Symmons Faucets Review & Rating Updated: December 2, 2023
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes:
1. "Symmons warrants to the original consumer purchaser/end-user that any Symmons product will be free of defects in material and workmanship during normal domestic use for the life of your home."2. The warranty is missing quaifying language required by the U.S. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301). However, the missing language does not diminish the rights of the faucet buyer, and in may actually strengthen those rights.
Read the Symmons faucet warranty.
Learn more about faucet warranties.
This Company In Brief
Symmons makes some of the best American faucets that you have never heard of.
A family-owned and managed business, Symmons Industries manufactures good to very good quality commercial faucets primarily for commercial applications such as hotels and restaurants.
It also sells a residential line of faucets that is not manufactured by Symmons or in the U.S. These faucets are imported, primarily from China and Taiwan.
The company
A family-owned and managed business founded in 1939, Symmons makes some of the best American faucets that you have never heard of. The company is headquartered and manufactures in Massachusetts, USA.
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, Symmons is well known as the inventor of the pressure-balanced shower control that prevents scalding when the cold water suddenly fails. Symmons is still the pressure-balancing valve against which all others are measured.
The invention is considered by Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine the well-respected industry trade journal, as one of the most important milestones in plumbing history, on par with the flush toilet.
We don't think we can go that far, however. The siphon toilet is one of the four cornerstones of civilization, along with electricity, the Philly cheesesteak sandwich, and baseball.
Symmons Collections
The company's traditional stock in trade are its stalwart restaurant and hotel fixtures. As befits their heavy-duty commercial lineage, these traditional Symmons faucets will stand up to brutal treatment for a long, long time. The one thing they do not have, however, is style.
The company finally realized in 2007 that if it was to compete in the residential market, its faucets would not only have to be not just nearly indestructible but also stylish.
So it decided to create a new line of more style-oriented faucets for residential kitchens and baths. But rather than designing and manufacturing the faucets in house, it decided to import faucets manufactured by foreign companies.
Without question, the new residential faucets are more stylish, but the tradeoff is that they are not nearly as robust as Symmons' original commercial products.
Residential faucets are arrayed in fourteen collections along with matching showers, tub fillers, bidet faucets, and accessories.
- The Allura® collection, according to the company, "blends classic detailing with modern accents and finishes." It includes three lavatory faucets, one widespread, and two centerset configurations. They are mildly transitional and would look at home in an Arts & Crafts or Post-War Retro bath.
- The Canterbury® collection is intended to embrace the "Gilded Age" at the turn of the 19th century.
- It is not as "fussy" as many faucet designs intended to complement Victorian styling but actually fits the period very well. Its one widespread lavatory faucet is available in three flor rates and either a Polished Chrome or Satin Nickel finish.
- The Carrington® collection is a more traditional Victorian or Edwardian design. It is available in three flow rates, three handle styles, and either a Polished Chrome or Satin Nickel finish.
- The Degas™ collection is intended to emulate a French faucet of the Belle Epoque period taking its inspiration from the Impressionist painter Edgar Degas.
- We don't see much of Degas in the faucet design, but it is still a striking faucet available in three flow rates and two finishes: Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel.
- Dia® is a mixed collection containing three kitchen and four lavatory faucets in contemporary styling.
- The faucets are available in as many as four finishes. Polished Chrome and Stainless Steel are standard on every kitchen faucet. Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel on the lavatory faucets. Several lavatory faucets are also available in Polished Bronze and Matte Black.
- Faucets offer the option of as many as three flow rates, and several faucets are available with different handle styles.
- The Duro® collection is a mix of one kitchen faucet and six styles of lavatory faucet in contemporary styling. Where Dia faucets are contemporary with founded surfaces, these faucets are very industrial – angular with flat surfaces.
- The lavatory faucets are available in as many as four finishes: Polished Chrome, Satin Nickel, Polished Bronze, and Matte Black. The kitchen faucet finish palette is limited to Polished Chrome, Satin Nickel, and Stainless Steel. Up to three flow rates are available and some lavatory faucets include optional handle styles.
- The Elm® collection features lavatory faucets in the three standard configurations: widespread, centerset, and single-handle pillar style. The styling is traditional with the soft, flowing curves reminiscent of faucets a few years back.
- Finishes include the usual Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel with a dark bronze finish with copper highlights called Seasoned Bronze. At another company, it might be called an Antique Bronze.
- Multiple flow rates are available, but no alternative handle styles.
- The Identity® collection is contemporary and angular with flat surfaces and rounded edges. Symmons calls the design "retro space age", which is as good a description as any.
- The collection contains of three lavatory faucets in the standard configurations: widespread, centerset, and a single-handle pillar style. There is just one kitchen faucet, a high-arc single-handle style with a pull-down spray in either Polished Chrome or Stainless Steel. Lavatory faucets are limited to Polished Chrome or Satin Brass.
- The usual multiple flow rates are available.
