Best Value Faucets

Many fau­cet companies sell superior fau­cets in North Amer­i­ca, offering good to excellent fauc­et values. In fact, there has never been a better time to buy a fau­cet.

The emerging core and shell faucet construction technology holds the promise of better, less expensive faucets in the near future that do not need to be made from costly lead-free brass yet are still durable, lifetime products.

Unfortunately, however, there are also a lot of mediocre fau­cet companies selling products that are a not-so-good value. Many have not been tested and certified safe, reliable, and lead-free – fau­cets that are illegal to install and usually illegal to sell in the U.S. and Canada.

Amazon alone sells thousands of these black-market, contraband faucets from nearly 1,000 known trafickers, with more added daily, and has not stopped selling them even afer dozens of brands have been recalled for contamination by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Distinguishing the good from the bad, the superior from the inferior, and the legal from the illegal is what we try to do in our Faucet Reviews & Ratings of over 300 fau­cet brands.

And, every other year, we sit down to figure out the best of the best – not necessarily the absolute best fau­cets but the best fau­cet value for the money.

If price is not an object, any company with adequate resources can produce a lifetime fau­cet. It is much harder to produce a well-designed, well-made, tested, and certified lifetime fau­cet that homeowners can afford.

they are out there, however, and those are the aucets we are looking for to include in this listing. The process of selection was, as it always is, involved and contentious.

Fau­cets, with very few exceptions, are getting better and better with improved technology, better styling, and more precise manufacturing.

The gap in styling, features, and durability between luxury and economy fau­cets is growing smaller year over year.

Twenty years ago, when we first started our fau­cet reviews, we expected economy fau­cets to last 15-20 years and only the very best fau­cets to be true lifetime products.

Today, we expect most certified fau­cets to last at least one lifetime with almost indestructible finishes and superior ceramic valves that are unlikely to wear out until your grandchildren have grandchildren.

Our focus these days is squarely on technology.

Style and design are important, but it is technology that makes a fau­cet work failure-free for decades at a time. Technology, therefore, dominated our panel's considerations, as it has for the last eight years, resulting in much less emphasis on high style and much more focus on high tech.

High-tech includes hands-free fau­cets.

Electronics got a lot of attention for the first time in 2015 and every year since.

At each go-round, however, the panel eventually decided that the technology is not yet mature enough for serious consideration.

The electronics have improved, controlling more functions and even integrating with smart home systems such as Alexa or Google Home. Still, most "smart" fau­cets are still not yet very smart. Their AI software lacks the "I" needed to flawlessly operate a faucets without manual intervention.

The technology is still very fragile with well-documented premature failures as evidenced by the skimpy 3-5 year warranties on the electronics in even the best hands-free fau­cets.

If electronics are to be used to control lifetime fau­cets, we believe they need to be robust enough to last a lifetime.

The current technology is nowhere near that point, and we don't expect to get there very soon. It will almost certainly require a breakthrough that has not yet happened.

Faucet companies are slow to adopt new technologies. They are aware that they a selling what most buyers believe is a lifetime product, and when they develope a process that produces reliable products, tend to stick with it.

In consequence, faucet companies change slowly. Top brands tend to remain top brands year after year. Some of the fau­cet companies in this year's list have been Best Values for a dozen years and longer. Two companies listed here, have been Best Values since the very beginning of our research over 20 years ago.

For this year's report, we have added a category for economy fau­cets. These are all the province of Asian manufacturers. Europe and North Amer­i­ca produce some excellent fau­cets, but none that fall within the under $250.00 economy price range.

make their usual appearance in the list, but as Asian-made, not American-made faucets.

Masco has moved the majority of its manufacturing to Asia. The migration has been ongoing for years and has finally reached the tipping point. The faucets are still highly rated, but not as brands made or assembled in North America.

Delta Faucet's brand is the most recent casualty of globalized manufacturing.

The Brizo brand was our first choice as Best Value in a premium fau­cet made or assembled in North Amer­i­ca for nearly a decade. Until recently, Delta made most of its upscale Bri­zo fau­cets in the United States. The pendulum has swung, however, and Del­ta now makes no more than one-third of its Bri­zo fau­cets in the U.S. The rest are manufactured in China.

It is still an excellent line of fau­cets, but to be considered North Amer­i­can, at least 51% of the fau­cets need to be made or assembled here. Bri­zo no longer qualifies. (Find Bri­zo Faucets under Asian Luxury Faucets, below.)

One result of the major companies pulling up stakes is that the premium market is now wide open for smaller companies making very well-designed and well-crafted luxury fau­cets in the U.S. and Canada.

Nine faucet companies were nominated in this category, all of them true contenders, including

Sonoma Forge makes rustic fau­cets that appear to have been fabricated out of leftover plumbing pipe. It's an illusion, of course. In actual fact, the fau­cets are carefully designed and meticulously manufactured in the U.S. But they are definitely a niche market and not for everyone.

Phylrich was a close runner-up, but it lost points for its prices, which are a little higher on average than those of our Best Value companies in this category. Mevertheless, it is an excellent company making an excellent product and would have been in this list had we not limited each category to a maximum of three companies. If you are looking for an American-made premium faucet, Phylrich is a company worth a look.

Guerin and Sherle Wagner make artistic fau­cets by hand, one at a time to order: Guerin from molds well over a century old, and Sherle Wagner with artistic embellishments that have to be seen to be believed.

They lost out, however, because the fau­cets are very pricey. They belong in a category by themselves – perhaps "Super Luxury Faucets."

On the other hand, if price is no object, give these two brands a glance if you are in the market for a unique handmade or nearly handmade fau­cet.

Our panel whittled the list down to three brands that it believes offer a Best Value in the luxury fau­cet category.

Taken together, these companies offer the best that is available of upscale premium fau­cets made or assembled in North Amer­i­ca, and in our judgment, some of the finest fau­cets made anywhere in the world at any price.

California Faucets, Inc.

5231 Argosy Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92649

(800) 822-8855

Street Price Range: $400 – $1,200 USD ($550 – $1,600 CAD)

Overall Rating: 8-9 (Very Good to Excellent)

There are only a handful of the 300 or so fau­cet companies in our reviews that seem to do everything right. California Faucets is one of them.

Its fau­cets (and showers) are well-designed and innovative, carefully manufactured using only the best components in an assembly plant that is more craft shop than factory.

The faucet's prices are generally below the mean for luxury fau­cets – particularly when compared to European luxury brands.

The company provides a strong limited lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects and (except for ) tarnishing. Its award-winning customer service is capable, responsive, and Cal­i­forn­ia-friend­ly.

Founded in 1988 by the now-retired Fred Sil­ver­stein, Cal­i­forn­ia Fauc­ets manufactures well-made artisan fau­cets of its own design from domestic and imported components.

The company is owned and managed by family members, including Jeff Sil­ver­stein, the son of the founder and its current CEO.

It has earned a solid reputation for quality and innovation.

According to company lore, Cal­i­forn­ia Fau­cets spent its first five years learning how to hand-as­semble and custom finish quality fau­cets with short turnaround times that nearly equal as­sembly-line speed but produce a craft-shop fau­cet.

Now, years later, that early effort has paid off.

The company's approach to making its heavy, all-brass craft fau­cets is smart and creative, helping to keep its prices relatively low while allowing extensive customization of its quality fau­cets.

Faucets are not produced en masse on an assembly line. They are assembled and finished one at a time as they are ordered.

The components used in its fau­cets are made by overseas companies, mostly in China, Taiwan, and China, with a bow to Germany for the remarkable Flühs fau­cet valve and precision machine parts.

Its fau­cets are a part of well-coordinated collections that for lavatory fau­cets may include fau­cets, tub sets, shower sets, bidets, and bathroom accessories consisting of towel bars and rings, toilet paper holders, robe hoods, and grab bars.

For kitchen fau­cets, a collection may include a soap dispenser, taps for hot or filtered water, an air gap, and an air activation switch for a disposer.

The fau­cet designs are extremely flexible.

Decorative items such as spouts and handles for each model fau­cet are often interchangeable, so a great many different configurations can be created without altering the mechanics of the basic fau­cet.

Fau­cets can be configured to a customer's preference just by swapping parts and finishes: sort of like ordering in a Chin­ese restaurant – take one spout from column A, a handle from column B, and a finish from column C.

The company offers a remarkable 26 finishes.

A fau­cet is finished in a customer's chosen finish only once it has been ordered. A customer ordering several coordinating products from a collection is assured that all of the items will look exactly the same, since most of the time they are finished in the same batch, banishing even minor finish variations.

Cal­i­for­nia Faucets provides one of the best limited lifetime warranties we have seen – well-written and fully compliant with U.S. warranty law. Only (another Best Value company) has a better warranty, and then by not more than a whisker.

The warranty is supported by one of the smoothest customer service operations we have encountered.

The company's handling of customer issues is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, and it has maintained that rating almost from its founding. It has also been awarded by the Decorative Plumbing & Hardware Association for its "responsiveness, courtesy, knowledge, ability to go above and beyond the norm, and overall performance."

For its focus on creative designs and faultless quality that includes the use of top-tier ceramic valve cartridges, a wide choice of finish options, and retail prices considerably lower than we would expect for premium fau­cets, we judge Cal­i­for­nia Faucets to be a Best Value in luxury fau­cets produced in North Amer­i­ca.

Read our in-depth report on California Faucets.

The Rubinet Faucet Company, Ltd.

10 Corstate Ave., Concord, ON L4K 4X2

(800) 461-5901

Street Price Range: $300 – $920 USD ($375 – $1,150 CAD)

Overall Rating: 8-9 (Very Good to Excellent)

Despite our panel's emphasis on technology this year, there is little doubt that Rubinet stands out not for its advanced techno-wizardry but for its design acumen.

