I will absolutely agree with the statement above. I used to work in a kitchen when I was younger which had a large commercial faucet. The plates would come in tons at a time! Everything got wet, the amount of power that thing had was intense. I'm not saying the home ones that look like pro style are going to have the same power though. But they strike me as being a pain in the neck to have to use because they don't maneuver very readily like my kitchen pull out does. They are usually fairly fixed in the position of "up" so as not to get in the way. That's why there is the spring curled around the faucet.

The image I linked to below should give you a better idea of why they don't fit residential applications the best. You can't really bring it down into the sink properly.

Here is a link that might be useful:

If you get one designed for home use you won't have the problems trailrunner is describing.

I've had mine for about a year now and it looks and works great with the 30" copper apron sink. It's pretty much the same as a high arc faucet, just different details with the coil. I don't have the long hose, just the pull down that reaches to the edge of the sink but not much more.

Cleaning the coil when I clean the faucet is about the only thing negative thing but it's not really a problem.

I agree with Steff_1. Trailrunner and Jgopp are talking about a true commercial faucet, not a "semi-pro" faucet designed for residential use. We have the Kraus KPF-1602. The other semi-pro faucets we saw by Franke, Hansgrohe and KWC were beautiful but at over $1000, too expensive. The Kraus was about $235 (expressdecor dot com was offering a 15% discount code at the time). We've had it installed almost a year, and think it's great. Unlike what Steff_1 described, this one is not just the same as a high arc faucet. One thing that separates it from others is that it has two faucets, and they both can be going at the same time if you like (see the photos in the link to see what I mean). The pressure is much better than a plain high arc faucet, though not as strong as what Trailrunner described.

Kraus KPF-1602 with soap dispenser, tho you can also buy it without the soap dispenser

It is very tall, make sure you are OK with the height. If you want a shorter faucet but in this style, look at the Blanco Meridian Semi-pro. We bought the Kraus just from seeing the photo in Robinst's kitchen, and reading her description. I will link the thread below.

Robinst's Kitchen

Yes, the ones for home use won't be nearly as powerful as the restaurant ones, and that's a good thing. The term 'Commercial' is used rather loosely by the manufacturers, IMO. We are indeed talking of home use items, such as the Kraus models.

I have large items to wash, such as very large soup pots, and the mixer bowl for my Hobart (30-quart size.) That's what makes me interested in the very tall faucet options.

The Kraus looks like a very good deal. I see them listed for about $260, and that seems too good to be true. Are they pretty good quality? I live in a rural area, with little access to retailers who would carry such products. I am trusting you who have experience with these to guide me on product selection. The Kraus price is really tempting.

BrendaMN - We've had the Kraus for a year, and it's been great, no problems. It feels heavy and solid too. I have no way of knowing whether it will have longevity, but for that price, we were willing to risk it. We could not afford the Franke, KWC, Dornbracht, or Hansgrohe semi-pro faucets, which were all more than $1000. Those for sure will last many years, but they were almost 5x more than we wanted to spend. The Blanco Meridian Semi-pro is more reasonably priced--if you get the chrome finish it will be in the low-to-mid-$400's. It also is not as tall and does not have two faucets. It's up to you what you want to spend and what you feel comfortable with. Like I said, at $230 for the Kraus, we were willing to take the chance.

It's quite dramatic-looking by the way, I hope you could see that from the Robinst link. You said you wanted two, right? I don't think two of them would be a good idea. It's going to look odd because (a) two of them would be "too much", and (b) it would be very out of proportion with your 15" sink. You should get a semi-pro style faucet for the 36" sink, and a simpler smaller faucet for your smaller sink.

I know what you mean about overwhelming the smaller sink. That was a concern I had, too. If I can find something smaller that offers the ability to multi-task as a pot filler, I would go with that. The sinks are a distance apart, and the kitchen is almost 21'9" by 16'5", with windows above each sink. They won't be seen as close together, but the faucet for the little sink does not need to be as big.

Thanks for your comments regarding the Kraus. I appreciate it!

