Our house is around 20 years old now, and that means a lot of the original fixtures are in need of repairs and even replacement. We did the roof last summer, and I’m pretty sure we’ll need to replace the furnace this fall. Sigh.
Recently, we noticed the original bathroom faucets starting to fail. First the pop-up drains broke off, then the faucets started to leak, and then one of them just stopped working. No water at all. Now I suppose we could replace the cartridge and the drain rod, but honestly the faucets that came with the house just aren’t that attractive.
Dated-looking is putting it kindly. To me this was an opportunity to update the faucet with something more modern.
It’s not just how they look though. Older faucets use more water, and that means wasted water as well as a higher water bill. I’ve been wanting to replace all our faucets with modern water saving fixtures like the EPA WaterSense certified faucets made by American Standard because they limit the water flow to a maximum of 1.5 gallons (5.7 litres) per minute.
When they heard we were in the market for a new faucet, American Standard kindly sent us one of their WaterSense faucets with their unique Speed Connect pop-up drain to replace our old, broken, and wasteful fixture. We received this Fluent Centreset Faucet in chrome.
So last weekend we pulled out the old faucet and the broken drain. If you’ve never done this before, don’t forget to turn off the water first, and expect it to be really gross in there. Make sure you’ve got a bucket, rags, and some paper towels on hand for the worst of the gunk.
Once the old parts are out, you can start putting in the shiny new faucet. Like any pop-up drain, the assembly goes in the drain hole and then you screw on the drain flange to secure it.
But here’s where things can go one of two ways. On a typical faucet the pop-up drain assembly consists of the drain itself and a pivot ball rod that you install on the side of the drain with a ball washer and a pivot nut. The pivot ball rod then has to be adjusted and clipped to a separate extension rod attached to the lift rod (the part you pull to open and close the drain). If it sounds confusing, that’s because it kind of is.
In comparison, our American Standard Speed Connect faucet had only 4 parts (compared to the typical 14), so it took noticeably less time to install the drain. All hubby had to do was screw the faucet’s cable connector into the side. The entire installation of the faucet and the drain took about 20 minutes from start to finish and required a flat head screwdriver and adjustable wrench.
Images courtesy of American Standard.
In real life terms, the Speed Connect feature meant a quicker install and less time lying under the sink with the edge of the cupboard digging into hubby’s back.
And here’s the final result!
I’m really happy with our new faucet! It looks elegant, it’s easier to clean without that recessed edge under the spout, and the handles are so much more child-friendly. With this new faucet, Kay can now turn the water on and off independently. She’s so proud of herself, and it’s definitely a bonus for me that I don’t have to drop everything to turn the water on for her every time she has to wash her hands.
The Fluent Centreset Faucet comes in chrome, satin nickel, and rubbed bronze finishes to match any bathroom decor. Available at Amazon, Home Depot, and other home improvement stores.
Win a WaterSense Certified Faucet!
Are you planning to update your washroom too? I’m excited to be able to offer one of my readers their own WaterSense certified American Standard faucet! The winner can choose one of these four models (retail value ranges from $239 to $425 CAD):
- Town Square Monoblock Faucet
- Times Square Monoblock Faucet
- Fluent Monoblock Faucet
- Fluent Centreset Faucet
Enter in the giveaway widget below. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All entries will be verified.
Click here to check out my other open giveaways on my GIVEAWAY PAGE!
Disclosure: I received a sample item for review. All opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ. This post contains affiliate links. This West Coast Mommy is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I will receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, at no additional cost to you. This income helps pay for the operating costs of my website – thank you for your support!
I have a rain barrel so I only use that for watering plants.
Nothing eco-friendly in our home. We will be replacing faucets soon (the ones we have look even more dated than yours, even though our home is newer). I do try to turn off the water in the shower when I’m lathering and turn it back on to rinse as a way to save water.
We have lo flush toilets and water saver shower heads!
Eco-friendly changes we’ve made in our home to save water and energy are new Kitchen water saving faucet and we save rain water for plants and garden.
I get the kids to turn off the tap when they are brushing their teeth to help save water 🙂
We have installed new bathroom faucets and are planning on installing an on demand water tank.
We have an energy saving washing machine now, a new toilet that does not use as much water when flushing and an energy saving shower head
We have lo-flush toilets, and a water saving washing machine.
