I used to have a pulldown and before that, I had a side spray. The difference for me is how much I want to clutter my sink with faucets and the like. I already have a detergent dispenser and a water purifier next to the faucet. I also like being able to switch from stream to spray.

I use the spray to rinse the sink, to rinse certain items I handwash -- like a colander, and to wash fruits and veggies -- particulary ones that are small and numerous, like grapes.

I wouldn't say a sprayer of some type is essential, but it sure does come in handy. I don't like the way most pulldown faucets look -- they remind me of male anatomy -- so I looked around until I found one that didn't.

We have a pullout faucet. Truth be told I could live without a faucet and only have a spray. We put 99.9% of dishes and pots into the dishwasher so we never fill the sink with water. We use the spray to rinse dishes and clean the sink, clean fruits and veggies and to fill a bucket for mopping the floor. Since we have a small kitchen it also acts as our pot filler. We use it to fill the coffee maker directly instead of filling the carafe and pouring it into the coffee maker. If you a baby and bath him or her in the kitchen sink it's great for rinsing them too. I prefer a pull-out or a pull-down faucet because you have an option of using a stream of water or the spray, and like you mentioned only one hole and less clutter. There are so many styles of pullouts and pulldowns. I am sure that you and your husband can agree on something.

I just got rid of a side spray for a pull down. My pull down is a goosneck style and I love it-but it is thicker on the bottom. I think Delta has some that are not thicker and still pull down! I would check them out. I can't live without a spray of some sorts-I use it all the time! I looked at bridge faucets first but didn't want a side spray again-just wanted a cleaner look. I have a soap dispenser and RO faucet so having just one more hole for my pull down was what I needed.

Had both pullouts and side sprays...definitely prefer the side spray. Have a balanced hole pattern in my countertop. When looking at the setup, faucet in middle, soap dispenser to the left of it and side spray to the right. If someone were left-handed, they would want to have the sidespray to the left of the faucet.

Clueless,
Can I ask what pull down you found that you liked the look of and are happy with?

cpang74,
I also will have RO dispenser and was thinking of a soap dispenser, so it would be nice to only have one hole with a pull down.

Sounds like you have replied so far really use the sprayer on your faucet!!!

If anyone has a favorite faucet recomendation, I would love to hear it.

Thanks!!!

I wouldn't want to forgo the sprayer, I use it fairly often. We have the Grohe Ladylux cafe (which has the wide faucet head), but they also make the Ladylux Pro, which if I am remembering correctly, is very similar but has a small head (no wider than a non-sprayer head IMHO).

i have the grohe alira pullout, which i guess is kind of think. but they're not all like that.( i confess, though, i haven't pulled it out yet except to test it) take a look at the delta signature; it is pretty slim.

Mine is Delta Leland-it actual does have one handle but the handle is seperate from the pulldown...so I have 4 holes still. I think I was confusing before? I LOVE my faucet though!

Here is a link that might be useful: Delta Faucet

I never liked side sprays since college, when a roommate would put a rubberband around the sprayer handle, and leave it that way to spray the next person to use the sink. Real funny.

For our kitchen remodel we got a Danze pulldown faucet (sonoma? sonora? something like that) that by its description seemed like it would pull down and be able switch between stream and spray, but it can only do a stream. Also it limits the water flow so severely that with my relatively low water pressure well, the stream is fairly anemic. We are kind of disappointed in the faucet.

Kaye,
How about this one? I don't know Pegasus....but it looks very clean! And what a good price too!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pegasus Pulldown

I've lived most of my life without the spray type faucet. We finished our remodel 6 months ago and installed a Grohe Ladylux Plus (this model has spray with control to keep it on). We use the Bosch dishwasher for most things. Yet, daily I wash pots, knives, and some plastic things in sink (Orca 1 bowl: love it).

Yesterday, I was just thinking "this spray is nice, but, I could live without it." I can just almost as easily wash the sink out without it. Often I forget that I have it and find it easy to rinse soap off under the faucet.

The Ladylux spray comes out rather high powered and that seems to cause more splashing than the more easily controlled regular water flow.

I definitely would not drill another hole for a side spray.

First of all, Yes, I would have a spray again. We are in the process of building and I, too, struggled with a decision over pulldown vs side spray. I think that it's easy to get caught up in the seduction of high-end, full-featured faucets, and for a while I was drooling over one of the expensive pulldowns. But after thinking about my usage of the side spray in my current kitchen, I realized that I rarely utilize it. So, I am going with a standard goose neck faucet, with a side spray. Even though I don't use it that often, I wouldn't want to be without it. My "cost/benefit analysis" just seemed to point to spending less for this feature. I do like the spray for rinsing out the sink, trash cans, and other "remote" needs. I suspect that including a side spray with a faucet would be minimal in cost, but you don't indicate whether you already have a hole for the side spray. If you don't, then maybe a pulldown would be a better choice. You also express concern about cluttering up the sink area...do you have other fixtures there already, such as soap dispenser, or instant hot water? Have you considered single-handle faucets? IMHO, 3 fixtures around the sink is about the limit for my tastes, but I would include a spray in some way if you are buying a new faucet.