30 qt Hobart...you got me there !! I want pics...:) I bake bread and have for 35 yrs. Would love to see what you are doing with such a dandy machine. I hope pics are forthcoming...c

whoa...what are you cookin girl ???

Here is a link that might be useful: 30 qt hobart

Ask Kraus about the cartridge in the mixer valve. How much is a replacement cartridge? Where do you get one? What is its part number? Etc.

The Kraus looks like a very good deal, but its guts are cheap parts that will malfunction more often than high quality parts.

For about $260, they are pretty good quality. For that price. Compared to hundreds more for a competitor's faucet.

But, for $10 to $15 you can get "a generic shower head that is solid brass and just slightly larger diameter than the shower arm pipe. These shower heads have on ring of tiny holes and produce a spray that rivals the output of a pressure washer." ( see http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg080949101318.html )

Install this onto any shower hose and you have a homemade washdown sprayer.
The on/off trigger could be a Tapmaster.
And, you could have a $10 ball valve too.

Install one of these scour showers onto a puny piece of supply line pipe and you have a "wand".
With a piece of pipe you get the advantage of being able to put whatever threads or adaptor you want on the end that connects to the hose.
They also make these shower sprays with ball joints. When it's installed fixed it allows you to move the spray from time to time. Not necessary if you install it onto a hose. But if that is all they stock at the hardware store, spend the extra $5 to get it.

To understand the above, one big new concept needs to be expressed: That Washdown is What a Commercial faucet does. What they call Semi-Pro faucets are a compromise, a weaker spray, not washdown stations. That is why they call them SEMIprofessional.

At home, a kitchen faucet needs a gentle spray that does not rip your leafy greens to shreds. The flow you get from residential faucets is gentle enough to rinse veggies. It think that nobody ever likes a more powerful spray, too powerful to rinse things and causing a lot of splash coming back at you and wetting the surrounding area.

Ultimately, there are 3 kinds of flow.
A power scour. Not sold for home kitchens.
Leafy green spray. Gentle.
Regular, whether aerated or not. It fills pots & glasses. If you handwash, this is your regular flow .
There are no faucets that have all three "flow" options.
Some sprayers have a toggle to go from regular to spray (gentle spray).

To go "professional" or commercial, you need more than one sprayer/faucet. Your washdown application can be made from parts, from the bathroom shower market. Or, you can buy a washdown spray head from a manufacturer that serves the commercial market.

See http://tsbrass-lowflow.com/
They have high pressure but use very little water.
There will still be millions of microscopic droplets splashing back, and this will wet you.

Here is a link that might be useful: image of the inexpensive scour sprayer in this thread

Here's a pic of the Hobart as it currently sits in the dining room while the kitchen is under construction. I'm really looking forward to having it in the new kitchen. Baking in the dining room is not so handy.

In fact, today is going to be a baking day. I'm trying to decide what bread to bake today. The sourdough is pretty much gone, and I'm ready for something new. I bake for our family, the neighbors, and other relatives. I usually bake about 6 to 10 loaves at a time.

The bowl is big enough to let the dough have its first rise right inside the bowl. Easy peasy! My grandma should have had a mixer like this. She would have loved it. :)

Trailrunner: Nah, my Hobart is an older model. It's been painted kind of funky though, not the typical gray. I got that done at an auto body shop. Mine came from a restaurant that closed when the owners retired. All it needed was some new seals, fresh grease, and a spiffy paint job. I really love it.

The new kitchen has a special corner for it. :)

To davidro1: Hubby is rather handy with the plumbing, so I bet he could put together something along those lines. I'm just not sure how it would look when it was all done, and how it would attach to the sink area. I'm more about function than form, but form still has a role in this case.

Got any pics of a completed one in a kitchen?

WOw....I love it and the paint job. I have had the same sourdough wild yeast starters now for several years. They have the names " alto" and " sax" LOL. They are very active . I get them out and feed them about 1x a week...I have posted pics of the results of my baking....here is a link to the food pics...lots of sourdough bread pics. Would love to see some of your formulas and pics too. c

Here is a link that might be useful: food pics

There are mixers and there are Mixers. And THAT is a Mixer!

