Seems like established technology with common metals fabricating a simple mechanism. What differentiates a relatively inexpensive, contractor-grade faucet from one that costs anywhere from double to 10x the price?
High quality faucets (the ones which are expensive) usually do not leak. My girlfriend and I found that out the hard way. After moving in we built the kitchen and then we went and bought the cheapest IKEA faucet the store had to offer (back then for just 10 €), thinking “what could happen, it is just a faucet”.
It turned out that this faucet leaked water, even when closed. But it was so little that one didn’t notice. It went over years. All that leaking water eventually seeped into the countertop, along the hole where the sink is built in, where the material (particle board) of the countertop is exposed. Now our whole countertop is puffy and has been expanded because of the water seeping into the particle board.
We bought an expensive faucet after that, but it doesn’t attach to the countertop so well, because its surface is uneven due to the water seeping into the countertop. During summer, when the countertop dries out and decreases in thickness due to higher temperatures the new faucet comes loose. Until we get a new countertop we then have to deliberately wet the countertop where the faucet sticks out so that it can expand to tighten the faucet again.
Thats why (good) faucets are expensive - you pay for peace of mind partially.
At one point in my life I designed bathrooms and kitchens. I’ve sold thousands of faucets. Here’s a few points on regular retail faucets in the US.
Expensive faucets, you are paying for the design (Grohe), or for quality parts (Kohler).
Cheap faucets are made with cheap parts and are often old designs from major brands. These knock-offs are sold under store brand names usually (Aquasource/Lowes, Glacier Bay/Home Depot) and are made of cheap plastic. Avoid these unless you plan on replacing (rentals).
If you buy Grohe, don’t buy a US made model. Another company paid to use the name and ‘style’ in the US but the interior parts are cheap plastic bits and some things are modified to reduce the cost of manufacturing. Not worth the extra money they charge.
For most people I recommend sticking to the big names. Moen, Delta, Kohler, etc. They come with good warranties and parts are available everywhere.
You can still find really neat old faucets and repair them. Chicago, Price Pfister, Eljer had some good stuff back in the day and you can get new parts from Danco.
Thank you for the great reply. I know your modern brand recommendations, but the reconditions for older brands is a great idea I’ll have to look into.
For anyone that has contractor grade faucets, if you ever get to handle a higher end faucet, or even a lot of the commercial fixtures and compare them to the cheap stuff, it should be night and day.
I replaced my faucets before attempting to sell my house and used ok stuff to modernize, but they’re still low end. I ended up not moving, and I treat them nice so they’re doing ok.
But they all have plastic internals, the weight is much less, the parts wobble more, and the finish isn’t holding up as well as I’d expect of a premium faucet. Even when right out the box, they aren’t as nice as a decades old name brand faucet.
They’re made to meet a price point. While they will get you the look (potentially) of a high end faucet, it won’t hold up like one with better fit and finish, and if it does need repair, your chances of getting the part is likely much better.
Do you want a buy it for life faucet? Or do you need one to last a couple years? Spend accordingly. There’s a market for both, and people need to determine which product is right for them.
I was searching the band VOLA when I came across the faucet brand that makes very expensive but very repairable, and that compelled me to finally ask. I’ve replaced a few faucets over the years that were at the end of their life, but the last one took to a plumbing supply to get what looked like an obvious replacement part and they said it’s some home depot brand that doesn’t make them.
Thanks for the info, I’ve never thought to buy old since over only ever replaced cheap and only faucets, but when it comes time to work on my kitchen I’ll check out the brands you mentioned.
Guess how much a kitchen cabinet door costs. £10-15 per door. A kitchen with more than ten 40cm cabinets is going to cost you a bomb.
if that seems excessive, you’re right. A few years ago, those same doors were less than half the price.
What happened then, did the doors change? Is the flimsy wood composite they’re made of go extinct?
You know the answer.
The brand name is the only difference. Much like slapping nike and gucci 10xes the price of clothes.
Not true. As someone mentioned above thread — cheap store brands are commonly plastic junk that breaks after a couple of years of use.
And the big designer names are often the same cheap plastic item with their logo slapped on it. Hardly any brands are actually providing a significantly better product that justifies the exorbitant price tag.
Pfister and Koehler faucets come with lifetime guarantees.
As with most of these things it is pricing based on value.
- Contractor is often fixing or building and cares a lot about the price.
- Most other purchases are during renovations so a luxury expense and relatively speaking the faucet will be a small part of that, so it is easy to milk these people for money.
The industry is highly monopolized. The cheap stuff is accordingly worse and the okay stuff can set high prices.
Cause what are you going to do; not have a faucet?
Because that is what people are willing to pay for them.
