Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with faucet

Where can I buy a low gpm metric aerator for a Grohe faucet?

jenmakes — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:00:53 -0800

A public restroom at work has a Grohe Eurosmart Faucet (part #32709) with a 2.2 gpm aerator. According to the plumbing supply place where we bought it, the aerator is metric & therefore difficult to find a lower gpm version. Grohe customer service has not responded to my question, and my googling hasn't yielded many useful leads... So where can I get a .5 or 1 gpm metric aerator or aerator insert to fit that faucet? The faucet was bought to replace an old one, and the new gpm overwhelms the little sink. Also, it is a public sink, so no one will just learn to turn the faucet on at a lower rate.

Thanks for your help!

Cool Kitchen Faucet

Lylo — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:03:11 -0800

Help me find the coolest kitchen faucet My style is contemporary. Having an integrated pull down spray is a must. On my wish list I would like to go with a matte black finish, but since there is no other metal in the kitchen, I could live with stainless or even chrome (if faucet design is cool enough) and if I did go with chrome or stainless, black trim would be great but not a must-have. I will only go with something to which I can find a reasonably well matched cold water dispenser (for filtered water)--almost all of those (filtered water dispensers) which I have seen so far are goose necked in shape. I have already looked at Kohler and Grohe. Want to stay higher-end than Delta or Moen. Any suggestions?

What's the best way to go about replacing my kitchen sink and faucet?

aburd — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:13:32 -0800

What's the best way to go about replacing my kitchen sink and faucet? I have $1500-2000 that I can put towards a sink, faucet, and disposal. I also need the under sink plumbing worked over (there is a persistent leak). Should I source the whole thing piece by piece and then hire a plumber? Should I just get a plumber to sell me the whole thing? How do I know if I'm getting hosed? What's the best way to do this?

Slow faucet needs more pressure.

backseatpilot — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:13:23 -0800

I need some plumbing help with regards to a slow faucet. The landlord is dragging her feet on getting this fixed, so I thought I'd try to do it myself as long as it turns out to be a minor problem. Our kitchen sink has terrible water pressure - it takes about a full minute to fill a pint glass with water, which makes the sink difficult to use. I had just chalked it up to generally low pressure in the entire apartment until a plumber came out for a burst water heater and mentioned that the sink pressure was abnormally low.

The sink is just a standard stainless steel job, one basin, with a sprayer (also low pressure). The dishwasher and plumbing in the bathroom seem to be fine. Hot and cold are equally slow.

Where should I start looking? Any ideas what might be causing it?

Ghost faucet

cgs — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:29:11 -0800

Plumbing filter: When I'm running the shower, the cold water handle creeps up by itself until the water is tepid. How do I fix it? When they are off, both the hot and cold point down (90°). When I turn the cold on, it creeps up from 45° (just right) to horizontal (chilly). Do I need to replace a washer or something? Is this a landlord job?

Thanks for your help-
cgs

How to stop a drip from dripping?

tangyraspberry — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:39:44 -0800

how do you fix a leaky faucet?

What causes inconsistent water flow from my kitchen sink?

boby — Sun, 24 May 2009 03:47:56 -0800

What causes inconsistent water flow from my kitchen sink? When turning on my Delta single lever kitchen faucet it makes a bumping noise and the water comes out very slowly at first increasing to normal flow after about 30 seconds. Other times there's no bump and the water flows normally.

What sex is my kitchen tap?

domeheid — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:05:16 -0800

What sex is my kitchen tap? I want to buy an aerator for my kitchen tap to improve the flow of water and make it soft like all those lovely taps in Zurich, Switzerland (it also reduces water consumption by up to 60%), but I don't know which kind to buy: male or female. This website says:

"For taps with a thread on the outside you need a Female Aerator. For taps with the thread on the inside you need a Male aerator."

Here is a picture of my kitchen tap. Does this mean my tap is female? I wouldn't call that a thread and I don't think I could unscrew it.

