Kohler 596-CP Kitchen Faucet, Polished Chrome, One Size

Awesome tap, does everything well and smoothly and looks great with the new square sink it sits on. I like the way the spray feature works and it works well, the handle operation is so smooth it's fun to use. Some taps are difficult to figure out how they work but this one is simple -pull the lever towards you for cold and away from you for hot. It's typical Kohler that you get what you pay for but in this case it was a really good deal, would definitely buy it again. Update: had the faucet for 5 years now and there is a major design flaw but it only shows up after constant use. The spray hose developed a leak because of the badly designed counter weight which slides up and down it creating a hole and the “quik connect” broke trying to get the hose off to replace it so now the tap is useless. I would expect a better design from Kohler, would not buy this facet again

This faucet replaced a similarly style Hansgrohe unit that developed a leak somewhere near the valve which ran along the spray hose equaling a mess under the sink. This Kohler build quality and finish is much better than the Hansgrohe. The Kohler uses less hardware than the Hansgrohe which made installation quick and surprisingly the Kohler was sturdier (no flex or wobble) even with using the 3-hole cover plate on our mid-grade stainless sink. The valve is fluid making it easy to adjust temperature and water flow. Additionally, the faucet head locks into either stream or spray mode (the Hansgrohe did not lock into spray mode) plus the water shunting button really works well (great for filling lots of items without getting water on the counter). Another plus is there is a swivel where the hose attaches to the faucet head reducing strain on the hose when filling taller items. Because the install and quality of the Kohler was so nice I decided to order 2 more units to replace the 1980s style faucet in the rec-room basement kitchen and at our lake house. The only knock is the feed hoses felt a bit thin even though they are stainless wrapped, but after they were pressurized they did feel solid and sealed without issue to our the shut-off valves. The spray hose is a black (nylon?) woven material that is extremely lightweight, but works well as the weight attached to the hose allowing for the hose to slide back up and seat properly.

The faucet looks good, and has full metal construction including the ring that holds it in place under the sink. The spray is quite powerful, and the magnetic retraction mechanism works well. The faucet is easy to clean. The problem I faced was that the faucet was not auto-retracting (although the counterweight was placed correctly). It seemed the force applied by the counterweight was just below the threshold to overcome friction. Once I reported it to Kohler, they sent me an additional weight which solved the problem. A second issue was that the hole cover plate that came with the faucet is too wide for my sink. I had to install the faucet as a single hole configuration, with individual hole plugs in the other two holes (about $5 additional cost). I wish the hose was a few more inches longer, although it is not too big an issue. I noticed reviews mentioning leaks in the handle but did not notice any. However, I did notice that if I touch the handle with wet hands, a few drops of water gets onto the handle and slowly drops below, which gives the impression of a leak. My overall impression of this faucet is very positive, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Who knew a faucet could make such a difference?? My husband kept insisting that we replace the faucet that came with our newly built house, because it was always falling into the sink and was kind of ugly, but I'm very much a don't-fix-what-ain't-broke type of gal, plus--the man doesn't do dishes, so I had no idea why he cared. In any case, I ended up buying this because I found an Amazon Warehouse deal that cut out a third of the cost and because, for a man who never complains, my husband complained enough about this for me to do something about it. Well. I'm so glad I went for this. Install was easy (says the husband) and it really makes the kitchen look SO much nicer. The interesting thing about the faucet, too, is the spray function; it doesn't come down in a cylinder shape, but it comes together to form a line of water...making it sort of a pressurized water squeegee. I can't really explain it better than that, but just know it's pretty cool and makes rinsing food nice and easy. All in all, I'm happy, the husband is happy, and he's done dishes twice since we got it. Win-wins all around. I'm pretty sure he was just amused with the spray function, but I take what I can get. Note* To anyone who thinks my husband is as bad as I let on, he's actually a pretty good guy, so I let the dishes slide. As for the trash, now that's another story....

Looks are subjective, but I love this faucet. The lost star is from two things. The first is the hot is toward the right, where every other faucet in our home has the hot toward the left. There was something on the instructions that said not to change this, but I plan on checking with Kohler about this. Second, there's not much mentioned (unless I missed it) on this particular faucet, but it does have Kohler's clean sweep technology, where the spray isn't a round shape, but more like a broom with all the individual streams focusing on a straight line. These are very thin, and therefore more forceful than the 20yo Grohe it replaced. The issue is overspray, as when you shoot a pan or plate, there's almost a cloud of mist. The solution is to pull it down into the sink cavity, but if you leave it on spray and turn the faucet on full without knowing, your surrounding counter will need wiping. Small price to pay for the effectiveness of the spray at blasting off food, in my opinion.