Known for its handcrafted faucets featuring beautiful Italian designs, California Faucets is a formidable contender in the industry. The company is somewhat of an outlier, opting to assemble its faucets domestically to order and hand-finish each piece for sale.
But are its offerings actually any good? This article explores California Faucets and their faucets, where they’re made, and if they’re any good, so continue reading to learn more!
About California Faucets
The origin of California Faucets dates back to 1988 when Fred Silverstein founded the company. His goal was to offer quality, customizable products that were manufactured locally in a timely manner and provide exceptional customer service.
The company started as a small mom-and-pop shop, eventually expanding as its customer base grew. Today, the company remains an independently-owned faucet operating under the family’s leadership. It continues to provide innovative craftsmanship and top-tier customer service.
Product Lineup
While many conglomerates in the faucet industry have branched into other industries, California Faucets remains focused on the plumbing industry. Its lineup features various kitchen and bathroom products, including:
- Bathroom faucets
- Tub fillers
- Shower systems
- Decorative drains
- Bathroom accessories and hardware
- Bathroom parts
- Kitchen faucets
- Water dispensers
- Pot fillers
- Air gaps
- Disposal switches
- Soap dispensers
- Appliance pulls
Where Can You Buy California Faucets?
Although California Faucets has a website where you can view its products, they’re not available for sale directly through the site. Instead, customers wishing to buy its wares must look elsewhere. The company has various showrooms located throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, where customers can browse in person.
However, its products are also available through a select few websites, including Build.com, DecorPlanet.com, QualityBath.com, and George’s Kitchen and Bath.
Where Are California Faucets Made?
On California Faucets’ website, the company proudly boasts its handcrafted products. It states that it handcrafts its faucets one at a time in its Huntington Beach, California, factory. While this is true, it’s essential to make the distinction between assembly and actually making each piece of the faucet.
In reality, the company uses premade components, which it imports from countries around the world, including Germany, Italy, Hungary, Taiwan, and China. These premade components arrive at the factory, where they’re sorted into sections.
When the company gets an order, the team hand-picks each item necessary to assemble the faucet and sends it through the assembly line. They hand-finish the faucet in their factory, sandblasting and dipping each piece to create the finished product.
So, while the company technically finishes and assembles the faucets domestically, the faucets aren’t actually made in their Huntington Beach factory.
Who Makes Them?
While the team at California Faucets finishes and assembles each faucet to order, the products use premade components from various factories. It purchases various components from suppliers all around the globe, with several suppliers scattered throughout multiple countries.
Are California Faucets Products Any Good?
The stunning designs of the faucets from California Faucets are tempting, but the steep costs might make you think twice. So, before you fork over hundreds of dollars for one of these faucets, you might be wondering if they’re any good. Let’s find out!
Quality
The products in California Faucets’ lineup appear to be of good quality. The brand uses high-quality materials and components from various well-respected manufacturers worldwide, including top-of-the-line ceramic cartridges and durable brass base materials.
Several reviewers of faucets from this company mention satisfaction with product quality, further attesting to the well-built construction of these faucets.
Design
The faucets from this company are beautifully designed, featuring sleek, modern appearances that will complement nearly any space. They offer a seamless blend of luxurious Italian designs with American craftsmanship to create an array of visually stunning pieces.
However, the company’s offerings primarily focus on modern designs, so if you prefer transitional or traditional styles, you might not find them in this lineup.
California Faucets offers over 25 decorative finishes, with options including burnished brass, graphite, satin gold, and matte black.
Pricing
Faucets from California Faucets’ lineup are far from cheap. Most of its bathroom faucets start at about $700 and climb well over $1,000, whereas its kitchen faucets begin at around $1,100 and skyrocket from there.
The price isn’t surprising, given the handcrafted finishing process, domestic assembly, and high-quality components. However, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly option, you’re unlikely to find it here.
Technology
Touch-on, touchless, and voice-activated faucets are all the rage these days, capturing the spotlight and enticing thousands of customers with the ultimate, convenient user experience. However, while many brands offer at least a few models, California Faucets doesn’t currently have any in its lineup.
Of course, this could change, as the brand may branch out into these options in the future. For the time being, however, touch-on, touchless, and voice-activated models aren’t an option in this lineup.
Warranty
California Faucets products come with a solid warranty that extends for as long as the original consumer owns the product and resides in the home where it was initially installed. It covers the usual things, including parts that are defective in material or workmanship under normal installation, use, and service.
However, it’s important to note that this warranty only applies to products purchased through authorized dealers. Any products purchased from unauthorized dealers, including eBay, Amazon, and Walmart, do not come with this warranty.
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews on California Faucets products are few and far between. Of the handful we saw, the vast majority were positive. Happy customers raved over these faucets’ design, quality, and construction.
However, the few negative reviews cited issues with the finish after only a few years of use. Since feedback varies based on the product, we recommend sifting through any available reviews before purchasing the product.
Customer Service
Given the limited number of customer reviews, we weren’t surprised not to see responses from the company’s customer service team. While responses to negative feedback are common with larger brands, like Moen or Kohler, numerous reviews are usually necessary to garner these responses.
The company prides itself on customer service, which customers can reach in a couple of ways:
- By phone: (800) 822-8855
- By email: info@calfaucets.com
- Online: Contact form
Thanks for your summary.
I have 2 kitchen faucets 3 yrs old, had to replace cartridge in both. Water runs after I’ve shut the faucet off.
Just put in all California products in new bathroom. The heads all leak when I turn water off. I would not invest in California products again.
Beautiful to look at but not great to use.