Getting a shower and bath at the same time.

itchie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:26:20 -0800

When I turn on my shower, water still pours out of the bottom faucet. What gives? Renting a house which was built somewhere between 1977 and 1981. The bath/shower seems to be having trouble with turning on "shower mode" entirely, and water continues to pour out of the bottom faucet. Here is a short video (youtube link) that shows what's going on.
I've heard from some people that it's something in the actual shower itself, something about a stopper being worn down. Is there a name for the part? How difficult is it to fix?

I'm not really a bath kind of person

Epsilon-minus semi moron — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:45:49 -0800

Broken tub faucet. Please help! The faucet came off with what seems to be part of the pipe..where the faucet screws into the pipe. It's looks pretty rusted so I'm guesing that's what allowed it to snap off so easily? I tried to screw it back on with pipe tape, but that didn't work. I don't even know if that would be a solution but it's the best thing I found after googlng "broken tub faucet". Is there some kind of bonding glue like substance I can buy? We can call maintenace in the morning but I figured I try here first. Plus I'd like to take a shower toinght.

Losing a tug of war with my faucet.

Lame_username — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:49:27 -0800

We're in the middle of a big kitchen remodel and have been stymied by (of all things!) the kitchen faucet decision. We've been looking at models with integrated sprayer heads that pull out from the faucet but just received a warning about that style of faucet. As a result, I find myself querying the hive mind looking for people who have this style faucet. Our current faucet is the kind with a seperate sprayer attachment, which we hate because (1) it doesn't like to return to its spot without wrestling it and (2) it doesn't divert that much water and the spray is a bit anemic. We were looking at one where the sprayer pulls out and doubles as the main faucet.

However, one of our friends advised us that he had a Delta faucet of this design and he hated it. He reported that the sprayer wouldn't stay put when in the retracted position and that the pull out didn't like to return to the original position without a fight.

He thought it may have been a result of his tendency to go for the lowest price at all decision points, but the fact that we had essentially this problem already made us nervous. If you have purchased a "pull-out spray" faucet, we'd love to hear if you like it or hate it.

Here is an example of the type

6" or less please

juggler — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:10:46 -0800

Looking for a low profile bath room faucet. One handle controls only please. My existing faucet is tall enough that when the handle is lifted up and the water is running, the over-sink cabinet door slaps it when I open the cabinet. I hate that. My google-foo has been unsuccessful. I want something that is one handle and really flat. This is awesome but only a design concept at this point. The entire thing has to be less than 6 inches tall, even when any handles are lifted up. I swear I have seen similar faucets, which have this waterfall-type spout, but I cannot find a one now that I am looking to buy.

Tell me about buying faucets for a restaurant-style kitchen.

nebulawindphone — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 11:24:54 -0800

Tell me about buying faucets for a restaurant-style kitchen. I live in a co-op. We've got a restaurant-style kitchen, and the faucet for the dishwashing station is old and crappy. We'd like to buy a new one — ideally with an overhead sprayer nozzle for washing pots and pans, which we don't currently have.

What do we need to know before we start shopping? How do we know what brands we should trust? (Is there an equivalent to Consumer Reports for restaurant supplies, for instance?) And how much — gulp — will we need to spend for a reliable one?

Why would room temperature water be coming out of the faucet when I turn on the cold water tap?

ND¢ — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:17:10 -0800

When I turn the cold water tap, the faucets in my upstairs bathroom are putting out room temperature water. How do I fix this? No other faucets in the house appear to be doing this. These are two sinks that are part of a double bowl vanity in our master bath. The hot water works fine. Cold water appears to come out of the bathtub and shower fine too. The water coming out of the faucet when the cold tap is turned is not murky or unpleasant or anything, it just isn't cold. Any advice would be appreciated. I can answer questions, but I am not very handy so I may not know many of the answers to them.

Mystery sink

mateuslee — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:09:31 -0800

Why would a sink in a public bathroom which had an automatic water sensor suddenly turn on even though there was no one nearby? So my friend was in the bathroom in the university, it is a modern one and so there she was washing her hands and as she goes to dry them, a sink some distance away suddenly turned on. Weird! She asked me why this would happen. I thought maybe because a fly flew by or something, but this isn't really such a great answer. Plus, there aren't many flies in the 11th floor public bathroom. Maybe some of you have an interesting theory?

