Replacing my kitchen faucet goes terribly wrong

So we are looking at changing the faucet in our kitchen sink, we have one that is very old and leaking. Early in our discussion about replacement faucets Bride and I are watching a commercial for a Delta fixture with what they called “Magnetite Docking”. Magnetite docking I thought, great googily moogily the name alone intimidated me. What has the world come to when our faucets have things called Magnetite Docking, it sounds like a feature better suited to be in engineering on the starship Enterprise alongside a warp core diagnostic console. After a bit more investigation I found that the full name of this new frontier inspired (my words) faucet is the Single Handle Bar Faucet With Pull Down Spray and Diamond Seal Valve, Stainless. Pull down spray? Diamond seal valve? What the heck, I am looking for something to go in my kitchen and be used to rinse dishes, wash my hands and clean vegetables. What in the world does all that mean!

So I start internet shopping around for the new fixture I will install in my kitchen – holy cow. Now I installed that faucet about 9 years ago and paid 120 bucks for it, I thought it was expensive at the time but that is the one Bride wanted, so it is the one we have, I was in for sticker shock 9 years later. I had to quit looking while I reminded myself I was looking for something that water runs out of, not a garden tractor or a new engine for my old jalopy. WOW what has happened to us that someone would pay over 1000 dollars for a spigot on the kitchen sink. I can assure you my current fixture will leak A LOT of water before I ever spent $1000 to replace it. I still cannot even believe that a 1000-dollar spigot is even made, for Pete’s sake it was not even gold plated! Faucets with names like “Forte Single Control Pullout Kitchen Sink Faucet with Color-Matched Sprayhead and Lever Handle, Polished Chrome” and “Avalon Single-Handle Kitchen Faucet, Tuscan Bronze” and my favorite the “Marielle Single-Handle Centerset Bar and Kitchen Island Faucet, Oil Rubbed Bronze” was returned to me in my search engine. “Tuscan Bronze”, “Oil Rubbed” I do not even know what the heck that is and better yet why I would want it??

So after a few days on an internet search I quit. I thought I will rebuild the one I have, not so fast zippy is what I heard when I got to the Big Box store, that is not verbatim but that is what I heard in the clerks words. What model is that faucet sir? It one that spits water out into my sink, who knows the model number of their kitchen faucet? I am somewhat anal and keep records and service manuals for equipment from the stereo gadgets to the weed eater but I could not remember keeping any paper on the faucet. After a search at home I found the correct documentation, a Model # 174SSWF and back to the big box store armed with my information I went. Of course when I arrived the moderately intelligent representative was gone for the day, I was left with the representative who was not sure if that model was used in the kitchen or the bathroom. Needless to say after an exhaustive search we could not find a rebuild kit for my faucet.

These manufacturers and resellers are in cahoots and have got the best racket around figured out, make a certain model for a short period and have it available in only one store. Make a very similar product, market it with a different name, and make it available in only one store, not the same store though. This makes it impossible for the consumer to make an apples to apples comparison, this is true for many products we buy, from mattresses to faucets to shoes. It also makes it nearly impossible to find the correct replacement parts for the one you have. The system is designed like that for a reason, they have built into the plan wearing you down looking for repair parts and then hoping that in frustration you just buying a new “Avalon Single-Handle Kitchen Faucet, Tuscan Bronze”. I WILL NOT SUBMIT, I will find a repair kit for my faucet or it will leak for the rest of my life but I will not be forced to play their game!

Do you have a faucet that is leaking?