I use the spray pretty much every time I turn on the water. I use it to rinse dishes, rinse veggies, rinse pasta, rinse the sink itself. You get the idea.

We have a pull-down (two of them, actually--Kohler Vinnatas--one in each sink), and we absolutely love them. The faucets looked huge when we first installed them, just because they was so much bigger than our last one. We have quickly grown accustomed to them, and now they don't look so big. The nice thing about the pull-down is that the same nozzle does both regular flow and spray. I can pull the hose over the counter to fill a big pot quickly without having to set it in the sink and lift it out when it's full.

In addition to requiring an additional hole, every side spray I have ever had has leaked eventually. We still have one in our laundry room, and it leaks. I can't wait to get rid of it.

My mother recently moved into an apartment in a retirement village. Very nice place, but not a lot of frills in construction. Her sink has no sprayer at all. I was at her place yesterday helping to clean up, and using the faucet with no sprayer drove me nuts. Once you have one, it's tough to function without it.

Thank you so much to everyone who has given their imput so far......

I will take a look at the Ladylux Pro and the Delta Signature.

The Pegasus pulldown is nice because it doesn't have a wide endspout, but the style is a bit too modern for my victorian kitchen. Someone on this forum had the Pricepfister Hanover faucet which seems nice, the pulldown end doesn't seem too wide, so it seems like a possible option. I am not too familiar with the Pricepfister brand though, I wonder how the quality is, do they hold up well longterm? I have also considered the Grohe Bridgeford with pull down spray but am not super fond of the wide end of the faucet but am still considering it because it seems like alot of people here on this forum like the Grohe faucets. Ater reading lkremodel's post above though I wonder if the spray would be too powerful and would splash. I also have am considering the Whitehaus Evolution gooseneck one lever with sidespray. I sure wish There was a showroom closeby that I could go to and try all the faucets out.

Coffeehaus: You were asking about the number of holes in my sink--we are going to put a new sink in also, so I can decide the number of holes. We have a two bowl sink now but the new sink will be a one bowl. We will have an RO dispenser(that hole i may put in an instan hot/cold and I am thinking of probably having a soap dispenser. I definitely want a single handle faucet for ease of use.

Thanks so much for all your help!

No!!! Don't buy a Delta! Their finishes rub off and the sprayer is made of cheapo plastic parts that fall apart after a very short time.

We had a delta with a side spray in our last house. See above comments. We just replaced the faucet in our new old house with a Kohler Simplice pull down faucet. I LOVE this faucet. Cannot tell you the difference. I never used the side spray with the Delta -- too inconvenient, didn't give a good spray anyway, then the spray handle broke and it just wasn't worth the bother. But the pull down is a whole different story. Feels great in my hand, different spray options, very easy to use and retract. LOVE this faucet. Also has freed up a hole in my sink that I can now use for a hot/cold dispenser if I want. :-) Pull downs are loverly. I'll never go back to a sidespray.

I have the Moen Aberdeen in ORB. Pull down, and I use the spray pretty much each and ever time I turn on the water. LOVE IT!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Moen Aberdeen

I have Danze Opulence faucets with sidesprays at both of my sinks, and use the sprayers for washing veggies and rinsing the sinks and large pots. The sprayers on these units are brass, solidly constructed, and have a forceful spray. I am very pleased with them. My old kitchen had an apartment grade faucet with a sidespray that was just about worse than nothing at all.

I can't stand to be without a spray faucet of some sort. I even put one in the laundry room sink. The kitchen is a pull down and you have to hold it on spray to keep it spraying. The laundry room faucet has a push button option and is pull out faucet. Love them both.

I'm reading this with interest because I will be getting a new kitchen sink soon (with my granite countertop installation) and will have to make faucet decisions soon.

My hubby likes the look of the pull down spray and so do I. We've lived a few different places in the last 30 years and have always 'destroyed' our side sprays, some way or another. The most common way is that they get yanked out and don't retract properly. I hate to see the sprayer lying in the sink so I end up spending a lot of time disinfecting it. Then the spray button usually breaks off. We must be hard on them! (5 kids...) But neither of us could live without a spray. I've been hesitant about the pull out kind since they are much more expensive. Will I come into the kitchen some morning and see it, not retracting back into the faucet like it is dead????

