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What is the best plumbing fixture brand?

16 years ago

I need help, we are redoing our whole house and need advice on the plumbing fixtures. Has anyone tried Rohl? Is it worth the extra money for all 4 bathrooms? should I put it in the MB and then use Moen/Delta/? on the rest? How about kitchen faucet brands and prepsink faucets?

Everyone on this site seems to like Bain Ultra tubs but they don't use jets, just bubbles, what is the best one that uses jets? and finally toilets, we are used to the Kohler low boy quiet one piece, is Toto better? and finally, what is the best shower head? Rain?, pressurized?

Thank You all in advance,

Jerry

Featured Answer

goutgrec

16 years ago

The general differences in plumbing fixtures lie in the use of brass vs plastic parts. High end fixtures from German and English manufacturers including Dornbracht, Barber Wilsons, Samuel Heath, also Waterworks are brass fixtures. That goes for lavatory and kitchen faucets.

To some degree you can feel the difference when you pick them up. Brass is heavier.

Grohe and Hansgrohe are high middle range. Moen and American Standard are mid-range. Rohl is high range but just under the ones mentioned above.

There are many, many other brands as well.

The life of a faucet is determined by how long the parts hold up and also whether the surfaces are integral to the metal or are coatings. Quality is also determined by fine finishing. If you look closely up the "snout" of a Dornbracht faucet and a Moen faucet you can start to see what I'm talking about.

However, brands such as Delta, Moen, American Standard are good quality products with long lives.

These are all things to consider when judging quality vs price.

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Comments (6)

giacomo_it
16 years ago
Jerry,
I mostly deal with contemporary product,
pluming fixture I suggest german products for the quality
hansgrohe, or grohe

for quality and also design
I will suggest, gessi, bonomi, zucchetti, newform.
those company they have bath and kitchen products
jcgreen1000
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank You Giacomo, DW has picked out grohe for the kitchen, I had never heard of it. Is there really that much difference between say American Standard and these other brands in terms of extended working life of the product?
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I'm not arguing for round toilets, elongated toilets, or any other specific kind of shape. I'm just arguing that you can get a reliable set of Toto toilets for your money: 4 X $252 = $1008. Or is $8 too far over your budget that you want to settle for something else? I guess you could always buy three Totos, and get something on sale at Home Depot that will keep you under $1000. You may get lucky and find something that works great for less. Or you may spend $900 for four non-Toto toilets and settle for marginal performance for as long as you are in that home. It's your money, but, it's one thing to save money on a budget brand of toilet paper, and another thing to save it on a plumbing fixture with a very long life. I place a high value on never having had to use a plunger in the 10 years since I installed my Totos, but maybe this won't be an issue for you. Good luck with whatever you choose....
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It makes no difference. Kohler, Delta, Moen, American Standard, etc., are all established brands with good warranties. They make a wide range of products from cheap to expensive. I rather doubt that Delta has some revolutionary technology that makes their fixtures "better." Unless you can explain what this major advance is, I think some salesman was just blowing smoke. The main issue with plumbing is to buy an established brand with a lifetime warranty and a customer service department easily reached in the U.S., rather than some exotic manufacturer with high prices in some small village in Italy that has little U.S. presence and may or may not be around in 10 years when you quickly need a replacement part. Plumbing technology is not an area where someone is magically going to come up with a fixture that will last forever. And the advances that are currently popular, like touchless faucets, are examples of more complicated technology with more parts that can fail.
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lwolff
16 years ago
On toilets we just got a Toto after doing lots of research both here & on the Terry Love site. I am very happy with the purchase. Got a great value & awesome toilet.

The advantage of an airtub is that they are significantly more sanitary. With a jetted tub, a small amount of water will sit in the jets when it is not in use. The longer you do not use the tub, the longer mold & bacteria can grow in there... Next time you turn on the jets, guess what thrusts into your bathwater?
dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
I look for the ability to repair the equipment easily. I bought all Moen faucets because I can go to any parts store on any day of any week and get replacement cartridges for $10. Moen has used the same cartridge for 30 years or so.

I bought an American Standard Cadet "3" toilet after using a Toto for six months and pricing the Toto. The performance of the two toilets is as identical as I can see and hear, but the AS is only about $150. Terry Love is a shill for Toto, so you won't find much about anything else on his site.

For shower heads I like to feel the force of the water washing the soap off. I also try to stick with water conserving heads. Rain type heads are neither of those. The one I like is called a Europa. It's under $15 hanging on the rack at Lowe's and/or Home Depot. It is not in with the official shower heads but in with replacement heads. It is easy to disassemble if it gets clogged.

For a tub we got a Jacuzzi brand. They claim their internal plumbing all points down so any water in the piping will drain out when the water drains out of the tub.
jcgreen1000
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you all for your responses. We went back to the plumbing supplier and are redoing the quotes.
I had not thought about the replacement cartridges for plumbing but I can see where there could be a problem if we don't get product that is 'standard'.
I also never thought about the bacteria in the jets (yuck!) I will check on Jacuzzi brand.
On the toilet issue, the Toto one piece, elongated is $398. is the Cadet 3 elongated and one piece? Thanks dchall for the info. Thanks also to you goutgrec and 1wolff. I appreciate your help a great deal. Hopefully we can get the right stuff at the right prices.

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