Not that its technology is being discounted. It uses some of the best valve cartridges and aerators available on the world market, along with superb craftsmanship and unstinting quality control to produce what we judge to be world-class faucets that equal any faucet collection made anywhere.

But, some of its designs are truly remarkable, especially when combined with its rainbow of finishes. Nearly every fau­cet in its collections is a stand-out.

The designs range from traditional to very contemporary. Even its interpretations of traditional styles are fresh and interesting. It contemporary faucets, however, prove that Canadian product designers have the design game down cold.

Like another of our Best Value companys, Graff, Rubinet is very quiet about its accomplishments. It just makes beautiful faucets of outstanding quality and waits for the world to notice. The fact that the company is in this list, and has been for several issues, is proof positive that the world has noticed.

The Rubinet (Rubi-NAY) Fau­cet Company was formed in 1981 in Ontario. It is a quiet company that designs, assembles, and finishes striking and sometimes unique sink fau­cets, shower assemblies, and coordinating accessories in Canada with little fanfare.

It makes almost no effort to promote itself or its original Ca­na­di­an-de­signed fau­cet creations. We don't know why. But it seems to work.

The fau­cets are sold throughout Canada and in parts of the U.S. as well as exported overseas.

Rubinet does not sell its fau­cets on its website. It sells through showrooms in Canada. A showroom locator is provided on its website under the "Where to Buy" tab.

It does not have showroom retailers in the U.S. The only source for the fau­cets for U.S. buyers is online retailers, the most prominent of which are Plumb­ing Over­stock and Qual­i­ty Bath.

Online buying works for the purchase of a single faucet in a basic finish, but for a whole collection of coordinating products, the help of a showroom expert does much to prevent costly mistakes.

Rubinet fau­cets are arranged in 11 collections, ranging in style from updated traditional to ult­ra-cont­emp­or­ary.

All but the Jasmin collection include kitchen and bath fau­cets, tub fillers, shower assemblies, and coordinating accessories. (The Jasmin collection does not include kitchen fau­cets.)

The company's two-handle fau­cets are fitted with ceramic cartridges manufactured by Flühs Di­rehtech­nik in Lüden­scheid, Ger­many, considered by most in the fau­cet industry to be one of the best, if not the best, fau­cet cartridge made for two-handle fau­cets.

Cartridges for Rubinet's single-handle fau­cets are made by Kerox, Kft of Hungary, and CeramTec GmbH of Luft, Ger­many, both world leaders in high-performance technical ceramics.

Finishing is done in Canada to order. This gives the company a great deal of flexibility in its finishes, making its stunning variety of finishes possible. The company lists 27 standard finishes on its website, and special-order finishes are available.

The company's forté is in which one finish is the base and another becomes the accent.

Almost every fau­cet is available with a split finish. There are over 400 possible finish combinations available from the 22 standard finishes, some of which would be drop-dead ugly, but most of which are very nice.

Most of its metallic finishes are electroplated. Some are (physical vapor deposition) finishes. Our experience with PVD finishes is that they are almost indestructible.

Non-metallic finishes are usually powder coatings, a semi-durable finish. But Rubinet's lifetime warranty on its finishes, including powder coats, suggests that the company is confident of the robustness and longevity of its powder coatings.

The Rubinet fau­cet warranty promises to replace any defective part and re-finish or repair any defective finish as long as the fau­cet is owned by the original buyer.

The warranty meets the North Amer­i­can standard for fau­cet warranties and it amply demonstrates the company's faith in the quality and long life of Rubinet fau­cets, including its finishes.

Customer service is excellent. Agents are knowledgeable about Rubinet products, Canadian-friendly (which is even friendlier than California-friendly and almost as cordial as Nebraska-nice), and eager to help solve problems.

Rubinet appears to be much more interested in taking care of customer problems than with minor niceties of who is or is not covered by its warranty on the sensible basis that people who do not own a Rubinet fau­cet are unlikely to ask for warranty service for a Rubinet faucet.

Our favorable view of the company's after-sales support is borne out by the Better Business Bureau, which rates Rubinet A+ on a scale of A+ to F for its outstanding handling of customer issues.

Rubinet is a BBB-accredited business and pledged to abide by the high standards required by the BBB for accreditation.

For its focus on striking, innovative design and faultless quality that includes the use of top-tier ceramic cartridges, a wide variety of finish options, and retail prices somewhat lower than we would expect for designer fau­cets, we judge Rubinet to be a Best Value in luxury fau­cets produced in North Amer­i­ca.

Read our in-depth report on Rubinet Faucets.

Waterstone LLC

41180 Raintree Court, Murrieta, CA 92562

(888) 304-0660

Street Price Range: $1,400 - $11,600 USD ($1,836 - $15,380 CAD)

Overall Rating: 8-9 (Very Good to Excellent)

Waterstone makes some of the most interesting fau­cets in the world. Its creative vision seems to have no boundaries.

Some of its designs push the style ceiling to its limit, such as its striking Wheel kitchen fau­cet (pictured below at left), based roughly (very roughly) on the pull-down reel fau­cets used in commercial kitchens.

If you want to ensure the "Wow" factor in your new kitchen, Water­stone is the fau­cet you need.

They are relatively expensive fau­cets when compared to other Amer­i­can companies that sell luxury fau­cets.

The company made the list, however, because its competition is not domestic. It is European, and compared to the European companies that make hand-crafted luxury faucets, its prices are very favorable for faucet designs that are every bit as innovative, and for quality that is often superior.

We cannot be certain that Wa­ter­stone sells the world's best fau­cets, but we can be sure that it is getting very close.

They are not, however, fau­cets for those looking for a luxury fau­cet bargain.

When compared to the fau­cets offered by other North Amer­i­can companies in this category, its prices start where those of these other companies top out.

Waterstone fau­cets, however, are in an altogether different league.

Great European craft houses like from France, and Amer­i­can importers of high-end European fau­cets like are their true competition. Compared to these brands, Waterstone's fau­cets are very affordable.

What you get for the price is unique styling, one-at-a-time craft-shop assembly, and multi-layered, sophisticated finishes unlike any otherwise available in the world.

Founded in 1999 by Chris Kuran (after a stint as a U.S. Marine officer - Semper Fi), Water­stone LLC crafts its fau­cets from lead-free brass and stainless steel.

Its factory in South­ern Cal­iforn­ia is located in the Silicon Valley of luxury fau­cet man­ufacturing in the U.S., an area that is also home to all top drawer companies.

Water­stone's energetic and creative design team designs, engineers, and prototypes Water­stone's unique fau­cets that are produced in the U.S.A.

By "produced," we mean milled, machined, finished, pol­ished, assembled, and in America, from raw materials to finished product.

Water­stone makes nearly all of its own parts and components, giving it nearly complete control of the quality of its manufacturing process from start to finish – one reason for Water­stone's reliability and low failure rate.

The company is well known for its vast catalog of finishes. It offers 32 standard finishes, a number that seems to keep growing year after year, and just about any special finish you can describe.

Fau­cets are sold primarily through showrooms and the Wa­ter­stone website.

A limited selection of styles and finishes is sold by internet fau­cet retailers, including Ferguson Home (formerly Build.com), Qual­ity Bath, and Plumb­ing Over­stock.

An even more limited selection of styles and finishes can also be found at general merchandisers like Ama­zon and Way­fair.

For special, custom, and split finishes or if you want to coordinate a fau­cet with other items in a collection like a soap dispenser or a filtration fau­cet, the better option is to work with a studio, showroom, or kit­chen designer to avoid costly mistakes.

Waterstone guarantees a fau­cet's mechanical parts, including its cartridges, for the lifetime of the fau­cet and most of its finishes for the same lifetime.

The company's customer service, like the products it services, is excellent.

In our standard tests, customer service scored high on product knowledge, patience, and cordiality. We scored customer service at 4.6 out of a possible 5 points. Any score over 4.0 is acceptable, and 4.6 is exceptional.

Waterstone's Better Business Bureau rating is A+. This rating means that the BBB considers Waterstone's handling of post-sale customer issues to be outstanding.

If you are remodeling a luxury kitchen or bath, or looking for that one sinfully luxurious item to highlight a more modest project, we suggest you give Waterstone a good, hard look. It would be hard to find a better fau­cet at any price.

Go to our in-depth report on Waterstone Faucets.

The Italians are the masters of design; the Germans of engineering, and the French make some very fascinating, if quirky, fau­cets with a manufacturing mastery that needs bow to no one.

UK companies are also serious contenders with an industrial establishment that is more than three centuries old htat has produced technical masterpieces such as the Rolls-Royce motorcar and the Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft of World War II fame.

What puts many European companies out of the running are their warranties.

European fau­cet warranties are typically 2 to 5 years. Ten years is considered generous. The standard North Amer­i­can warranty is for the lifetime of the original buyer.

It is almost impossible for a company offering a less-than-lifetime warranty in the North Amer­i­can market to accumulate enough points to be a serious contender for Best Value.

Companies like that also make well-styled, excellent products and offer Amer­i­can-style lifetime warranties on the fau­cets they sell on this side of the Pond.

The other disqualifying issue is certification. Some European companies, especially boutique firms like evidently feel they are exempt from testing and certifying their fau­cets to North Amer­i­can Standards, even though U.S. and Canadian laws say they must.

Without certifications, these companies cannot legally sell their fau­cets in the U.S. or in most of Canada. But, they do anyway.

No contraband fau­cet brand sold illegally in North Amer­i­ca can hope to get on the best value scoreboard. (For more information on black market, contraband, and counterfeit fau­cets, see Illegal & Black Market Faucets in North Amer­i­ca.)

Finally, we don't consider companies that don't actually produce their fau­cets in Europe. A lot of European manufacturing has been outsourced to Asia.

This leaves but a scant handful of companies.

