4-Inch Centerset Bathroom Faucets

Fifty-one centerset bathroom faucets from Moen (20), Delta (8), American Standard (7), Gerber (7), Matco-Norca (6), Elkay, Grohe and Zurn. Thirty-three are two-handle, seventeen single-handle, and one is a cover plate. $28 to $536.

What centerset means, and how to know you need one

A 4-inch centerset faucet fits a sink with three holes drilled 4 inches apart, centre to centre, measured between the two outer holes. The spout and both handles sit on one continuous base plate that covers all three. It is the most common configuration in American bathrooms and it is what almost every builder-grade vanity top is drilled for.

The two alternatives: a single-hole faucet needs one hole and one only, and a widespread faucet uses three holes spread 8 to 16 inches apart with the spout and handles as separate pieces. Count the holes and measure between the outer two before ordering - it is the one measurement that decides everything, and it takes ten seconds.

What people get wrong: the 4 inches is not the width of the faucet, and it is not the distance between the handles you can see. It is hole to hole in the deck.

Single-handle on a centerset deck

Seventeen of these are single-handle faucets built on a 4" base plate - one lever, but still covering the three-hole drilling. Delta's Classic (501-DST, 520-MPU-DST) and Foundations (B501LF, B510LF), Moen's Chateau L64621, American Standard's Colony PRO 7075000 and Reliant 3. This is the answer when you want the look of one handle without redrilling or replacing the vanity top.

Commercial, institutional and ADA handles

Eight faucets here are built for public and institutional restrooms: Moen's M-DURA (8215F12, 8413F12) and M-BITION 8915, Delta's Commercial HDF 501LF-HDF, Zurn's AquaSpec Z81104-XL-3M with a vandal-resistant pressure-compensating aerator, Elkay's LK402T4, and American Standard's Monterrey 5500170 and 7500180.

The giveaway is the handle. Wrist blade and long lever handles exist because the accessibility standard requires a faucet that can be operated without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist, with no more than five pounds of force. A round knob fails that on its face; a four-inch wrist blade passes, because a forearm or a closed fist will turn it. If you are specifying for a school, clinic or public building, that is the detail the inspector looks at.

Flow rate

Four faucets here run 0.5 gpm, which is the public-restroom standard - low enough that a running tap wastes very little, and paired with laminar flow on the American Standard Monterrey 7500180 so the stream does not aerosolise. Eight run 1.2 gpm, now the common residential specification and below the WaterSense threshold. Three run 1.5 gpm, the federal maximum for a lavatory faucet. For a home bathroom, 1.2 gpm is the sensible default; 0.5 gpm in a residence will feel starved.

Check whether the drain is included

Twelve of these ship with a drain assembly - Gerber's touch-down and 50/50 pop-up drains, Moen's metal pop-up on the Brantford and Gibson. The rest do not. That is worth ten or twenty dollars and a second order, so compare on the whole package rather than the faucet price. The Gerber DA667229BN cover plate is the other side of the same question: it lets a single-hole faucet sit on a three-hole sink, which is how you go the other direction without a new top.

Related

See also single-hole faucets, widespread faucets, pull-out kitchen faucets and faucet parts and accessories. For the sink underneath, drop-in and undermount bathroom sinks; for what feeds it, the angle stops and supply lines. Everything else is in the bathroom department.