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Kitchen Faucet Finish Question  

September 10, 2008

I am replacing the kitchen faucet but know nothing about finishes. Considering stainless steel or brushed nickel. For looks and durability would you recommend stainless steel or brushed nickel? And can you tell me why on would work better than the other?

Thanks for your consideration.

Janet Johnson
homeowner - Woodinville, WA USA

Hi, Janet. Good quality faucets are solid brass. The stainless or brushed nickel is only the top-most plating (or possibly a PVD vavuum deposited finish), on top of a series of surface treatments. I doubt that there is any significant difference in corrosion resistance or performance between the two finishes (from the same manufacturer) -- it's just for looks.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Dear All,

In European countries, I saw fawcet in stainless steel and brass fawcet plated with nickel. They look very similar but new nickel seems slightly more shiny than new stainless steel (this difference is only visible by a plater).

Concerning the brushed nickel, I think the most important is the price because the quality is depending the nickel thickness because when you brush the nickel you remove a small thickness of nickel.

But, anyway, you have to do a good maintenance of your fawcet comparing to a chrome plated fawcet.

Nicolas Duthil
- Bordeaux, France