We install whatever you have bought, and we will fit an inexpensive faucet as carefully as an expensive one. But we get asked often enough whether the price difference is real that it is worth answering properly.
It is real, and it is almost entirely in parts you cannot see from the shelf.
The cartridge is the faucet
Inside every mixer tap is a cartridge — the part that actually controls flow and temperature. It is the only part with moving surfaces under constant water pressure, and it is what wears out.
Good cartridges use hard ceramic discs that seal against each other. They are durable, they do not degrade with normal water, and they turn smoothly for a very long time. Cheaper faucets use softer materials or lower-grade ceramics that wear, and wear shows up as dripping, stiffness, or a handle that has to sit in exactly the right position.
There is a second, more practical difference. Good manufacturers use standard cartridges and keep supplying them for years, so when one wears out it is a small part and a short visit. Cheap faucets often use a proprietary cartridge that is not available separately, or not available at all after a few years — which means the whole tap gets replaced because one internal part failed.
Ask whether replacement cartridges are available. It is the single most useful question and almost nobody asks it.
The body
Solid brass bodies last. Zinc alloy and plastic bodies are lighter, cheaper, and more prone to failing at threads and connection points.
Weight is a rough proxy — pick two faucets up. The heavier one is usually brass. It is not a perfect test, but it separates the categories more often than not.
The finish
Chrome is durable and easy to live with. Brushed nickel and stainless hide water spots well. Matte black looks excellent and shows every mark, which people discover after installation. Living finishes are meant to change with time — that is the point of them, but only if you want it.
The thing that matters more than the colour is how the finish was applied. PVD finishes are bonded and very hard-wearing. Sprayed or plated finishes on cheaper fixtures wear through at the points your hand touches most.
Aerators, and why they matter more than you would think
The aerator is the small screen at the outlet. It mixes air into the stream so the flow feels fuller than it is. A good one gives a soft, even stream and unscrews easily for cleaning; a poor one clogs with mineral deposits and sprays unevenly.
Most "the tap has gone weak" complaints are a clogged aerator, and cleaning it is a two-minute job you can do yourself. Unscrew it, rinse the screen, soak it in vinegar if it is scaled, put it back.
Pull-down sprays
Convenient, and the failure point is the hose and its connection at the spray head. Look for a hose that can be replaced without replacing the whole faucet, and a docking mechanism that holds the head firmly — magnetic docks hold better over time than friction ones, which loosen.
Buying to install once
The practical advice is: buy a faucet from a manufacturer that will still sell you a cartridge in ten years, in a finish you will still like, with a solid body. That combination is usually not the cheapest option and rarely the most expensive one.
The reason it matters is labour. Replacing a cartridge is a short visit. Replacing an entire faucet because the cartridge is unobtainable is a longer one, and you pay it every time the cheap tap fails.
If you have bought one already
We will install it, and we will tell you honestly what we think of it while we do. If you are choosing and want a second opinion before you buy, ask — that conversation is free and it takes a minute.
Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster. 604-865-7979.
Related: Faucet and sink services · Fixture supply and installation · Kitchen plumbing and renovations
