When we were building, all of the plumbers said go with Moen or Delta. I didn't listen and instead went with the lovely sigma fixtures. ALL of them have failed. I had 3 failures in the MBath before we even moved in! It took 18 mos after moving in before the powder room failed. The only sigma left in the house is in the Master shower and I just hope that doesn't burst as that is all in the wall and would mean new sheetrock.

Those that failed have been replaced with Moen.

I had a conversation with a fellow at Sigma who insisted there was nothing wrong with their plumbing fixtures and instead it was installation or misuse. As long as they continue with that attitude, they will never have a quality product.

Very disconcerting to read this as I'm getting ready to place an enormous order for all my NB fixtures tomorrow. (Almost $8k).

Eden Manor

I would RUN away as fast as you can from Newport Brass! I can not begin to describe how horrible my experience with them has been. I spoke with our local Feeguson's and they pulled all the NB product from the displays due to the poor quality and lack of warranty from the powder room sink fiasco. They are mortified now that the shower temp balancing valve failed and destroyed my master bathroom and dining room. Our insurance company mentioned going after them for loss mitigation once my home is repaired.

Eden Manor - this should be more than disconcerting, this should be a HUGE red flag. You haven't placed the order yet so all that's lost is a bit of time working out substitutions which is far better than the potential scenarios post installation.

I am in the process of selecting my plumbing fixtures and was wondering if Rohl has a good reputation in customer service. I've selected a pretty pricey kitchen faucet from Rohl.

Thanks!

My Delta fixtures have been bomb-proof for years. Wonderful finish, flawless performance, very solid.

Where is "Newport Brass" located, and where are their fixtures manufactured? I know for a fact they aren't in Newport, RI. Are they in Newport, DE? Newport Beach, CA?

I'm interested in hearing thoughts on Rohl.

They're in California but I do not know where the fixtures are manufactured or assembled.

We put Rohl in our new master bath and so far I like them a lot. I researched and was satisfied with what I found. I did not think for the style and design it was out of range with Moen and Kohl. I had a Moen kitchen faucet and it started to leak after about two years. Although I got a new cartridge I still needed a plumber to install it and after weighing all the facts decided to put in a new faucet.

We've had Moen faucets in most of our houses for going on 30 years now. The thing about Moen - Of course, they send out a part to stop the leaks that start occurring at regular intervals about every 3-5 years - but that is part of their business model to being with. They have cheap parts on the interior, and send out replacement $.50 parts when people call in at regular intervals until they've had enough of the faucet. It should be well noted that the parts Moen sends out for repair decline in quality over the years as well. The last kitchen sprayer I received from them looked like something you'd see at the dollar store.

In the meantime, relatively new Moen owners keep saying that Moen stands by their product, which was cheaply built to begin with, so more people buy Moens. And on & on.

As far as finishes are concerned, I've found that the Moen chrome faucets stand up pretty well. My brushed nickel seems to have gotten very dull, both in the shower and lavatory faucets (no chemicals used on them ever). My Roman tub faucet looks practically brand new.

It's been about 3 years since we last renovated our bathroom and one of our Moen lavatory faucets now has a steady drip. The other, less used, is holding up.

I just installed a newport brass set in my new master bathroom. What a total pain in the a$$. Forget that it's very expensive. My diverter valve is wiggly and there's nothing that can be done, (2) my water goes from cold, to luke warm, to body temp, to extremely hot... nothing between body temp and hot, and (3) customer service is terrible... they couldn't care less about the product. Now that it's in, we'll have to live with it. However, first sign of a problem and we're going to replace it. $1,500 down the drain.

I remodellled 2 bathrooms this past year with Newport Brass and also not happy with the quality. All of the set screws (in the faucets and accessories) become loose all the time. Need to set them with locktight. Have never had new faucets "fall apart" like this, in any price range.

FWIW - I have a 7 year old house with a mix. Moen is our base (builder rec) and we have Grohe sprinkled throughout. Never been an issue. Grohe sent out a replacement kitchen pull with a quick phone call after 5 years. The rubber had deteriorated. So it isn't just Moen that has great customer service.

The Grohe has held up in our kids bathroom. Love their inexpensive single handle.

