words "luxury" in the luxury market for contemporary fixtures very seriously. One of the toughest companies to do business with. 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 go wrong with a genuine Lacava faucet that these shortcomings may make little difference. Look out for fakes and rebuilds if not buying from an approved Lacava seller. These products are very commonly counterfeited. If you have had an experience with a Lacava faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Italy Rating: Not Rated Updated: 11/28/12	Lota International Co. Ltd 6701 Center Dr. W. Suite 525 Los Angeles, CA 90045 (310) 641-1600 (877) 580-5682	Not Rated China	Manufacturer Lota does not have a direct retail presence in the U.S.	N/A

	Lota International Co. Ltd. is a holding company based in Taiwan. Its principal asset, Xiamen Lota International Co., Ltd. is a manufacturing corporation with manufacturing and distribution facilities in Xiamen, China. The company's primary business since its founding in 1982 has been the design and manufacture of faucets and faucet components for other faucet companies. The list of faucet companys that buy Lota faucets and faucet components reads like the who's-who of the U.S. faucet industry, including Brizo, California Faucets, Chicago Faucets, Delta, Elkay, Fontaine, Franke, Grohe, Newport Brass, Peerless, and Pfister, among others.
The company also manufactures store brand faucets for large retailers. For example, many of the Pegasus and Glacier Bay faucets sold by Home Depot are manufacured by Lota, as are many of the Home Depot faucets sold through its subsidiary World Imports as the Elizabethan, Belle Foret and Schone collections. The company's basic catalog of faucets maintained on its international web site is rather uninspiring. But, these are not even a drop in the bucket of the faucets it actually sells. Most of its faucets are ODM and OEM products, designed and manufactured for other companies to be sold under their brands. On its website, it claims… "We provide a full-service product development consultancy to our clients with an integrated approach. Most of Lota�s clients collaborate with the Design Studio to discuss trends and develop new and innovative product designs. Our product development is supported by detailed market research with both consumers and trade professionals throughout North America." Its ability to design, engineer, prototype and then produce unique faucets for each of its customers has made it a perennial favorite with faucet companies, especially smaller companies, which are unable to afford such capabilities in house. Lota has also established a U.S. based customer service and warranty operation to support its faucets sold in the U.S. and Canada. This was a very smart stragetic move since it lifts the cost of providing after-sales supprt from the companies that sell Lota products, making Lota more attractive as a supplier to U.S.-based faucet companies. It also sets Lota up nicely to begin introducing Lota branded products into the U.S. with the marketing and support infrastructure already in place and operating smoothly. Lota brand plumbing products, especially compression-style faucet valves, have been sold for years in the U.S., but until recently the Lota name has not been associated with decorative sanitary ware, such as faucets. But, that may be changing. We are starting to see faucets for sale identified as made by Lota. Many Glacier Bay and Pegasus are now identified as Lota faucets. Lota is also starting to showcase its faucet products on its U.S. website, Lota U.S.A., which we think is probably a prelude to more aggressively marketing the Lota brand in the U.S. Lota is still learning how to play nice in the international markeplace. In 2000 it was found by the U.S. International Trade Commission to have violated a Moen faucet patent, and some of its products were permanently banned from the U.S. market. In 2011 it was accused in a lawsuit filed by Mueller Industries of bribing one of Muller's executives. On April 9, 2012 the court ruled that Lota had, in fact, engaged in "unfair competition". A civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) claim is still pending against the company. Lota has countered by suing Mueller for patent infringement, and that claim is also still pending. If you have had an experience with a Lota faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Italy Rating: 7-8 Updated: 10/15/12	MGS Progetti MGS Progetti SRL C.so Milano, 189 28883 Gravellona Toce (VB) - Italy 39 0323 865218	7-8 $500+ Italy	Manufacturer MGS Progetti. Order direct from the factory catalog.	"Covered by a warranty of 5 years from date of purchase…"

	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, notwithstanding the skimpy 5-year warranty. If you have had an experience with a MGS Progetti faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Europe Rating: 4-6 ↓ Updated: 02/13/13	Mico Designs Mico Designs Ltd. 1423 W. 21st Street Chicago, IL 60608 (888) 301-8787	4-6 ↓ $300+ (Often the stated price does not include handles, sold separately.) Europe	Specifier FaucetDirect.com, ShowerBuddy.com	Lifetime to the original owner. Valves finishes and crystal handles carry a "lifetime guarantee of quality", whatever that is.

	Mico is a designer and distributor of high-end, high-style faucets. Its faucets are made in various, mostly European, factories using Mico molds to "strict requirements" specified by Mico. Its ceramic disk valves are made by the German company, Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, known for its impeccable products, and its shower heads by Hansgrohe � possibly 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.
Of late, Mico seems to be having quality issues with some of its faucets. Numerous customer reports since 2010 suggest that Mico faucets are experiencing serial failures — that is, it fails, is fixed, and fails again at the same place. Customers also report very bad experiences with Mico customer service. and long waits for replacement parts. Our repeated requests for information from the company, beginning in 2011, have not produced a response. The complaints began at about the time Mico began sourcing many of its major faucet components away from European manufacturers and to China. Globe Union Industrial Corporation, for example, is now one of Mico's primary component suppliers. We don't know for certain that China-sourcing is the reason for the decrease in the quality of Mico's products, but the timing suggest that it might well be. As a consequence, we have down-rated Mico Designs substantially, and suggest, at least until these issues are resolved, that you look at purchasing another brand. Faucets comparable to Mico include California Faucets, Kohler, Phylrich, Waterstone and Sigma Faucets, all of which offer high-style, high-quality products and excellent customer service. If you have had an experience with a Mico faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in U.S.A. Rating: 5-8 Updated: 09/12/12 Download BAA List (PDF)	Moen 25300 Al Moen Drive North Olmsted, OH 44070 (800) 732-8238	5-8 $100-1,000 USA/China/India	Manufacturer The Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, most plumbing suppliers, almost all plumbers.	"If this product fails due to a defect in materials or workmanship at any time during the life of the product, … Moen… will replace it free of charge…"

