Here's a shot of our Blanco Max 440704.
I think it cost around $200.

had a terrible time deciding myself... they are purchased but not installed. I couldn't go too crazy with this - my tastes run to Dornbracht but not my budget.

I had been about to go for a Moen with modern styling - had read here on GW that Moen stands behind their products and they seem to have a good reputation for a more reasonably priced line.

I ended up with a Blanco - got it for a good price and had tried it out at a friend's house and liked the look, feel and functioning of it.

Love our Waterstone!
Not much history as it was only installed last week.
Our friends put in a blanco and are on the first name basis with the customer service - but then again - any faucet can have problems (although I didn't find any complaints on the WS)

Waterstone PLP 5400

Poohpup has the classic version of the waterstone and it is gorgeous.

Yea I've heard some really bad stories with the lower end Blanco (below $500 faucets, and the chinese made ones.. )

Faucets are the weirdest thing to choose/buy. You never know how they'll work until they're installed. Usually the stores have the hose with the counterweight tied up such that you can't pull the faucet down/out all the way. And then if you order from a place like faucetdirect.com, they don't let you return it if it has been installed, unless it was obviously broken or scratched when it came. I think even then, a restocking fee.

There is always a caution: make sure your faucet works with your sink. Okay, HOW? I guess if you are able to get to a store that DOESN'T prohibit your ability to pull out/down a faucet, and then internally say "and I'm having a Blanco Silgranit II sink, and I can use the 8.5" x 11" piece of paper I have in my purse to guesstimate what 3 x 11" = approx. 33" in my 36" cabinet," and then try to test the store's unit with your dimensions in mind....

So please, DO offer pictures and feedback regarding your faucet! And sink! Specifics! Like "the magnetic docking wore off in a year," or "I always have to pull down/out to avoid splashing - otherwise the faucet stream aimed toward the front of the sink and gave me an additional, clothed shower each day," etc.

I was fortunate recently to go to a Delta/Brizo showroom that had "live" faucets. The euphoric ecstasy that accompanied the ability to turn faucets on and off, to touch the faucets that were touch-activated, to pull down the pull-downs while they were on and test the reach, to switch from stream to spray to stream again, really should not be limited to those in the Chicagoland area who are able to visit the Merchandise Mart. Even then, they clearly didn't have large Blanco Supersingle Silgranit II sinks, but I will probably buy from them anyway just because I want to reward them for having what seems like it should be a basic feature: the ability to test your plumbing installations BEFORE PURCHASE and installation.

Off the soapbox - bean

Loving my Waterstone 5500 PLP Traditional! Love how it looks, love how it feels, love how it functions. I smile every time I look at it. :)

I have a Waterstone Hampton kitchen faucet with a side spray at the prep sink.

Yea Bean,

I really do think that the touch is DEF 2012!, if your a high end faucet why don't you have that? the easy and simple use of just touch on and off.. even the Blanco Culina (the one I'm eye'n) doesn't do anything really high tech..

i have been to the Delta working show room here, as well as the Blanco (lucky Miami has both) and ill tell ya I'm stuck.. the Delta just looks cheap not high end what so ever, but does have the high tech aspect..

keep going guys.. love seeing what y'all have..

Just checked in on my blanco (currently nestled in its box awaiting installation). Says it is produced in Italy. Hoping this means good things... Who really knows. In my last house I had a very expensive Rohl which required repair ( to the tune of a couple hundred $$$). This was part of my thinking on not wanting to spend a fortune this time around -- if will hurt a little less if something goes wrong,

I haven't read about the blanco problems... Didn't come up on a GW search. Can anyone provide a link?

I agree with Pooh - I just love to watch the water flow and it does make me smile.

Flow rate it just perfect for me. I think 2.2 but I would have to look it up. Now splashing (but I did set it up to hit in front of the drain and not into the drain as I figured out this is less splash and better clean up) When I want it to go to the drain, I just pop the head down slightly and a perfect bullseye!

I went with the Waterstone PLP as I wanted the spray to latch on and our kitchen was more modern than traditional.

The waterstone is counter-balanced - it stays where you leave it and docks perfectly (granted it is new)

The Waterstone is solid brass including the head. (and meets low lead level requirements)

It talks to my Blanco Silgranit Cascade sink. They are mutually happy with each other.

Made in the USA. There are a couple of YouTube videos showing the operation.

So far, the favorite item in my new kitchen!

BTW - did I mention that I love my WS :-) Just having fun at the crack of midnight.

Back in touch over the weekend

Ya wow, might have to add waterstone to my list, like the american made part (and they show photos of the workers on the webpage) I'm guessing customer service is great! (if there ever is issue) seem a bit pricey no? are they high end? looks like $1000 + (on ebay, not that i would ever buy one there) the 3800 looks really nice (well made)

Mine is Cifial. Portuguese, I think for some reason. It's very heavy duty brass with strong fixtures. My plumber loved it. I love it. It's not fancy, no pull down stuff, no touch stuff, just a nice gooseneck, smooth faucet.

