Kitchen taps- what’s worth having and what’s just gimmicky?

[GnarlyOldGoatDude]

Our leaking, limescale encrusted kitchen tap is finally so bad it needs replacing. Any ideas of what I should look for? I initially just thought I wanted a basic one, but now quite fancy a pull out hose thing to fill up pans and soak trays and many other uses I’m sure.

Any recommendations would be great! Any brands to look at or avoid?

Our current one has a hot and cold lever either side of an arched tap, and I think I’m after something fairly similar and not too flashy. I think we’d probably avoid a boiling water tap due to having fairly daft children in the house.

Don't bother with the pull outs. They're always knackered.

If you really wanted to push the boat out get a frankie boiling tap that gives you filtered drinking water too

Ah didn't read the last bit.

We have the franke boiling tap and it's practically childproof. You have to push the lever down and then bring it forward all while holding it down to get the boiling water out - we've never had an issue with three kids in the house.

There was a “mumsnet tap” hopefully someone can link for you. I bought it for my utility and it was brilliant. I really wanted a Quooker style filtered and boiling tap and bought a knock off which the safety valve kept breaking. They repeatedly replaced the parts free of charge (we’ve now moved) but if I had my time again and we were staying in the property long term I’d pay for the good one.

Thank you- DH isn’t keen on a boiling tap either. I can see the appeal for instant cups of tea, but I just know that DC (or actually more likely DH) would somehow end up injuring themselves 🙄

Ooh thank you, this sounds good! I do love a MN favourite

Would always go with separate hot and cold levers..if you live in a hard water area don't get a pully one as they can be an absolute pain to clean...

Ah rats, thank you- we are in a very hard water area

We've got a Quooker boiling water tap with a pull out hose which is brilliant. The boiling water is activated completely separately from the hot and cold tap, and if you did manage to turn it on accidentally it is aerated so it shouldn't burn you. The pull out hose is so useful. Ours is single lever which I prefer to separate levers but that is just a matter of preference.

My friend has this one www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/insjoen-kitchen-mixer-tap-w-pull-out-spout-chrome-plated-40428057/ Sadly, out of stock now. The hose is held in place by a washer which is easily replaced and it looks very neat without all the different bars etc. she lives in a hard water area but has had no problems.

I like the style and discrete pullout bit on that one! I think I’d prefer 2 taps (a hot and a cold) though. I hadn’t thought of ikea for taps- thank you

We’ve got this in the utility and to be honest prefer it to the Quooker in the main kitchen sink, which is frequently a PITA.

www.hansgrohe.co.uk/articledetail-logis-m32-2-handle-kitchen-mixer-220-single-spray-mode-71285000

Hansgrohe are generally pretty good and we’ve put them in other basins in most of the house. Taps are one of those things to not go cheap on if you can avoid it, as a decent one will last years and years. When we moved in here the previous owners had put lots of B@Q stuff in the bathrooms and although they were only a few years old they were already looking shoddy and dripping a bit.

We got a pull out one for utility and it’s never pulled out or gone back properly. It needs room underneath to do that. It wasn’t that cheap either.

have a qooker in the kitchen and no one ever been hurt so far….and some fairly dim people using it.

That made me laugh 😂

I like a pull-out - a decreet one, makes cleaning the sink that bit easier and I also like handles that are easy to operate with a wrist to allow you to turn on the tap when your fingers are dirty - so one lever suits me best.

Before any new tap, can you get a water softener installed? In a hard water area it'll save you a lot of money longer term. The pull-out bit wouldn't last very long even if you Viakaled it constantly.

I live in a very hard water area and have spoken to local bathroom firms who won't install a new bathroom if a water softener isn't already in place.

And aren't instant boiling water taps a bad choice environmentally?

We’re having a shower tap in the utility so we can wash the dog but can’t see the point with pans. We also looked at quooker taps but they cost £1k and seem to be fraught with issues after 2 years. I’ve gone for an induction hob with power boost and will get a hob top kettle eventually. Mind you I rarely drink tea so coffee machine was more important for us.

if you want one that will go wrong a lot, get a really gimmicky fashionable one, with a pull-out-nozzle, ceramic discs, and a joystick that you waggle around to mix the temperature and pressure.

If not, not.

Pull outs with a spray button are really worth having for washing up and cleaning the sink. Make sure you have enough room under the sink for the weighted hose.

I have a filtered water tap because that’s important to me. If I’d had room I would have had fizzy water as well but it needs a large tank which wouldn’t quite fit. Boiling water taps don’t thrill me the way they do other people.

Never had any problems with my pull out + filtered water.

@PigletJohn was hoping you’d appear! I’m not fashionable in any aspect of my life 😁

am quite happy having separate hot and cold taps without joysticks. I just thought a pullout might be useful even if I’m not quite sure what for

I probably need to go into a showroom and have a look

Oh blimey, weighted hose?? That sounds complicated!!

the most reliable type of tap is a bibtap or pillar tap with a capstan and rubber washer. I sometimes see them in use at 100 years old, and a new washer and some gland packing is all they need.

you will be lucky if a ceramic tap, or swivel joint, lasts ten, and maintenance is much more expensive.

Not really it’s just a hose with a circular weight on it. It’s the weight that pulls the tap back into its home.

Don’t know who does the washing up in @PigletJohn’s house (no disrespect to him) but that plus a spray button does make a big difference when washing up and washing out the sink.

They’re not new though, my parents had one in the 70s.

We bought this recently. Cheap as chips and it's amazing. I've got this in the utility room and I've just ordered another for the kitchen. It's such good quality, we had Franke ones before and replaced them about 5 times over 15 years!

www.screwfix.com/p/seville-pull-out-spray-mono-mixer-kitchen-tap-chrome/9863p