	If a plumber in this neck of the woods 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 ("buy it for looks, buy it for life") rather than 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, but Moen may have a slight edge, if only for its exceptional customer service (See sidebar below). Al Moen invented the Moen valve that made the "washer-less" single handle faucet possible. A tinkerer by inclination, Moen spent most of 8 years creating and discarding ideas for a single handle faucet valve before he came up with a reliable, workable model. After returning in 1945 from wartime service with the Navy he approached Ravenna Metal Products Corp. of Seattle, which agreed to license and manufacture the invention. In 1956 Ravenna was acquired by Standard Screw Co. of Chicago. Moen continued as a division of Standard Screw (later renamed Stanadyne) until 1986 when the company was bought by the New York investment firm of Forstmann, Little & Co. which sold off most of Stanadyne's other business, to concentrate its focus on Moen products. The company was renamed Moen, Inc. in 1990 and sold to Fortune Brands. Al Moen continued with the company as chief engineer until 1982. His stream of innovations and inventions powered the company's rise from a niche player in the faucet industry to second place in the U.S. market behind Masco's Delta faucets. These included the replaceable faucet cartridge which is a featured element of almost all modern Moen faucets. It rarely goes bad, but if it does, the removal of a few screws allows you to replace the defective cartridge with a new one in a few minutes. He also invented the Swing n Spray faucet aerator that allowed the water flow to be changed from stream to spray at the push of a button and Moentrol, a pressure balanced shower valve that controls both water temperature and volume in a single control — the shower controller preferred by plumbers. In fact, we rarely install anything else.
Moen's Five-Star Customer Service A great many manufacturers make excellent faucets, but where many of them miss the mark is with their after sale customer and warranty support. We have not sampled the after-sale customer services of every single major faucet manufacturer in the world, but we will take a chance and state that Moen has the very best customer service anywhere. Like every other faucet manufacturer, Moen does not pay all of the cost of replacing a defective faucet part. It will provide the part, but does not pay the cost of the labor to install the part — often an expensive business. But, Moen's process for getting you the replacement part is nearly as painless as can be. Many times you can take the defective part down to the local hardware store, and exchange it for a new part right on the spot. Moen then sends the store a replacement for its inventory. So far as we know, only Delta has a similar program. If the store does not carry the part, then a quick call to 1-800-BUY-MOEN puts you in touch with a customer service representative who has been very well trained on Moen products, and you will usually get the part by express delivery in about four working days. How does Moen determine over the phone that you are the original purchaser entitled to free replacement parts? They ask you, and take your word for it. How rare is that? We don't rate customer service in these reviews, but if we did, Moen would be the model against which all other customer support operations would be judged, and Moen would get at least five stars, maybe even six. Moen innovation did not end with the retirement of Al Moen. Today the company offers faucets with built in water filtration. With ChoiceFlo� filtration, homeowners can get both filtered and ordinary tap water from a traditional-looking faucet. It also offers a finish that is especially resistant to fingerprints and water spots, which helps keep the faucet smudge-free and sparkling. Moen was the first faucet company in the U.S. to offer a lifetime warranty on its faucets, and still does. The lifetime¹ warranty was such a resounding sales boost that all other major U.S. faucet manufacturers were forced to follow suit. Which is why the standard North American faucet warranty is your lifetime, while the standard European warranty is just three years. Thank Moen. Moen remains very much a North American company with international scope. Moen sells its faucets in over 55 countries. While it has shifted some manufacturing overseas (China and India), it maintains three plants in the U.S. at New Bern and Sanford, North Carolina and Pine Grove, Pennsylvania. It employs over 1,300 American workers. Most Moen faucets are made, or at least assembled in the U.S., and a variety of Moen faucets are Buy American Act (BAA) qualified. But, they may contain some foreign components. Moen"s proprietary ceramic valves are made from Moen specifications by Maruwa (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Zhuhai Mingshi Ceramics Value (which also supplies Pfister) and Kerox (which also makes valves for Delta and Symmons faucets). Various other foreign components, usually simple castings, can be found in Moen faucets, but some whole faucets are sourced from Moen's subsidiary, Moen Guangzhou Faucet Co. Ltd. in Guangdong, China. Look for "Made in China" on the box to identify these foreign faucets. Overall, Moen makes excellent faucets with a longstanding, very impressive record of reliability. In plumber polls, Moen is usually the first or second preferred faucet. Plumbers also identify Moen as one of the easiest faucets to fix if it does break. Only Delta faucets get a higher score than Moen on the easy-to-fix scale, and then by just a whisker. Between 34% and 38% of the readers responding to our survey identified Moen as the first brand that came to mind when thinking "faucet". Rather conservatively styled, the faucets are not at all super-contemporary or avant gard. Still, Moen's faucet styles suit all but the most Euro-chic glitterati buyers. The original Moen cartridge valve routinely lasts 10-20 years before minor maintenance is required, then it lasts another 10-20 years. We've seen them last much longer — my kitchen sink boasts a 30-year-old Moen cartridge — but rarely do we encounter one that has not lasted at least 10 years. The newer Moen ceramic disk cartridges do not have a long history behind them, but so far their performance is pretty impressive. But, Moen does sell the occasional clinker, especially at the lower end of the faucet line. Be a little wary of models made just for large retailers like Home Depot and Lowes. These may not be Moen's regular line of faucets. (See The Model Game.) Moen says they are, but our comparisons of faucets with the same model number bought at big box discounters with faucets from our regular suppliers say they are not always the same. Read the specifications on the box. Avoid plastic when you can, especially plastic cartridges. Although some plumbers claim (and Moen makes a strong case for the proposition) that plastic cartridges are as reliable as the higher end brass units � we're pretty sure the plumbers have been bribed by Moen, and we are not yet convinced. If you have had an experience with a Moen faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. ¹ A "lifetime" warranty is not actually for your lifetime. It is usually "for as long as you own the house in which the faucet is installed". One way of ceasing to own the faucet is, of course, dying. But, more likely you simply sell the house and move. Even though you have not actually expired, your warranty has. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in U.S.A. China Rating: 6-7 Updated: 11/11/12	Newport Brass Faucets Ginger Faucets 2001 East Carnegie Ave. Santa Ana CA 92705-5531 (949) 417-5207	6-7 $350-1,800 USA/China	Assembler/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.

	Ginger and Newport Brass are brand names under which Brasstech, Inc. sells faucets and other plumbing fixtures, along with coordinating accessories in the residential and hospitality (motels and hotels) decorative fixture markets. Brasstech is a subsidiatry of Masco Corporation, a home improvement conglomerate that also makes Brizo, Peerless, and Delta faucets. Ginger was founded in 1986 to produce high-quality bath accessories, cabinet hardware, grab barss, mirrors and light sconces primarily for the hospitality industry. The Fort Mill S.C. company was acquired by Masco in 2000. Masco abandoned Ginger's facility in Fort Mill, S.C. moving manufacturing offshore, and administration to the Brasstech facility in Santa Ana, California. Ginger offers bath faucets only, no kitchen or bar faucets. Brasstech began as a manufacturer of high quality faucets and other plumbing fixtures in 1987, and had established the Newport Brass faucet as a minor national brand by 2002 when it was acquired by Masco. Ginger, already owned by Masco, was merged with Brasstech at which time Ginger faucets began appear to complement its bath accessories lines. In the 1990s Brasstech was one of the first faucet companies to experiment with physical vapor disposition (PVD) finishes. Today, the company offers thirty-three different finishes, many of them using advanced PVD processes.
Brasstech under the ownership if its founders Ross and Geoff Escalette¹ established a solid reputation as a high quality faucet manufactured in the U.S. Brasstech under Masco is no longer a U.S. manufacturer. In fact, it is not a manufacturer at all. It does not cast, forge or machine the essential parts of its faucets. Its basic faucet components are made in Chinese factories, five of which seem to be Brasstech's ongoing component suppliers: Kaiping Weixiang Metal, Guangdong Weixiang Sanitary, Lota International Co. Ltd., Binho Industrial Co (forged faucet parts), and Shenzhen Jinliyi Hardware Ltd (faucet accessories). Brasstech's ceramic valves are made by Studio Tecnico Sviluppo e Ricerche (STSR) S.r.l., an Italian manufacturer of custom ceramic cartridges, diverters and flow arresters. These parts are then shipped to Santa Ana, California where most Brasstech faucets are assembled and finished. The company designs and engineers its own faucets and provides full post-sale customer support, including a a customer service staff and replacement parts operation. The faucets are made, according to company sources, from solid "German" brass (although we're not sure what the difference is between German brass and un-German brass, and we're also not sure how German grass gets to China.). Unfortunately, many of STSR's valves contain a lot of plastic, including some plastic moving parts. We don't feel that plastic has a place in a product meant to last a lifetime. Brass and stainless steel valves are to be preferred. The company used to use valves from Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, but that appears to have changed. The company lost points in our ratings for its extensive use of plastic cartridges. If you have a choice of an all-metal or metal-plastic valve in your Brasstech faucet, opt for all metal. In many cases you will not have a choice. All metal cartridges may not be available. The company also lost points for its customer service. While our experience with Brasstech customer service has been favorable overall, the Better Business Bureau rates Brasstech customer service "F", the lowest rating possible, based on Brasstech's failure to respond satisfactorily to customer complaints. The BBB does not require that complaints be resolved to the satisfaction of a complaining customer, but does require that the company respond and make a reasonable effort to resolve the matter. In the opinion of the BBB, Brasstech does not meet this standard. Brasstech faucets are positioned as upscale, luxury faucets, competing with Graff, Blanco, Grohe, Hansgrohe and Brizo faucets. Both Brizo and Hansgrohe are also Masco products. Wny the company believes it to be a good idea to compete with itself, we're not sure. Newport Brass tends to traditional and transitional in styling, but it is slowly adding more angular, geometric and contemporary styles. Ginger is more angular and contemporary, but with some traditional and transitional styles. Many Brasstech faucet lines are part of a collection of matching fixtures, lighting, towel bars, shower rods, grab bars, and so on, to create a coordinated look for your kitchen or bath. Ginger and Newport Brass have, for all practical purposes, been merged into one operation, sharing management, engineering, warehousing, distribution, public relations and customer support. Brasstech, inc. is in the same Masco "Group" as Hansgrohe, the German faucet maker also owned by Masco. But, we have seen little evidence of crossover between or efforts to merge these two faucet lines. Brasstech has a rather jumbled mix of overlapping and even competing products. It makes two lines of up-scale faucets, Ginger and Newport Brass, both of which are accompanied by coordinating collections of assessories. It also owns a bath assessories brand, Motiv, which produces equally fine bath assessories, mirrors and light fixtures. Right now, the various product lines are often in competion for the same buyers in the same markets, and in competion with other Masco products such as Brizo and Hansgrohe faucets. Obviously Brasstech's product lines need to be streamlined and better defined in their respective markets. And, that may be coming. Ginger faucets are getting hard to find on the usual internet faucet sources, while Motiv accessories are now appearing as collections under the Gringer name. Ginger has never really taken off as a faucet brand in the residential market. It has always been overshadowed by the better known Masco upscale faucets, Brizo and Newport Brass. There are rumors afoot that Brasstech will phase out Ginger's faucet line entirely in the near future. Ginger faucets will be added to the Newport Brass line. Ginger will revert to what it was originally, a designer and producer of good quality bath accessories, primarily for the hospitality market. Motiv will be discontinued as a separate brand and becomea collection under the Ginger nameplate. If you have experience with Ginger or Newport Brass faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us.

