Taps: quality tiers?

[UserError]

Hello, I've tried searching using Bristan, Grohe, Vado etc & get no results at all - I don't understand that!
Anyway, is there an existing post, or would anyone be kind enough to proffer their opinion on tap quality. As I see it, there are two parameters - quality/thickness of chrome plating and quality of engineering/innards. I'd expect a decent brand to have both at a reasonable level.

I'm probably interested in middle-higher middle quality. Definitely want to avoid the cheapest stuff & can't run to indulgent luxury brands.
Many thanks

 

[Dannyk]

I have some Bristan taps and am very disappointed with them. They are the hot water taps. One showed considerable internal erosion. The other the shroud was corroded and it was very difficult to change the cartridge. I haven't looked at the cold taps as they seem ok.
I did ask for advice here before but to no avail.
It strikes me that inferior materials are being used.
You need to shop around, there are some rip off merchants about.

 

[UserError]

I have some Bristan taps and am very disappointed with them. They are the hot water taps. One showed considerable internal erosion. The other the shroud was corroded and it was very difficult to change the cartridge. I haven't looked at the cold taps as they seem ok.
I did ask for advice here before but to no avail.
It strikes me that inferior materials are being used.
You need to shop around, there are some rip off merchants about.

"not what they used to be" seems a common complaint on here & elsewhere on so much brassware. Then there's all the other names Vado, Roca, Duravit etc etc - sometimes pretty pricey but are they better? IDK...

 

[Dannyk]

I do wonder what the point of this forum is. Ages ago I asked about tap quality and got no replies.
Someone else asked a similar question recently and still no replies.

 

[Chuck]

I do wonder what the point of this forum is. Ages ago I asked about tap quality and got no replies.
Someone else asked a similar question recently and still no replies.

The question doesn't have a simple answer. Brands get sold, designs and manufacturing methods and materials change quite frequently, usually driven by the need to lower costs. The past, as they say, is not necessarily a guide to the future.

Personally, I stick to established brands that offer a long warranty, sell service kits and spares for old products and have a technical department in Europe contactable by phone / email. And I try to install them in a manner that facilitates replacement / repair if / when it becomes necessary. None of this comes cheap, unfortunately.

 

[Ric2013]

Grohe used to be great 50 years ago. In fact, my dad's flat has a number of Grohe items of this age still in use, though a more recent Grohe replacement only lasted ten years or so before a crack developed in the casting (unless it was leaking from day 1: I noticed, my dad didn't).

But the local plumber in Italy tells me Grohe recently replaced an item under warranty and told the plumber 'this one might break too, you know, it's possible we have a batch of defective castings as yours isn't the only case of this fault but we aren't going to scrap them in case some are all right... let us know if it starts leaking again'. His firm said it failed to see why a company would devalue its own reputation in this way.