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I don't buy that excuse either. Kohl isn't making two of the same faucets. Wouldn't be in business for long if they did.
I presume you're talking about the kitchen sink faucet too? Word of advice from experience via a DIY guy here too - study how they're installed/mounted. Angle of approach is tricky when navigating around the sink. For that reason, I personally try to stick with Kohlor brand. They are good quality and designed for easy and secure installation. It's a royal PIA to navigate a wrench to tighten a kitchen faucet, difficult at best with the specific wrench designed to do just that as well for several of the brands out there. Kohlor actually put some thought into it.
If you're looking at Delta faucets, which is the brand that I prefer, I don't think Faucets Direct will have the best price. I found the prices on Amazon much better, sometimes about $100 per faucet cheaper. The most important thing to look for is that the faucet is solid brass construction with a finish warranty.
My findings - local supply house with showroom=highest price, local supply house with no showroom=next highest price, online through Amazon=best deal going.
I would go to the showroom and look at them and then order online. The ones that you can buy at HomeDepot and Lowes are most likely to be the cheapies with plastic parts.
I was having a plumber install them, so I didn't look at ease of installation.
The ones that you can buy at HomeDepot and Lowes are most likely to be the cheapies with plastic parts.
This WRONG assertion is the main point of the thread.
The faucets available at places like HomeDepot and Lowes are bought
wholesale from the manufacturer in high enough numbers to allow for a low retail price.
Where they're weak(er) is that the breadth of their inventory is often limited
This WRONG assertion is the main point of the thread.
The faucets available at places like HomeDepot and Lowes are bought
wholesale from the manufacturer in high enough numbers to allow for a low retail price.
Meh, I don't know nothing about Faucets, but it's WELL known that the power tools that those 2 big box stores sell are, indeed, different part numbers than elsewhere (especial for the given retailer) and tend towards cheaper/lower quality construction. Many examples can be found if you care to look/educate yourself.
But, they have slightly different part numbers. The beginning section is always the same, it's the last few digits that change. If a faucet is going to be divided into higher/lower qualities/builds, the part numbers will be different. It can be deceiving, they can Look exactly the same (production on the same molds/equipment with just cheaper materials), and some (shady) places will even truncate the part number of the important part that truly identifies which product you're buying, so it's very much buyer beware.
I do always give local businesses the chance. Walk in with what it'll cost you to buy whatever it is you're interested in (tax, shipping, etc...) and ask if they can match, or even just get close, to that price. If they can get within 10~15%, I'll go local. I'm willing to pay that extra incase of an issue, missing or damaged parts, heck a question about it after the fact, getting replacement parts, etc... plus, I'd rather my money go into the pockets of people who live locally... Bezos doesn't need my money and does nothing for my local community.
I don't buy faucets from the big box stores anymore, they simply impressed me less and less until I gave up on them several years back. I now buy what might be considered "medium tier" faucets, generally Kingston Brass are my go-to brand as they have been some of the best quality for the price I've found to date and the style fits my 1930's home well.
Again... the discussion is about the SAME stock number.
But even when there are slight model # differences between different outlets...
in almost all instances it's about packaging and accessories included -or not-, and external
items like trims, but mostly distribution paths... but doesn't equate to the internals being different.
There's a lot of conjecture about the issue across all sorts of items and brands..
but I've yet to see anything from any unbiased source to dispute this.
If YOU have any.. feel free to post the links.
Last edited by MrRational; 03-02-2017 at 08:58 AM..
I do always give local businesses the chance. Walk in with what it'll cost you to buy whatever it is you're interested in (tax, shipping, etc...) and ask if they can match, or even just get close, to that price. If they can get within 10~15%, I'll go local. I'm willing to pay that extra incase of an issue, missing or damaged parts, heck a question about it after the fact, getting replacement parts, etc... plus, I'd rather my money go into the pockets of people who live locally... Bezos doesn't need my money and does nothing for my local community.
This makes sense to me. Although I love me some Amazon Prime.
I'm looking at the Grohe K-7 Kitchen Faucet specifically.
I'll have a plumber install 'cause he kinda owes me a favor.
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