¹Geoff Escalette as back in the faucet business as of 2012 as the new owner of Phylrich faucets. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Italy Rating: 5-7 Updated: 5/16/13 View a promo video of faucets being made in Paini's Italian factory.	Paini LaToscana Paini S.p.A. Rubinetterie Via Cremosina, 43 Pogno Novara 28076 Italy (856)881-7890	5-7 $100-400 Italy	Manufacturer The Home Depot Home Depot Online eFaucets.com	"Drip free for 5 years; finishes free from defects for one year; to original purchaser only."

	Paini S.p.A. Rubinetterie is an Italian manufacturer of very good to excellent faucets. Founded in 1954 as a small craft shop, it is today one of the largest manufacturers of faucets and other plumbing products in Italy. Paini has a long history of association with the Home Depot. Paini manufactures many of Home Depot's Pegasus brand faucets, and also makes faucets for Home Depot's subsidiary World Imports, Inc. which sells the Elizabethan Classics, Belle Foret and Schon Brass Works collections of faucets, fixtures and bath accessories, along with a number of Chinese suppliers. Paini is now venturing into selling faucets under its own name, but still under the Home Depot umbrella. Home Depot sells the Paini LaToscana collection of faucets and accessories throgh its subsidiary, World Imports, Inc. Distribution, warranty and customer support is handled by yet another Home Depot subsidiary, Your Other Warehouse, Inc. This is exactly the same arrangement used for some of Home Depot's other faucet collections, Elizabethan Classics, Belle Foret and Schon, the difference being that LaToscana faucets come from a single source, Paini S. p. A. whereas these other collections are manufactured by a number of different of foreign faucet factories. Paini designs its own faucets, employing in-house designers for that purpose. It builds striking brass faucets in every style from traditional to contemporary with ceramic valves in a number of finishes, some PVD but most plated. Unfortunately, however, most of Paini's LaToscana cartridges contain essential parts made of plastic rather than the more durable brass or stainless steel.
It's factory in Pogno, Italy is one of the most modern in Eurpoe. The laToscana collection is not in Paini's European catalog and appears to be a collection distributed only in the U.S. Availability is till limited. There are only a few dozen distributors in the U.S. now carrying the line. But, you can expect distribution to grow rapidly. Paini's U.S. web site is also in its early stages. Much information normally published on a faucet web site is missing. For example, there is no warranty data. Some of the links on the site do not work. Still, it is a good place to get an idea of the range of Paini faucet styles. Paini's faucet warranty is skimpy. Five (some sources say ten) years on a facet meant to last a lifetime is typical in Europe, but in the U.S. a lifetime warranty on a quality faucet is the norm. Its one year finish warranty is an embarrassment. If you have had an experience with a Paini LaToscana faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Rating: 3-6 Updated: 11/19/12	Peerless Faucet Delta Faucet Company 55 E. 111th Street P.O. Box 40980 Indianapolis, IN 46280 (317) 848-1812	3-6 $75-250 China	Specifier Menards, The Home Depot, Lowes. 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."

	Peerless is Delta Faucet's line of "value-priced" faucets for the do-it-yourselfer. It is the lower end of a line of faucets that includes Delta Faucets at mid-range and Brizo at the high end. Peerless is focused squarely on the do-it-yourselfer. Peerless faucets are designed to be easy to install and featured step-by-step illustrated instructions. The company web site is filled with tips for the handy homeowner, and offers a "live chat" faucet coach to help with selection, installation and repair issues, but its warranty page, oddly enough, recommends "using a professional plumber for all installation and repair."
Peerless faucets are not particularly stylish. Company literature describes the designs as "tested". We tend to think of them as just old. Many of the styles would be well-suited to a 980's kitchen, if that's the look you are trying to create. Peerless faucets contain a lot of plastic, inclding pastic bodies and spouts. We generally advise that you stay away from plastic faucets. The faucets were at one time manufactured in Delta's U.S. plants, but that does not appear to be the case any longer. Peerless faucets are manufactured in China primarily by the giant Lota International Co. Ltd., which also supplies Fontaine faucets, some Pegasus faucets to Home Depot, and a few Pfister faucets. If you have experience with Perless faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Mexico Rating: 4-7 Updated: 12/28/12	Pfister (Formerly Price-Pfister) 19701 Da Vinci Lake Forest, California 92610 (800) 732-8238	4-7 $100-350 Mexico/China	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 in 1910 under the name Price-Pfister, it was, until recently, 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 that is still the number five faucet company in the U.S., behind Delta, Moen, Kohler and American Standard. It has about 9% of the U.S. market, and 2% of the world market in faucets.
In 1960 Pfister built the largest foundry west of the Mississippi, in Pacoima, California, which manufactured the company's faucets for most of 40 years, making 55,000 faucets a day and employing 1,600 Americans. In 1997 Black & Decker shuttered the plant and moved its manufacturing operations to Mexicali, Mexico, along with all the jobs. The Mexicali plant is mostly an assembly and finishing operation in which components, made mostly in China, are assembled into faucets, finished and packaged for the North American markets. Pfister ceramic disk valves are sourced from Zhuhai Mingshi Ceramics Valve Co., Ltd., and other faucet components from Black & Decker (Xiamen) Industrial and Kaiping Naidy Plumbing Fittings. A great many Pfister faucets, however, are simply made in China by the giant Lota International Co. Ltd. and shipped completely packaged and ready to sell. The faucet line includes a broad array of mid-range, mid-price faucets including a filtering faucet that combines hot, cold and filtered water in one faucet. Most of its line is good quality brass, but it does cut a corner here and there in its low-priced products — so read the product specifications before buying. There had been persistent rumors circulating since 2010 that Pfister would be put on the market by Stanley. On December 17, 2012 Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. announced that it had acqired Stanley's Hardware and Home Improvement (HHI) Division, which includes Pfister faucets as well as Kwikset, Weiser and Baldwin locks; and Natinal Hardware. Spectrum Brands is a consumer products company that sells a number of familiar brands, including the George Foreman Grill, Rayovac batteries, Toastmaster and Black & Decker small appliances. It was bought out of bankruptcy in 2009 by Harbinger Group, inc., a private equity holding company, and just became profitable again in 2012. HHI will operate as a separate unit under its existing management. The sale may be a good thing. Stanley Black & Decker never did quite figure out what to do with Pfister, which was not a good fit with its basic tool-making businesses. Most likely Pfister will continue as is, at least for a while. But, we suggest that any decision to buy a Pfister faucet be deferred until this process shakes out a little. Hopefully the new owner will have, at minimum, the good sense to ditch "just Pfister" and return to the Price-Pfister nameplate. For Kwikset, Weiser and Baldwin employees, it may not be such a good deal. It looks very much as though the new owners intend to shift manufacturing of these brands overseas. The pending sale includes the purchase of certain unspecified "assets" of Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd. a Taiwanese manufacturer of residential and commercial locksets with manufacturing plants in Taiwan and the Philippines. If you have had an experience with a (Price) Pfister faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know.

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Made in USA Rating: 7-9 Updated: 11/15/12 Tour the state-of-the-art Escalette factory	Phylrich Escalette, LLC 1261 Logan Ave Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (714) 361-4800	7-9 $300-1,800+ USA	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."