The final few included

KWC is going through its third reorganization after being acquired by Franke Water Systems, which was subsequently sold to Equistone Partners Europe which sold KWC to the Italian company, At this moment, the company is in flux. Eventually, it will settle down and once again be considered for inclusion in these pages, but not now.

Hearbeau and Perrin & Rowe proved too expensive. (But if you are looking for a stunning fau­cet in French Art Nouveau or English Edwardian styles, these companies are certainly worth a look.)

In the end, the panel's perennial top pick in this category, In2aqua, was again a top choice just a few points ahead ofGraff. The panel declined to name a third company, finding none that stood out enough to make the final cut.

For cutting-edge design and extensive finish options, Graff is the brand of choice. In2aqua designs are more sedate and its finish palette less expansive, but it has the better technology.

In2aqua GmbH

Koenigstraße 26, Stuttgart 70173, Germany

(800) 257-6051

Price Range:$340 – $1,100 USD ($452 – $1,460 CAD)

Overall Rating: 8-9 (Very Good to Excellent)

Barely years old, In2aqua is a German company that has successfully grown a robust market in both Europe and North Amer­i­ca with advanced technology luxury fau­cets that are well designed, reasonably priced, and protected by what we believe is North Amer­i­ca's best fau­cet warranty.

Its corporate tag line, "Smart luxury made in Germany," aptly summarizes the company's products.

It's German, and Germans do not have the style finess of other companies in this list like Its forté is superior performance and the promise of incredible longevity.

It is also not entirely a luxury faucet company. It's U.S. prices dip well into the upper levels of mid-priced faucets, which to our panel is a plus, making them very affordable luxury faucets.

The company has developed an innovative cartridge using diamond-like carbon-coated discs and a rigid mounting technology to produce cartridges with a projected lifespan of several generations in ordinary household use.

In2aqua is a relatively new German fau­cet company that has placed high in our rankings year after year ever since its fau­cets first appeared in North America for three reasons.

• Low Price: By comparison to most other fau­cet companies selling premium fau­cets, In2aqua fau­cets are cheap. At the low end, the fau­cets barely break the $300.00 USD ($397.00 CAD) mark – a price that is very competitive with many mid-price fau­cets;

• Superior Cartridge Technology: In­2­a­qua's fau­cets include lub­ri­cant-free cartridges that have been tested to four million cycles, equivalent to several centuries of household use; and

• Labor Warranty: In2aqua's lifetime fau­cet warranty covers the cost of labor to fix a defective fau­cet, not just the required parts. No other luxury fau­cet warranty that we know of includes a labor component.

Our panel felt that style and quality being roughly equal, a fau­cet that costs less, includes a superior valve cartridge, and covers labor in its warranty is a better buy than one that costs more, uses a less advanced cartridge, and excludes labor from warranty coverage.

In2aqua was formed in 2013 by Christopher Marshall, formerly the CEO of Han­sa Ar­ma­tur­en GmbH, a well-known (in Eur­ope) Ger­man fau­cet manufacturer, topping a career that included executive positions at

When Han­sa was acquired by Finland's Or­as Group, he left the company to start In­2­a­qua, capitalizing on his extensive knowledge of Eur­o­pe­an fau­cetry.

The brand enjoyed almost overnight success in its home country and began selling on a limited basis in the U.S. in 2014.

It is now widely available in North Amer­i­ca, mostly from brick-and-mor­tar showrooms.

To better serve the North Amer­i­can market, In2aqua has opened a separate assembly plant in Ger­many to produce fau­cets destined for these shores.

The fau­cets feature the distinctive, well-defined Nord­ic-Hans­ea­tic styling characteristic of such established North Eur­ope­an companies as

Most In2aqua collections include bathroom sink fau­cets, tub fillers, showers, and kitchen fau­cets, all coordinated designer products.

The company cuts no corners in either component selection or manufacturing.

The ceramic cartridges used in In2aqua fau­cets are uniformly the best available. All are lub­ri­cant-free.

In2aqua's two-handle fau­cets include valve cartridges by Flühs Dreh­tech­nik, GmbH of Lü­den­scheid, Ger­many, considered by most in the fau­cet business to be one of the best, if not the very best, Eur­ovpe­an stem cartridge.

PVD+ Ceramic Valves

Its single-handle fau­cets are fitted with a proprietary ceramic cartridge that is even more advanced through incremental improvements that have resulted in a cartridge with superior performance and longevity.

The first refinement was its ceramic valve technology. Its PVD+ ceramic discs are coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) applied using (PVD) in which billions of carbon atoms are blasted into an ionic plasma that is bombarded onto the ceramic discs to produce a coating measured in microns.

Diamond-like carbon not only improves a ceramic disc's hardness, but using a technique called fluorine doping also produces an exceptionally slippery surface similar to non-stick coatings on cookware. The coating allows the discs to move freely without the need for a lub­ri­cant.

Lubricant is the Achilles Heel of most ceramic disc valves. Because ceramic discs tend to be "sticky", a durable lubricant is applied to allow them to slide freely.

Over time, the lubricant wears away by the erosive effects of water passing over the discs, making the valve hard to operate and sometimes seizing altogether.

The DLC coating on PVD+ valves eliminates the problem entirely.

M-Lock Mounting

The second component of In2aqua's cartridge technology is the company's exclusive all-brass M-Lock mounting system, which protects the cartridges from deformation, a major cause of leaks in cartridges with plastic housings.

In2aqua estimates that the PVD+ discs will last 10 times longer than uncoated discs. Based on independent laboratory tests, that estimate may be more than a little conservative.

After putting PVD+ cartridges through four million consecutive off/on-hot/cold cycles over 90 days in an independent laboratory, the discs showed no wear.

Four million cycles are equivalent to about 560 years of use in an average home kitchen.

We think the odds are pretty good that PVD+ discs will last for the entire lifetime of an In2aqua fau­cet without replacement.

All In2aqua bathroom sink fau­cets are Wa­ter­Sense^® listed.

Finishes were limited initially to polished chrome and satin nickel for lavatory fau­cets and chrome and stainless steel for kitchen fau­cets.

The company has added two new finishes, matte black and gold, available on a few fau­cets.

Read our in-depth report on In2aqua Faucets.

Graff Faucets Co.

3701 W. Burnham St., Milwaukee, WI 53215

(800) 954-4723

Price Range:$550 – $3,800 USD ($625 – $4,100 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-9 (Good to Excellent)

Graff is a relative newcomer to our list of Best Value fau­cets, appearing for the first time in 2019 and in every update since.

Graff fau­cets are reasonably priced, most under $1,000. A few high-style fau­cets, such as the wall-mounted Luna fau­cet (pictured below), skew the pricing to above $3,000 at the high end, but the Luna is an outlier, far outside the company's usual prices.

The company sells very good faucets and backs them with a strong warranty and good customer service, but its faucets feature no technological innovations such as the super cartridges offered by In2aqua.

Nevertheless, the faucet construction is very good and the components used in the faucets are some of the best available.

Graff Faucets is a division of Mer­i­d­ian In­ter­na­tion­al Group, Inc., headquartered in Mil­wau­kee. The company designs and distributes but does not manufacture its fau­cets. They are made by Val­vex, S.A., another Mer­i­d­ian company, and imported from Po­land. Val­vex has been in the metal fabrication business since 1922.

The styling is North European, although many of its fau­cets were designed in Southern Europe by design studios that include An­gel­et­ti Ruz­za De­sign in Italy and Da­vide Op­piz­zi's DCUBE Stud­io in Swit­zer­land.

The fau­cets are gathered into two broad collections.

The Traditional group includes fau­cets in traditional and transitional styles. These fau­cets are stylish but conservative, reflecting conventional Amer­i­can/Canadian design elements.

The Contemporary group is more innovative.

The fau­cets are substantial and well-built brass and/or stainless fixtures with good ceramic disc valves intended to last a lifetime.

However, some components of its fau­cets that are not under water pressure and do not need the strength of brass are made of zinc or a zinc/aluminum alloy. These may include base plates, handles, and .

Some of the company's spray heads are plastic.

Plastic spray heads ("wands" in fau­cet-speak) are becoming increasingly common even in upscale fau­cets like Unlike metal wands, they do not get hot in use, and they are much less expensive to manufacture.

Un­for­tun­ate­ly, they are also much more prone to failure.

According to a company source, the sprays that are still metal are all side sprays, and the pullout and pulldown sprays in the Bolero, Conical, Oscar, Perfeque, and Sospire collections.

Kerox Kft valve cartridges are used in some of Graff's single-handle fau­cets. Kerox is generally considered one of the best ceramics manufacturers, and a frequent choice in cartridges for upscale European fau­cets.

Other Graff fau­cets were fitted with cartridges from Hain-Yo En­ter­pris­es Co., Ltd., a Tai­wan­ese technical ceramics manufacturer of cartridges not considered as reliable as first-tier cartridges made by companies such as Ker­ox, but the difference is probably not substantial. The cartridges should provide years of leak-free service.

Neoperl^® supplies most of the used in Graff fau­cets. Faucets with pull-down sprays appear to be equipped with aerators from Amfag S.r.l., a company manufacturing in Casaloldo, Italy. Amfag is Neoperl's leading competitor in Europe. Both products are at about the same level of quality and endurance.

The company provides 19 finishes for its fau­cets.

The standard is polished chrome, but fau­cets are also available in several nickels, including Steelnox (a satin nickel or stainless steel look-alike) and several bronzes, as well as two blacks, a white, gold, brass, onyx, and a gray finish the company calls Gun­met­al.

Chrome is . Four finishes are the durable finishes: Brushed Brass, Pol­ished Brass, OR'osa, and Onyx. The remaining finishes are .

At one time, the company warranted its fau­cets to be free from defects in materials and workmanship, including cartridges and all finishes, for the "lifetime of the product".

It has backed away from this universal lifetime warranty, however.