Great bread pics! Your starter is doing a great job for you!

The Kohler Promaster at my clean-up sink has been a true work horse for almost six years. The super solid feel appeals to me. I use it at a 53" sink, but I think it would be fine at a 36". It would probably overpower your smaller sink, though.

whoa .... That's a pricey one, KD. It's a good looking one though. Do you ever wish you had a spigot like some of the spray models offer at a lower level, say 9" or so? That would be in addition to the tall sprayer, of course.

"The Kraus looks like a very good deal, but its guts are cheap parts that will malfunction more often than high quality parts."

I don't know about cheap. Do you own one? I do. Granted it hasn't been installed yet. That sucker is really heavy and solidly built. If that's cheap, then the good stuff better last forever.

For what it's worth, I once spoke to a Moen rep at a builders' show. He was very forthcoming in saying that virtually all Moen parts are made in China. Most of their faucets are assembled in the USA except for some of the entry level items with some plastic parts. The key is quality control. I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everything made in China is cheap as in lousy. They may be cheap in cost. It's quite possible that Kraus has good quality control, like Moen does.

Hi Brenda,

I feel for you -- this is a hard decision. I feel there is a bit of misinformation (e.g. the residential ones aren't powerful, they'll tear up veggies, etc.) out there about semi-pro faucets, I guess because they're not terribly common, yet. In light of that I did something that I already regret -- I did a video showing mine in action. Mine is a residential, not commercial, it's a KWC and it cost around $550 at a reputable on-line dealer. Retail is much higher, but as with many things, you can get a good deal on these if you shop around.

Pardon my mid-western twang and excessive 'um's' in the video. I ain't no theater major and 12 years in Mass. isn't enough to get that doggone twang outta me yet.

Hope it helps. Here's the URL, but link should show below as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-DdSzNjJ7I

Kris

Here is a link that might be useful: KWC Semi-pro product review by Kris_MA

Not really, because the spigot pulls down and can be left at whatever height you like while in use. The flexible extension that comes down is wire mesh, not open coil like so many others. I'll look around for photos of that faucet in use, but I know that I don't have any in my files. That same sink does have a completely separate faucet, not arced at all, but that's because it came that way and is a commercial sink. The large faucet reaches everywhere, so the smaller isn't necessary. I have very large stockpots and the big faucet was purchased with those in mind. That cool 30-quart mixer brought to mind the behemoth stockpots, which is why I was motivated to post about the Promaster. It has served us well, especially after jam making extravaganzas. This may sound silly, but I like its honesty, i.e. it functions beautifully, and it has a solid feel and reliable action. It just feels good and works well.

Ask Kraus about the cartridge... and about the diverter. These are not the weighty parts. Diverters are often the weak link in any faucet.

KWC is a good company; their spray goes from strong to weak. Commercial sprays are not for veggies. (Commercial is not the KWC one linked to above. Commercial is not a residential faucet.)

Well, that video is impressive! I love that you can indeed control the flow. That's a great selling point with me. I have heard good things about that brand, too.

I know this type of faucet/sprayer is not everyone's cup of tea, but neither is a 30-quart Hobart. LOL My kitchen calls for something like this, and your video (which I had hubby watch) makes me even more certain of it.

That video is truly a gift. Thank you for taking the time to create it. I am truly impressed that you took the time.

Thanks, Brenda, glad you found it helpful -- I feel maybe a little less like a dork now. BTW, I *LOVE* your Hobart, and can only hope that one day I can --- with the help of Craigslist -- run across one of those beauties myself -- brings back memories, we had one in a deli that I worked in through high school and summers during college. Never before thought of putting one in a home, but I can think of little else now....

Thanks again and good luck with your reno,

Kris

Yes, Craigslist is how I found mine. It wasn't much more expensive than some of the fancy KitchenAid mixers that I've seen. Of course, I paid additional money to have it looked at by the Hobart dealership, to have the new seals and grease put in it, and to have it painted. Even so, it was not as much as you might think.