	If your notion of the ideal bathroom faucet is a little gem of fine craftsmanship made in the U.S.A., you need to take a close look at Phylrich faucets. Founded in 1959, Phylrich is a manufacturer of well-crafted, hand-decorated, high quality bathroom faucets. The original Phylrich International was purchased by Elkay in 2004. Elkay, whose specialty is manufacturing stainless steel sinks, has its own very successful faucet brand, and was never able to figure out a place for Phylrich in its lineup of home improvement products. In 2012 Elkay sold Phylrich to Escalette LLC, the owner of RSS Manufacturing, a very successful California manufacturer of brass fittings and fixtures. By adding Phylrich to its product line, Escalette fully capitalizes on its existing capacity to manufacture high quality brass fixtures. Phylrich should be a very good fit for the company. The owner of the Escalette, LLC is Geoff Escalette, who has already made his mark in the faucet industry as a co-founder of BrassTech, Inc., maker of Newport Brass faucets, which he sold to Masco in 2002.
Escalette stated in its acquisition announcement that it intends to "carry on the Phylrich tradition of providing high end plumbing products for the home." Phylrich operations have been moved to Costa Mesa, CA where Escalette operates its factory and company headquarters. The new owner has agreed to honor all prior Phylrich warranty claims and provide customer service and parts for faucets manufactured before its acquisition of the brand. The new customer service number for warranty support and parts is 714-361-4800. Phylrich 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. But, the line also includes some simply stunning contemporary faucets with design features found nowhere else. The valves are all all-brass ceramic disk cartridges from Anton Traenkle GmbH & Co KG, one of the best in the world. Geoff Escalette has always been known for high quality manufacturing on U.S. soil, so the process started by Elkay of shifting manufacturing offshore has ended under Escalette which has a state-of-the-art foundry, machining and finishing facility in Costa Mesa, CA. (Tour the Escalette Factory.). As the company's literature says, Phylrich faucets are "truly made in the U.S.A.". Design, engineering, prototypng, forging, casting, machining, fabricating, finishing, polishing, quality control, packaging, shipping, customer support, and the employee cafeteria, all in America. Faucets comparable to Phylrich include Sherle Wagner, Waterstone, and THG. If you have had an experience with a Phylrich faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported France/China Rating: 6-8 Updated: 07/02/12	Porcher Faucets 6615 West Boston Street Chandler, AZ 85226 (800) 359-3261	6-8 $250-500 France/China	Manufacturer Homeclick	Lifetime to the original owner.

	Porcher, a 100 year old French manufacturer, founded in 1886 by Emile Andre Porcher in Revin, France, was American Standard's designer line of bathroom fixtures, furniture and faucets after being acquired by the old American Standard Companies in 1992. In the 2007 breakup of the American Standard Companies, Porcher was sold along with American Standard's other European assets to Ideal Standard, which is controlled by Bain Capital Partners. Bain immediately closed virtually all of Porcher's manufacturing plants in France, including the original Porcher factory in Revin, leaving just one plant in Angouleme. Almost all Porcher manufacturing, along with that of nearly all other Bain-controlled companies, has been moved to China. Porcher sells bathwares, including lavatory facets. All of the fixtures and faucets of each Porcher 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 has historically been very good. But, we do not know what result the wholesale transfer of manufacturing to China will bring. Porcher does not sell kitchen or bar faucets. But, the line "coordinates" with JADO Faucets, another former American Standard Company, now owned by Ideal Standard. JADO does make kitchen faucets. In actual effect, JADO and Porcher are now just two brands of Ideal Standard, and not actually oeprating companies in their own right. In the U.S. JADO and Porcher are sold and serviced by the same division of American Standard Brands located in Chandler, AZ, and share management, warehousing and customer service. If you have had an experience with a Porcher faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Germany Rating: 6-8 Updated: 04/06/13	Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. 15 Koch Road, Suite J Corte Madera, CA 94925 (800) 910.-9836	6-8 $250-700 Germany/China	Specifier Restoration Hardware	Lifetime to the original owner.

	Frustrated at being unable to find vintage hardware to restore his old house in Eureka, California, Stephen Gordon founded Restoration Hardware in 1979, expanding its one store to over 70 stores by 1999 using capital raised at an initial public offering in 1998. The rapid expansion eroded the companies profitability. It was rescued in 2008 when it was bought out and taken private by Catterton Partners which, by closing stores and increasing catalog and internet sales, boosted earnings to the point that it could again be taken public as Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. in November 2012. The Delaware company now trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The company still sells through retail stores, which it calls "galleries", mostly on the coasts, but conducts much of its business over the internet and through catalog sales. Its catalog, at roughly 5-1/2 lbs, is about the size of the old Sears catalog or a large telephone directory. Although the company started out as a seller of vintage decorative hardware, it has deemphasized hardware and become more a furniture and accessories store — an upscale combination of Pottery Barn and Pier One. Decorative hardware is no longer its core business. Faucets are assembled in Germany from components mostly provided by Brasstech, which is the basis for the company's claim that its faucets contain some "U.S. components", but, in fact, Brasstech obtains most of its faucet components from five large Chinese manufacturers, not from U.S. sources. Brasstech also handles the company's parts and warranty service — a smart move since Restoration Hardware is spared the chore of keeping and cataloging faucet parts. The company will not disclose who makes its ceramic valves — a trade secret, don't you know — although they are reportely made in Germany. We took one apart, but could not positively identify the valve as German made.
Brasstech makes the Newport Brass line of faucets, which has confused some into believing that Restoration Hardware sells Newport Brass faucets. Not true. While it appears that Brasstech does the actual design and prototyping of Restoration Hardware faucets, the two lines are distinctive with almost no overlap. The company calls its hardware collections "curated", usually a term applied to museum collections of similar or related objects, but it seems to apply here as well. The original design vision was provided by Stephen Gordon, how supplemented by former CEO, Gary Friedman. The collections are creative and visually stunning, obviously assembled with a keen eye for style and complement. They primarily reflect late 1800s and early 1900s American styles that easily fit late Victorian and Arts & Crafts or Art Deco baths, but some collections aver more modern, reminiscent of the Bauhaus school of design and quite suitable for post-war modernist decors. We like the faucets. Tney are well made, fabulously styled, and flawlessly finished, as one would expect from a German manufacturer. Plumbers report the faucets are fussy to install, but once installed correctly, the faucets seem to perform without defect. We know of no reports of defective Restoration Hardware faucets. Better Business Burea complaints about the company generally revolve around failure to deliver and billing issues, not faucet quality. The company has not been rated by the BBB. American made faucets comparable to Restoration Hardware include California Faucets, Sigma Faucets, Strom Plumbing, Waterstone and Phylrich. If you have experience with Restoration Hardware faucets, good, bad or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Europe/New Zealand Rating: 6-9 Updated: 11/01/12	Rohl Faucets Perrin & Rowe Faucets Rohl, LLC 3 Parker Irvine, California 92618-1605 (800) 777-9762	6-9 $300-3,000 Italy, United Kingdom, New Zealand	Marketeer/Specifier Showrooms and authorized distributors only. Price protection enforced.	Limited lifetime warranty on faucets to the original purchaser. Does not include some finishes.

