Bathroom sink faucet and drain mismatch? I think I screwed up

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I recently bought my first place; I'm a new home owner and not handy (this, sadly, will become clear). I wanted to replace a vessel (bowl) sink in the master bath. I saw a This Old House video on YouTube where they did that; they used a Ronbow drop-in self-rimming sink (I think the Rhombus model, but it doesn't say in that video's comments) and a Brizo Sotria faucet. This is my first houzz post, I'll try to include that video if I can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHGA7ivhPwU&t=203s

The granite place that fabricated the new countertop told me to bring them the new sink, and I got a Kohler Archer drop-in sink at Home Depot; their site says it's frequently purchased with the Pfister Ladera faucet, but the local HD was out of the chrome version, so I splurged on the Brizo Sotria.

The faucet was installed, and the water from the faucet hits the basin 3" away from the drain, toward the back of the sink, causing splashing. In the TOH video, one of the guys points out that the spout is perfect to go right down into the drain (@1:40 mark in video).

The guy at the plumbing supply store where I bought the Brizo faucet suggested turning down the water pressure to eliminate the splashing, but the water pressure is pretty dismal to begin with, even with the valve turned wide open.

The granite countertop was cut for the sink, so the sink has to stay. The faucet set is beautiful, but I think I screwed up. Live with it? New faucet set?

Thanks for any advice/help/suggestions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVxTigrQXjA

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Comments (5)

PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
4 years ago
There's nothing wrong with your setup. I wouldn't want that faucet so far into the bowl that the water hits the drain because your going to get splash all over the top of the faucet and the faucet will be blocking access to the bowl. I'm not sure it would reduce the splash much either. Maybe some sort of mat in the bowl bottom?
WGR 0918 thanked Joseph Corlett, LLC
WGR 0918
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you. The guy at the plumbing supply store said that too, that in his experience, you want the water to hit on the back side of the drain in a bathroom sink. If it hits the drain directly, the splash will be much worse.

I think because in the This Old House video the guy makes a point of saying that the faucet water lines up with the drain that I thought something was off. Still, it does splash up to the handles more than I'd like, and the pressure is weak, but I guess that is a function of "new" faucets, idk.

This was the third sort-of blunder (except this really isn't one?) I've made as a new home owner, so I've just gotten...frustrated.

There's another YouTube video where a man replaces a sink with the Kohler Archer drop-in and uses an American Standard Chatfield faucet, and it's about an inch back of the drain.
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vinmarks
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I was curious so just checked mine. The water hits about 1 1/2 inches back from drain. After doing this I also realized the faucet on my sink is not perfectly lined up with the drain. My husbands is. I’ve been living with it for almost 4 years and never noticed it. Gah! Now I can’t unsee it,
mainenell
4 years ago
The splashing is more a function of the height of the faucet and the depth of the bowl, IMO. The shape of the bottom of the bowl and angle of the water coming out of the faucet may also contribute.
WGR 0918 thanked mainenell
wdccruise
4 years ago
"the water pressure is pretty dismal to begin with, even with the valve turned wide open"

I suspect the water pressure appears dismal because the faucet doesn't have an aerator. Rather the water just dribbles from the (low-flow) faucet. This Hangrohe Focus faucet, for example, includes an aerator. I have a Hangrohe Talis faucet whose stream appears much stronger when the aerator is attached than when I remove it (of course, the gpm actually remains the same). Hangrohe also claims that the aerator also prevents splashing and mine doesn't splash.
WGR 0918 thanked wdccruise