This is along the lines of why we just chose the Shaws over a Kohler. The Kohler holes are pre-determined although you can drill the sink I was concerned about a possible warranty issue later ( tampering with the finish ). With the Shaws we could locate the instant hot and soap dispenser where WE wanted, not where Kohler dictated.

What about a traditional wall-mount faucet? It would look perfect in your kitchen, and eliminates the issue with holes in the counter. We have one now and love it, so it's staying in the remodel---and it's been so nice the be able to completely ignore all of the threads about counter clearance for faucets! They come with all sorts of necks now, too. You might check out Chicago Faucets, which has a lot of nice variations.

(For what it's worth, though, you pretty much have to deal with modifying the counter in the future if you replace the sink with anything that's not identical, since everything is so custom these days---so I wouldn't worry too much about that aspect.)

You're starting down the slippery slope. Change one thing and it leads to changing another, and another, and another. PRetty soon, you've gutted the entire kitchen! That's not a bad thing, especially since you have such a challenging space that could benefit from a modern cabinet install with every inch doing hard duty with inserts and pull outs, but it is something to stand back and take a look at. You may want to regroup doing anything at all at this stage and save your money for down the road and a more extensive redo.

Are you thinking of a garbage disposal with the Shaws sink? If so, be sure to read the old threads about flange tightening in regards to the Shaws, and you might want to also think about a flush mount countertop button for the disposal and a hole for it. If you don't plan on a disposal, ignore this comment.

After you spend the money on a Shaw's, how quick do you expect you might want to make changes? Even though I wanted the wall mount I couldn't make it fit in the very few inches of space I had between the bottom of the window and the top of the counter. You, on the other hand have plenty of space. In the future when you are tired of your Shaw's, take your wall mount faucet off the wall and put in any kind of faucet you want. If it isn't another wall faucet, repair the wall. If you are doing a new face lift on your kitchen, you will likely be changing your backsplash, too

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay wall faucet

Every single one of you has given me excellent advice here, thank you!

Artemis78 and pinch_me - yes I've been planning/hoping for a wall-mounted faucet, along with the idea of being sure to have enough extra tile to fill it in later should I go the deck-mounted route in the [hopefully distant] future. I asked my contractor and he said it's no big deal to just block off that wall plumbing at a later date and have it re-routed to the deck should I change my mind later. That seems like the best compromise. Now it's just back to trying to find a wall-mounted faucet that has a sprayer option and isn't too obnoxiously large.

The 3 options appear to be: the kind that have the external hose that has a wall-mounted cradle (if that's the right word) or hook, but then the hose just dangles in the sink; or the Jaclo Original Steam Valve wall faucet which has the pull-off hose (camouflaged to look at a short distance as if no hose is sitting atop the gooseneck), but the goosenecks are very high - possibly too high; or getting a solid stainless steel wall-mounted faucet (so far it's either Jaclo or Kohler's HiRise brands only, that I can find anyway) and then get the new Kohler independent HiRise side spray that's unfortunately deck-mounted but would match either of those brands nicely cause it too is solid stainless steel in the same offered finishes (brushed or polished). But putting a hole in the deck seems to defeat the purpose. The problem with the Kohler HiRise wall faucet is that it's very plain looking and w/ my intended marble subway tile backsplash, I thought it needed porcelain levers to fit in better. The Jaclo offers GORGEOUS porcelain (as well as cross/wheel) handles in both white and black with a thin silver (stainless) strip on them even. It's an amazing touch - especially the unpredictably attractive black levers. I just gotta determine whether that's just too darn high a gooseneck for my tiny space.

At the moment I'm thinking that or else throwing in the towel and getting a single-hole deck-mounted faucet to save money since I'm going so far over budget...now that I know they have hole covers anyway (should I switch to something different, later)! :)

I would suggest that you get a faucet that you can live with and love that works for now, and that will work with your intended total remodel in the future. In one of the "best advice from this forum" threads, I posted that one of them gems that I got was buying a really good faucet, as it is the most used thing in the kitchen.

Where are you located? Wall mount faucets (on outside walls) are not a good idea in areas that get very cold in the winter. Pipes in outside walls WILL freeze in the winter.

Thanks amberley - makes sense!

sue36, I live in the Northwest which is milder than the East coast winters but still freezes and gets snow days. Is there a solution, such as putting in insulation back there? I think the idea of having nothing to have to clean and scrub around on the countertop is just so wonderful. And visually, so clutter-free sounds great too.

The plumber says changing things around is no big deal but it never works out that way.

What's not clear to me is what is whether you're just replacing sink and counter or whether it's a full reno and the window will change.

Thing about wall mount is that you have a lot going on with the window. I think those look more effective when they are a focal point against a plainer sink wall.

If you went with a single hole pull down it gives the advantage of the sprayer which is needed with a Shaws.

I faced something similar with my window for which I chose a tall pulldown that lined up with my windows really well and sink-deck cleaning to a minimum.

Then there is the droolworthy integrated Kohler Gilford sink with the faucet on the back -- similar to Shaw's look but sounds like what you're talking about.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gilford Sink

rococogurl -

The windows won't change - not at this point in time anyway.

I agree the window throws things off a little, but on the other hand I'm less interested in how effective it is visually (as long as it doesn't look truly bad?) and more interested in all the other benefits of having a wall faucet: easier clean up on counter w/ no faucets; with a stainless counter, which we're getting, people will be more likely to scour/scratch it around faucet bases when cleaning, if it's deck-mounted; with apron style farm sinks like the Shaws ones, we're forced to put holes directly in countertops which I just assume avoid if I don't have to (or I could always do it years later and still have options at a later date); and the wall faucet just looks classic in an old home without being as ubiquitous as the deck-mounted bridge style classic look.

I definitely agree w/ you about the need for a sprayer, but the wall faucet I'm interested in getting DOES have a sprayer. Instead of pull-down it's pull-off. See second picture down, here:

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/07/01/retro-pipes-for-the-kitchen-sink/ (it's like this only wall-mounted)

I LOVE that Kohler Gilford sink, but unfortunately it won't under-mount. :( I'd kill to have an old-fashioned looking sink w/ built-in backsplash that also allowed for undermounting.

Thanks for your response!