After visiting a number of salesrooms with obscenely lolling faucet-sprays, I decided I couldn't bear them. Yes, I know that it's a problem with a counterweight that can be overcome, but if it's not workin' this is an ugly product.

Visit a busy showroom late in day on Saturday after being manipulated by everybody and his brother. There's one Menard's brand in particular which does not retract well, a cheap company. Really awful. But I saw same problem at Ikea and elsewhere, perhaps somewhat less obscene.

We bought a separate spray unit. As a right-handed person, I would suggest putting it to left of faucet so you can turn on spray with right while lifting the left.

The weight is a constant weight, so it's permanent and you have to deal with it as a permanent resistance. The/ Jaclo / Steam Valve Original / Hormbeam Ivy / pull-off which rests in a rounded channel is a solution to this, as is also the slinky spring on some Grohe spray hoses. They are both a lot more ergonomic in my view. Many showrooms don't have the slinky springs installed well...

I agree with the assessment that these hose thingies hanging down and dangling look obscene. The more you think about it, the more you realize that there are also possibly obscene notions with the sleeve it slides into, a tube hole opening. My solution so far this year is to keep looking. I hope to find a shelfmount faucet that I like.

I would not get a faucet with a side sprayer (sorry Florantha). Side sprayers do not have as good pressure as a faucet with integrated sprayer, you need to keep holding down the handle of a side sprayer to keep it on, you have one more hole to cut in your counter and to clean around, and side sprayers have more repairs in the long run.

For a pull-down faucet, try to find one with a magnet inside, which keeps the faucet from dangling. Pull-out faucets tend not to have the dangling problem since they are more horizontal, and not fighting gravity.

There are pros and cons to both pull-outs and pull-down faucets, so it really depends on your preferences (faucet reach, appearance, cabinets above sink or not, size of sink, decor of your kitchen, among other things). There's no "correct" choice. The best thing you can do is to go to a kitchen showroom that has a lot of them on display, preferably a number of them actually connected to water. Handle them to see which you like.

I am linking an older thread which goes through the pros and cons of pull-down vs. pull-out faucets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Pull-down or Pull-out Faucet

Davidro - the Freudian implications of integrated spray faucets had never occurred to me, nor I bet to the millions of people who use them. Aw CMON NOW! Really, a faucet is...just a faucet.

I've had pull down & pullout faucets for over 13 years...I've never had a problem with them. They've always retracted and locked into place w/o any problems.

I've had Kohler (current...2+ years), Price Pfister (4 or 5 years and now 2+ years at my brother's, changed out with remodel), and a brand I can't remember now for 6 or 7 years (changed out b/c I wanted a different style & color to match new kitchen hardware).

We have a pull-down since April. I absolutely love it. I was worried about it not retracting securely so we chose a Delta that has a magnetic dock. So far, so good.

Thanks for your comments and the old post on pulldown vs pullouts. Lots to think about. And my DH loves to cook so we'll have to go try some out and hope we agree.

I've had my pulldown Delta with the magnetic dock installed since August. It's a pleasure to use and always sits properly in its place.

Helene

I stand corrected.

The problem with going to Big Box stores and looking at faucets like this is that they are NEVER installed correctly. At HD and Lowes, they cut off the hose and basically staple it down under the display. Hence there is no retraction force AT ALL to hold the spray head in place. I have a Price Pfister with a stainless hose and counter weight that always retracts cleanly. If I had paid attention to how it was displayed in the store (hanging about 1/2 inch below the rest of the faucet), I would never have bought it.

We've had our pull down sprayer for over 5 years and have not had a problem at all. I can't remember the brand because my husband purchased it. We love it so much we are keeping it after the remodel. I pull it out to rinse around the sink and my husband pulls it way out to fill the coffeee maker.

We have the side sprayer and really like it.

We like the extra copper look it adds to the sink and surround---to me, would look kinda bare with just a faucett there---all our switch plates, the plates around the electrical outlets as well as the light above the sink are all antique copper which matches the faucet and it's side sprayer--no biggie to clean around it.

We hand wash the dishes most of the time, so you just push the lever on the sprayer, rinse the dish, let go the lever, do next dish --so on & so on. If we had a faucet sprayer we would probably leave the water on till we finished all the dishes as a pita to reach over and turn the faucet off after each dish???

Being right handed, there is no way I would want that sprayer on the left side of the sink, I am REALLY righthanded (wife too) so we don't dont grab a lot with our "Lefty".

We've had the side sprayer for 5 years now, and no problems.

As they say, "Different Strokes for Different Folks", (Just our take on side sprayers and why we like ours)

Gary

We have been given the option to accepting a replacement for our Delta faucet (3 holes) with one that I don't particularly care for or a discount on another (this is a warranty consideration). We have a side sprayer (which is one of the warranty issues as it is leaking where the head meets the hose and we have spotted water in the tray we have placed under the sink because we were worried about this). Here is my husband's concern about the fixture I would like to choose. The one I like is a single head, pull down and I understand that we would of course need the piece that covers the extra hole. This is ok with me. He is sure that the hose on the pull down will get all gooped up and that water will leak below the sink. (like the side sprayer can when it gets wet and water drips below the faucet), Can anyone shed light on how these fixtures are designed and whether they have a way of keeping water from traveling along the hose and drip under the sink?

I can only speak for myself. I had a side sprayer on my previous sink and it was a very cheap plastic hose and it leaked, probably within two years of it installation although it took me a little longer to figure it out-it sounds like from the same position-and then the water would flow down the hose into the cabinet below.

The pulldown faucet that I currently have does not seem like it will leak. It's of much sturdier stuff, some kind of a metal braid. It is a pulldown and I really like the functionality of the added height and of the sprayer. I would definitely want a sprayer on the kitchen faucet.

I don't know what state you are in but in California you would be in for a little bit of a surprise because the older faucets had a higher number of gallons per minute the newer faucets are much lower/slower.

One of my "it's nice projects" -but I haven't gotten there yet is- is to install a large pullout tray under the kitchen sink the tray will make it easier to get to all of the stuff that normally hides way at the back under the faucet and the tray should hold any leaking water. You may want to consider that project too.