Shiny Faucet Envy

garfy3 — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:24:12 -0800

FaucetFilter: I'm in a rental apartment, and my heavy cooking and homebrewing proclivities have me pining for a better kitchen faucet. Do you have any advice for finding, installing (and then when I move out), uninstalling a higher-end sink faucet? The one I've got just doesn't "rise above" the sink very much, and has that one handle in the middle to control the temp mixture (can't seem to find a pic right now). Of course, after some holiday visits I've developed Severe Faucet Envy while using some higher-end faucets that rise above the mess and do all sorts of other spray-ee, clean-ee stuff.

Dealing with the building maintenance folks isn't an option in this case (sadly).

So I ask you -- do you have any advice for finding, installing (and then when I move out), uninstalling a higher-end sink faucet? I know I should be looking for appliances where all the connections are un-soldered, and where all the holes match up in the right places. Has anyone here done this before? Tips for finding a faucet that's easy to retro-fit once I need to move out (probably a year or more from now)? How about preserving the old faucet during dis-assembly so it doesn't get all hosed up?

WaterFilter: How do you like your faucet-mounted filtration device?

Songdog — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 17:14:18 -0800

How do you like your faucet-mounted water filter? My family and I have just moved into a new apartment. The previous tenants had a faucet-mounted water filter (of the sort made by Pur, Brita, and others) and I'm very interested in trying one of these, but I've got a few questions.

Most obviously: which units do and don't people like, and why?

Second, reading the most recent Consumer Reports review I could find (Jan. 2003) raised my concerns about flow. The article pointed out that after running only 50 or 100 gallons through one of these filters that the flow rate slowed to 10 minutes per gallon. The thought of spending ten minutes or more putting water in my 8 quart pot for pasta is pretty excruciating. I'm hoping that since 2003 one or more manufacturers might have improved the flow rate longevity of their filters (without sacrificing filtration) but I'm hoping people here can offer more info.

Finally, in my Mefi-literature search I ran across LobsterMitten's excellent recent question about the interaction of hot water with the plastics used in these filters. Can anyone offer any thoughts on this?

Fixing a screechy faucet?

Zonker — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 06:14:13 -0800

My bathtub/shower faucet has developed a loud, annoying screech when the temperature is above medium. How can this be fixed? I can't find a model number, but it appears to be a Delta model 635 or 636. Googling suggests that this problem can be solved by replacing a gasket, but I don't immediately see which part of the faucet should be replaced. The Maintenance and Installation Guide doesn't seem to cover this problem either. Any suggestions for what needs to be done?

Also, is this a suitable DIY project (I'm reasonably handy and have a decent set of tools, but haven't worked on plumbing before, just electronics and occasionally my car) or do I need to call in a pro?

tap-tap-tappity-tap: it ain't what it used to be

humuhumu — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 10:01:59 -0800

Hot tap in kitchen sink; suddenly half the pressure it used to be; turn on, wait twenty seconds, and half pressure becomes all but a drip; all other hot taps in house work a-ok. Washer? Pipe? Tap mechanism? Simple to fix or in need of a plumber?

Seeking faucet handles labeled in French

sixdifferentways — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 19:38:17 -0800

I have been unable to locate a source for French-labeled faucet handles - ones labeled "chaud" and "froid" instead of "hot and "cold". My wife has plans to redecorate one of our bathrooms with a Parisian theme, and this little detail eludes us. More below. Google has failed us, eBay has failed us.

I found a couple very high-dollar sets meant to be sold to the interior design trade for clients, but we're looking for something more basic and inexpensive (< $100)br>
Bathroom faucet sets are usually cheap. The hardware stores are full of every type you could imagine. Yet they all seem to be English-only. I looked at Amazon.ca, but the Canadian store doesn’t sell housewares. I looked at a couple of manufacturer’s sites, but there was no info. I would imagine these are sold in French Canada or France – and in their version of Lowes or Home Depot, they are probably just as cheap. We do not even really need a whole faucet set, just the handles or inserts. Can any AskMe’rs suggest anywhere to look short of scoping out some hardware stores or flea markets next time we’re in France?