When my 5-qt KitchenAid gives up on me, I'll replace it with a small Hobart, either a 5-qt or a 10-qt. The KA is mighty happy I got the 30-qt, because it was really groaning when I made even two loaves of bread.

I have a poolish (yes, that's how it's spelled) in the Hobart bowl tonight in preparation for making a dozen French baguettes tomorrow. This will all be so much easier when the Hobart is in the new kitchen.

If you have questions about finding a used Hobart, I'll be happy to answer or advise. It took me a while to find mine, and I learned some things along the way.

Love that Hobart and the color too! That is the only mixer I've seen that might get me to give up my 35 year old KA stand mixer which was manufactured by Hobart.

With all that you do in the kitchen you definitely need a workhorse faucet like you are considering, just make sure the one you pick can be contained.

Kris, I thought the video was very helpful too. I didn't notice a twang, but then I'm from the Midwest! My husband is from MA, though, and there are some impressive accents out there.

Just curious. If you let go of it and turn the water on high does it just hang down or does it fly all over the kitchen spraying everywhere? I'm picturing my son doing that for fun.

By all means, keep the 35 year old KA, and go ahead and get yourself a big Hobart, too! These are not mutually exclusive ideas. ;)

When I make treats for the folks at our local theater group, it's handy to use the big Hobart. There are usually 50 to 60 people there, and that's a lot of Challah bread or cookies to make. I do that once per week during the summers. Keep in mind these groups have a lot of teenagers, and regardless of gender, they can really eat a lot.

Brenda, I feel for you! The faucet decision was and has been to date the most bled-over agony. I cannot tell you how many hours I read and searched and investigated and squirted and on and on. I couldn't decide.

It's true what's mentioned above, that commercial sprays soak you. And I was sort of forgetting this in my memory, substituting so much good function for the unpleasantness -- plus of course in a commercial kitchen it's often hot so getting wetted down isn't such a hardship.

At home might be another matter. But as Kris with her video and others have pointed out, many of these faucets have been engineered for home use so the excess-spray isn't necessarily a problem.

But note that the semi-pro come in two flavors, them with attached solid faucet and them without. I think those without, with just the hose that is, look considerably less utilitarian -- would you always have to have your hand on the faucet to steady it when using water? I never did quite clarify whether you were supposed to add an *additional* faucet or what. Kris' video shows the KWC's integrated spout alongside the hose -- I think that's a good setup.

I looked long and hard at that Kraus. But note that it isn't lead-compliant. That was the deal-breaker for me. Even if you don't live in a state that requires lead-compliance, you might want to think hard about using a non-compliant faucet. Lead ingested is seriously bad and while spending hundreds more dollars for one of these infuriatingly overpriced faucets is galling, to say the least, still, lead is toxic at, likely, orders of 10 ^-9. That's controversial, and I don't mean to incite any discussion of this at all, really. What's controversial is the level at which it is toxic but they aren't regulating down at those wee numbers, it's way, way up in the not-controversial realm that the plumbing is being regulated. Really, the cost of having lead in your drinking water above those regulated levels, is far, far higher than what you're worrying about from a one-time faucet purchase. IMHO at least.

So ... I sadly bid that Kraus g'bye. YMMV.

When I was looking, they told me at Ferguson that the difference between the KWC faucet in the $500 range and the $2000 range -- can't remember their names but Kris has the $500 one I think -- the difference between these, with seemingly identical specs, is lead compliance. I was told (confirmed with KWC directly but not sure the current situation; this was April2000 or so) that the lower priced faucet was currectly in the process of being certified lead-compliant. Because it hadn't yet completed the process it was less costly but functionally, still compliant. So that seemed like a good, functionally safe deal to me. Technically you can't buy one in a lead-compliant state, but I'm sure you could get someone on the internet to send one. Your warantee might suffer. No guarantees, but I'm guessing the inspector wouldn't gripe. But again, YMMV.