Just read the reviews on Amazon. Some of their faucets have 40% to 80% 1&2 star ratings. One faucet set has a 57% 1 star rating. My favorite is Rohl.

What a shame! I put a Newport Brass faucet in my powder room 16 years ago and it is lovely and very good quality. Have they been bought out by a larger company?

My sister had a NB kitchen faucet with sprayer. When running hot water, the sprayer would get too hot to handle. It constantly leaked too.

We've had Moen for over 20 years and they are indeed wonderful to work with. Something quits working and they send a part immediately.

I really wish I knew that the faucets from Restoration Hardware are from BrassTech which is basically Newport Brass. These are garbage! THANK GOD for RH's amazing customer service and the fact that they are refunding me after a year of issues. They could have said "too bad so sad" Now granted I spent tons of money on plumbers coming out to fix and reinstall - I'm just DONE - want to wipe my hands clean and start over again!

I was going to buy a Newport Brass faucet. But not now. Thanks so much!

Newport Brass is in disarray, all the way from their manufacturing through customer service.. Last summer we installed a tub/shower unit from NB. First of all, the threads in the handle did not mate with the threads that the handle was supposed to screw onto. Then the pull rod for the diverter was the longer extended version instead of the standard length, making it hit the handle used to turn the water on/off. We finally managed to get the correct parts for those two items.

But the third issue is with the toe-activated tub drain. The rubber gasket that is supposed to seal against the brass plate, which is flush with the bottom of the tub, is too flat to contact the brass plate and seal. The gasket should have more of a bell shape. I've been trying to get the local (Birmingham, AL) NB rep, Joe Spears, the Brasstech customer service representative, Kristofor Fagerstrom, and another Brasstech rep, Dan Lopez, to understand what the problem is so they can remedy it. On 11/22/17 Kris Fagerstrom said:

"Hi Bill,

I really don’t know what to tell you the design Is sound, we sell thousands of them and I have never not once see this issue, as far as I can see it a capability issue as the plunger does not seat far enough into the drain. For this I don’t have a solution, I have send a replacement gasket and plunger so we know it’s not a problem with either and at this point I don’t have any other options to offer you. Being you have 2 gaskets have you tried doubling up the gaskets to create more of a filled space, other than thatwhat would you like me to do for you?

Thank you

Kris"

I replied that I know what to tell him, that if they don't get this problem fixed they will have thousands of leaking tub drains. After ignoring my last four emails in December and January, last week I received the entire assembly in the mail. I took one look at it and noticed that when closed the gasket fails to touch the brass plate! After all I have been through with them, I could not believe they sent me a defective assembly. Here is the NB assembly - open and "closed":

Note the daylight coming under the black rubber gasket. Unbelievable. Newport Brass at its best. The only way my wife can take a bath is for me to wrap a plastic garbage bag around the stopper under the gasket before closing it, and then let the garbage bag provide the seal between the gasket and the brass plate.

We also purchased a Kohler shower unit for the other bathroom. The Kohler unit went in with no problem. Unlike Newport Brass, all of the Kohler parts actually fit together and perform as expected.

I have been searching for a white kitchen faucet for several weeks. The only one I could find is Brizo, which I was told is owned by Delta. Does anyone know anything at all about Brizo? Newport Brass had a white pull down spray faucet that looked beautiful but after the reviews I decided not to go with it. Any thoughts on what to buy for a high end white kitchen pull down spray faucet? Thanks!

I like Moen and Kohler also, and have experienced excellent customer service with Moen before.

tschure - I had a Brizo wall mounted bridge faucet with sprayer for my stand alone tub. It was a beautiful product and worked well, but unfortunately I only got to use it a few months before our house sold.

DH had no complaints about install, and he generally prefers Moen or Kohler products. Here are a few pictures.

As an update on my Jan 30 comments, this week I received a conciliatory note from the local Newport Brass rep apologizing for my frustrations and offering two options. While I don't like the options I do appreciate the gesture and intend to see if I can work with NB to help improve their product and operation.

I learned that the toe-tap drain stopper is not manufactured by Newport Brass. It is my understanding that these drains are manufactured by another company and sold to companies like Newport Brass. The drains are reboxed and sold by the thousands all over the US and probably the world. So Newport Brass has no direct control over the drain. I have suggested to the local NB rep that he contact Synaflex Rubber Products (http://www.synaflex.com/) to get a quote for tub-drain gaskets with a deeper bell shape, since the shape of the rubber gasket is the only issue with the drain and correct gaskets would solve that problem. Hopefully they will follow through.