	Founded by the Ken Rohl in 1983 as the Western States Manufacturing, Inc., the family-owned company was reorganized as Rohl LLC in 1991. Rohl has a long history of importing high-quality European faucets, sinks, sanitary ware and bathroom and kitchen accessories. As Western States Manufacturing it was a distributor in the U.S. for KWC plumbing fixtures and faucets. That relationship appears to have ended. Rohl also introduced the European pull-out faucet to the U.S. market, and pull-out/pull-down faucets are still a major part of its wares.
Rohl has an interesting business model. It enters into agreements with mostly European faucet manufacturers to become the exclusive U.S. distributor of the manufacturer's faucets. Most of the faucets it agrees to distribute are the manufacturer's existing faucets with minor modifications needed for the U.S. market (which is usually little more than adapting the faucets to U.S. rather than metric fittings). There are hundreds of excellent boutique faucet manufacturers in Europe, and all of them are looking for a low-cost entry into the giant U.S. market. Rohl provides that entry with a minimal investment by the manufacturer. In return, Rohl gets the exclusive right to sell some very strylish, high-quality, European faucets in the U.S. Although it describes itself as a manufacturer in its literature, Rohl is primarily a Marketeer and, to some extent, a Specifier. Its products are manufactured by other companies. While some of its manufacturing may be in the U.S. (somthing we have not been able to verify, see more below), most is foreign. Customs and Import records for the past two years list over a dozen offshore suppliers, including Nicolazzi S.p.A., and Cisal Rubinetteria S.p.A., both well-regarded Italian manufacturers with international reputations; Perrin & Rowe (formerly Avilion, Ltd.) in the UK; and Greens Industries of New Zealand. Rohl designs some of its faucets. The new Michael Berman collection, was created by the noted Los Angeles designer exclusively for Rohl. But, this is the only collection designed by Rohl for Rohl. Most of the faucets sold by Rohl are designed by the European manufacturers who make them. For example, the Wave Collection of very contemporary faucets and bathwares was designed by Nevio Tellatin, a talented in-house designer for Cisal Rubinetteria S.p.A., the collections's manufacturer. The Wave collection is distributed by Rohl in the U.S. but also sold in other countries by other distributors, and offered in Cisal's general bath catalog. In fact, most of the faucets available from Rohl are sold elsewhere in the world under other names, often at a lower cost. For example, the Rohl LS64L is actually the Cisal LL00064 kitchen faucet designed by Cisal designer Luigi Trenti. Rohl's suggested retail price in this country is $1,699.00. Cisal's list price for the same faucet in Germany is $603.00. The actual street price in Europe is as little as $378.00, while the lowest price we could find in the U.S. for the Rohl version was still over $900.00. One of the more famous faucet lines Rohl sells is the Perrin & Rowe line of traditional faucets, made in the U.K. The collection is worth a look by anyone seeking to reproduce a 19th century Victorian theme. It also includes the unique Triflow filtration faucet. The Triflow filtration system allows the delivery of hot, cold and filtered drinking water through one faucet. Triflow faucets are instantly recognizable by the third handle used to dispense filtered water (see image left above). The Triflow feature is also available in some Franke faucets. Rohl vigorously enforces sales only through authorized outlets. The company will not provide support for products purchased from any unauthorized retailer, including internet sellers of lower-cost European versions of its faucet lines. Rohl discourages discounting and maintains a strict price protection policy. No authorized distributor is permitted to advertise a discount greater than 25% from the company's list price. Rohl states that it has the ability to fill 90% of all orders from its stock in Irvine, California. But, if the item you order is not in stock, expect some long lead times from its European and New Zealand suppliers. Rohl may manufacture some of its faucets in the U.S. Reportedly the Michael Berman collection and some of its its pull-out kitchen faucet collection are manufactured in this country. A company spokesman declined, however, to identify of the U. S. company or companies that make faucets for Rohl.. In 2007 and 2008 Rohl had problems with ceramic cartridges manufactured by Greens Industries of New Zealand. The plastic used in some of the cartridges deteriorated, causing them to leak. This was evidently a manufacturing issue that has been solved, and Rohl was very good about quickly honoring its warranty. Most Rohl cartridges are solid brass, but some contain critical plastic parts. Avoid plastic in any faucet. If you are contemplating a Rohl faucet, ask specifically if the faucet contains any plastic. If it does, choose another faucet. Readers have reported problems with the swivel of the Rohl R77V3 Pull/out faucet seizing due to internal corrosion. In at least one instance a Rohl representative characterized the problem as "normal wear and tear". It's not "normal" for a $500+ faucet to seize up at the swivel mechanism. In fact, it's very un-normal. A similar problem has been reported with the Rohl R3810USTN De Lux pull-out Faucet. Faucets comparable to Rohl include Aquabrass, California Faucets, Sigma, and Graff. If you have had an experience with a Rohl faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, or you kow anything about Rohl's alleged U.S. manufacturing, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Japan Rating 6-9 Updated: 07/12/12	San-Ei Faucet Mfg. Co. Ltd c/o Sanicor International Corp 2116 South Grand Santa Ana CA 92705 714-540-1188	6-9 $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.
If you have had an experience with a San-EI faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in USA China Rating 7-9 Updated: 10/15/12 Tour Sherle Wagner's factory in Fall River, MA.	Sherle Wagner International, LLC 300 East 62nd St. New York, New York 10060 (212) 758-3300	7-9 $1000+ U.S.A	Assembler/Specifier Sold almost exclusively through interior designers and showrooms in major cities. The company web site has a list of showrooms.	The company offers no written warranty on its products.

	Founded in 1945, the company is an interior designer's paradise that sells bath fixtures, faucets and bath accessories; lighting, furniture, textiles, linens, wall coverings and cabinet and door hardware, all designed to complement each other for a completely consistent interior ensemble.
Bath faucets are just a small part of the company's offerings, but they are very good faucets: assembled, finished and polished in the company's Fall River, Massachusetts plant. The company does not make most of its own faucet components, but rather buys them from Guangzhou Seagull Kitchen and Bath which also supplies many of Pfister's components. But, the decorative hardware components are designed by the company and made to its exacting specifications. Facets are made to order, so lead times can be long. These faucets are unblushingly luxurious and priced to match. Typically, components are priced separately, so after adding the body, handles and trim of choice, the price can easily reach several thousand dollars. There is a reason the company's showrooms are located in places where the richest 1% of Americans live. It's not absolutely required that you own six Rolls Royces to buy a Sherle Wagner faucet, but it does not hurt at all. The faucets are in three traditional collections: all metal, metal with porcelain accents, and metal with semi-precious stone accents. There is also a new architectural collection that features more contemporary styling, a major departure from the company's steadfastly traditional and transitional styling history. The factory in Fall River employs as many artists and artisans as machinists. Intricate hand decoration is a signature feature of many of the company's sanitary-ware products. The faucet finishes are plated, typically in gold. The newer PVD finishes are not offered. But, the polishing that goes into many of its intricately detailed faucets is an art unto itself, and something to see. No photograph could possibly do justice to the deep, lustrous finishes. If the look of resolute and unqualified luxury is your goal, this is a faucet line to consider along with Phylrich. Like Phylrich, Sherele Wagner faucets are designed, engineered, assembled, decorated, quality controlled and given their fabulous finishes in the U.S. Unlike Phylrich, most of Sherel Wagner's faucet components are imported. Phylrich components are mostly made in the U.S. One of our designers owns one, and it cost more than his pickup. Of course, his beater of a truck is worth money only if the gas tank is full. If you have had an experience with a Sherle Wagner faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in USA China/Germany Rating 7-9 Updated: 12/03/12	Sigma® Designer Faucetry, and the Sigma Reserve Collection® American Faucet and Coatings Corporation 3280 Corporate View Vista, CA 92081 800-960-2284	7-9 $200 - 1,400 U.S.A	Assembler Quality Bath Plumbtile.com Authorized showrooms.	Lifetime on 1/4 turn ceramic disk faucet cartridges and most finishes, otherwise 5 years.

	If an excellent, well designed and engineered, stylish and awesomely finished American faucet is your dream, Sigma® by American Faucets and Coatings is a faucet line you absolutely should consider.. Founded in 1992 by Susan and Charles Butler, American Faucet and Coatings Corporation is a specifier, assembler and importer of decorative sanitary ware and plumbing fixtures with a 100,000 square foot facility in Vista, CA. It sells several lines of faucets, including the Sigma and the Sigma Reserve Collection.
But, residential faucets are just a part of its business which is basically the design, prototyping and manufacturing of anything of on earth, smaller than a truck, that can be made of brass, copper or stainless steel. It makes sports equipment, lighting, and door hardware as well as custom fittings and components for Seachrome (commercial bath and washroom products), Water, Inc. (water filtration), Cole and Co. (very expensive vanities), Chicago Faucets and Geberit (decorative plumbing products and fixtures). It also designs and fabricates custom faucets and fittings for hotels, motels and casinos. If you happen to need a truly unique faucet in quantities of several thousand for your hotel, motel or casino, American Faucet may be the place to look. The company does not manufacture faucets. It designs, prototypes and engineers faucets that are then cast, forged and machined by others. Although company sources indicated that some faucet components are made in the U.S., we are unable to independently identify these U.S. manufacturers. We are able, however, to identify foreign manufacturers of many of the components the company uses to assemble faucets. Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, a German company, manufacturers its 1/4 turn ceramic cartridges. Fluhs is generally considered one of the best faucet valves made. Other faucet components are sourced from Chinese manufacturers, including: China National Light Industrial Products Import and Export Corporation, Ltd., Dawnway Enterprise Co. Ltd., and Taizhou Mentor's Hardware and Plumbcraft Co., Ltd. ("Mentor's"). Still, other components are obtained from brokers who distribute Chinese-made products, but do not actually manufacture them. Chief among these is the giant, state-owned, Grand Group Corporation, Ltd. (formerly Zhejiang Grand Import Export Co. Ltd.) founded by the Chinese government in 1952 to export Chinese products.. The company assembles, finishes and polishes faucets in its California facility from these out-sourced components. The assembly facility qualifies, according to the company web site, as a "zero discharge" finisher, according to strict California environmental standards. Only a tiny portion of the water used in production is discharged back into the environment. The rest is cleaned up, and used again. The faucets are stunningly styled and well made. We started to disassemble one that we got our hands on, just for the usual look-see, but once we read that it had a Fluhs cartridge, we decided not to bother. Fluhs cartridges always work flawlessly. The finish and polishing was first rate. Absolutely gorgeous, in fact, equal to any we have seen elsewhere. And, the faucet installed with no trouble whatsoever. Even the plumber could find nothing to grumble about — you have no idea how unlikely that is. Sigma styles range from traditional to very contemporary European, in a number of collections, so there's probably a faucet in the collection for every taste. Each collection seems to have a choice of at least three different handle styles, which extends the variety of faucets offered without costing the company much money. Finishes are plated, powder coated, and PVD. There are 30 of them, including several varieties of gold and silver. Sigma faucets are available from authorized showrooms and a few internet retailers. But, the Reserve Collection faucets are apparently sold only through showrooms. We could find no internet source. They are considerably more expensive than the basic Sigma line, which, for the quality, is very reasonably priced. Often the on-line street price was much lower than comparable European-made faucets, and in several instances even lower than better-quality Chinese faucets, like Danze. We think the price-value relationship is extremely good. Sigma faucets are designed, prototyped, engineered, assembled, quality controlled and given their fabulous finishes in the U.S. But, since major compoenents are manufactured elsewhere, Sigma does not qualify as "made in U.S.A.", but easily qualifies as "assembled in U.S.A.". Faucets comparable to Sigma include Brizo, California Faucets, Phylrich, and Waterstone. If you have had an experience with a Sigma or Sigma Reserve Collection faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Assembled in USA Taiwan Rating: 6-8 Updated: 07/21/12	Strom Plumbing Sign of the Crab, L.L.C. 3756 Omec Circle Rancho Cordova, CA 95742 (916) 638-2722	6-8 $300-1000 USA/Taiwan	Assembler In Lincoln, Conners Architectural Antiques (402) 435-3338, Lowes, Many Web Retailers. Price protection enforced	"[F]ree of manufacturing and mechanical defects for a period of 5 years from date of purchase, when properly installed by a ... plumber."