In the end I got a great deal on a Blanco semi-pro. I way-lowballed someone and didn't expect him to say yes, then felt compelled to take it of course. When I got home with the massive thing, dh just freaked. Geesh. Sero appreciation for the months of agonizing I'd gone through! And was he helpful during it all??? ("I'm sure you'll make the right decision"....blah blah blah blah). sigh.

They were incredibly nice at the store to take it back, but they did. Perhaps they regretted accepting the low ball offer; dunno. So in the end we wound up with a Kohler Karbon, which actually has a very heavy spray too. But it isn't as boingy as that semi-pro. I'm sorry not to have the pull-down functionality, but I don't necessarily miss it.

As for also wanting the potfilling capacity, I didn't quite catch the context but in case it helps, I've found my lady lux faucet on an island sink is very useful as a potfiller because it swivels 360-degrees. Just set the pan on the counter, and swivel the whole faucet-arm over to the pot. It stays in put so you don't have to hold the facuet while the pot is filling. Very convenient!

Good luck to you. I don't envy the decision. As I say, it remains the darkest hour, feeling my way through that faucet decision. Horrible....

Mpagmom -- I'm still fascinated by the accents here -- a lot of times they vary from town to town, both in the vocab used as well as the strength of the accent. Does your husband miss MA? I'd have a hard time leaving, love the area -- though in a couple months I'll start singin' a very different song as I shovel a couple of feet of snow for the third time in a week. Yeah, o.k., I can see why your husband might have left the area....

I had to laugh at your question -- shortly after we finished our reno we took in two teenage foster sons in addition to our own teenage son, they had me sweating bullets about what they could/might do with that sprayer and to my new kitchen in general. Fortunately few of my worries came to pass, and the few "accidents" that did happen helped to get me past the "oh no, how will I survive my kitchen's first scratch/dent" anxieties -- it (the injury) came in the form of a 12" long fairly deep scratch in the wood floor when someone was moving an island stool across the kitchen. I was sad at the time, but life goes on, and as it happens the patina-o-scratches that I have 1 1/2 yrs. later has lessened the big-ones noticibility -- actually, now when I look at it I really just miss the teen that did it (he went home a while ago) -- never thought I'd feel that way about a scratch. :-) But I digress (boy did I digress!)....

That question you asked was really was a good question -- so much so that I took off my 5 a.m. insomniac hat and put on my kitchen scientist hat (or lab coat) and went into the kitchen to perform my experiment. First of all, the sprayer has to have the lever depressed for it to spray at all, but there is a mechanical ring that you can turn 45 degrees at the top of the handle to put it into a spray on position and leave it (I don't think anyone else (e.g. the kids) know about it -- but a rubberband on the spray lever would do the same thing, and that has occurred to kids in the past (not in this house, but still...). So to find out what would happen if it got put back (either by lock or by rubberband) I engaged the lock and then I turned on the water full force. The result: it just stayed in exactly the same position it was already in and sprayed straight down into the sink (whew!). The head on this particular sprayer has pretty significant heft to it (maybe a couple pounds), so that causes it to hang in a straight down position when "hanging loose" over the sink, so it overcame any force from the water spraying and remained exactly where/as it had been prior to the water. Hope this explains it well enough.

Arlis, thanks for sharing the info about the cost differences between the different KWC's. I couldn't figure it out at the time -- I am very relieved to hear that there's not a lead issue with this one, as I had not ever looked at that aspect (or realized it was an issue at all) when considering faucets. Very enlightening info re: the lead.

Aliris and all, great posts in this thread. I appreciate hearing of the decision process each of you has experienced. Yes, I think the stationary faucet is key to supplement the sprayer. I would find it very handy.

Thanks for the discussion of the lead issue, too. I will be watching that closely. I'm young enough to care about the chemicals I ingest, and if I'm going to ingest something that might might not be entirely good for me, it has to at least be something fun! I have my priorities and all that. LOL

I still like the KWC, and hubby does, too, but I will note whether a particular unit is lead free or not. I see there are some decent prices, but I need to verify the lead status.