We have water saving toilets and appliances. We use eco friendly bulbs, turn things off when not in use, and take showers instead of baths.
We lived on a very shallow well years ago with 8 people.Water conservation takes on a whole different meaning.The if it’s yellow leave it mellow,the whole nine yards.Since then I never leave the tap running when brushing my teeth.I heat up water in a kettle and add to wash water.I water my planters by watering bucket.
We have a low flush toilet and a water saver on the shower.
We have a newer home so we have low-flow toilets already installed. We installed water savers on the shower heads & we have taught the kids to always turn off the tap when they are soaping up their hands or brushing their teeth!
I’d love to win this for my in-laws who need to update their bathroom. Thanks for the chance to win!
We have low flow in our shower.
We have the new long lasting light bulbs, we recycle and we are replacing all our taps with new, water saving ones.
Many changes are hard to implement in an apartment, but we don’t shower every day. We don’t flush the toilet every time we use it. We also have a bucket that we use for grey water that gets used for flushing the toilet. We avoid leaving lights and electronics on when we’re not using them.
we have been taking shorter showers (5 mins) for years now and do not worry about watering our lawn
Instead of using the dryer to dry clothes we hang it outside to dry to save and be more eco-friendly
We use low flow and high efficiency appliances. We have a rain barrel in the backyard as well.
We use eco light bulbs and energy saving appliances.
Turn off lights when leaving rooms. Only run the dishwasher when it’s full. Use cold water in the washing machine.
We have low flush toilets, water saver shower heads, a rain barrel for watering the flowers, turn the water off when brushing our teeth & washing our face.
We have water saving toilets, energy efficient appliances and a low flow shower.
Well for me its trying to save money by practical uses. (I have no income for a bit so have to be really careful) I have had a water barrel out for years now, AND we had three days of rain PLUS today it rained a bit so I am using that for my shrubs and flowers, and no hose!
All of my light bulbs in the entire house have been replaced with energy efficient bulbs
I have a rain barrel to water my plants and we’ve recently changed the shower heads to water saving brands.
To save water in our home we have a low flush toilet, and I use the quick setting on my washer so it doesn’t use as much water, and keep the water off while brushing our teeth!!
We just put in a new water filter.
we have low flush toilets water saver taps on all sinks and shower heads
eco-friendly changes we’ve made in our home to save water and energy are : energy efficient bulbs water saver shower heads, low flush toilets and we just replace our 24 year old stove.
We’ve installed low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets.
We have water saver shower heads in our showers and we limit how long our showers are
We replaced the shower fawcett and kitchen fawcett
I have installed efficient shower heads and am mindful of water use.
We have low flow shower heads and toilets. We do laundry in cold water and at night only to keep our electricity bills down.
I use the eco setting on my wash machine.
We stopped buying bottled water and got a filter put on the house.
we bought an energy saving shower head and new toilet that uses less water. we really could use a new faucet, thanks for the chance!
I have a low-flush toilet, energy saving appliances and low energy light bulbs. I take short showers instead of taking a bath and we have all new faucets.
We’ve made quite a few changes over the last five years to reduce our consumption of energy and water; installed energy-efficient light bulbs, replaced all our toilets with low flush models, usage of water barrels, etc. We also just installed solar panels on our vacation cabin so we are completely off the grid now… It’s all kind of cool!
I use the water collected in my dehumidifier to water plants.
We have low flow toilets and we have wrapped our water pipes with insulation. We have replaced all of our light bulbs with eco friendly ones.
We installed a better kitchen faucet that no longer leaks, and we have an HE washer and dryer. We moved in a year ago, so we still have some plans. We need to replace our basement bathroom’s faucet because it leaks, and we are going to replace our aging hot water tank with a tankless water heater! Those will be near-future projects.
We changed one of our toilets for a water saver one when we renovated our main bath. We plan to continue as we have the funds to do so.
We changed our toilets and bathroom faucets
Years ago we changed all of the light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs and also bought a new efficient front loading washing mating
We replaced our old toilet with a water-efficient low flush model.
we wash our clothes in cold water
We have installed newer low flow toilets in our home and that really helps to save water, energy and money!
Recycling more and using less electricity .
I have made more of an eco friendly approach by Recycling more and using less electricity