Should have bought Dornbrecht and you all would have been happy. Very expensive, but German made. the highest of the high.

I replaced all of my newport brass/ restoration hardware faucets with kohler and have had ZERO ISSUES thank god. what a nightmare. the cartridges are terrible.

I became a Moen guy after a problem with a Delta faucet. Neither HD nor Lowe's had the repair parts, so they both referred me to a specialty plumbing store in San Antonio. They had the part but they had to look it up in a catalog of about 1,000 pages. I asked them about that and they told me Delta and the others changed their faucet designs every year, so they had to have a big catalog of parts. Whether that was an exaggeration or not, I did not like the idea of buying only from a specialty store. They said Moen used the same cartridge for decades. Within a few days I literally saw Moen cartridges in the local grocery store hardware aisle for $8. We have done a significant amount of remodeling of several homes over the years. I tell my wife she can have any Moen faucet she wants, but nothing else.

As an update to my update, after nine months of dealing with customer service and sales people for Newport Brass, I was finally put in touch with a senior engineer. He and I have clearly communicated. The main problem with the drain was that I (and my plumber) had not screwed the bolt that goes through the plunger all the way down. That simple fix stopped the drain from leaking. The NB engineer promised to review all the negative comments posted on the internet and work to improve their customer service. I believe we may see things improve for Newport Brass. If so, it was worth all the emails and time I spent getting resolution to my problems.

I am still too afraid to buy new port brass now! Going to get something else...so sad..I love thier satin bronze color it is like no other!!

I love it too but what a pain in the you know what! It cost me thousands!

Oh No!!!! I just bought all Newport Brass fixtures for my new kitchen -- UGH

Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll put in my two cents for Moen. The Moen tub spout we originally installed 19 years ago started leaking the other month, and the last time that happened, about 10 years ago, we phoned Moen customer service for a new shower valve cartridge, which they sent out cheerfully and for free. I had my doubts nine years on, but my husband called them, and sure enough, happily and for free, another shower cartridge was sent out immediately.

For the customer service, quality, and the price point, we chose Moen for the kitchen and bathrooms in our new house.

Totally amazing beckysharp. 19 years and they are still replacing the shower valve cartridge. Amazing. Makes Moen a rock star for me.

Hi, I am thinking about buying sigma for my master bathroom, shower, tub filler and faucets. Any advise on Sigma verses Kohler?

*all* of the sigma faucets we installed failed, including a couple before we moved in. They were most attractive, but completely useless. I called customer service who insisted our plumber -- who'd been in business over 25 years -- didn't know what he was doing.

Stay away from sigma!

I am going through an ordeal with Newport Brass right now. Their customer service is still terrible! I’ve wasted $ on plumbers bc the company has sent defective replacement parts, a diagram only after I contav them saying my plumber took apart the faucet and can’t find where the replacement part is meant to go (apparently this company is the only one who has the cartridge housing where it is). You’d think they’d send a diagram with the replacement part, but they don’t. I’m at the point where I have to decide if I’m going to wait for another cartridge and pay a plumber yet again or start looking for another faucet. One thing is for sure though, I will never purchase another Newport Brass faucet ever again. The original poster is spot on. Their products are expensive garbage. And their customer service still sucks.

Thank you. I will be passing on Newport

Well, it is 2022 and Newport Brass has NOT changed. We purchased 4 bathroom faucets in March of 2021 thru Ferguson and out of the 4 faucets, one started corroding after a year and a half. Newport Brass will not honor the warranty ”because of hard water and abuse”. Yes, they actually said ”abuse”. It would stand to reason that if it was hard water and abuse, all four faucets would be corroding. We contacted Build.com and they would not return our call. We then contacted the salesperson we used at Ferguson to purchase the faucets. She said she would contact the sales rep and now she will not return our calls. We have now purchased a Moen and so far, we love it. We will definitely stay away from Newport Brass, Build.com and Ferguson!

