Kitchen Faucet Buying Guide

What is a Kitchen Faucet?

A kitchen faucet, a key design element in today’s kitchen design scheme, is a valve for controlling the release of water. The kitchen faucet’s function is to dispense hot and cold water to be used for washing hands or small objects such as food and dishes and may include a spray feature to be used for faster rinsing. The kitchen faucet can help to highlight a distinctive style in the kitchen setting.
Selecting a Kitchen Faucet

Selecting a Kitchen Faucet

There are four important considerations when selecting a kitchen faucet. These include Handles and Mounting, Finish, Spout Height and Reach, and other Accessories.

Handles and Mounting

1. Handles: There are two basic handle options for a kitchen faucet: single handle and two handle.

A single handle kitchen faucet rotates directionally, usually providing the ability to regulate flow by up-and-down motion and temperature with side-to-side motion. The advantages of a single handle faucet are that only one hand is required to adjust the water and that potentially only one hole is required for installation. Many single handle faucets come with a mounting plate to cover up to three sink holes.

A two handle kitchen faucet features a handle for controlling the flow of cold water and another for controlling the flow of hot water. Two handle kitchen faucets usually require a minimum of three holes for installation. A wide variety of handle options helps to make the kitchen faucet design more customizable and unique.

Standard Lever Handles  Porcelain Lever Handles  Standard Cross Handles  Porcelain Cross Handles
                                        

There are many more unique handle options from which to choose.

2. Mounting: Mounting options will depend greatly on your individual installation scenario and design scheme. Kitchen faucets can be purchased to be deck mounted and wall mounted.

Wall mount faucets are usually mounted in a two hole configuration, one hole for cold water and the other for hot water. The distance between the two holes is referred to as the spread. Spread is sometimes referred to as a number of inches or inches on centers (i.e. 8" or 8" on centers). The spread is measured by determining the distance between the center of the two incoming pipes. Some wall mount kitchen faucets feature an adjustable spread and some do not, so plan appropriately.

Single Hole Deck Mount  Two Hole Deck Mount  Three Hole Deck Mount  Two Handle Wall Mount

                                      

Finish

Kitchen Faucets are available in many different finishes:

Chrome, Nickel, Brushed Nickel, Polished Brass, Oil Rubbed Bronze, White, Black and Stainless Steel are just a few of the standard finishes. Remeber that finishes from different manufacturers may not be exactly the same if you are planning to buy a faucet or accessory to match another.

Spout Height and Reach

Kitchen faucets are available with everything from relatively straight, short spouts to very high arching, long spouts. Many faucets also feature a pullout spout, which is great for rinsing large or awkward dishes.

Accessories

Every installation scenario is unique. Your particular design may call for additional accessories to accompany your kitchen faucet. Many times accessories are available in a coordinating finish to add form and function to your faucet configuration. These can include Side Sprayers,  Faucet Handles and Accents, Air Gaps, Soap Dispenser and Hot & Cold Dispensers.

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