This was WAY out of my price league, and discontinued. I contacted an eBay vendor, who actually let me pay them on layway. Let it be known that there are WAYS to get what you want!!

Just a note: I've been buying on eBay since 1994. I've gone through lots of their growing pains. In all those years I've had ONE issue with a bad vendor. I contacted PayPal w/in the required 45 days and had my $$ back in my account within the week. The world can't be all wrong. It's OK to join the early 2000s and buy online.
Do your research.

In the meanwhile, I love my faucet.

My faucet isn't quite as fancy as some of the others on GW but I really like it. It is the Grohe Ladylux 3. Not the best picture but here it is anyway.{{!gwi}}

Badgergal,
I really like that faucet, but when I saw it in person I was concerned about the rubber switch that changes the flow to spray. Have you had any issues with it?
Also, does it bother you not to be able to lock the spray into position? Thanks.

Not the best pic of my Hansgrohe Talis S pulldown at the prep sink. I used the same at my cleanup sink.

The way I decided was that it was the first thing I fell in love with when our kitchen reno became a real event and I started my research. Bought a kitchen design mag at the store one day, sat down that night to drool, and bam. There was a gorgeous kitchen with that faucet. Done!

Side note, love my silgranit sinks also. I don't get any more splashing than with any other faucet I've used. These occurrences are only from my user error when I stick something under the full-blast stream at the wrong angle. Thats not really splashing though.

Chef
I looked at a lot of faucets and read a zillion reviews. From review, the Chicago faucets were well liked but no pull down and I wanted that feature. Also US made.
Another contender was the Koehler Karbon. Some recent GW posters loved it.

The WS was way out of budget but my frugal mom convinced me that a good and stylish faucet was non negotiable. I didn't get to test but did get to feel. I wish I had weighed the faucet as it must weigh 10 lbs!

I bought mine at Baldwin brass in west reading. Price was the best and free shipping (over 200) and supported a small business(albeit near.DM and not near me.

Search GW for a recent thread on how to pick a faucet. Their is a link to a good article.

Good luck and have fun

PS love the paper trick. I put a cardboard box with the sink template on top and used a bent hanger to determine the faucet reach.

I spun around for months as I wanted a pull down faucet, but couldn't find one I liked (to tall, too plastic, didn't like locking mechanism, etc). Once I let go of thinking that's what I wanted decided on this Graff. All metal and my plumber loved it. Only installed for a day, but I am loving in so far. Also from e-bay.

I love my Kraus commercial style (sorry, don't remember the model #).

For my cleanup sink I have the one jkoebnick has pictured above. The island's prep sink will have a full size Brizo Solna (has a hidden spray) and for the beverage faucet we are using a Rohl triflow with 2 handles. Wanted the triflow in this location because this is where we will get water for the coffee pot, the filtered water for drinking. None are installed....yet. Here are stock photos, but not of the Kraus because jkoebnick has a nice photo above of it.

Brizo:

Rohl Triflow 2 handle (which means one handle is the filtered water and the other handle is the hot and cold--took me too long to figure that out.)

Such beautiful, sleek faucets!

I love hearing others' AhHA moments. Nice to hear we all have them. :)

avid chef: I have been using my Ladylux3 faucet for about 5 months and so far no problems with it. It doesnt bother me to not have the spray stay locked on. My laundry room faucet has that feature so I considered the difference and decided it wasn't important to me. It is very easy to switch between spray or regular flow and it doesn't require any effort to hold it in the spray position.

Well, mine's a bit different. I'll post it in case there are others who are doing a 'fun and funky' kitchen.

Chose it for its cute shape (looks a little like E.T), the fact that it's matte black, and the price ($180 at faucet warehouse). It's a little different without being insane.

Kitchen not started yet, but here's the jist:

I have Delta Victorians in my entire house. It doesn't pull down - not sure I really like that feature. It was a tad before touch. So it has a sprayer and a soap dispenser. Have in kitchen sink (don't have prep sink), 4 bathroom sinks, 1 bath/shower combo, 1 shower, and 1 roman (jacuzzi) tub. Love them! The finish on my roman was a bit goldish, but was supposed to be brushed nickel. And I bought that one only on Ebay (new). I emailed pictures to Delta cust svc and they sent me a brand new one. Didn't ask for the old one back either. They are warrantied for life - the finish as well as the gaskets, etc. I'm very happy with my Deltas!

Kitchen faucet:

1/2 bath faucet:

A little closer of 1/2 bath when first installed:

Got this Danze from faucetdirect. Always wanted one like this, but didn't want to spend a boat-load of money...just in case I didn't like it. Also wanted one with at least a 10" reach. This was less than $300. I've been using it almost a year now, and do like it. I had the handle mounted on the left. Did some testing for awhile to see which hand I usually turn the faucet on with, and found I use the left most of the time. Thinking about upgrading to one with a side spigot (like the Kraus that Jkobnick has) and using this one in the laundry. I bought a cheaper Moen for the laundry, but it has such a low water flow rate, it's annoying.