At present, the lifetime term applies only to "mechanical parts and ceramic disc cartridges" as well as PVD and most electroplated finishes.

We rate Graff's customer service as very good. It scored extremely well on our service tests, never dropping below 4.4 out of a possible 5.0. Any score above 4.0 is satisfactory.

The company generates very few complaints from consumers about post-sale issues and seems to handle those that do occur with dispatch.

The brand is relatively inexpensive and generally of excellent quality, including durable cartridges and finishes.

Its faucets are a very good value and worth a look by anyone in the market for a well-designed European-style luxury fau­cet.

Read our in-depth report on Graff Faucets.

Jomoo Osen lavatory fau­cet collection, winner of the prestigious Good Design award in 2022.

A good example is Inax, a Japanese company owned by LIXIL. The winner of numerous design competitions since 2014, including its seventh prestigious Good Design award in 2023. It makes and sells striking Inax fau­cets, but not here. In North Amer­i­ca, it sells largely uninteresting luxury fau­cets as an Amer­i­can Standards Brand.

Another is the almost unknown (on this side of the Ps­ci­fic) Jo­moo Kit­chen & Bath Co. of Fujian, China, winner of a record 75th Red Dot award in 2022 for the design of its touch-free "Smart" electronic bathroom.

The company sells only under the "Jo­moo" brand name, and only around the Ps­ci­fic rim, including East Af­ri­ca, but not in the A­mer­i­cas.

The problem with establishing a premium Asian brand in North Amer­i­ca is the general perception that Asian fau­cets are cheap and unreliable.

The (primarily Chin­ese) fau­cets sold on internet sites like Amazon and Wayfair are indeed mostly cheap and unreliable, not to mention untested, uncertified, and illegal to sell in the U.S. Hence, the general perception in North Amer­i­ca that Asian-branded fau­cets are to be avoided.

In truth, however, some Asian companies, Jo­moo being one, are in many ways moving ahead of the West in bathroom technologies. Nonetheless, introducing a new Asian luxury brand would be difficult but not impossible.

It took Globe Union's pioneering mid-priced fau­cets almost ten years to find a solid footing in North Amer­i­ca, but that's because Globe Union made about every mistake it could make in the process.

Any company learning from Globe Union's experience ought to be able to shorten the time from introduction to market acceptance considerably.

All of this is a preamble to the fact that, at the moment, there are not as many as three Best-Value Asian-made lines of premium fau­cets sold in North Amer­i­ca.

Only have been identified so far as a Best Value in an Asian-made luxury fau­cet.

Other contenders, such as are, in the opinion of our panel, not at the same level of technical acumen and/or simply too pricey.

Delta Faucet Company

55 E. 111th Street, P O Box 40980, Indianapolis, IN 46280

(317) 848-1812

Price Range: $220 – $1,005 USD ($291 – $1,330 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-9 (Good to Excellent)

Innovative styling, advanced cartridge and finish technology, a lifetime warranty, water-saving engineering, and some of the best customer care in the business, combined with the near-universal availability of the brand, make Bri­zo the fau­cet to beat in this category.

Several other fau­cet companies embody some of these attributes, but only Bri­zo has them all.

Brizo's designs are always crisp, clean, and sometimes striking, but of more importance than its style is the company's advanced technology. Bri­zo fau­cets are, at this moment in time, so far advanced that most of the company's competition has been made nearly obsolete.

Until the last few years, Bri­zo assembled most of its fau­cets in the U.S. No longer. Bri­zo has shifted its manufacturing to Chi­na. Today, Bri­zo produces just over one-third of its fau­cets in the U.S.

Brizo is a Masco brand 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 – one of our picks for Best Value (See above).

Brizo faucets combine Del­ta's mechanical reliability and impeccable finishes with some inspired styling that has resulted in numerous international design awards, including the prestigious Red Dot Awards for the Jason Wu for Bri­zo collection and the Levoir wall-mounted fau­cet, and the much-sought-after Good Design award for the Kintsu^™ collection.

Faucet collections include traditional and transitional styles as well as contemporary designs. There is at least one Bri­zo model suitable for about any decor from Victorian to ultra-modern urban chic.

Some Brizo fau­cets are still assembled and finished at Del­ta's highly automated assembly plant in Jack­son, Ten­nes­see. Most, however, are manufactured in China at Del­ta's factory in Pan­yu, or by outside manufacturers under contract to Bri­zo.

The shift in manufacturing from the U.S. to China has been gradual over two decades. As older collections are discontinued and new collections added, the new fau­cets are sent to China for manufacturing rather than to Del­ta's Jack­son plant.

As a result, the number of fau­cets made in the U.S. has declined steadily. Our most recent survey of the country of origin of Bri­zo fau­cets found that just over 65% were made in China, meaning that most of today's Bri­zo fau­cets are Chin­ese fau­cets wearing the Bri­zo brand. Only 35% are actually Amer­i­can.

Brizzo fau­cets are part of collections of like-styled components. Kitchen fau­cets may coordinate with bar fau­cets, pot fillers, soap and lotion dispensers, filtered water taps, and instant hot water dispensers.

Bath collections are more extensive, typically, including various shower options, tub fillers, tub spouts, and accessories such as towel bars, robe hooks, toilet tissue dispensers, and even toilet flush levers.

Most, but not all, Bri­zo fau­cets have now been converted to use the proprietary Del­ta Di­a­mond Seal® (DST) ceramic disc cartridges. Del­ta manufactures DST cartridges in the U.S. at its plastics plant in Mor­gan­town, Ken­tucky, using imported ceramic discs.

Diamond Seal Technology is proving to be a revolution in ceramic disc technology. One disc in the two-disc set is diamond-coated, a feature that Bri­zo says helps keep the discs absolutely smooth since the diamond coating continuously scrubs and polishes the discs so they always mesh perfectly.

Delta has had this cartridge independently tested through 5 million cycles – ten times the testing cycles required by U.S./Cana­dian standards and equivalent to about 700 years of daily use in an average kitchen or bath.

It is very unlikely to fail in your lifetime. But, if it does break and you ever need to change the cartridge, it's very easy to do with common household tools. The new cartridge is free to the original owner for as long as he or she owns the fau­cet.

Brizo makes it easy to identify fau­cets that include a DST cartridge by adding "DST" to the model number.

Brizo offers over 20 standard finishes for its fau­cets, including nine Most of these are Del­ta's patented Brilliance^® (PVD) finishes developed by Vapor Technologies, Inc., another Masco company that has been at the forefront of PVD coating technologies since 1986.

While 20 finishes are available, no one fau­cet is offered in all 20 finishes. The finishes actually available vary by fau­cet. The Jason Wu for Brizo™ collection, for example, comes in just one finish, black.

Delta claims that independent tests show that the Brilliance^® PVD finishes stand up to drain cleaners, over 100 other common household cleaning products, and even repeated scouring with steel wool.

The finish can withstand prolonged exposure to harsh salt-laden coastal environments. They are guaranteed not to corrode, tarnish, or discolor for as long as you own the fau­cet. If it does, Bri­zo will immediately replace it.

Our experience is that the Brilliance^® finish is nearly indestructible in normal (and even abnormal) use.

All pull-out and pull-down sprays on Bri­zo kitchen and bar fau­cets now feature magnetic locking that securely holds the spray wand in place when not in use. Bri­zo calls it "Magnedock^®."

The durable rare-earth magnets are, according to Bri­zo, made to last forever, while keeping the spray head always perfectly aligned in the fau­cet spout, preventing it from drooping.

The problem with Magnedock, however, is that for it to work, the spray heads (the industry term is "wands") must be very light in weight, a requirement that eliminates metal sprays.

All of Bri­zo's wands are plastic.

Plastic wands fail much more often than metal wands. And, although engineers have made significant improvements to their reliability over the past decade, the problems with the material have not been entirely resolved.

The Bri­zo warranty is much the same as the Del­ta warranty, generally acknowledged as one of the strongest in the industry.

Everything (except electronic components) in a Bri­zo fau­cet is warranted against failure for as long as the buyer owns it. If something does break, a call to Bri­zo warranty support will get you instant help and replacement parts in about three working days.

Delta's is one of the most praised customer service organizations in the industry. We rank it just behind customer service for product knowledge, helpfulness, and efficiency.

Brizo faucets are considered by most plumbers to be one of the easiest of all fau­cet lines to service and repair. Most parts of a Bri­zo fau­cet are exchangeable. Take out the old part, slip in the new part. All done.

Brizo is getting close to the carefree, lifetime fau­cet. Other than a periodic wipe with a damp cloth, a Bri­zo Brilliance finish never needs maintenance. And, a DST^® cartridge is very unlikely to ever fail, not in just one lifetime.

Read our in-depth report on Brizo Faucets.

Flusso Kitchen and Bath Company

(formerly: Isenberg Bath Corporation)

1927 Mustang Rd., Ste. 100, Dallas, TX 75234

(972) 972-9198

Brand: Flusso

Price Range: $180 – $1,500 USD ($238 – $1,984 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-8 (Good to Very Good)

In business in the U.S. since 2008, originally as Isenberg Bath Corporation and since 2024 as Flusso Kitchen and Bath, the company imports well-made fau­cets from China that it sells under the Flusso brand.

The fau­cet collection is well thought out and artfully coordinated.

The components used in the fau­cets, especially the ceramic cartridges and aerators, are some of the best available.

The faucets are of generally good to very good quality. For the price, they are a good value backed by a strong warranty and adequate customer service.

The company started in India as Isenberg India Pvt. Ltd., importing and selling upscale sanitary wares, including fau­cets, to the sub-continent. It was, for a short time, structured as a subsidiary of the Indian firm.

Isenberg Bath Corporation was formed in 2012, and the company operated under that imprimatur until 2024, when it became Flusso Kitchen and Bath Company.