I also noted the marital bliss advice. We were wed over 26 years ago, and we still wallpaper together, even ceilings. Hubby has me do the leg and eye work on these product selection decisions, but I always make him 'sign off' before I purchase. That way if the ship is going down, I'm not going alone! :)

hehe, wise words, BrendaMN, I agree completely. Ironically as I was searching for Hobart mixers on CL, DH and I had one of those not-quite-eye-to-eye moments when I found one of these ( Hobart A-200, 3 speed, 110V) for a mere $300. He isn't quite convinced we need 20 qts. ("and where would we put it?) -- I suggested we hide it behind our fireplace screen since we never use the fireplace, he isn't quite on board with that one yet. Anyway, I'll keep talking -- and he'll keep listening, and maybe one of these days he'll see the value in giving up his favorite easy chair to a Hobart on a cart. :-)

Thanks again for the fun idea. I also saw Hobart slicers and then my nostalgia really kicked in and I thought of the many uses for one of those bad boys. Had a Waring residential version but it just wasn't the same.

In case I ever do get DH on board with the idea, though, I'd love to benefit from your experience looking for one. By the way, is that a two-tone paint job on your mixer? It's just amazing. Really should be in the kitchen porn section, it's just that dangerous/good. :-)

We looked at the lead-compliancy of the Kraus KPF-1602 before buying it. True, it is not AB 1953 compliant. However, we do not use this faucet for drinking water. We have filtered water for drinking. Furthermore, our home was built in the '50's, and we have mostly original plumbing fixtures throughout, and certainly they are not compliant anyway.

It should be noted that if anyone reading this thread is looking at Kraus faucets, almost all of the Kraus kitchen faucets are AB 1953 compliant, just not their two semi-professional styles and maybe 1 or 2 others, but the majority of their line is. You may want to call them - perhaps they are coming out soon with the 1602 that is lead-compliant; shouldn't be that hard if they do it for their other faucets. One suggestion for BrendaMN, since you need two faucets, perhaps spend the $$$ on the semi-professional KWC, Franke FF-1700, etc., but gain some savings with your second faucet by getting one of the other Kraus faucets which gives a lot of bang for the buck. I will link the Kraus website, but I found the best prices at expressdecor (they are frequently offering coupon discounts ranging from 5% to 15%, especially on weekends).

Here is a link that might be useful: Kraus Website Kitchen Faucets

The 20-qt Hobart is a more reasonable size for the home kitchen. It still holds a lot, but fits into the scale of most home kitchens better. We actually designed an open space near one of the corners in the new kitchen for the floor model we have. The 20 would fit either on a cart or possibly a counter top.

When I was shopping for a large mixer, I started by looking at the 20-qt size. With both home users and restaurants wanting that size, the prices of the used 20-qts were as high or higher than the used 30-qt models. If you can get a 20 for only $300, that is a steal. You will want to see it run to listen to the motor and see the speeds before you purchase. Still, that's an awesome price.

I paid $750 for my 30-qt. The paint job, which is indeed a two-tone, cost another $250. So I have a little over $1,000 into mine, which is not bad considering all it does and that it included some of the attachments and a stainless bowl. It's a real workhorse. Most 30-qt Hobart mixers in the condition that mine is in and with the same bowl/attachments would be at least $2500, but more likely about $3000 to $3500.

Keep in mind that the bowls and attachments are not cheap. A new stainless bowl for a 30-qt can be well over $100. I have not priced the ones for the 20-qt model. You will want a dough hook for breads, a paddle for cookies and cakes, perhaps a whip for frostings or egg whites, and maybe even a pastry hook for pie doughs and pastries. eBay is your friend!

With the economy still in a slump, you may find some great deals on used mixers. As restaurants close, I would imagine there will be more of them on the market. Perhaps that could work to your advantage, and be a good deal for the person who really wants to sell.

Do you have a truck to haul the mixer? My 30-qt weighs over 300 pounds. I happen to have a 3/4-ton pickup truck, so I could haul it from the seller to the Hobart dealer, the auto body shop, and then home again. Getting it into the house can be a challenge.

Kitchen porn! Ha!

