Kitchen tap brand recommendation

[Nelsun]

Our kitchen sink tap (single mixer type) has developed a drip. Had it apart as much as I can and no dice. It was only £40 off Amazon a few years back so it's no great loss and I likely got what I paid for.

Anyone have any recommendations for a good quality brand that are known to stand the test of time? Overpriced brands to be avoided would also be appreciated.

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[jimmy_s]

Franke, Grohe, Hans Grohe and also Dornbracht .. if you are feeling really flush.

 

[Sideways]

Grohe.
Lovely stuff. Expensive so hunt for discounts, but lovely quality and smooth actions.
Hans Grohe is a breakaway of the original family firm. Not quite so good.

 

[Beau]

I would say not Franke. Had one with our sink and our slightly acid water just corroded through the side of it in no time. Very thin walled. Inlaw's had a very expensive Franke SS one and that separated at the join.

Watching with interest as our Franke replacement has just broken as well grrrrrr.

 

[Nelsun]

Thanks for the suggestions folks. Frankie does appear to take a bit of a shoeing in Amazon reviews so I'll give them a wide berth me thinks. Grohe does come out pretty good indeed and have a few hopefuls I'll run past the Better Half. It's a pity the Grohe web site can't find it's own products though :roll:

Can't believe the amount of time I've just spent looking at taps =P~

 

[Beau]

I feel you pain as I cant find a replacement for ours that we A like and B think will last more than 5mins. Stupid thing is we have a cheapo contract one in our utility room that has outlasted all our kitchen ones and cost about £15!

 

[MikeJhn]

Grohe seem to be the best at the price, during a recent freeze in France our neighbour's ceramic cartridge taps all went AWOL, the Grohe in our kitchen was fine and still is six years later, I am not sure, but the Grohe in our UK kitchen is about fifteen years old, can't remember the exact date, but if looking again it would be a Grohe I would go for.

Mike

EDIT: forgot to mention the one in France has a pull out nozzle that's excellent no drips ever.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Are the Dornbracht ones 18ct or 22ct?

 

[Nelsun]

The Grohe Parkfield is on the shortlist but I did wonder whether the pull out bit could prove to be a problem area. Nice to hear it may stay the distance.

Finish is the next problem. Is their SuperSteel worth the extra ££ vs chrome. Anyone got some real world experience?

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[Distinterior]

Blanco taps are good quality and there is a wide selection available. I fit them 99% of the time on my jobs.

 

[sunnybob]

Grohe also have a thermostat limiter on the tap. You can adjust it so nobody gets burnt even on full hot.
One of the reasons it seems a little high priced.

 

[MikeJhn]

Do be aware that Grohe taps are solid and heavy, don't try to mount them in a cheap SS kitchen sink they will wobble and drive you mad, and anyway Ceramic sinks are so much better, look at Vilroy and Bosch, not sure of the spelling but they are wonderful sinks.

Incidentally the taps I have are not the Parkway, had a quick look to see if I could see ours, but no luck, our do not have the very wide spray, looks like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRMx-JYasy8

Mike

 

[Nelsun]

Thanks for the warning re wobbly sinks. It's going in to 40mm of wood, so that should hold it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I believe he is referring to the flexibility of cheap lightweight s/s rather than the way the sink is mounted. (Unless of course you mean the tap is mounted in the wood )

 

[Nelsun]

^As daft as it may well be, it's mounted straight in to 40mm thick wood Phil. Looks nice but I'm forever wiping round the damned thing.

Anyroad, 2 taps later (the first one didn't survive the trip at all well thanks to Grohe's own internal packaging collapsing), we have a non-dripping tap and a still slightly traumatised wallet

Thanks for everyone's input and a big "shout out" (sorry) to Lee at Plumb Warehouse for making the return of the knackered tap very quick and an absolute doddle (and being the cheapest place I could find too!).