Flusso designs an increasing number of its fau­cets in-house or through outside contract designers. Most of its fau­cets, however, are from its suppliers' , and the designs are owned by the suppliers.

Infinity Wall-Mounted Lavatory Faucet

The innovative IF.1000 Infinity wall-mounted lavatory fau­cet has won several design awards, including a Good Design award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in 2020.

Good Design is the oldest and most prestigious of the international juried awards for product design.

At least one Flusso design, the IF.2000 Infinity wall-mounted lavatory fau­cet, has won international design awards, including a 2020 Good Design Award, a listing by Bet­ter Homes & Gard­ens as one of the 30 most innovative products of 2020, and a design award by Hos­pi­tal­ity De­sign magazine.

Bath fau­cets are arranged in collections of like-styled products that may include fau­cets, tub fillers, showers, and accessories for a well-coordinated look.

Flusso does not manufacture its fau­cets. It buys them already assembled from its suppliers in China, with the possible exception of handles, cartridges, and other removable parts that may be attached only once the fau­cet is sold.

Its suppliers are some of the best of the Chin­ese fau­cet manufacturers, all of which are companies. The components used in its fau­cets are also some of the best, including valve cartridges from Flühs Drehtechnik, GmbH, and Kerox Kft., two Eu­ro­pe­an manufacturers of some of the world's best valve cartridges.

Its aerators are made by Neoperl,^® also considered some of the world's best.

These precision-engineered devices, about the size of a nickel, are used to shape and modify the water stream, restrict water volume to the lower flows required by federal and state water conservation laws, and, in some cases, prevent backflow that can result in the contamination of household drinking water.

Faucets are available in seven standard finishes and twenty special-order color finishes.

Flusso buys its fau­cet already finished in standard finishes that vary by manufacturer. If a special color finish is ordered, it is applied in Flusso's in-house facility.

Its twenty color finishes are not the usual semi-durable . They are the almost indestructible thin-film Ceramic (TFC) coatings, a finish originally developed for military field equipment and firearms. Its migration to fau­cets is long overdue. Flusso is one of the first fau­cet companies to adopt the technology.

The company backs its fau­cets with a lifetime warranty that meets the minimum requirements of the standard North Amer­i­can fau­cet warranty, providing lifetime protection to the original buyer against manufacturing and material defects.

It is, however, a flawed warranty. It was probably not written by a lawyer, and the lack of expertise shows.

It does not meet the requirements of the federal Mag­nu­son-Moss War­ran­ty Act that dictates the content and form of consumer warranties.

Its errors, however, generally benefit the buyer, providing more legal protection than Isen­berg intends. So, the flaws did not cost the company any points in its scoring.

Flusso's customer service is responsive and effective. A telephone call is answered almost immediately by an actual person rather than a robot, one of the most annoying features of our digital age. Problems get resolved quickly and courteously without much fuss.

Our bottom line on Isen­berg fau­cets is that they are a good choice for those looking for an upscale fau­cet without the upscale price.

For what you get, the fau­cets are less expensive – sometimes substantially less expensive – than most of their competition. You can buy a good quality Isen­berg lavatory fau­cet for under $200, a price point that even mid-priced fau­cet companies struggle to reach.

Read our in-depth report on Flusso Faucets.

Most of the traditional Amer­i­can manufacturers of mid-priced fau­cets have moved their manufacturing to other countries, primarily China and Mexico.)

formerly Price-Pfis­ter, for instance, was at one time one of the major fau­cet manufacturers in the U.S. Its plant in Pa­co­i­ma, Cal­i­forn­ia, was the largest foundry west of the Mis­sis­sip­pi, producing 5,000 finished fau­cets a day at its height.

Pfister began moving all of its fau­cet production to China and Mexico in 1993, much to the detriment of the quality of the brand.

At present, it does not own a manufacturing facility in North Amer­i­ca and does not produce fau­cets in the U.S. or Canada. They are all made by contract factories in Asia and Mexico.

followed roughly the same path after being acquired by the Ja­pan­ese conglomerate, LIXIL Cor­por­a­tion, in 2013.

Some Amer­ican Stand­ard manufacturing has moved to a plant in Aguas­calien­tes owned by AS Ma­qui­la Mex­ico, S. de R.L. de B.V. Most of its fau­cets, however, are imported from factories in China.

Del­ta Faucets was for many years one of the few holdouts. It kept most of its manufacturing in the U.S. But that also has changed. The majority of its manufacturing is now in China.

Del­ta is still a top company producing Best Value fau­cets, just not in North Amer­ica. The company is now ranked with Asian-made mid-priced fau­cets.

Moen, Inc.

25300 Al Moen Dr., North Olmsted, OH 44070

(800) BuyMoen (289-6636)

Moen Canada

2816 Bristol Circle, Oakville, ON L6H 5S7

(800) 465-6130

Price Range: $129 – $590 USD ($150 – $740 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-9 (Good to Excellent)

According to LifeStory Research, Mo­en is the fau­cet company that is the "most trusted" by U.S. consumers and has been for decades. Its fau­cets are a Best Value not for one or two particular factors but for nearly everything about the company and its fau­cet products.

The company came into existence as an innovator and has continued innovating right up to the present day.

It produces very good to excellent au­cets with a strong warranty and customer support to be envied by most other companies.

While other North Amer­i­can fau­cet companies have shifted most if not all of their manufacturing overseas, Mo­en remains very much an Amer­i­can fau­cet institution with an international scope.

Most Moen fau­cets are made or at least assembled in the U.S. It employs over 2,000 Amer­i­can workers.

Alfred M. "Al" Mo­en in­vent­ed the washerless mixing valve that made the single-handle Fau­cets possible.

Moen Motion

The Moen washerless valve is a cylinder. The fau­cet handle moves the cylinder up and down inside the fau­cet to control the volume of water and rotates it from side to side to control the water temperature.

This is done by aligning strategically placed holes in the cylinder with matching holes in the fau­cet body. When the holes are aligned, water can flow; when not aligned, water stops flowing.

When the handle is rotated left (clockwise), the hot water inlet is aligned so hot water flows; when rotated right (anti-clockwise), the cold water inlet is aligned, and cold water flows.

In any position other than far left or far right, the hot and cold water is mixed to varying degrees of warm water.

This "Mo­en Mo­tion," has become the worldwide standard for all single-handle fau­cets.

No matter the style, source, brand, or manufacturer of a single-handle fau­cet, moving the handle up or back turns the water on. Down or forward turns it off. Right delivers cold water and left supplies hot water.

No one has to relearn how to operate a new single-handle fau­cet each time they buy a new one. They all operate the very same Mo­en way.

Before his invention, all sink fau­cets had two handles, one for hot, the other for cold. Today, seventy years after Al Mo­en, most sink fau­cets sold in North Amer­i­ca are single-handle designs.

He persuaded Rav­en­na Metal Pro­ducts of Seat­tle to finance and produce the new fau­cet.

Mo­en's one-handle fau­cet was the kitchen fau­cet sensation of the 1950s and the choice of the thousands of new homeowners during the frenetic Post-War housing boom.

Moen and (now just Pfister) were the first major fau­cet companies in the world to offer a lifetime warranty on their fau­cets.

The warranty was such a resounding sales boost that all other major U.S. fau­cet companies were compelled to follow suit. As a result, the standard North Amer­i­can fau­cet warranty is for your lifetime, while the standard Euro­pean warranty is just two to five years.

Moen is one of the last of the major Amer­i­can fau­cet companies that still makes most of its fau­cets in the U.S.

Over 70% of Mo­en's sink fau­cets are assembled in the U.S. in its two fabrication plants in North Car­o­lina.

The components and parts that go into the fau­cets, however, are made mostly overseas, primarily in Taiwan, China, and South Korea.

Al Mo­en's revolutionary wash­er­less sleeve cartridge equipped all Mo­en fau­cets for three-quarters of a century.

The cartridge has now been replaced by Mo­en's Dura­last^® ceramic valve cartridges: the 1234 (for two-handle fau­cets) or the 1255 (single-handle fau­cets).

Ceramic valves are a better technology. They rely on nearly indestructible ceramic discs rather than rubber rings and seals to control water.

Moen has adopted an innovative core and shell construction technology for most of its two-handle lavatory fau­cets.

In conventional fau­cet construction, the body and spout of the fau­cet do double duty. They direct the flow of water through channels built into the body and spout and provide the fau­cet's appearance.

The M-PACT system divorces water control from appearance. The water is controlled by a core unit called a "rough-in valve" installed under the sink. A shell, usually called the "trim", is installed above the sink to hide the core and give the fau­cet its appearance.

To update the fau­cet's look, all that is needed is to remove the existing shell and replace it with a different shell. Mo­en calls this "as easy as changing a light bulb." We don't think it's quite that easy, but it's not very hard either and requires no disruption to the fau­cet's plumbing.

Fau­cets are available in 15 finishes, including several .

Moen offers the original buyer of a residential fau­cet, a lifetime warranty against leaking or defects in materials or manufacturing, and this includes its cartridges. That has been Mo­en's promise ever since it first offered a lifetime warranty over half a century ago.

Moen's post-sale customer support is the model that fau­cet companies strive to copy.

We have not sampled the customer services of every single major fau­cet manufacturer in the world, but we will take a chance and proclaim Mo­en's to be the very best customer service of any major fau­cet company selling in North Amer­i­ca. It is absolutely a first-class act.

Moen's process for quickly getting you a replacement part for a broken fau­cet is nearly as painless as can be. A quick call to 1-800-BUY-MOEN puts you in touch with a customer service representative who has been well-trained on Mo­en products, and you will usually get the part by express delivery in about four working days.

