Glacier Bay Builders Chrome Bath Faucet 425 620 Written by Elizabeth Lowry
When the relentless drip…drippp…drip of our bathroom faucet finally threatened to drive us crazy, we went to Home Depot in search of a replacement. At the sales representative’s recommendation, we picked up an eight inch chrome bath faucet manufactured by Home Depot’s own brand: Glacier Bay. At $78.00 the Glacier Bay Builders Bath Faucet seemed reasonably priced and the representative claimed that previous customers had been very satisfied with it. However, after installing the new faucet, we were disappointed to find that the drip problem had not been resolved.
Nevertheless, we did find some pros: the necessary tools for assembly are made clear on the Glacier Bay box, which we appreciated. Provided you have these tools (pipe tape, an adjustable wrench, plumber’s putty, groove joint pliers, and a screwdriver) the faucet is reasonably straightforward to install. We found the faucet itself to be quite nice-looking with an attractive chrome finish and two smoothly curved handles that turned without squeaking. Further, as desert-dwelling consumers who attempt to be environmentally conscious, we liked the fact that the Glacier Bay Builders bath faucet is (apparently) a “Water Sense” product, meaning that it meets the EPA criteria for conserving water. The Glacier Bay Builders Bath Faucet manual also highlights a “drip-free ceramic disc cartridge” which (needless to say) did not seem to work despite the fact that we were meticulous in following the instructions for its use.
When we returned the dysfunctional faucet a (different) Home Depot sales representative assured us that our drip problem must have been a fluke since Glacier Bay products were usually so reliable. He talked us into getting a replacement for the exact same model—the 475 620 chrome Builder’s Bath Faucet. However, upon installing this second replacement faucet, we were dismayed to discover that the new faucet dripped just as much as its predecessor. When we called Home Depot, the representative we spoke with told us that the faucet dripped because the sink’s water pressure was turned up too high. However, when we turned the water pressure down, the problem persisted. While there are not many online reviews of this particular faucet, customer feedback on both Amazon and Google Products revealed that others had contended with similar issues; leaky and/or dripping faucets.
So it looks like we will be returning this one—just as we did the one before it—and we will not be buying Glacier Bay products again. Although some consumers have had positive experiences with Glacier Bay, we don’t believe that the $78.00 price tag is worth the gamble.