Sorry, I don't mean to hi-jack this thread but hope that any future comments will include comments as to the durability of the pull down sprays as well as your makes and models as well. Thanks!

I use my pull-out spray daily to fill the coffee maker. And I love it for that! Don't really use it for much else.

neesie, I have had my Kohler Simplice faucet for about a month, so who knows in the long run, but there is simply no comparison between a side spray and the pull downs. Much sturdier, and the spray button that always broke off on our old side spray doesn't exist. We have no problems at all with retraction. Maybe it's because we went with a better brand, I don't know, but there is simply no comparison.

I have the Blanco Rados. I have to say I must use the spray almost as often as I just use the stream. This is a gooseneck style pulldown, and with the larger sinks, what a dream to wash everything down, strainers cleanout so much better with a spray, I have two greenhouse windows, and the plants appreciate their weekly shower too! :>)

It seemed like a monstrosity when I first took it out of the box. Just appears 'normal' to me now!

"I am not too familiar with the Pricepfister brand though, I wonder how the quality is, do they hold up well longterm?"

I have no personal experience, but when I was at Home Depot the salesperson told a couple next to me to avoid the PricePfister faucets, that they weren't well made and had lots of problems. I have no idea if that's true or not, but it stuck with me!

cat-mom was probably thing of mine

Ladylux pro with spray:
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With my old faucet I NEEDED the spray but this one has such a nice strong Jet of water I could probably do without... but its nice to have :) Also it locks on unlike the ladylux cafe. Its nice to use the spray to clean out the sink and when using spray it doesn't spray water around as much. If its not clear in the pic it is a pull down.

Kaye...have you made a choice, yet?

I use a side-spray and opted NOT to have a pull-down in the new kitchen. I've never owned a pull-down, so I can't compare the two - but have liked the side-spray so much that I didn't even consider a pull-down.

I have had both, love the pull down. We just put in this Kohler model. http://www.faucetdirect.com/index.cfm/page/product:display/productId/K-690/manufacturer/Kohler/categoryId/189/finish/Polished%20Chrome
LOVE IT.

I have a pull-down and am hating it more and more every day. But that's for one very specific reason: Hubby refuses to re-seat the blasted thing when he's done. In fact, he leaves it flopping intentionally. Says he likes the way the water falls/sprays.

So my brand-new kitchen faucet looks like it's falling apart.

I would never do without a spray of some sort, though. I use it way too much.

Ok, I thought that I'd give an update. Thanks so much for all the imput you all gave me, based on your comments I have decided that I do need a spray, especially since we will be putting in a large one bowl sink when we put in our new faucet, I think that i will use the spray to spray out the sink when cleaning. So far, the faucets that i have it narrowed down too after MUCH online shopping is the Grohe Bridgeford pulldown arch faucet and the Franke ATM400 Series 400 collection single handle gooseneck kitchen faucet traditional theme with sidespray. I prefer the slender look of the gooseneck Franke but like the pulldown aspect of the Grohe(although a much thicker gooseneck), I wouldn't have to have the extra hole of a sidespray with the Grohe.

I still am living and cooking without a kitchen faucet..... Ughh! What a pain!I will sure appreiate my new faucet when it is finally installed! I had to wait to decide on the faucet until today because a kitchen guy came to look at my counters to let me know what I could do about installing an umdermount sink in my corian and I needed to know what my sink options were before deciding on a faucet finish. I was considering a fireclay sink or an integrated corian sink but it seems that the easiest solution for my situation is a one bowl stainless steel undermount. In order to install an integrated corian sink they would have to remove my countertop and fabricate it in the shop which seems like a big hassle to me. I actually would like a one bowl fireclay drop in but couldn't find one that would fit my existing 33 in wide sink cut out. So, it looks like I am going to have them install an undermount stainless 34 1/2 wide sink.

If the sink is stainless and the corian cameo white my next decsion is should I choose polished nickel or chrome for the faucet? my kitchen is a traditional kitchen in a Victorian house, I thought that the nickel could look nice but am wondering if it might clash with the stainless steel of the sink........any suggestions?

Sorry for my long post....thanks!

bob cville, I don't need to have a jokester roommate to get a shower with a side spray. I always manage to inadvertently push the lever when seating my mother's and get myself straight on.

The thing I like the most about our pull down is that I can use the spray hands free, while the nozzle is still seated. I like to thoroughly rinse fruit/veggies by picking them up and turning under the spray. Having 2 hands free is nice for picking stuff off the fruit or pulling apart grape bunches or broccoli stalks so that the water can get to all parts. I also like to peel/cut out bruises under the spray. I use the spray about 95% of the time. The only time I use the stream is when I have to get the water into a small opening (i.e. to rinse out a juice box.)