Faucet, soap dispenser, air switch--too close together?

7 years ago

Hi, first time poster, though I've been following for years. :)

I'm many years away from a full remodel, but I want a big, shiny new pull-down faucet for now. I had originally settled on the Kohler Artifacts--the newer one with the horizontal lever--and an escutcheon to cover the unused holes. But then I had the idea of getting the model with the vertical lever, which is $80 cheaper, mounting it with the handle facing forward, and putting a soap dispenser on the right and an air switch on the left. But my sink (and the sink I'll be replacing it with) is a drop-in with pre-cut holes 4" apart, and I'm wondering if it will look too cluttered and/or whether the soap dispenser would be too close to the handle when I operate the faucet. Maybe I should go with my original plan instead? Pics of my current setup and the two models of faucet included.

I look forward to any advice.

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Comments (5)

Buehl
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Welcome?

To clarify, are you replacing the air gap with a soap dispenser or an air switch -or- do you mean air gap, not air switch?

An air switch is used to turn items on/off with a puff of air, usually a garbage disposal.

An air gap is for overflow for older DWs - they're not usually needed anymore and haven't been for 10 or more years. Unfortunately, some municipalities are stuck in the old days and still require them even though they're no longer needed. See the Appliances Forum for more information.

So, you will have:
- Faucet - one hole
- Soap Dispenser - one hole
- Air Gap? - one hole
- Air Switch? - one hole
Is that correct? How many pre-drilled holes does the sink you're looking at have?

So, each item will be 4" apart? Can you mock the them up to see what you think? That's the best way to determine if you would be happy with them all lined up in a row.
mollymcbaby
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi! Thanks for the reply. I have 4 holes. One is currently covered by the escutcheon, left of the faucet, and that's where I plan to put the air switch for the disposal.

As for the air gap, I'll get either a matching cover or maybe a whole new one, as it's just a $5 difference. I do know about the air gap debate :) and I'm just more comfortable keeping it. Besides, I'm in CA...

I will try mocking it up on paper, but I just figured people might have some IRL experience with spacing here (although it does seem that most have newer undercount sinks and holes cut in the counters wherever they like, rather than pre-cut).
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Old post but I have a similar issue. We bought a house with a bridge faucet (so just two holes in the marble top.) The faucet is now leaking and can't be fixed. To replace it, bridge faucets START at $350 and go up from there to the $1000 price range. We also have another sink on the other side of the bathroom, so if you replace one that will be roughly $400-$700, we probably should replace the other. The second option is to drill a third hole, for a standard wide spread set up. But for a third and budget option, I was looking at some single hole faucets, and putting a soap dispenser on the second hole. I am assuming you would put the water faucet on the left hole, and soap on the right (that is what comes to mind for a right handed person) but I am not sure. This is a home we will move from in about 3 years give or take. Trying to think budget, aesthetics, and function. And would a home buyer think "what the heck?" or say "awesome." You cannot see the other vanity area as the shower and toilet area are in the middle of the bathroom, so I am thinking I can have one faucet on one, and another set up on the other, as long as they are in the same bronze family and similar style (these have an old vintage look to them.) Thoughts?
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I think they are close but not identical. I recently ordered a custom stainless countertop and their standard size hole, unless you specify otherwise, is 1 3/8". On efaucets or a similar site where you can look at specs (availabilty is spotty) I saw that one Elkay faucet requires that size hole. The Grohe Ladylux faucet I purchased due to GW resounding endorsements needs 1 1/4" opening in the countertop. But larger is ok because the finished sheath that covers the actual plumbing has a much wider diameter. Soap dispensers, being smaller overall, have less tolerance. It looks like I may need to use the flange that comes with the dispenser, because the pump unit may not completely cover the hole. Countertop with "standard" 1 3/8" holes is being installed on Wednesday. I can let you know what happens. Good on you to be thinking about this now so you can give your countertop fabricator the specs. I worked out the water flow radius to get the stream and drain locations, but forgot about the hole size. Hope I'm not disappointed.
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Taggie: hahahaa. Yes, I think he would notice, because he would be the one installing them. Ã¢ÂÂswitch the top part in for the stainless one and not mention a word about it. Don't know how observant your DH is, but mine would never notice itÃ¢ÂÂ But you know, the water filter faucet is starting to leak a little (wink wink wink)Ã¢ÂÂ¦especially when I bang it w/ my big metal pan!!! Hahahaa Breezygirl: oh, IÃ¢ÂÂm way past year 2012 birthday and anniversary already. My 4 girlfriends and I are heading to South Beach for our birthday celebration next month. For our anniversary, I got my beloved Vitamix Blender (oh how romantic). Christmas 2013 present = IÃ¢ÂÂm getting the Blum Servo for the hands-free trash pullout. As for the handles: funny you mentioned it. Our friend came to help install them this morning. He didnÃ¢ÂÂt have enough time to do them all, but he strategically did not do any of the uppers so that he didnÃ¢ÂÂt have to fight me on installing them horizontally. I didn't mention that I hate wasting stuff. Yes, I can Freecycle them, but...still wasteful. thanks, Amanda
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Buehl
7 years ago
Don't mock it up on paper, mock it up in real life - with full-size boxes/items to represent each fixture you're considering.

BTW...air switches are generally close to flush with the counter, do they won't take up vertical space.
aprilneverends
7 years ago
We have 4 holes-but they weren't pre-cut, were done to our liking as we remodeled just very recently..we're also in CA. I wanted to say that I hated it..for the first three days, and then I got used to it and forgot to hate it..and that you, with your view out of the window, will forget to hate it in a day:) But then I went and measured the space between the holes, just in case, and it's between 7 to 8 inches everywhere except for the disposal button and the air gap-these two are much closer but they're also sitting so low, unlike the faucet (we have some Kohler too, sorry don't remember the model, but can look it up) and the soap dispenser. So unfortunately yes...I imagine it might get very cluttered look, especially on the soap dispenser side, and it might irritate you when you use it since it'll be so close. I'd forego the soap dispenser thing(actually I regretted we put in ours, even though initially it was my own initiative lol), and just use a pretty container for soap.
mollymcbaby
Original Author
7 years ago
Buehl, I took your advice and made a mock up and cut it out on cardstock. I discovered that I actually had enough clearance to have the handle on the left if I ended up not liking it in front (which is working out fine so far). I got all the accessories in and am enjoying them very much. Ideally they would be farther apart, but I can live with this.

Faucet, soap dispenser, air switch--too close together?

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Faucet, soap dispenser, air switch--too close together?

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Buehl

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