If you take a stroll down any of the plumbing-focused aisles at The Home Depot or Lowe’s, you’ll likely quickly recognize there are plenty of options to pick from! Whether it be faucets, piping, toilets, water heaters or anything else, this is always going to be the case. Keep in mind that this is actually just scratching the surface in terms of how many different brands or manufacturers there really are! Unless you have years of plumbing experience under your belt, it’s going to be quite difficult to sift through all of these and determine which ones are truly reliable!
As someone that’s been in the plumbing world for more than a few decades now, it’s safe to say I feel confident in differentiating the great from the average! This brings us to the topic at hand for this week’s blog. We’ll be giving you a rundown of some of the most popular and more reliable plumbing brands out there. As you’ll see, many of these are household names and likely may even be found throughout your own home! With that being said, let’s dive right in and walk through some of the most trustworthy plumbing brands in the business!
As a side note, since there are so many quality brands out there, we’ll turn this into a blog series that highlights some of our favorites over the next few months! While we’re primarily highlighting plumbing fixture brands, we encourage you to check out this recent water heater blog. The water heater world is no different from fixtures and as such, it may seem like there’s an endless number of types and brands. This guide walks you through some of the brands we personally recommend, as well as glimpse at what makes them so effective.
Delta
The history of Delta dates back to the 1950’s where a man named Alex Manoogian started selling a single-handle ball-valve faucet. As sales started to grow, they ended up opening a factory in Greensburg, Indiana in the year 1958. After that, they slowly continued expanding into different markets and eventually innovating with touch-free faucets in the early 2000’s. Then, by 2018, they partnered with Amazon and Google to create voice-activated faucets. Head over to their Designs and Innovations page to see some of the other projects they’re working on. From the glass rinser to a toilet seat night light and even ShieldSpray technology, it’s always inspiring to see established businesses continuing to invest in innovation!
All in all, Delta is known to be durable, possess above-average quality and offer a wide range of finishes to meet the needs of any particular customer. While they started as a faucet company, it didn’t take long for them to expand into other fixtures, including toilets, bathtubs, showers and even bathroom accessories!
Kohler
A common theme among many of these brands that we’ll mention throughout this article is “innovation.” In order for a business to survive decades (and even centuries), you’re going to have to learn how to adapt to changing times and pivot into what’s hot at that particular time! Kohler’s timeline dates back all the way to 1873, when Kohler Co. was founded by John Michael Kohler in Wisconsin. While they initially manufactured farm equipment, that gradually changed over the years. According to their history timeline, “1911 marked the year when they introduced the “industry’s first one-piece, built-in bath with an integral apron.”
Since the early 1900’s, Kohler has acquired new brands along the way as well to ensure their customers are getting a top-notch product! A fun tidbit that’s worth checking out involves their Intelligent Toilets, such as the Numi. What makes the Numi so special? Well, it’s hard to pick just a few features, but here’s a few that catch our eye! Heated seats, feet warmers, bluetooth-enabled, emergency flushing settings, motion-activated, touch-screen remote control and more! Sounds pretty awesome, right?
Toto
Here we have another company that’s been in the game for over 100 years! Founded in the early 1900’s, Toto’s founder, Kazuchika Okura, was committed to creating cleaner living spaces. Okura understood the value and benefits that could be provided by professional plumbing products. After all, one’s plumbing system is so intertwined throughout every home, business or other facility.
Toto is largely recognized as being the world’s largest manufacturer of plumbing products. Furthermore, throughout their entire existence, they’ve continued to be a true trailblazer in the industry. While a quick browse through some of their smart products will quickly back this point up, it’s tough to ignore their detailed commitment to cleanliness. Just check out their webpage, Cleanovation. From the premist to cefiontect to the final tornado flush, they really do have toilets down to a science!
American Standard
With a name like American Standard, you know you’re likely getting a company that’s been around for a little while. American Standard has been going strong for over 140 years and time and time again, proves to be an industry-leader. As is the case with many of these other large manufacturers that have lasted for decades, they’ve made business moves along the way and now operate under a number of different brand names. For American Standard, a few of these include Crane Plumbing, Eljer, DXV and Safety Tubs.
Just like each of the three companies mentioned above, American Standard is another one that finds its way onto our list of approved suppliers here at Stine-Nichols. Whether it be residential or commercial, they certainly have plenty to pick from. An interesting tool featured on their website that is certainly worthwhile for commercial businesses is their Commercial Water Savings Calculator.
Throughout many of these large plumbing manufacturers, a common trend in the past decade or so has been an increased emphasis on efficiency. Whether that be energy-efficiency or water-efficiency, these companies truly have prioritized improving their products. After all, this isn’t just good for the environment, but it’ll also likely save the homeowner a few bucks on your utility bills! Anyways, American Standard has created this water savings calculator that essentially shows you how much you could be saving. While this may not make a drastic difference for the standard residential household, it can certainly move the needle in terms of commercial facilities. If you own a commercial facility, feel free to check it out and play around with the numbers. You’ll also notice this screen has links to some of their more efficient products as well.
Need More Recommendations or Someone To Install Your Fixture?
Now that you know which brands you can trust, are you ready to make some modern upgrades throughout your home? As we often say, simply swapping out a fixture here and there can certainly freshen up an entire bathroom or kitchen. You don’t always have to start tearing down walls to make a big difference! Not to mention, most modern options are also going to present you with increased efficiency, thus leading to lower utility bills!
If you’re ready to make some upgrades to your plumbing fixtures, you’ve come to the perfect place! Our team of residential and commercial plumbing professionals in Kansas City have plenty of experience installing fixtures. Whether that be faucets, showerheads, freestanding bathtubs, toilets, water heaters, the list goes on! Give us a call at (816) 348-3481 to speak with our operations manager, Jim, about pricing and scheduling. He will also provide you with recommendations of which brands we trust here at Stine-Nichols!