A lot of those types of goods are priced extremely high compared to the actual cost to manufacture. Lighting is another example of this. You are paying for the design and brand in many cases even though they aren’t built better or with better materials compared to a more moderately priced faucet. High end faucets do have some more expensive components in them than cheaper ones. For example, orings are replaced by ceramic cartridges that feel better. Those changes maybe account for a couple dollars of manufacturing cost though.
It can be frustrating knowing how much stuff costs to manufacture, so often I look at items like this and get frustrated because I know the manufacturer is selling for >10x what it cost to make.
Right. Cost ≠ value
domestic water pressure varies around 30-80 PSI. Faucet has to deal with smoothly managing that pressure at all times (on 2 lines) while allowing selective amounts out daily for years.
The $12 ones on Ali Express will leak and break within a year. That $60 Kohler faucet may go 10 years before you need to replace a washer and 20 years with no issues before it gets replaced. Kohler faucets also have a limited lifetime warranty against leaks. I assume other higher end manufacturers offer something similar.
When measured against the expected use it’s a pretty good bargain unless you get one that’s super fancy with unnecessary add ons.
It’s morning and don’t have a lot of time but this is an interesting question I wanted to answer while it was relevant.
A lot of people have touched on the basics which kinda follow along any industry. Price gouging, variety is more expensive than just making one repetitive design, etc. Few things I wanted to touch on,
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You shouldn’t really be replacing faucets that much. They design them to have internal structures which can be replaced. Even the crappiest low cost items can be fixed with a few bucks (they call these mobile home models, what gets put into all the mass manufactured items and are usually in a different section all to themselves). Pick a design you want and look into it’s replacement parts to save some money (if you’re worried about the part being reliably available, just get like 3 kits and you’ll be set for life).
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Supply chain cost. Manufacturers make a product for 30, they sell it to distributors who mark it up to 50, they sell it to a store who then marks it up to 80. Home Renovision DIY has a great video detailing the process, compares online vs boxstore vs plumbing store. Also cuts them open and shows you the internals which is all great with a 13min video.
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It’s the R&D cost, surely. Faucet tech has come so far in the last couple of years
“Good enough”, Demand, and Scale.
The contractor grade stuff is designed to be durable and good enough. Most people will find it attractive and suitable for their esthetic. Seasonal re-designs are safe by following design trends established at trade shows. Contractors can rely on the product not failing so they continue to buy it for all their projects.
The fancy stuff is often made for different countries and can have different parts and specifications. If more (assuming we’re talking about America here) people wanted this stuff, the manufacturing would increase and the costs would come down. However, a lot of times the reason people buy the expensive stuff is specifically because it’s bespoke and “hand crafted”. If a Gucci bag cost $50, it wouldn’t be worth the name.
You need demand to bring down costs. This increases the scale required and ability to afford better technology to make more.
The tools needed to manufacturer something at large scale are expensive. If you house your own tools, how are you going to buy those tools if you don’t have money to buy them? If you’re going to contract manufacturing, why would a manufacturer make you something for little money when they can use their facility to make exponentially more widgets for another company? Just swapping out a die on a machine costs money. They’re not going to disrupt existing manufacturing for a few hundred widgets.
I figured production scale was part of it, but still assumed standardization in the process over time would bring the price down. But they probably aren’t selling that many $700 faucets to bring the price down much below their costs, and makes sense they’d have to keep the price high to maintain the brand reputation to sell a boutique product.
I dont know anything about faucets other than using them. But not all faucets are the same. The mechanism, the design tolerances, the materials, the granularity, smoothness and its longevity can vary by a lot.
Grohe used to be amazing, i am not so sure how things are nowadays. I’ve heard enshitification has hit them. If you own a house, a faucet is something that you will use for decades, even centuries(your descendants). Something that you will interact with many times a day. It is worth spending a bit more money to get something good.
From what I gathered, Grohe now has a generic brand that’s in shops and a professional brand. You don’t want to buy from the generic brand (it’s not really bad, but it’s not great).
Honestly, what’s not expensive these days? I did some remodeling in my home, and boy oh boy did we go over the budget with things I considered cheap. I looked into different manufacturers and they all claim the same thing I found here, the materials, prices going up, and labor shortage… Not really sure what’s the difference, but one thing is for sure - I’m not rich enough to buy cheap things (and replace them all the time).
If I ever have to buy a faucet, I’ll probably just 3D print one with a hole in it for a tube. Just use a tube and a 3D printed faucet. Easy.
Ya nothing like some cheap shitty plastic that quickly breaks down to get a job done.
And it will still be way more expensive than an off-the-shelf faucet. That being said, you can make it look like an Eevee this way.