- Museo® lavatory faucets are strikingly contemporary with rounded surfaces and a slim, pencil-like design.
- The collection adds a novel finish to the usual Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel: Polished Graphite, a finish that from another company might be called Black Chrome.
- Flow rates of 1.0 and 1.5 gallons per minute are available. There are no handle options and no kitchen facets in the collection.
- The Origins® collection is a less a collection than an assemblage of old-style Symmons residential faucets.
- It includes the venerable Unity bulb-nose pullout kitchen faucet, the Origins centerset lavatory faucet, and the Origins sensor faucet with ActivSense touchless technology.
- All of these faucets are standard in Polished Chrome. The centerset faucet also comes in Satin Nickel and the kitchen faucet in Stainless Steel.
- The flow rate for the kitchen faucet can be set to 2.2 or 1.5 gallons per minute and it has one handle option. The centerset has three flow options: 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 gallons per minute.
- The Oxford® widespread lavatory faucet is a striking angular design more reflective of Greco-Roman styling than it is of anything English, but still a pleasing traditional look.
- It comes in Polished Chrome, Satin Nickel, and Oil-Rubbed Bronze. The standard flow rate is 1.5 gallons per minute with an option of a 1.0 gpm flow rate to comply with the required flow rate of states like California.
- The Sereno® collection is a contemporary tubular design reflective of the minimalist styles pioneered by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen for faucets in the 1960s.
- The collection contains two kitchen faucets, one with a pulldown spray and the other with a side spray. The lavatory set includes a wall-mounted faucet and a single-handle pillar faucet of no particular distinction.
- The finishes are Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel on the lavatory faucets and Polished Chrome and Stainless Steel on the kitchen faucets. Multiple flow options are available.
- The Unity® collection is a reprise of the styling of the Identity collection, subtle curves very much at home on faucets of years gone by. But for those who prize the soft flow of this traditional style, this collection may be a good starting point.
- Lavatory faucets are in two configurations: centerset and widespread, both in the standard Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel. Multiple flow rates are available.
- Winslet® lavatory faucets have, according Symmons, the "charm of an English country estate." They are a pleasant design vaguely reminiscent of English styling in two configurations: widespread and a single-handle pillar faucet.
- The designs would suit a Victorian or Edwardian decor and not be entirely out of place in an early Arts & Crafts bathroom. Available in the usual Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel with two flow rates.
Symmons Manufacturers
Symmons once claimed that over 80% of its products were made in Massachusetts. But, this certainly does not apply to faucets any longer.
Based on its catalog, the proportion of faucets made in the U.S. probably does not top twenty percent. All of its residential faucets are now imported. It also imports most of the components used in its U.S.-made commercial faucets and is increasing the amount of imported content year over year.
Companies that are currently supplying faucets and faucet components to Symmons include
- CAE Sanitary Fittings Industrial Co. Ltd., a Chinese company that sells its own CAE brand worldwide, including the U.S. primarily through internet venues. It provides Symmons with large quantities of faucet parts and components and manyfactures two kitchen and one lavatory basin faucets for the company.
- Guangdong Huayi Plumbing Fittings Industry Co. Lte. and Kaiping Freendo Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. Chinese manufacturers that are subsidiaries of the giant Huayi Group. Both companies supply Symmons with parts and components, but not with finished faucets.
- Kaiping City Lianyang Sanitary Fitting Co. Ltd. supplies faucet parts and components.
- Kaiping Sedal Tap Components Co Ltd manufactures infared sensors, electronic mixing valves, and ceramic cartridges for faucets . It is a subsidiary of Sedal S.L.U., a company chartered in Spain but manufacturing solely in China.
- However, Lota had not delivered a shipment to Symmons since mid-2019, which is about the same time that Symmons increased its imports from Huayi. It may be that Symmons' relationship with Lota is ending.
- NCIP, Inc., a Taiwanese manufacturer, makes faucets in the Allura, Degas, Dia, Duro, and Symmetrix collections. It is one of Symmons' main suppliers.
- Precision Engineered Products, Inc. a Taiwanese company that makes Laundry and bar faucets for Symmons.
- Seagull Kitchen and Bath, a Chinese manufacturer, makes the SK-6600 pullout kitchen faucet for Symmons and the KN-01428 and KN-01429 ceramic cartriges used in some two-handle Allura faucets.
- Toya Valves & Metals Co., Ltd., also of Taiwan, manufactures the Symmons S-2660 Single Handle Kitchen Faucet for the Dia collection, and the SPB-3510 mixing cartridge used in the faucet.
- TWI Industrial, Inc. supplies Symmetrix faucets. TWI is not a manufacturer but a subsidiary of Waxman Industries, Inc. that specializes in sourcing products from Taiwan, primarily for Waxman's Consumer Products Group but also for third-party customers such as Symmons.