You're spot on that we are likely to spend more on the cleanup sink faucet than for the prep sink faucet. Now that I've seen the prices, there is no good reason to go that high for both faucets. I'll be looking for one of the swivel options for the prep sink by the range to do double duty as a pot filler if possible, too.

I appreciate hearing about expressdecor, too. Sometimes just knowing where to look is a huge help! Thanks!

Just as a point of information: the Promaster doesn't require that you hold it in order to stay on. You can toggle the clip to remain in the on position. However, that is only for the regular flow level. For the two heavier levels, you must hold the handle. Also, the arcing of the apparatus allows for placement of the flow, except to extreme corners or beyond the arc, in which case you must use the pull out extension. In my kitchen, the 140 degree arc was perfect because I have a custom ceramic backsplash behind the sink and I wanted to prevent users from bashing it with the faucet. I worried about potential water fights among the kids' friends, but that did not happen. (However, some guests did once help themselves to Curraghmore stems for beer pong on the dining room table, but they were "sophisticated" adults. I digress.)

Here is a link that might be useful: In the interest of correct information

An advantage of Semi-Pro faucets is the spring.

The spring brings the sprayer back to resting position when you let go. You don't have to expend effort adjusting the sprayer and hose. You move the sprayer around as you wish and then the faucet's no-brainer spring functions perfectly. It takes over for you. From a purely functional standpoint you can't beat that. You move it around and then let it return to its resting position when you let go. You can call it "pulldown" because you can pull the sprayer to where you want it. It has no hose under the countertop. This makes it possible to have a drawer under the sink. Under the counter hoses get caught on the back of the drawer.

There is an alternative. Multiple joints in the Kohler Karbon allow it to move around. It keeps the shape you give it. To rinse vegetables up close this is good. But rinsing water doesn't need to be projected from anywhere other than above.

In previous discussions, about the perfect pulldown faucet, people have commented that they want a pull-down hose that reseats itself perfectly. Ideally the hose would pull itself back into the tube perfectly. This is impossible to achieve.

Some people dislike seeing a big spring. Insider's advice. Something new in faucets is coming. Highflex. A spring-back spout. But without any visible spring. It's a rubbery spout that springs back. No spring to clean. No big spring to see. A candy-cane-shaped spout, looking for all the world like any other spout, but it's flexible. Medium gray color. The rubbery spout is the new thing. See KWC Sin Highflex. This faucet is esthetic and functional, definitely.

Davidro1: Any idea on the timing for the new style faucet? Any pictures available yet?

Davidro1: Any idea on the timing for the new style faucet? Any pictures available yet?

Aha! Found a pic.
http://www.kwcamerica.com/aquanews/featurearticle.php?issueno=5&fano=2

Davidro1: Any idea on the timing for the new style faucet? Any pictures available yet?

Aha! Found a pic.
http://www.kwcamerica.com/aquanews/featurearticle.php?issueno=5&fano=2

It also appears to be available through some retailers now.

Thanks Kris for the science experiment! That's exactly the kind of thing I would do at 5am.

We return to Massachusetts twice a year to visit family and friends. We miss our loved ones there, but both of us prefer Ohio as a place to raise our kids. He never would have left, though, if he hadn't married a midwestern girl. I personally am not a fan of snow and have no desire to return to the LOOOONG winters.

I always looked at these faucets and wondered how in the world they function. Now I'm intrigued and we're going to take a serious look at them.

Your faucet has the separate non-spray faucet. Do you find that really necessary?

Thanks again for the experiment. You are really so helpful!

I hear ya, mpagmom, on the long winters. I hope when you come back to visit fam + frends it's in May and September/October. :-) Even the winters aren't bad if you're just visiting, season affect d/o takes a little longer to set in. haha

re: your question -- I find I do use the separate non-spray faucet about 75% of the time that I'm at that sink, basically I use the non-sprayer spigot for anything that requires using two hands and a continuous stream -- like final/quick rinsing when loading the dishwasher, or scrubbing fruits and veggies, etc., where as the sprayer gets used for things like rinsing dirty pans and an initial rinse of dinner dishes, washing food down the disposal, filling buckets or pots, etc. Because of the design of mine it doesn't work to turn the sprayer on and just leave it hanging down without holding it stationary, it dangles a little too close to the edge of the sink for something with such a "bouncy" nature. if I had one that had the sprayer in a more traditional spigot position when it's locked in place (vs. pointing at the backsplash), I think the sprayer would be fine alone -- I dunno, though, since I haven't used one, maybe a better question for others who have one like that. Krause users? Or others?