We bought a new construction house in 2008 that has all Newport Brass fixtures and decorations. - 5 bathrooms, a three sink kitchen, and 2 wet bars. And I mean it is all Newport Brass - sink handles and faucets, towel bars, toilet bowl handles, etc. And here is what has broken, starting in less than one year: bathroom tub diverter handle, kitchen sink mixer cartridge, shower head, bathroom sink faucet connector, another shower head, shower temperature mixer valve, and another bathroom sink faucet connector!

The parts are insanely expensive to replace, it is difficult to make sure that you have the correct model, and even harder to make sure you have the correct finish.

The most frustrating thing (and why I am writing this up) is because one of the broken bathroom faucets is now discountinued, and I am stuck with the a bathroom that has a dozen plus Newport Brass installations that I will not be able to match. Ever!

The "help" that I have received from Customer Service is a joke. They cant help identify part numbers or finishes, and dont seem particularly interested in the fact that there stuff keeps breaking.

I have taken to proactively switching out parts, especially shower heads, with stuff on Amazon and which I feel is better quality and much, much cheaper.

Do not dare install this overpriced garbage in your house!

22 years as a home improvement contractor here.

Kohker Purist is our go to. I love Kohler's customer service.  We usually tell our customers to buy a little more on the mid-range or higher end on Kohler and rarely do we have issues.

Kohler and Delta on the non plastic finishes are good.  Valves don't leak often.  If they do just call customer service and they'll send you a replacement for free.

Now Newport Brass is horrible to deal with. Even newly installed valves leak...Okay not all the time but at least 3 percent.  Irritating!   And I really don't know why the sales people keep pushing this stuff on our clients.  I have to remember to put my foot down next time and tell my clients no on Newport brass

Thank You SO MUCH Was getting ready to place some expensive orders with NB. Thanks God for GOOGLE. Found your post and all other info on the company. Ordered some beautiful Kohler and Moen!!

Almost finalized our 8 bath, 2 kitchen etc. plumbing order. Largely Kohler, American Standard, Delta and Moen. (Trying a couple Gerber w.c.s at our plumbing contractor's suggestion.) Glacier Bay w.c.s work well and last...but buyers of multi-million dollar homes turn their noses up.

Check out Starcraft's incredible plumbing rating/history site.

Based on a recent faucet failure and the suggested resolution by Newport Brass (Brassteck) we will never again consider their products. We have had excellent experiences with both Kohler and Rohl.always heard pos about Moen as well

Agreed Stay away from Newport Brass (Brasstech). go with Kohler, Moen or Rohl

I never leave comments, but felt like I needed to add my experience here. We did a complete remodel 4 years ago and put in all matte black plumbing fixtures. Newport Brass in the kitchen and master bathroom. Kohler and Brizo in the rest of the house. The Newport Brass items are all completely chipped - even items that are rarely used. The rest of the plumbing fixtures are in perfect shape. I contacted Newport Brass and they said the chipped paint is all due to "hard water" and "harsh cleaners." We have the same water throughout the house and use the same very gentle cleaners in all bathrooms and have had zero problems with any of the other matte black fixtures.

So DO NOT BUY NEWPORT BRASS. I am so upset that the sales people at Ferguson convinced us that they were the best.

Save yourselves and your money!

DO NOT BUY NEWPORT BRASS!!! We have had the same experience. We paid for a polished nickel finish and it looked terrible since a few days after it was installed. The finish DID NOT hold up and we were told it was warrantied and now Newport Brass will not follow through — even after we paid $300 for the replacement faucet+hand-held shower to complete the process. The faucet was less than six months old when the diverter also broke. Their products are expensive and DO NOT hold up and they DO NOT guarantee them as they promise they will.

Can anyone say anything about their experience with Kraus? I’ve selected, but not yet purchased Kraus sinks and faucets. Sounds like I should switch to Kohler?

Well, crap. I should have done my research and now I have 3 brand new expensive Newport Brass unlaquered brass faucets in my new kitchen. The filter/cold water faucet is already wobbly and leaks and it's not because of poor installation. My husband just got new washers for it to try and fix it (mind you it is brand new). This makes me quite sad. Guess I should start looking now for new kitchen faucets to buy before the tariff thing gets too out of hand and just keep them until the other go bad. I'm so disappointed.