Many times, I will see folks wanting to save money by buying cheap plumbing fixtures. I completely understand the reasoning—and would maybe have the same tendency if I were in their shoes. Here are some of my thoughts that may help you out when deciding on which plumbing fixture is best for you.
1. Kitchen Sink Faucets
You can really spend a lot of money on kitchen sink faucets. This Delta faucet with touch on/off sensors costs $350 +. You can spend much more than that on some designer faucets as well. However, you can also get some cool looking faucets for a fraction of that price, but they are made cheaply and fall apart in a year or so. Our plumber recommends using a good Delta faucet because they last a long time. They may cost more than the knockoff brands, but over time they will end up costing less.
Delta Faucet – $250 – Lasts 7+ years
Knockoff Brand – $100 – Lasts up to 2 years (This is from personal experience)
- Have to buy a new faucet 3 times in the span of your one Delta Faucet—$300
- Have to pay a plumber three times—$300 +
That Delta faucet is looking good right about now…
2. Bathroom Shower Faucets
This one is a big one for me. Shower faucets are plumbed in behind the wall. Many times the shower is tiled. It’s not an easy in and out to replace a shower faucet. It could require a plumber to break out the tile to do the replacement. And then you will have to hire a tile guy to re – tile. And what if the supplier doesn’t carry the tile any more? It’s not worth saving $1-200 at the initial purchase if your knockoff faucet goes bad.
At Pinnacle we will install whatever you choose, but we recommend using good fixtures with a long history of good performance so that you will be happy for years to come.