Purchasing A New Faucet For Your Kitchen

By: Marcus Perchowski Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Is it time to renew the look of your kitchen? A spanking new kitchen faucet might be just the accent piece to create an completely new look to the room! A shiny new faucet is a good starting point! As the faucet is the 'crown' of the sink, it does grab your attention.

If you have the hard water 'curse', in all likelihood it's been recking mayhem with the inner workings of your kitchen faucet. And you might be going crazy over the constant drip-drip-drip. And also hard water scum probably discolored your fixture and presenting an unsightly eyesore. It’s time for a new one!

What do you get when you pony-up the mega dollars for a shiny new kitchen faucet? Chances are all you’re really receiving is fewer dollars to use on the remainder of your kitchen improvement. A prominent consumer reports team performed in-depth testing on kitchen faucets to get to the bottom of things. In a surprising turn of events, their evaluations exposed that despite the marketing hype, faucet prices have little to do with performance. In this case, you don’t always get what you pay for!

When it comes to faucets for the kitchen, it’s the exterior finish - not the make - that in the end makes for continuing durability. There's a news flash!

Of course, paying extra cash does make available more options to pick from. But how do you choose which is the right faucet for your kitchen? Especially when prices range from $50 all the way to $600 or more! Let’s look at what to keep an eye out for.

Fortunately lifetime warranties that include leaks and stains are pretty much standard in the faucet industry. With credit to technology, most perform the job of delivering water exceptionally well. Aside from the least expensive faucets on the market, modern kitchen fixtures are built with superior valves and tougher finishes. So performance is not really the true test - they all perform reasonably well. What is worthy of paying attention to is what happens to the faucet with daily wear. Just how does it stay resistant to scratches, stains, bumps and bruises?

What the consumer group chose to do was run their testing on the faucet's finish and not the product name. Ultimately, this is what you’re interested in when purchasing a kitchen sink faucet.

Okay, a little chemistry class. Faucet exteriors are assaulted with charged metal atoms. These metal atoms chemically bond to the surface of the base metal by a procedure called physical vapor deposition, or PVD. The point is that various metals affect different finishes. Even bronze and nickel. The review team revealed that faucets with PVD finishes withstood punishment despite their honest tries to scratch and mar them. PVD finishes are not 100% bullet proof however and strong corrosives (i.e. drain cleaner) can lightly blemish them.

A shiny chrome plated faucet is trendy in many kitchens today. Chrome is pretty durable but can be scratched with an abrasive scouring pad. If you prefer the style of chrome, use caution when cleaning your faucet.

Also evaluated were the single-handled faucets which are a very popular design. They combine spray head and spout for added usefulness and flexibility. But the test findings are applicable to other faucets too.

Bronze offers a distinguished look to the kitchen sink and a fine choice if you’re not into shiny fixtures. Selecting the properly treated bronze is important though. Tests showed that a PVD finished faucet held up well in abrasion tests where the bronze without the PVD finish did not.

When you’re giving thought to a kitchen upgrade, a new faucet will provide a totally new look to the sink and the entire kitchen. Kitchen sink faucets are moderately inexpensive (compared to other items in a kitchen remodel!) and impart a unique look you’ll enjoy for a long time.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: A Delta kitchen faucet can be found in homes around the world. Learn more about Delta and kitchen sink faucets at KitchenSinkFaucetShop.com