	A designer and specifier of very good to excellent faucets, Strom is strong in reproduction faucets for period, particularly Victorian, bathrooms. If you are looking for fittings for a clawfoot tub or vintage lavatory, Strom is probably the first place you should look. If it fits a Victorian bathroom, Strom probably makes it.
Strom's faucet finishes are a big part of its reputation among the retro-reproduction folks. Its chrome finishes are legendary. Its "Supercoat" protective finish for brass fixtures has taken the "polish" out of brass, and is warranted for the life of the product. We have never seen one fail¹. For more than 30 years, the focus at Strom was solidly on engineering and manufacturing. But, the company recently changed hands. Francis E. Strom has been replaced by Larry Harris Jacobs as president. Mr. Jacobs, formerly the sales manager at Strom, is squarely focused on marketing. His marketing consulting company, Ashley Harris Marketing, Inc. is the "exclusive marketing agent" for Strom Plumbing. One casualty of this change has been Strom's U.S. manufacturing. Faced with stiff price competition in the first decade of this century, some American manufacturers, like Symmons Industries, met the challenge by making their domestic manufacturing more efficient and meeting the foreign competition head on. Strom responded by closing its American factory and contracting all of its manufacturing to Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers. Techu Manufacture Inc. of Taipei, Taiwan is now the primary manufacturer of Strom faucet components. While Strom faucets are still assembled in the U.S. and rigorously tested for quality, they are no longer actually made here². The new focus has also affected Strom's marketing. Strom was at one time strictly a wholesaler, selling only to plumbers and retailers with an existing account. It is now moving into the mass markets, and sells at least some of its products through Lowes, and increasingly through internet plumbing suppliers. You can even buy some Strom products through Amazon. Quite shocking to us old-timers. However, you are unlikely to find Strom products at a deep discount, even on line. Strom enforces a strict price protection policy. No authorized dealer is permitted to advertise or offer a discount of more than 30% from Strom's list price. After all is said and done, however, all of these changes do not seem to have affected Strom's quality very much. It is still an excellent product with superior U.S.-based product support. If we need a vintage faucet to fit a heritage bathtub or sink, Strom is where we look first — and usually last. Strom has some competition in its niche market (see below), but, search as you will, you will find that there is nothing else out there quite as good as a genuine, original, no-nonsense Strom. Along with Sherle Wagner faucets, Strom is a brand that commonly appears used on e-Bay and other auction and pre-owned web sites. Even used, a Strom is a fabulous faucet. Faucets comparable to Strom include Elizabethan Classics and Perrin & Rowe from Rohl. If you have had an experience with a Strom faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. ¹ If a finish does fail, Strom will refinish the faucet, not replace it. This means that is has to be uninstalled at your expense and shipped back to Strom, also at your expense. It also means you will be without a faucet until it is returned and reinstalled. ² Sincere thanks, and a tip of the ol' hard-hat to our readers who alerted us that Strom had begun quietly moving its component manufacturing to China,; and to Larry Jacobs, the owner of Strom who corrected and clarified some of our information. We appreciate the help. If you see anything in these ratings that you believe is incorrect, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 7-8 Updated: 11/29/12 Some of the Symmons Industries faucet line is BAA/ARRA compliant. Check the box for country of origin.	Symmons Industries 31 Brooks Drive Braintree, MA 02184-3804 1-800-SYMMONS	7-8 $100-500 Made in 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."

	A family owned and managed business founded in 1939, Symmons Industries is headquartered and manufactures its products in Massachusetts, USA Symmons is one of the best American faucet manufacturers you have never heard of. It only recently began advertising to the general public on a very limited scale. So, if the brand is unfamiliar to you, don't feel neglected. It's completely unknown to most people. Within the building trades, however, it is very well known 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 — and highly recommended even if it is not required by law). The invention is considered by Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine the well-respected plumbing industry trade journal, as one of the most important milestones in plumbing history, on par with the flush toilet. (I don't think we can go that far, however). At one time nearly every component of every faucet Symmons sold in the U. S. was made in the U.S. Unfortunately this is no longer true. Like nearly every American faucet maker, it buys its ceramic cartridges offshore. Kerox., which manufactures Hungary, supplies most of Symmons cartridges, and also supplies cartridges to Delta and Moen, among others. Symmons also buys cartridges from Geann Industrial Co., Ltd. in China. Both of these suppliers make good quality midpriced cartridges, but they contain a lot of plastic and are below the quality of the manufacturers of first rate cartridges like Fluhs, GmbH.
Symmons makes makes many of its faucet components locally, but it also imports components from Guangzhou Seagull Kitchen and Bath Products Co. Ltd., which supplies Sherle Wagner with faucet components; and Globe Union, the maker of Danze and Water Ridge faucets as well as some store brand Pegasus faucets for Home Depot. Symmons makes solid, reliable and reasonably priced kitchen and bath faucets. There is a designer line for the style-minded, but the company's traditional stock in trade is its stalwart, if somewhat stodgy, bar and hotel fixtures. As befits their heavy-duty commercial lineage, Symmons faucets will stand up to brutal treatment for a long, long time. We have never seen a defective Symmons faucet, and never had one fail. (If you have, please contact us and tell us about it.) Since entering the residential faucet business in 2007, Symmons has expanded its collection of kitchen and bath faucets systematically. Its latest wrinkle is the company's "polished granite" faucet finish. Like nothing we have seen before. (The picture above does not do the finish justice.) If the company's standard faucets are not enough for you, then Symmons Design Studio, a custom design service, enables designers, architects, owners, and developers to create customized products. If your goal is a reasonably priced faucet, almost certain never to break, it would be very, very hard to improve on a Symmons faucet. If you have had an experience with a Symmons faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported France Rating: 7-9 Updated: 03/14/12	THG USA 6601 Lyons Road Coconut Creek, FL 33073 (954)-425-8225	7-9 $1,400-20,000 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, SAS (THG), a family business founded in 1956 and headquartered in Picardy, France. THG offers over 100 fixture collections comprised of thousands of individual designs. The company is one of few faucet manufacturers left in the world to integrate the entire production process in one company — from design and engineering, to casting, tooling and plating. Its faucets range from classical to contemporary-chic, with many variations in between. The company's roll-call of designers includes the who's who of industrial design. THG's lines are well made and reliable, but very, very expensive. Prices range from mildly extortionate to outright armed robbery. You can buy a new Cadillac for the price of some THG faucets — no, we are not* kidding*. The company keeps virtually no stock. Most faucets are manufactured to order by the company's over 200 craftsmen, so expect long, long lead times. If you have had an experience with a THG faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

	Source	Rating • Price • Origin	Category • Retail Source	Warranty
Imported Japan Rating: 5-9 Updated: 03/18/12	Toto Faucets 1155 Southern Road Morrow, GA 30260 (888) 295-8134	5-9 $200-700 and up Japan/China	Manufacturer Division 15 Sales, (402) 597-6353. Homeclick	One Year Limited Warranty to the original purchaser only.