Danze D455158
{{!gwi}}

I first saw the Kohler Karbon in another kitchen here on the KF. Love at first sight. It was the first purchase I made for the new kitchen. I have now been using it for a year and would not trade it for anything.

Here's a linky...but shop around for a much better price.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Kohler Karbon

Mine is Danze Opulence in chrome. Inspired by redroze's beautiful kitchen. I really like it, it was definitely under $200.00. Sorry for the big pic, can't figure out how to resize!

Because I could not wrap my head around the price of faucets, I went cheap and I really regret it. I purchased a Pfister Elevate Stainless Steel 1-Handle Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet,
Item #: 330811 : Model #: F-529-ADRS and although it looks great, the button that raises and lowers it is cheaply made. Also it is very loose. I'm planning to replace it when I finally make a backsplash decision.

Here is a link that might be useful: faucet

I have the KWC Eve. Think it was around $800? I wanted something less expensive but fell in love with the clean, simple lines which matched the design style of our kitchen.

I have the Grohe ladylux 3 like badgergirl and really like it. I like it because the sprayer fits, ergonomically, really nicely in my hand and because of the rubber spray button. I also like the flowing look of it. I didn't want anything too tall as I was using the same faucet in my prep sink as well. I've had it for 18 months with no problems.
My laundry room sink has the spray lock which I actually find a bit of a nuisance and so never use it.

Mine is a Brizo Venuto- not fancy, but I really like it:

i love mine. tall and elegant but doesn't do anything fancy. no pull down, i use a hand spray. i have two; this is the prep sink. by rohl:

{{gwi:1585001}}

Deb52899 what size is your base cabinet? (hoping you are going to say 36") and sink size?

Thank you!

Hi. I'm posting a picture of our KWC Ava because it's not arched like many of the others. (This pix also shows a clutter-free counter: pretty rare!)

Like Pipdog, we fell in love with the KWC Eve. BUT, the showroom manager told us, mistakenly, that the Eve didn't come with a pull-down spray; that the only option was the light. Since we were deciding that day (and didn't have time to do the research -- our mistake) we went with the Ava. We really do like the look for our kitchen, even though it's a pull-out instead of a pull-down. At the time KWC had a promotion that included a free soap dispenser, so that helped mitigate the sticker shock.

Just don't buy sigma faucets....all of ours failed in 18 months...some before we even moved into the new house!

Pipdog - what is your backsplash? I am hunting for the right thing for our kitchen - I have a BS posted but nothing is popping that is just right

Kohler Vinnata - Love it!!

a2gemini, it's staggered white onyx. it's apparently out of stock from the local distributor that we bought it from (they manufacture it), but Ann Sacks has a similar onyx tile.

Pip thanks!
Will take a look

Delta Pilar with touch on/off. Especially love the pulldown sprayer, functioning flawlessly for a year and a half, best $350. ever spent.

Sorry if that looks cheap to anyone, but that's not a real concern for me. Doesn't look any cheaper than the 1963 Formica counter into which the sink fit perfectly! (Sink is Blanco white Silgranit Diamond super single). I'm a lot more focused on function than style, and was not doing big remodel or even renovation. The faucet and sink (and associated plumbing improvements) _were_ the remodel.

Bon22 - sorry for the delay in answering your question. I'm looking at my perimeter cabinet plans and I can't read the base size. I can't tell if it says 48 or 42. My sink is Blanco Diamond double equal bowl. On the website it says required base is 36". I don't know what size the sink is except that it's 10" deep. I'm trying to attach the cabinet plans for you to see the base if that helps.

Kate - I love your faucet! It looks like sterling silver! It's beautiful!

Here's mine for my soon to be finished kitchen.

Delta Saxony pullout bought from Faucetdirect.com. I think it was $249.

Trying to decide: Danze Opulence or Rohl
Cinquanta (wanted the bridge faucet but hubby vetoed the two handle). Is the Rohl really worth double the cost?

AboutToGetDusty: if you really want the double handled faucet, you can just get a tapmaster and the problem would be solved for your dh, since you'd then operate the faucet with a kick plate. i never touch the handles on either of my faucets. the tapmaster is a highly recommended gadget around here and well worth a look.

as for rohl being worth the cost: it's a personal choice. i looked for alternatives but couldn't find any others i liked as much. i was very patient however, and found mine on ebay at substantial savings. where there's a will there's a way! GL!

I have two faucets, a bridge faucet and what i call the "gear shift" faucet. The latter is for people to sneak in to wash hands or fruit or somesuch when real work is being done with the other faucet.

Both Herbeau. I have another Herbeau in our mudroom PR and we are installing one in the pool kitchen too. I just like their aesthetic.

I want to warn garden webbers about WS Bath Collections and Modo Bath.

Wael, of WS Bath Collections and probably the WS in WS Bath, was extremely rude and unprofessional in the handling of an order that was placed with Modo Bath.

Tried to get more spec information from Modo Bath prior to placing order. Manager, George, provided incomplete and incorrect information. We proceeded with the order with the promise that the items could be returned. It became complicated when the items turned out to be other than described by George.

Stay away from these two companies.