Moen has been one of the most popular fau­cets in North Amer­i­ca very nearly since the first 12 fau­cets were manufactured in 1954, and we see no risk that its popularity will wane. Mo­en customers tend to stay Mo­en customers, including nearly half of our plumbing staff who have Mo­en fau­cets and showers in their own homes and will have no other.

Moen pioneered most of the technologies used in modern fau­cets, and, along with the modern lifetime fau­cet warranty. Its fau­cets are of very good to excellent quality, priced very competitively, and its customer service has no equal.

As a choice for Best Value, Mo­en was an obvious and unanimous choice.

Read our in-depth report on Moen Faucets.

Kohler Co.

444 Highland Drive, Kohler, WI 53044

(800)-4-KOHLER (800-456-4537)

Price Range: $120 - $1,200 USD ($159 - $1,590.00 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-8 (Good to Very Good)

Kohler is a privately held, family-owned, and operated U.S. manufacturer of an enormous line of very good to excellent kitchen and bath fixtures and fittings since 1873.

It is the last of its breed. All of the other major fau­cet companies are publicly traded.

Kohler is also one of the largest U.S. plumbing products manufacturers, with a dozen or so North Amer­ican factories. Still, that is just a small fraction of the 50 or so factories Koh­ler owns worldwide, and only 6,000 (15%) of Koh­ler's 40,000 worldwide employees work in the U.S. and Canada.

The company is also one of the top ten plumbing products companies in China. Despite its huge manufacturing capacity in China, Kohler still makes most of the fau­cets it sells in the U.S. and Can­a­da in its North Amer­i­can factories.

In our survey in the fall of 2023, we found that 66% of the fau­cets sold in North Amer­i­ca were assembled in either the U.S. or Canada, not because it is the most economical way to produce fau­cets, but because Kohler, better than most other U.S.-based fau­cet companies, understands public relations.

Kohler uses good-quality components in its fau­cets, including some very good proprietary Ultra­Glide^® cartridges in its two-handle fau­cets. Koh­ler calls these the "next generation of fau­cet technology".

Independent life-cycle testing through four million on-off cycles, eight times the industry standard life-cycle test of 500,000 cycles, amply demonstrates the valve's longevity. The test is equivalent to about 560 years of typical household use.

For the cartridge valves in Koh­ler's single-handle fau­cets, the company uses cartridges made by Hydro­plast S R L of Italy and Kuch­ing In­ter­na­tion­al Ltd. in Taiwan, the manufacturer of KCG brand cartridges.

Koh­ler has enough faith in them to guarantee the cartridges for the lifetime of the original owner against leaks and mechanical failure. We don't disagree.

The company offers a wide selection of fau­cet finishes.

Polished Chrome is the standard finish, available on most, if not all, Koh­ler fau­cets. The other finishes offered on a fau­cet depend on the model and whether it is a kitchen or bath fau­cet.

Certain finishes, such as Vibrant Stainless Steel, are available only on kitchen fau­cets while others, including Vibrant Moderne Brushed Gold and Vibrant Titanium, are limited to bathroom sink fau­cets.

Koh­ler makes a big fuss over its Vibrant^® finishes, and the fuss seems justified.

These are Koh­ler's finishes and are easily identified because all have the word "Vibrant" in the name. However, Kohler has other PVD finishes not identified as "Vibrant." Oil-Rubbed Bronze, for example, is a PVD finish, but not "Vibrant." Why not? We don't know.

Matte Black is the last surviving . All of the rest, White, Bis­cuit, Black Black, and Sat­in Black, have been discontinued.

Kohler's original and sometimes award-winning fau­cet designs are created in its five in-house design studios in the U.S., England, France, India, and China.

The company has won 56 iF World Design Awards and multiple Good Design awards sponsored by the Chi­ca­go Athen­ae­um Mus­eum of Arch­i­tec­ture and De­sign, the world's most prestigious product design award.

The company was recognized by iF in 2020 as having one of the top 50 in-house product design teams in the world. Not just the time 50 fau­cet design teams, but the top fifty of the design-of-everything teams.

Kohler always seems to have at least one fau­cet in inventory that stands the design world on its ear and forces it to pay attention.

The recently discontinued Karbon^® fau­cet introduced in 2008 as the world's first articulating fau­cet was one of these sit-up-and-pay-attention products.

The newest Koh­ler eye-opener fau­cet, introduced in 2023, is the Pur­ist Suspend^® ceiling-mounted kitchen fau­cet – not as powerful a statement as the Karbon, but still interesting.

Kohler offers fau­cets at a wide range of prices.

At the low end, they are competitive with the company's mid-priced competition, including

At the high end, prices encroach on premium lines such as But, they never reach the stratospheric prices of some luxury fau­cets.

Its most costly fau­cet is the new Purist Suspend ceiling-mounted fau­cet, starting at around $2,200 is an anomaly. Otherwise, its top-of-the-line fau­cets sell in the neighborhood of $1,200. Not chump change, but certainly not stratospheric.

The Kohler warranty has several technical defects, all of which toll against the company and in favor of the buyer.

Buyers have a lifetime warranty for as long as they "own their home." Our warranty experts judged it to be equivalent to the standard North Amer­i­can lifetime warranty.

However, chrome and other "non-vibrant" finishes are guaranteed for just one year – something to keep in mind when selecting a finish. (Why just one year on a durable electroplated chrome finish, we don't understand, and no one at Kohler could explain it.)

Kohler's customer service is very good. If you have a receipt showing you bought a Koh­ler fau­cet that is now broken, they will help you fix it. They are knowledgeable about Koh­ler products, courteous, and eager to help with problems.

In our most recent tests, Koh­ler customer service scored 4.5 out of a possible 5.0 points. Anything above 4.0 is acceptable.

We have tested Koh­ler support periodically for 15 years. In that time, it has never received a score lower than 4.2, so the current score is not a flash in the pan. The company has a BBB rating of A+, its highest rating.

sold some of its good-quality mid-priced fau­cets in the U.S. and Can­a­da beginning in the 1990s along with its premium lines.

The faucets were listed as a Best Buy in Eu­ro­pe­an Man­u­fac­tured or As­sem­bled Fau­cets in our 2009-2010 Best Va­lue report.

However, by 2012, many of its mid-priced "Ger­man" fau­cets were actually being manufactured in China by its subsidiary Joy­ou AG.

After the company's purchase in 2014 by the Ja­pan­ese building products conglomerate, LIX­IL Group, still more of the company's manufacturing was moved to China.

Today, very few Gro­he fau­cets at any price level are actually made in Ger­ma­ny, and those are generally sold in Eur­ope.

For a time, Cif­i­al S.G.P.S., S.A., a Portvug­uese company, sold its very good mid-priced fau­cets in the U.S. but was unable to make a go of its North Amer­i­can venture. It abruptly withdrew from the market in 2017, leaving its North Amer­i­can customers without access to warranty service or replacement parts.

At present, almost all of the Eur­o­pe­an fau­cets sold in North Amer­i­ca are premium luxury products with premium luxury prices.

The sole exception is Pa­i­ni S.p.A. Rub­i­net­ter­ie of Pog­no, Ita­ly, the manufacturer of La Tos­ca­na fau­cets.

Paini USA

11571 Main Rd., Newfield, NJ 09344

856-881-7890

info@paini-usa.com

a subsidiary of

Paini S.p.A. Rubinetterie

Via Cremosina 43, Pogno N., R.E.A. NO 110073, Italy

Price Range: $100.00 - $485,00

Overall Rating: 7-8 (Good to Very Good)

Paini is an Ital­i­an manufacturer of stylish fau­cets distributed in North Amer­i­ca by Pa­i­ni USA. The company produces dozens of collections of mid-priced and luxury fau­cets for sale in Eur­ope. In North Amer­i­ca, it sells just two of its collections: For­tis and La Tos­ca­na.

Fortis is a luxury premium line, and La Tos­ca­na its mid-range brand. La Tos­ca­na is the brand being reviewed here.

The faucets are conservative but well-styled contemporary designs sold at prices generally below those of other companies selling Italian fau­cets in North Amer­i­ca.

They are supported by a strong lifetime warranty and U.S.-based customer service.

We judge the fau­cets to be a good to very good value for the price and well-made using good-quality components that should ensure years of trouble-free service.

Most Italian fau­cet manufacturers sell just their luxury fau­cets in North Amer­i­ca. Many make mid-priced fau­cets that are sold in Europe, but they don't sell them here, for two reasons.

First, the fau­cets need conversion to fit Amer­i­can household water systems, which are scaled in our quaint conventional units: inches and feet. Italian fau­cets, like those in the rest of the civilized world, are scaled in metric dimensions. The conversion requires retooling and short-run manufacturing, both of which can be expensive.

Second, it is expensive to comply with the North Amer­i­can laws and regulations that govern the sale and installation of fau­cets in drinking water systems. Particularly costly is the process of testing and certifying fau­cets to North Amer­i­can standards, which differ, often substantially, from European requirements.

For these reasons, it is usually uneconomical for European fau­cet companies to import any but high-end, high-priced luxury fau­cets.

Paini S.p.A. Rubinetterie is the exception. It imports its La Tos­ca­na collection of mo­dest­ly-priced designer fau­cets that it sells through a subsidiary located in New Jersey.

Founded in 1954, Paini is the of Italy, manufacturing fau­cets under several brand names at every price point from discount to grand design.

In addition to selling fau­cets under its own brands, it also makes fau­cets and fau­cet components for other companies as an manufacturer.

At one time, it made some store brand and still manufactures fau­cets for

La Toscana fau­cets were first introduced to North Amer­i­ca through Home Depot's (then World Imports, Inc.) Barnett handles Home Depot's non-store sales primarily to trade professionals.

Paini's association with Home Depot ended, however, in 2017. forcing Pa­i­ni to strike out on its own in the North Amer­i­can market. The transition was not smooth, but most of its early problems have been overcome.

