Dura Faucet Stays Ahead of Design Trends

Dura Faucet’s website proclaims the company eats, breathes and sleeps RV faucets. In an interview with Darrell Higgins, general manager for Dura Faucet, it appears this isn’t an exaggeration.

Not only does the Camas, Washington-based company offer faucets to individual RV owners through aftermarket distributors and RV dealers, but it also supplies faucets to RV manufacturers. Its faucets can be found in RVs from Jayco to Grand Design and Keystone RV.

Though Higgins has been with the company for almost 20 years, he says Dura Faucet actually has a much longer history.

“We have been in the plumbing industry for over 25 years,” Higgins says. “And the founder of our company has over 40 years of experience in the residential plumbing industry. So, we have always had our hands in the plumbing industry in one way or another.”

Not only that, but Dura Faucet focuses on faucets and only faucets, he adds.

“We only do faucets, and we’ve been doing faucets for a long time,” he says. “A lot of other competitors offer great products, but they focus on other products, too. Our total focus on faucets is one thing that really sets us apart. Because we’re also in the residential market, we are always on the frontlines of new trends in fixtures.”

Designed for RVs

A key consumer complaint in the RV industry has long been that RVers want their faucets to look like the ones in their homes. But all too often, Higgins says, they look anything but.

Even when they look the same, he says, underneath the RV sink they are very different. Designed to fit with RV plumbing, they often have flexible hose connections versus actual pipes. In contrast, a residential faucet has metal, threaded connectors that enable it to connect to threaded metal pipes and hoses. To use these faucets in an RV, he says adapters are usually required.

Dura Faucet has discovered it’s far easier to take residential designs and make them RV-ready from the get-go. To keep up with the latest, the company has its designers visit with residential faucet designers and attend home building shows to understand emerging design trends and finishes.

“We try to understand the trends and then develop faucets that incorporate these design trends for the RV industry,” he says. “A decade ago, the RV industry was always two or three years behind the residential market. Today, RVers expect to see residential trends in RVs immediately. The gap has narrowed to less than 12 months. Customers and designers are pushing to change to new finishes more quickly.”

Dura Faucet meets this need by working with product managers and designers from RV manufacturers to facilitate faucet updates.

“We are in constant conversation with them to find out what they are looking for and to bring our research on designs and finishes to them,” he says.

Trends in Finishes

Finishes are an area that is ever-changing, according to Higgins, who notes rubbed bronze and matte black finishes are moving aside as polished nickel, brass and gold finishes make a comeback.

“The finishes are all over the map. We are seeing two-tone, matte black with gold and different shades of gold, from true gold to rose gold,” he adds.

One shift coming from the residential market is the popularity of mixed metals. Where once upon a time, mixing different metals together was a faux pas, now consumers want faucets in duotones. A gold faucet with silver handles or a matte black faucet with accents of gold are becoming popular, he says, as are high-shine gold metals versus the matte finishes.

Design Details Abound

Today’s faucet designs focus on practicality and integrated design. Consumers also seek a sleek faucet with a customizable finish; one that functions as intended but offers a unique look, Higgins says.

RVers want professional pull-out faucets and models with a high spout and spray faucets with several modes,
he adds.

“They want unique handles and different spray heads,” he says. “They want a faucet that’s very current but then developed into a design that’s a little more unique. That way, when the customer walks into the unit, they see something different instead of seeing the same thing over and over as they walk up and down the dealer’s lot. Every RV does not have the same faucet anymore.”

Dura Faucet introduces new designs every year to dealer partners and at distributor shows to fill these unique needs. “We always try to innovate and bring out new designs,” he says.

The Inner Workings

Dura Faucet’s attention to residential details extends to the inside of the faucet as well, adds Higgins.

“All of our faucets are true residential-grade fixtures,” Higgins says. “You could even use our RV faucets in your home. I have five kids, so there are seven of us in our home. I often change out our faucets to test Dura Faucet’s new products. They always hold up. Many of our customers ask for our faucets for their homes, too.”

The company tests every faucet before it’s installed in an RV or shipped to a distributor, and backs all products with a lifetime warranty.

Dura Faucet warrants its RV faucets to be leak- and drip-free during normal use for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns the faucet. If the faucet should leak or drip during normal use, Dura Faucet will, free of charge, mail the cartridge necessary to return the faucet to good working condition.

Dura Faucet also warrants all other aspects of the faucet or accessories to be free of defects in material and workmanship during normal usage in an RV for as long as the original consumer purchaser owns the Dura Faucet. However, faucets with plated metal and plated plastic finishes are warranted for one year.

If a fixture fails, all a customer has to do is contact Dura Faucet’s customer service team through the company’s online contact form or via email to customerservice@durafaucet.com.

For warranty claims, the company requires all pertinent information regarding the claim, including a complete description of the problem, the product, model number, color, finish, the date the product was purchased and from whom. It also requires the original invoice. Then Dura Faucet will either send a needed part or a new faucet.

“We do all this free of charge to make sure they are happy and taken care of,” he says.

Though consumers can replace the faucets themselves, those who are not as tech savvy may want to have the dealership install their replacement faucet, he adds.

“They need to have a little bit of knowledge on how to install a faucet, though we send them directions on how to do it,” he says. “Some customers prefer to install the faucets themselves, while others just let the dealer take care of it.”