	The USA branch of the premier 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. The company's warranty is one of the stingiest in the industry. The company specialty is product suites: matched sets of toilets, basins, tubs, showers, faucets and accessories. Toto has a substantial manufacturing presence in the U.S., notably in Georgia, so much so that about 1,000 of its sanitary-ware and accessory products qualify as "Made in U.S.A." under the Buy American and American Recovery and Reinvestment Acts. Unfortunately, all of Toto's faucets are made elsewhere.
We feel very weird slapping a "Made in U.S.A." sticker on a Japanese toilet, but there it is. Toto makes more products in the U.S. than do "American" companies like American Standard. It's a strange new global economy, folks. Toto along with Graff, Waterstone, Hansgrohe, and KWC would 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. We buy a lot more Toto bath wares than we used to, now that so many are made in Georgia. If you have had an experience with a Toto faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Canada/China Not Rated Updated: 11/14/12	Uberhaus Faucets RONA, Inc. 220, Chemin du Tremblay Boucherville, Quebec J4B 8H7 (514) 599-5100	Not Rated $100-400 Canada/China	Retail Rebrander RONA-affiliated Hardware Stores.	Lifetime Limited Warranty to the original purchaser.

	Uberhaus is the name of a line of private label faucets, fixtures and bath accessories sold by RONA, Inc., a Canadian corporation. Rona is Canada's largest hardware and home improvement retailer, operating more than 500 stores across Canada. The company is a cross between the big box chains like Lowes and Home Depot, and the buying cooperatives that supply independently owned Ace and True Value hardware stores. It supplies its own company-oned stores, but also provides its products to francises and independently-owned affiliated stores. The company began in 1939 as a buying cooperative organized by independent hardware stores to pool their buying power for better prices, and continued as a cooperative until going public in 2002. Its chief competitor in Canada is U.S.-based Home Depot. But, RONA's company-owned box box stores avoid that quintessential warehouse look favored by U.S. box stores such as Lowes, Menards and Home Depot with arrangments that create stores within the store, making the shopping experience much more pleasant.
RONA, Inc. like the Home Depot does not design or manufacture its own faucets, but buys them ready made and already in the box from large Chinese factories, then sells them under the Uberhous name. Its primary faucet supplier is Kaiping Freendo Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. with help from the giant Globe Union Industrial Group which also makes some Pegasus faucets for Home Depot, and Taizhou Fenghua Brassworks. The company advertises Uberhaus faucets as being all brass with ceramic cartridges. The Uberhous faucets we examined did have ceramic cartridges, but they included a lot of plastic. We don't think plasic in cartridges meant to last many decades is a good idea. The long term availability of parts for these faucets is an issue. If the faucet does not work out of the box, RONA will replace it, but if it breaks 15 years from now, the liklihood that RONA will have the parts to fix it is slim. Like all faucet lines that are nothing more than a collection of faucets made by manufacturers whose quality is largely unknown, we have no basis on which to judge the quality of Uberhous faucets, and, therefore, cannot rate the line at this time. Faucets comparable to Uberhaus include Pegasus from Home Depot. If you have had an experience with an Uberhaus faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Not Rated Updated: 09/23/12	Vigo Industries, L.L.C. 320 Mill Road Edison NJ, 08817 ((866)591-7792	Not Rated $100-450.00 China	Marketeer Faucet.com, 877-742-4703; Faucet Direct, (800) 864-2555; Walmart.	5-year limited warranty to the original purchaser for home use only. One year on pull-out sprays. Not transferable.

	Started in 2009 by Leonid Valdberg, the company is an importer of Chinese-made bathroom and kitchen products that are branded and sold under the Vigo name. Vigo products are not usually cutting edge, although they are very contemporary, but at 30% to 50% below similar faucets from other companies, Vigo knows how to market. It's prices and quality put it in direct competition with Kraus USA and Kingston Brass which have adopted a similar business model. Its low prices are the primary reason it has spread so widely across the internet in such a short time. It quickly outgrew its original warehousing and shipping facilities and has recently moved to larger facilities in Edison, N.J. Some Vigo faucets are designed and engineered by Vigo engineers, but most are simply regular Chinese factory products, designed and engineered in China. That's not necessarily bad. Chinese engineering is a lot better than it was just five years ago. We have been pretty impressed by the engineering of the Vigo products we have used.
Vigo has had problems with honoring its warranty, resulting in an unusually high number of complaints to the Better Business Bureau over the past three years. The company is, however, accredited by the BBB, and rates A-. We have never had a problem with a Vigo product, so we cannot say first-hand how good their warranty process might be. We did find, in researching the company, that it is often difficult to reach anyone by telephone, and it is frequently necessary to leave a message and wait for a call back. The skimpy five-year warranty suggests that Vigo does not intend to stock a large number of parts for discontinued models. We think that five year's of support for what is supposed to be a lifetime product is probably not enough, and is a decision that ought to be reconsidered by management. Vigo is too new to have established any sort of reputation for quality or long-term reliability, and, in fact, is still experiencing some growing pains as its shakes out its product line. So we refrain from rating it this year. But, on the plus side, the company does seem to be very focused on quality and seems to be making the effort to weed out problem products. We think that's a good sign. Check back next year. If you have had an experience with a Vigo faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Rating: 4-6 Updated: 10/31/12	Water Ridge Faucet Globe Union Group 2 Territorial Ct. Suite A Bolingbrook, IL 60440 (888) 328-2383	4-6 $30-250 China	Manufacturer Costco, Walmart, Sears, Amazon, and eBay, and other discounters.	Five year limited warranty.

	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. Water Ridge is a Globe Union faucet line made for discounters like Costco and Walmart. But, it is also sold by Sears and on-line retailers such as Amazon, Overstock.com and, of course, eBay. Warranty service and parts are available from Globe Union's U.S.-based customer support center at 1-888-328-2383. Expect long wait times — up to 25 minutes. Or, you can try the Costco customer service line at 1-866-789-2273 which has a special selection for Water Ridge installation problems.
We consider Water Ridge to be a lower-end Danze faucet. Globe Union saves costs by making many essential parts of this faucet line out of plastic. We do not like plastic in faucets. It is not durable enough for what is meant to be a lifetime product. The faucet seems to garner its share of complaints about faulty products right out of the box and serious difficulties with installation by DIYers despite Globe Union's "easy to install" claim. To be fair, however, we have never experienced an installation problem, but then, we use plumbers for installation. Plumbers generally hate the faucet, as they do all discount brands, for the simple reason that discount brands seem to result in more callbacks. For more information on Globe Union and its many brands, see the review of Danze Faucets, above. If you have had an experience with a Water Ridge faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 8-9 Updated: 11/02/12	Waterstone Faucets Waterstone, LLC 26790 Madison Ave. Murrieta, CA 92562 (888) 304-0660	8-9 $350-2,500 USA	Manufacturer eFaucets, Quality Bath, Faucet Direct, The USA Home.	Lifetime full warranty.

	For those of you that think excellent European-style craftsmanship, flawless finishing and unblemished quality are not available from U.S. faucet manufacturers., we have just one word for you — Waterstone. Waterstone LLC, founded in 1999 by former Marine Chris Kuran, custom manufactures all brass faucets in southern California that have every bit of the design pizazz and hand-crafted finesse of the finest European craft shops. The company started as a manufacturer of components for filtration systems, and integrated water filtration is still an optional part of its faucet packages. Waterstone designs and engineers its own faucets in suites of matching styles, and now includes cabinet hardware to round out the look. Some of the designs are truly unique, for example the gantry pull-down faucet shown here. Nothing like it is available anywhere else. Unfortunately, the company's offerings include only kitchen and bar faucets — nothing for the bath.
We had heard about Waterstone faucets for years, but only recently were able to get our hands on a couple that we could take apart and look at. These products are impressive. They include quarter turn ceramic valves from Fluhs Drehtechnik, GmbH, probably the best in the world, and machining on the inside that looks like it ought to be on the outside. That's pretty rare and indicative of a company determined to make a quality product. We wanted to keep one just to show people what a quality faucet looks like inside and out, but our customer, rather irascably, insisted that we install it in her kitchen. No sense of humor, that woman. The faucets are entirely made in the U.S.A. except the ceramic valves. Most faucet companies do not make their own ceramic valves. It is a very specialized area of manufacturing that requires capabilities most faucet makers do not have. The valves are excellent, made by Fl�hs Drehtechnik, GmbH in Germany, known for its flawless products. If you are considering a high-end European faucet like Grohe, KWC, Hansgrohe, Perrin & Rowe, or THG but want to buy American, take a look at Waterstone. You won't be disappointed. It is one of the nicest faucets we have ever seen. If you have had an experience with a Waterstone faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported Israel Rating: 6-7 Updated: 11/09/12	Whitehaus Collection White's Plumbing Supplies, Inc. 589 Boston Post Rd. West Haven, CT 06516 (800)-527-6690	6-7 $350-2,000 Israel	Marketeer eFaucets, Quality Bath, Faucet Direct, The USA Home.	"Mechanical Components are warranted against defects for 5 years… The finishes for faucets and accessories are warranted for 2 years against tarnishing, peeling, and staining…"