Paini wisely limits the fau­cets it sells here to just those it feels are price- and style-competitive. The fau­cets that sell best are those that have been "Americanized," catering to North Amer­i­can buyers who like European fau­cet styles as long as they are not too European.

Paini fau­cets are all contemporary designs. It offers no traditional or transitional styles. Those looking for a fau­cet to fit an Arts & Crafts or Victorian kitchen or bath redo will have to look elsewhere for a fau­cet that fits their decor.

The La Toscana warranty is for the lifetime of the fau­cet "in normal residential use." Pa­i­ni will, "at its option, replace or repair, without charge" any defective component.

The warranty has several technical defects and does not fully comply with federal warranty law, but in the opinion of our rating panel, it provides standard North Amer­i­can lifetime warranty protection despite its flaws.

We believe La Tos­ca­na fau­cets to be a good buy and a Best Value with styling that can only come from Italy and craftsmanship equal to any found elsewhere.

Delta Faucet Company

55 E. 111th Street, P O Box 40980, Indianapolis, IN 46280

800-345-3358

Price Range:$75 - $930 USD ($100 – $1,236 CAD)

Overall Rating: 7-9 (Good to Excellent)

Delta has made and sold very good to excellent fau­cets since its founding soon after the Second World War.

Formerly our top choice in mid-priced fau­cets made or assembled in North Amer­i­ca, the company has moved more than 50% of its manufacturing to China and no longer qualifies as a North Amer­i­can-made fau­cet. Del­ta is still an excellent fau­cet, just not an excellent North Amer­i­can fau­cet.

Delta's new DST super cartridge, its advanced finish technologies, water-saving engineering, lifetime warranty, and some of the best customer care in the industry make Del­ta almost unbeatable in this category.

The Del­ta Faucet Co. was first ranked the best value in the "Made or Assembled in North Amer­i­ca" category in 2007, then again in 2009, and every year since until 2023 – not by just a hair but by a large margin just about every year. The fau­cets just keep getting better.

Unfortunately, however, only a minority of Del­ta fau­cets are still made in Amer­i­ca. Most are manufactured in China.

The migration of Del­ta manufacturing to Asia has not had any observable impact on the quality of the fau­cets, but is certainly going to change how the company is perceived.

Delta was one of two companies that introduced the single-handle fau­cet to Amer­i­can consumers. (The other was

The company moved to the forefront of Amer­i­can-made fau­cets in the 1950s with its single-handle kitchen fau­cets equipped with the washerless ball cartridge patented by Landis H. Perry (1911-1985) in 1952.

Delta launched its single-handle fau­cets in 1954, at the height of the Post-War housing boom. Just four years later, in 1958, Del­ta's sales topped $1 million ($1.38 million CAD). Del­ta is still one of the best-selling fau­cets in North Amer­ica.

The washerless valve powered Del­ta fau­cets for most of half a century until 2008 when it was replaced by Del­ta's Diamond Seal Technology^® (DST) super cartridge – a valve innovation that is a giant step ahead of existing technology.

The patented DST cartridge pairs a diamond-coated ceramic disc with an uncoated disc. Del­ta says this feature keeps the discs absolutely smooth since the diamond-coated disc continuously scrubs and polishes the other disc, grinding away any mineral deposits, so the two discs always mesh perfectly. The more you use it, according to Del­ta, the smoother it gets.

Unlike standard ceramic discs, DST does not require a lub­ri­cant.

Lub­ri­cants, no matter how durable, eventually wear away and can leave the cartridge hard to operate. The DST cartridge does not use lub­ri­cant, so this problem is gone.

Delta's InnoFlex™ waterway is an equally impressive innovation.

In an era during which fau­cet companies are working hard to reduce the lead in brass fau­cets in order to comply with increasingly stringent lead-free limits, Del­ta simply bypassed the problem by routing the water in its fau­cets through PEX tubes.

PEX is a cross-linked poly­ethyl­ene material that is flexible and very strong. It is now used in place of copper pipes in most residential installations.

Water never comes in contact with the metal in the fau­cet, so it cannot possibly pick up any lead.

The innovation allows Del­ta to use less expensive leaded brass or even a less sturdy metal like zinc in its fau­cets rather than very costly lead-free brass, which helps keep its prices lower than most of its competition in the mid-priced market.

The "new" technologies, now more than a decade old, are rapidly replacing the older mechanics in Del­ta fau­cets. Both are, by all accounts, a stunning success.

DST cartridges have been tested using the standard U.S./Canada disc life-span protocol to 5 million six-step cycles without a failure – ten times the North Amer­i­can standard 500,000 cycles or about 700 years of typical kitchen use.

Delta has five factories in North Amer­i­ca. It employs over 1,300 Amer­i­cans and an equal number of Ca­nad­ians.

However, Del­ta has chosen to extend its production not by investing in North Amer­i­can plant expansion but by outsourcing fau­cet production to other companies, most of which are in China.

Our 2021 survey of the origin of Del­ta fau­cets found that while the number of fau­cets made in China was increasing, most Del­ta fau­cets were still made in the U.S.

The tipping point, however, evidently occurred sometime in 2022. In our 2023 survey, we found nearly 60% of Del­ta fau­cets were made in China.

Delta design is North Amer­i­can with its flowing, transitioning curves as opposed to the industrial angularity of most Eur­o­pe­an design.

Although some Eur­o­pe­an elements have begun to creep in, the look of Del­ta fau­cets is still largely Amer­i­can/Can­a­di­an.

Those who prefer Eur­o­pe­an styles might have to go elsewhere for a fau­cet. But, those who like the traditional North Amer­i­can look will love the contemporary interpretations in Del­ta's new fau­cet collections.

Delt's parent company, Mas­co Corporation, owns Va­por Tech­nol­o­gies, one of the pioneer companies that developed (PVD) finishing technology.

Vapor Technologies gave Del­ta a big jump-start in the early adoption of PVD for its fau­cets, far in advance of other Amer­i­can fau­cet companies.

There are no , , or on Del­ta fau­cets. Del­ta now uses the PVD finishes exclusively.

PVD finishes are estimated to be up to 20 times more durable and scratch-resistant than the standard fau­cet finish: plated chrome, and enable the company to guarantee every finish for as long as the buyer owns a Del­ta fau­cet.

The Del­ta lifetime warranty on every component in its fau­cets (except the electronics in its hands-free fau­cets) is a big plus. Other companies limit the warranty on hoses, sprayers, and some finishes to as little as one year. Not Del­ta.

Delta's customer service and warranty support is second only to which has the customer service organization that is the model to which others aspire but rarely reach.

Delta is easily our best value pick of the mid-priced fau­cet companies producing fau­cets in Asia.

It has always been a company that manufactured well-made and well-supported fau­cets, but its new Diamond Seal Technology^® cartridges and InnoFlex™ waterways have pushed it far ahead of the vast majority of other fau­cet companies, domestic or foreign.

For the price, there is no other fau­cet in the world that can touch a Del­ta fau­cet (even one made in China).

Globe Union Industrial Corp., Ltd.

2500 International Pkwy., Woodridge, IL 60517

(630) 679-1420

Price Range: $105 – $700 USD ($140 – $930 CAD)

6-8 (Above Average to Very Good)

Introduced to the U.S. in 2000, is a name under which Globe Union Industrial Corp. has grown a major 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 manufacturer.

Globe Union is the dominant fau­cet manufacturer in Asia under its GOBO brand. The company is chartered in Taiwan but manufactures in mainland Chin­ese factories through a subsidiary: Shenzhen Globe Union Industrial Corp.

The company is a full-line manufacturer. Like the Mas­co line of Peer­less-Del­ta-Bri­zo fau­cets, Globe Union makes products sold at every price point. Danze is its mid-priced fau­cet line.

As a whole, the Danze line is well-made. 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 in-house-designed original styles based on European models. They are good, some are even excellent.

Danze has been a marketing success, having grown to impressive proportions since 2000 with hundreds of brick-and-mortar retailers and a strong internet presence.

Globe Union seems to have conquered the parts and warranty issues that plagued the brand's early years. For years, it seemed impossible to get help with a parts or warranty problem, if only because no one seemed to have the Danze customer service telephone number.

Things have changed for the better. In our latest customer service tests, Danze scored above the 4.0 (out of 5.0) that we consider satisfactory.

The Better Business Bureau scores Danze as A+ for its response to customer issues, its highest score. Danze is not, however, a BBB-accredited business and not pledged to the BBB's code of business ethics.

We believe the Danze fau­cets are a good value for the price.

They are generally of better quality than the run-of-the-mill Chin­ese fau­cet. The proprietary Danze ceramic cartridge has undergone several development evolutions over the years and is very good.

The Danze lifetime-of-the-original-owner warranty (where most importers of Chin­ese fau­cets offer 10 years or less) seals the deal.

The rise of global sourcing over the past thirty years has gutted fau­cet manufacturing in North Amer­i­ca. This is especially true of economy fau­cets.

The one exception may be a Canadian company trading as Waltec Industries since 1969. It was acquired by Masco, the company that owns Del­ta and Bri­zo fau­cets, in 1992. It still manufactures at least some of its economy fau­cets in St. Thomas, Ontario.

Unfortunately, however, Waltec sells only in Canada.

Virtually all other traditionally Amer­i­can budget-friendly fau­cet brands (including the best inown economy brand, ) are made somewhere in Asia, primarily mainland China.

Most Chin­ese economy fau­cets are little more than junk and illegal junk at that.

The vast majority of fau­cets imported into the U.S. and Canada from China are unlawful to sell in the U.S. and illegal to install in a drinking water system anywhere in either country. Amazon alone sells over 800 brands of these potentially dangerous products.