Foreign manufacturers or distributors that have supplied faucets and/or faucet components to Symmons over the past five years but appear to be no longer doing so include Neon Plumbing Products Co. of Panyu China, Oras Ltd. a Finnish manufacturer, and
Symmons Faucet Cartridges
Symmons buys its ceramic cartridges from a variety of sources including
- Kerox Kft, a Hungarian manufacturer of mixing cartridges for single-handle faucets. These cartridges are used in the Symmetrix collection and may be used in other collections.
- Kuching International, Ltd., the manufacturer of the KCG cartridge used in Dia collection single-handle faucets.
- Sedal S.L.U., a company chartered in Spain but manufacturing its cartridges in China. The cartridges are used in single handle faucets, mostly in the Symmetrix collection.
- Seagull Kitchen & Bath Products Co., Ltd. of Guangzhou, China supplies cartridges for Allura collection faucets.
- Geann Industrial Co. Ltd., is a Taiwanese manufacturer of the single function stem cartridges used in Symmetrix collection two-handle faucets.
The Faucet Cartridge: Its cartridge is the heart of a modern faucet. It's the part that controls water flow and temperature. Its finish may fail and the faucet will still work, it may be discolored, corroded, and ugly but water still flows. But if a cartridge fails, the faucet is out of business until it is replaced. A five-year warranty on this essential faucet component is not nearly adequate.
Symmons Faucet Finishes
Two standard finishes are available: Polished Chrome and Satin Nickel. In certain collections, these may be supplemented to include Polished Bronze, Oil Rubbed Bronze, Polished Graphite, Seasoned Bronze, and Stainless Steel. Every faucet is available in chrome and most lavatory faucets in satin nickel. Kitchen faucets may be available in Stainless Steel as well as Polished Chrome.
For more detailed information on faucet finishes including how they are applied and the advantages and disadvantages of each, see Faucet Finishes.
Symmons Faucet Warranty
We cannot tell if the Symmons faucet warranty was deliberately written to cause maximum confusion, or if the confusion is just the by-product of some very poor legal drafting.
If it was written by a lawyer, he or she badly needs a refresher. But, we think it was pasted together from bits and pieces of other warranties, and we doubt a lawyer was involved. It is cumbersome, unwieldy, repetitive, ambiguous in parts, and certainly not the "clear and simple" statement required by the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301). It very badly needs to be rewritten.
Symmons advertises a lifetime
warranty on its faucets. But, is it really?
The company promises a faucet buyer that its faucets used in a residence will be "… "free of defects in material and workmanship during normal domestic use for the life of your home." But, if a defect occurs, the warranty promises to provide the parts required to fix the problem or a replacement faucet for just "5 years from the date of purchase."
That is some very awkward writing, so let's recap in simple English: Symmons promises a defect-free faucet for the life of your home, but will provide replacement parts or a new faucet for just the first five years. After that, it will do nothing.
That is not a lifetime warranty. It looks very much like a 5-year warranty. We don't know if this is just sloppy drafting, or the company actually intends a 5-year warranty. In any event, it makes no difference to our warranty scoring.
An example of unneeded repetition is the following: The warranty first excludes "[d]amage due to installation error." Then, a few sentences later makes the point again by excluding "damage incurred in installation". Finally, just in case you somehow missed it the first two times, it again points out that "[t]his warranty does not cover … improper installation."
The first exclusion was enough, the rest is unneeded redundancy.
At least one provision of the warranty is illegal under Magnuson-Moss, this one:
" … this warranty is in lieu of and excluded [sic] all other warranties, conditions, and guarantees, whether expressed or otherwise, including without restriction those of merchantability or of fitness for use."
Magnuson-Moss does not allow state law implied warranties to be excluded in a written consumer warranty. Further, the Federal Trade Commission has characterized language such as this as "deceptive" since it may mislead the average consumer into believing that state law warranties do not apply.
Symmons Customer Service
Customer service and warranty support is superior, as would be expected of an old-line American faucet company. In our tests, Symmons customer service scored over 4.2 for product knowledge and effectiveness, which is a very good result. Anything above 4.0 is passing.
The Better Business Bureau agrees with our assessment., scoring Symmons an A+ for its exemplary handling of customer issues.
Testing & Certification
The California Energy Commission sued Symmons Industries for illegally selling unapproved faucets in California from July 2015 to February 2021. The company paid a penalty of $6,612.00 to settle the suit in 2021.
Comparable Faucets
Faucets comparable to Symmons in quality and strength of warranty include
Conclusions
Symmons faucets are suitable for even a busy main bath or kitchen. Be aware of the company's short-term warranty, however.l
No matter where you buy a Symmons faucet, don't expect a substantial discount. Symmons enforces an Internet Minimum Advertised Price (IMAP) policy. Internet sellers cannot advertise a Symmons faucet at a price below the minimum price set by Symmons. They can sell a faucet below this price, they just can't advertise it.
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Symmons faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us or post a comment below.