Wide Spread FaucetEvery bathroom needs fixtures that look good and perform with excellence. When viewing the vast number of choices in a store or online your visual and functional needs can quickly narrow the choices.
Every Manufacturer follows some basic design specs so you can expect to see many of the same mechanical features across all product lines. First you must pick a model that physically fits your sink top. Faucets come in different widths called a spread. This is the measurement between the two outer holes on the sink top. Most standard sizes are 4 inch or 8 inch but you may special order or have a custom sink top made with Single Hole 4 inch spread - Most Bathrooms 8 inch spread - Most Kitchens independent or a custom spread. The two outer holes are for the water supply. The center hole is for the drain popup control. Wide Spread FaucetLook on the side of your vanity or sink top box and find the spread size or if you are replacing a faucet measure the distance between the centers of the 2 outside water supply holes. It does not have to be a perfect measurement because it will most likely be 4" or 8 inches. Wide Spread or 8? Bathroom Faucets often have 3 separate parts that are connected with flexible hose. Wide Spread Faucet If you have a Pedestal Sink or other special sink you will limit your choice based on physical fit even more. You have now cut your decision in half. >From within the group of faucets that fit your sink you will have to make a decision on the valves that control your water supply. Older faucets came with a brass valve that used thick rubber washer to control and seal the water flow. New faucets will most often come with some type of cartridge system. There are 3 different types of cartridge systems. Wide Spread FaucetThe Single Cartridge - This faucet is a single knob design the farther you pull the knob up the more water comes out of the faucet. To make the water hot or cold you rotate the knob. This is a very basic and easy to install faucet. There are repair kits to rebuild the faucet or the price is often low enough that you can replace the whole faucet for under $50. The only drawback of this design is if there is a problem with the faucet you will need to turn off all water to the sink. This means you can not live with only hot or only cold water for a day or two until you have time to fix the faucet. Wide Spread FaucetBall Type Valves - are the second choice for a faucet. They are similar to a kitchen sink. There is a single control lever and you rock the handle up and towards the back of the sink to get more water to come out and to control the heat level you rotate the handle left or right. This design may require repairs more often then a cartridge system since it relies on O-Rings and springs to control the water volume and mixture. Again there are repair kits to rebuild the faucet but if there is a problem you will have to disable both the hot and cold feeds to the sink. Wide Spread FaucetIndependent Valve Replacement Cartridge Systems are the Third Choice. In this design there are 2 knobs to control the hot and cold water independently. This means getting the right heat setting can be difficult since you will need to adjust both knobs to get the proper water flow and heat setting to match. The good thing is there are no washers of the past. A small cartridge design regulates the flow of water many designs are different but the ones that have ceramic parts are suppose to last for an extremely long time and replacement of cartridges is very easy. Unlike the other two designs we covered this model of faucet can have the feed for the cold or hot water turned off independently at the shutoff valve that comes out of your wall. This ability will allow you to live with only hot or cold water while you find time to call a plumber or order parts. Cartridge Systems like this are often used in wide spread counter tops or custom designs but they are also available in 4 and 8 inch spread faucets. Well these three designs of faucet mechanisms should have narrowed your choice even more. Now lets take a look at the type of finish. The finish of your faucet should match your vanity or sink and it should be easy to clean and withstand the punishment of prolonged contact with soaps and other chemicals. Some faucet manufacturers like American Standard are providing a special coating that is said to wipe clean but even if you do not choose a model with this feature you should know that the plating systems on your faucet are the main defense to prolonged wear. Chrome is both the most abundant choice and the easiest to clean. This is because the outer chrome plating is very smooth and impervious to chemical reactions. New faucets are now made by pressing stainless steel in a mold and then they are either coated or a special process called anodizeation is used to give a subtle tone. You will notice this most in the brushed nickel described kitchen faucets. When your faucet is made from cast materials the shape of the part comes out of the mold with imperfections. For the most part these imperfections are sanded and buffed out and then a series of metallic coatings are applied. In the case of a Chrome Faucet the part is first plated with copper which can be buffed to a fine smoothness. Then it is plated with a layer of Nickel which gives the outer finish color and then the chrome is applied in a very thin layer that gives the reflective qualities and mirror finish. If you purchase a Copper Plated Faucet the nickel and Chrome steps are not performed and a thicker layer of copper is applied. At that point the copper may be aged with chemicals such as nitric acid to give an antique look. Nickel faucets only skip the outer chrome plating and are either brushed nickel which is a non reflective silverish surface or they can be highly polished. Those are your 3 or 4 main selections when choosing a faucet by its visual appearance. There are many other types of specialty faucets that use custom materials like Glass and Ceramic but for most people Chrome is still the standard choice. Finalizing your decision Now we have stepped through the process of narrowing our choice for faucet selection and we have an understanding of why some faucets that just look pretty are not right for every application. We have: Found the correct size Faucet Found the correct Valve Type and Selected the finish that best matches our install >From this point the choices can include special features such as a temperature control to prevent scalding in kids bathrooms or a handle or spout shape that is pleasing to your decore. These added bonuses will get you to your final selection which is Price. Now every new sink install should come with a matching faucet but it is possible to repair old faucets that are expensive or antiques. There will come a point though where price is a limiting factor and for that reason you should always choose the best manufacturer and shop different stores that carry their inventory.