In 2025, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) recognized the problem with metallic lead in Chinese fau­cets that we have been warning about for 15 years, and recalled one illegal fau­cet brand, HGN, sold by Wenzhou Xinxin Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd., a company that also sells illegal fau­cets under the Hideno and Hiqufet brands on Amazon and on the Hiqufet website. Neither of these other brands has been recalled.

But others have. Since its initial recall, CPSC has recalled a dozen other brands affecting, by some estimates, thousands of individual faucets.

Yet, Chin­ese companies also make some of the better fau­cets sold in the U.S.

The giant Globe Union Industrial Corp. provides fau­cets sold under dozens of different brands, including

The only slightly smaller Lo­ta In­ter­na­tion­al Co., Ltd. manufactures very good to excellent fau­cets for

The fact that budget fau­cets are made in China does not necessarily diminish their quality or value. However, distinguishing the good quality fau­cets from the illegal junk is very nearly an impossible task for the average fau­cet buyer. They are sold right alongside good quality legal fau­cets on sites like Amazon, Wayfair, Walmart, and even Home Depot and Lowe's.

That's where we come in. We know how to tell the good from the bad, the legal from the illegal, and quality from junk, and we are happy to share.

The faucet brands identified below are among the high-quality economy fau­cets sold in North Amer­i­ca. There are certainly more, and as they are researched and identified, we will be adding to this list.

Peerless Faucet Company

a division of

Masco Corporation

55 E. 111th Street, Hayward, P.O. Box 40980, Indianapolis, IN 46280

800-345-3358

Price Range: $32.00 – $343.00 USD ($31 – $375 CAD)

7-8 (Good to Very Good)

Peerless is Masco Corporation's line of value-priced fau­cets.

It is the shallow end of a pool of good-quality fau­cets that include

Despite their less-than-lofty status, however, Peer­less fau­cets are well-made and still carry the same lifetime warranty as Masco's higher-end fau­cets, along with the company's celebrated customer service.

All of the members of our rating panel would have no hesitation installing a Peer­less fau­cet in a heavily trafficked bathroom or busy kitchen. The quality is the equal of fau­cets costing two and even three times the price of a typical Peer­less fau­cet. What you give up is style. Most Peerless faucets look like they emerged from a 1960s Delta catalog, and many of them did.

We believe that, for the price, the fau­cets are an excellent value. What you don't get is high-style or a wide range of finishes, although the six standard finishes are enough coice for most folks.

Masco is one of three fau­cet companies that own nearly 2/3rds of the residential fau­cet market in the U.S. and Can­ada (the other two are ) Peerless is its economy value-priced brand, competing in quality with any faucet anywhere, but mostly lacking in style. But, where style does not matter much but quality does, Peerless is an excellent choice.

It was originally its own fau­cet company, Peerless Industries Inc., manufacturing good quality fau­cets in the U.S. until 1961 when it was acquired by Masco and positioned as a subsidiary of Delta Faucet Company, and the Masco's line of val­ue-priced fau­cets.

The brand keeps its prices competitive by manufacturing in its very own modern factories in China and contracting with excellent Asian manufacturers and making many of its fau­cets out of a zinc alloy rather than very expensive lead-free brass.

Ordinarily, the use of a zinc alloy in parts of a fau­cet under water pressure would be problematic. But, Masco has a long history of successfully using zinc alloys as its primary fau­cet material even in some Del­ta fau­cets. This experience, along with the company's lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects, suggests that Peer­less has mastered zinc as a fau­cet material.

It also capitalizes on one of the largest distribution networks in North Amer­i­ca that makes Masco faucet available in every plumbing supply house, home center, hardware store, and even many general merchandise retailers.

The mixing valve in most Peer­less fau­cets is the modern ceramic disc cartridge that uses indestructible ceramic as the water control material. Some of the older single-handle designs, however, are equipped with the venerable Del­ta ball washerless valve.

The ball valve was one of the revolutionary fau­cet valves of the 1950s that made single-handle fau­cets possible. It was used to control the flow of water in Del­ta and Peer­less fau­cets for the better part of 50 years.

Ball valves are reliable but depend on rubber rings and seals to control water. Rubber, even the modern nitrile and silicone used in today's fau­cets, wears out over time.

They routinely last 5-9 years before seal replacement is required. The speed at which they wear is determined primarily by frequency of use and water hardness. Hard water containing lots of dissolved minerals erodes rubber seals faster than soft water.

Replacement, however, is a simple task, well within the abilities of even the most modestly talented DIY'er. Repair kits are available at almost any hardware store.

Company literature describes Peer­less fau­cet designs as "tested". Some are definitely classic styles that have been around for decades. If you are renovating a post-war retro (circa 1900-1985) kitchen or bath, one of the Peer­less classic fau­cets may be a perfect choice to fit the style of that era.

Peerless fau­cets introduced in the past few decades are much more style-conscious than their predecessors. They are not going to win any design awards, but they are attractive enough for even the fussiest of the design cog­nos­centi.

All "parts and finishes" of a Peer­less fau­cet are guaranteed by Masco "to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns the home in which the fau­cet was first installed."

This warranty is supported by an in-depth replacement parts system and one of the very best customer service organizations in the fau­cet industry.

For the brand's very good quality, powerful lifetime warranty, exceptional customer service, and low prices, our selection panel unanimously votes Peer­less a best value in Asian-made economy fau­cets.

Wenzhou Furuisi Building Materials Co.

No. 3-9 Donggong Haicheng St.

Economic & Technological Development Zone

Wenzhou City

Longwan District

Zhejiang Province

China 325055

(888) 206-2162

service@forious.com

Price Range: $38 – $170 USD ($52 – $233 CAD)

5-6 (Average to Above Average)

These faucets are a first, the only Chinese-owned fau­cet brand with a quality sufficient to appear in this list other than Danze. It made the list not because the brand sells exceptional fau­cets but because it sells good-quality, well-designed fau­cets at very low prices.

Many importers of Chinese fau­cets offer products in this price range. Nearly all of them, however, are uncertified and cannot be legally installed in a drinking water system in the United States or Canada.

Furuisi fau­cets, by contrast, are fully certified to all joint U.S. and Canadian standards, including the basic standard (ASME A112.18.q//CSA B125.1), the lead-free standard (ANSI/NSF 372 ), and the drinking water health and safety standard (ANSI/NSF 61.

Compliance, however, is by no means perfect. Faucets are marked "Made in China" on the box as required by 19 CFR § 134, but in print so small that a magnifying glass is needed to read it.

The maximum flow rate that is required by federal regulation (16 CFR § 305.24(a)(4) to be clearly labeled on the box in both gallons per minute (gpm) and liters per minute (lpm) is entirely missing.

However, this omission is so common among fau­cet companies that it is almost not worth mentioning. We know the fau­cets' maximum flow rates are 2.2 gpm or less because they have been certified and certification requires a 2.2 gpm maximum flow rate.

The transgressions may result in a whopping fine if the federal government finally gets around to checking on Forious. They have no effect on you, the buyer, however.

What's important about the fau­cets is that they are, to our surprise, stylish and well-made with good-quality valve cartridges. Not the best valve cartridges in the world, but good enough for a fau­cet in this price range.

Furuisi sells only online.

Retail sites include Ama­zon, Over­stock, Wal­mart, and Way­fair, as well as the big home centeers, Home De­pot and Lowe's.

Faucets may be sold under either the Forious or Furuisi brand, or both. Forious is a registered trademark in the U.S. A trademark on the name Furuisi has been applied for but had not been approved on the date of this report.

Fu­ru­i­si has formed a U.S. subsidiary, Forious Inc., chartered in Washington state in 2019. The activity of this subsidiary and its one known employee, however, appears to be limited to providing after-sale support.

We don't know where it is or even if it has an actual physical address. Its published address, 3690 Glendale Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90017, does not exist. The only address we could find where the company can be contracted is the address of its registered agent, Northwest Registered Agent, LLC, 522 W. Riverside Ave., Suite N, Spokane, WA 99201-0580.

Its telephone is not answered but you can leave a message. You will get a return call. Its email address is also active.

An issue with a Forious fau­cet can be handled by telephone or email and is fairly expeditious. All the Forious agent wants is a copy of your sales receipt and a picture of any defect in the fau­cet to process a warranty claim.

We were surprised to receive a replacement fau­cet in just five days.

Kitchen fau­cets are made from food-grade stainless steel, and bathroom fau­cets from lead-free brass.

Wenzhou Hairui Ceramic Valve Co., Ltd. supplies the ceramic valve cartridges used in most of the fau­cets. Despite being a minor player in the fau­cet valve market, Hairui has the reputation of producing a reliable valve with generally positive reviews.

Valve cartridges for two-handle fau­cets are standard Hairui products, as are valves for single-handle fau­cets with the handle on top. These are universal standard valve cartridges available from most manufacturers of ceramic valves.

Valve cartridges in side-mount­ed, sin­gle-hand­le kitchen fau­cets, however, are a patented Furuisi design that the company calls its F-valve.

We have no idea what the "F" stands for, but our plumbers had several suggestions to offer when they tried to remove the valve, none of them complementary.

They found that an F-valve cannot be removed without destroying either the fau­cet or the valve. This odd construction means that if the valve leaks, it cannot be replaced. The only solution is to replace the entire fau­cet.

There are some other cautions about the company.

The major one is that it has no real substantial investment on this side of the Pacific. It can pull up stakes at any time and simply disappear, leaving its customers with no source of replacement parts and a warranty that cannot be enforced.

We don't think that's likely to happen, but it could. Foreign fau­cet companies have suddenly disappeared so in the past.

With these reservations in mind, we believe these fau­cets to be a good value in very inexpensive, value-priced fau­cets. They are stylish and made as well as fau­cets from other companies that are priced much, much higher. Finishes are limited, and the brands include absolutely no bells or whistles.

Our bottom line is that these are very solid basic fau­cets that should give good service for many years.

Rev. 03/09/26