	In 1923 Samuel White started a small plumbing supply wholesale business in West Haven, Connecticut. It is still a going concern, now under the third generation of White Family management, and possibly the best known plumbing supplier in the New Haven area, in part because of its extensive inventory and helpful personnel, but also because it created and markets the Whitehaus Collection of faucets, sinks, tub, showers and bathroom furniture and accessories.
The Whitehaus Collection is what it says it is: a collection, manufactured by many different companies located in many different countries of the world. Sinks from Italy, China and Turkey; vanities and consoles from Spain; faucets from Hamat Sanitary Fittings and Castings in Israel, which makes its own line of excellent Hamat faucets, and also supplies faucets to Franke and Blanco. The collection is stylish. It ranges from traditional to very contemporary, but avoids the angularity of many modern faucet styles for a softer, less industrial look. The faucets use ceramic disk valves. Unfortunately many of them contain plastic, which we feel is not a suitable material for a faucet cartridge intended to give many years of faultless performance. The company does not have much faith in the longevity or durability of its faucets, despite their well-regarded manufacturing provenance: Hamat. It is not even as generous as Hamat's own warranty, which guarantees its finishes for three years. Prospective buyers should pay attention to the companies relative lack of confidence in its own products. In the ratings, the company lost points for a relatively weak family of faucet cartridges, and a very stingy warranty. If you have had an experience with a Whitehaus faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Made in USA Rating: 8-9 Updated: 11/12/12 Some faucets are made in China, but most are still made in South Carolina. The catalog identifies which is which.	Wolverine Faucets Wolverine Brass, Inc. 2951 Hwy. 501 E Conway, SC 29526 (800) 944-9292	8-9 $300-800 USA	Manufacturer Sold only through licensed plumbers	Mechanicals and finishes warranteed for 100 years.

	You can buy a more stylish faucet. You can buy a more expensive faucet. But, you cannot buy a better faucet than a Wolverine faucet. That has been our opinion for over a dozen years, and we see no reason to change it. Founded in 1896, Wolverine Brass, Inc. is, like Symmons Industries, a great American faucet company that you have never heard of. It does not advertise to consumers. It never has, and probably never will. It has a very different business model. It sells exclusively through licensed plumbers. If you want a Wolverine faucet, or even a part for a Wolverine faucet, contact your local plumber. He or she is the authorized Wolverine dealer. Even our company, a general contractor, cannot buy a Wolverine faucet except through our licensed master plumbers — something that amuses them to no end. Wolverine claims that because it pays a lot of attention to what plumbers say they need, the company makes products that "make sense". And, because it makes only very high quality products, it enjoys tremendous customer loyalty. "Ask a Wolverine customer if they would every use anything else. You will always get the same answer: No!" OK, a little hyperbole here, but it actually is a very good faucet, not long on style, but very long on quality and reliability, that is backed by one of the strongest warranties in the business. Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine, the well-respected plumbing industry trade journal, rates Wolverine as the most reliable faucet made anywhere. That's probably not hyperbole, since PMM is not given to gushing. If the nearly indestructible residential models are not tough enough for your household, try one of the even more durable and reliable commercial lines.
Wolverine engineered and was the first U.S. faucet company to patent a ceramic disk valve in 1972, and has been perfecting it ever since. It is one of the few faucet manufacturers to make its own ceramic valves. It's a good one, too. The company uses just two cartridge styles, one for single handle faucets and one for double handle faucets. Every Wolverine faucet made uses one or the other of these two cartridges. This keeps parts inventory to a minimum. Every faucet part is brass and/or stainless steel. Wolverine guarantees all of its finishes, except the usually fragile oil rubbed bronze, to be free of defects for 100 years. It guarantees its faucets to be leak free for the same century. Sounds impressive, but when you read the actual warranty you will find that what is really means is the faucet is warranted only for as long as the original purchaser lives and still owns the house — in other words, for no longer a period than the standard "lieftime" warranty. When, a few years ago, Wolverine decided to expand its production, rather than enlarging and upgrading its South Carolina plant, management, in an amazing brain freeze, decided to manufacture some Wolverine faucets under contract with Kaiping Longho Plumbing Industrial (and to a lesser extent, Shenzhen Pearl River International). That was undoubtedly a strategic mistake that shows an astounding failure to understand the company's customer base. The company's customers are plumbers. Plumbers may be the nation's most conservative group of people, somewhat to the right of truckers and longshoremen. They won't take kindly to giving American jobs to China. Once the China connection becomes more widely known among plumbers, we predict they won't be quite as ready to specify Wolverine products, especially as other excellent, American made, faucets are readily available like Chicago Faucets and Symmons Industries. Right now, we know of no plumber that will specify a "China Wolverine" faucet, and we think that attitude will probably spread. At the present time, most of Wolverine's faucets are still made in the U.S. But, if you want to buy American, check to see where a particular faucet was manufactured before you buy. In the company catalog, American-made faucets are indicated by a "WB Manufactured" at the bottom of the page. We are still gathering information on consumers' experiences with Wolverine products. If you have had an experience with a Wolverine faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .

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Imported China Not Rated Updated: 10/31/12	Elizabethan Classics Belle For�t Sch�n Brass Works World Imports 2900 Westfork Drive, Suite 600 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70827 (225) 215-9611	Not Rated $50-700 China/Italy	Marketeer Home Depot, Your Other Warehouse, Amazon, eBay, and other internet discounters.	Five year limited warranty.

	World Imports is a trade name of Georgia Lighting, Inc., a subsidiary of Home Depot and the umbrella organization for several lines of private label faucet and sanitary fixture brands including Elizabethan Classics, Belle For�t, and Sch�n Brass Works, all distributed by yet another Home Depot subsidiary, Your Other Warehouse, Inc. The faucet and fixture lines are collections that adhere to a visual theme.
Elizabethan Classics' theme is romantic and Victorian. The collection is limited to bath wares and includes cast iron clawfoot tubs, acrylic clawfoot tubs, bath faucets, Victorian-style water closets, pedestal lavatories and console lavatories � all inspired by the styling of the Victorian Era. For Belle For�t the theme is French Provincial. The collection offers a full range of kitchen and bath faucets, copper basins, stone vessels and bath vanities that fit the country French style. Sch�n is contemporary with the clean, spare lines expected of contemporary fixtures and faucets, but not at all cutting edge. Its faucets duplicate the look found in many faucet lines. The collection has no particularly noteworthy features. Home Depot does not, of course, design, engineer, manufacture, test or quality control its own faucets. It simply buys already manufactured faucets from various faucet companies and adds them to the collection they best fit. We have no idea who makes the faucets, and have, therefore, no basis for determining their quality. The collections have no brand reputation of their own, so all quality judgments must be based on their original manufacturers, and we have no way of determining that information. Browsing the collections we see products that we recognize are probably from large Chinese manufacturers such as Glob Union Industrial Corporation, Lota International Co. Ltd. and from Paini, a well-regarded Italian faucet-maker and a long-time supplier of Home Depot faucets sold under the Pegasus brand. But, others we don't recognize at all. We simply have no basis on which to rate the quality of the collections. Distribution of these products is handled by Your Other Warehouse, Inc. ("YOW") a Home Depot subsidiary that specializes is warehousing and distributing a vast array of products, including, but by no means limited to these private labels. YOW handles replacement parts and customer service, and they're good at it. It is, after all, their primary business. But, the availability of replacement parts after the 5-year warranty period on these products is suspect, since it is unusual for discount sellers to maintain parts for much beyond the warranty. Faucets comparable to Elizabethan Classics, Belle Foret and Schon include Aquabrass, Pegasus, Kingston Brass, and Kraus. If you want to buy an American faucet with the same style characteristics, but probably better quality, look at Delta, Moen, and Strom. If you have had an experience with a Elizabethan Classics, Belle For�t, or Sch�n faucet, — good, bad or indifferent — that you would like to share, please let us know. Was this review informative, helpful, interesting? Can it be improved? Please rate this review and give us your feedback. .