I have a faucet that sprays and stays: Cobra faucet. It's really great in my laundry room, which I used for dishes for nearly a year. ;) It's not so "nice" looking as some of the others. I think it would work really well wall-mounted; I have it on the deck of a laundry sink.

It might help for you...

Brenda, I had to look back at what I'd written when there was some implication that I was proferring any sort of marital advice!! lol and then some. While I can claim to have been acquainted with my partner going on 33 years, I know I know positively zero about marital (or any other kind of) harmony. By returning that faucet I wasn't really keeping peace or falling through on any game plan; it was just not really possible to have kept it. You kinda had to be there.... ;)

Back to hosing about faucets ... I think there are a few parameters to consider and evaluate for your own personal relevant importance/priority. I'll try to list a few, others can add:

(i) appearance
(ii) spray presence
(iii) spray style (depress and hold or stay-on)
(iv) spray default (returns to spray on close or stays where you left it)
(v) arc (affecting where stream starts relative to dink's edge)
(vi) arm length (affects where stream hits bottom of sink, closeness to drain) (vii) pull down vs pull out (affects how your arm twists to grab moveable spray head)
(viii) touch (foot pedals, finger touch - possibilities beyond needing a hand to turn faucet on/off)
(ix) one/two handle (affects whether water temperature is mixed internally or by you with two separate handles).
(x) mobility of spray handle (thus "pro-style", others address this as, say, the Cobra, Karbon's moveable spray arm, pullout and pulldown spray heads attached to faucet arm)

I think selecting a faucet is a very, very personal priorities thing. Plus, critically, a matter of dovetailing with the sink you choose. Don't forget that. I think too often this is a source of outright mistake, as opposed to, say, personal preference. Problems arise when the faucet doesn't spray in the right place on the sink's bottom, or there isn't enough room to mount handles effectively or the spray is too high or hard or for whatever reason having to do with the sink (and there's no obvious formula for determining this), the spray bounces too much.

I'm sure others will flush out these lists, the list of personal preference parameters to negotiate, as well as the list of problems-sources.

The only part of this whole process I truly hated was choosing the faucet, and I'm not sure I did a good job. My Karbon Kohler gets too wet at the handle, all of the time. I suppose this is a function of how I use the sink, with dripping-wet hands. Dunno. It may be just that coupled with its appearance with the little chrome ring on the countertop you just really see the water all puddled up. It's kinda annoying. My lady lux needs to have a button depressed in a too-concerted effort; there's not a ton of room to pull it out given my sink - a mistake I suppose. Both faucets need a huge amount of water pressure before their spray stays on (not so for the cobra which stays in whatever stream style you depress; it's a mechanical switch rather than an internal one dependent on the water pressure). The cobra wouldn't have been a long enough reach for the kitchen faucets.

FWIW the fauset I really really wanted was the Waterstone semi-pro. At $2500 that was just an order of magnitude more than I could stomach paying! But it had a great stream, good spring, beautiful appearance, great "hand" - really a good one if you could find it in a fire sale or something.

Thanks for the terrific video demo of your KWC faucet. Its exactly what I was looking for. We had a Blanco Master Gourmet in our last kitchen and liked it, but I don't remember being able to vary the power of the spray with such precision. Your's seems like exactly what I'm looking for.

Which model KWC faucet did you get exactly? There seem to be three KWC faucets with the semi-pro coiled sprayer design and I couldn't tell which one it was.

Thanks!

Ray

Thanks, Ray. I answered you in private e-mail also -- it's the KWC Disko Pre-rinse faucet, island mount style. Item number: KWC K10S264000C38