If you are looking for sinks, faucets, bathtubs, toilets, and anything else that you might use to build the bathroom of your dreams, you are probably focusing on a couple of specific brands. Two of the most popular brands include Glacier Bay and American Standard.
So, which of the two, if either, should you choose?
A Brief History of Glacier Bay and American Standard
First off, we have Glacier Bay, which is an American brand name exclusively sold by The Home Depot. The Home Depot is of course one of the largest home improvement chains in the USA at this time. The Home Depot created the Glacier Bay as its house brand of plumbing products, such as toilets, sinks, faucets, and more.
Unfortunately, there is very limited information available online about the Glacier Bay brand. Yes, this is an American brand, one owned by the Home Depot, yet exactly when this brand was created is not clear in the least. What we do know is that several other companies and brands owned by or associated with The Home Depot have influenced the manufacturing, style, and design of Glacier Bay products.
Due to the fact that Glacier Bay products are sold exclusively at The Home Depot, you can expect the prices to be low and the selection to be somewhat limited. It’s definitely not a large brand and its footprint is somewhat limited.
On the other hand, we have American Standard, which is officially known as American Standard Brands. It is a North American company. This is a company that produces and retails all sorts of plumbing fixtures, both for the bathroom and the kitchen. At this time, American Standard is based in New Jersey in the United States.
In the beginning, the company started out as the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company, all the way back in 1875, making it one of the oldest plumbing fixture companies in the country. In 1899, the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company made a merger with various other plumbing fixture companies to create the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company.
By 1929, Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company had become the world’s largest producer of bathroom fixtures. Also in 1929, the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company merged with the Standard Sanitary Corporation, at which time it began going by today’s name, American Standard.
In 2008, American Standard, Crane Plumbing, and Eljer merged together to create the company that we know today.
Right now, the Japanese Lixil Group is the parent company that owns American Standard. American Standard, at this time, has roughly 15,000 employees with estimated annual revenues of roughly 2 billion dollars.
Glacier Bay vs. American Standard: Which Offers Better Quality?
In terms of product quality, when it comes to Glacier Bay, this brand that is sold exclusively at The Home Depot, is known for being a super affordable and entry-level or low-end brand. This is a brand that markets itself mainly to home renovators, DIYers, and other such people.
The brand is generally seen as being ideal for affordable renovations and construction, and for this reason, is often used in both commercial and residential applications. The very low prices of Glacier Bay products are something that many people love, particularly those working on a tight budget.
Seeing as the prices of Glacier Bay products are very low, one would expect the quality to be equally as low, but this is actually not the case. While Glacier Bay products are by no means considered top of the line, there are indeed worse out there, and considering the low price which they all come in at, the decent level of quality they feature is actually somewhat surprising.
Although information on Glacier Bay products is limited, particularly in terms of where they are made, we do know that many of their products, particularly faucets and sinks, are manufactured in China, Taiwan, and Israel.
When it comes to American Standard, the reviews are a bit mixed. For some reason, although it appears that the quality of American Standard toilets, sinks, faucets, and more, is quite acceptable, even fairly high, for one reason or another, some people have complaints. Some people give this brand and its product great reviews, as high as 9 out of 10, while others give it a score as low as 3 out of 10.
That said, what seems to make a big difference is installation. People who have American Standard products seem to be much happier with them when they are professionally installed, as opposed to being installed in a DIY manner. Although American Standard products are designed in the USA, they are made in China and Mexico, as well as South Korea.
As you can see, both brands feature decent entry-level products at very low prices.
Which Offers a Better Warranty?
From what we can tell, The Home Depot offers a limited lifetime warranty on its Glacier Bay products.
The warranties offered by American Standard appear to be quite good. Cartridges feature lifetime warranties, finishes have lifetime warranties, and mechanical parts have lifetime warranties too.
As it appears, Glacier Bay does have better warranties, though.
Glacier Bay vs. American Standard: Which Has a Better Product Portfolio?
From what we can tell, Glacier Bay does not appear to be a huge brand, and its selection of products is therefore somewhat limited. As it appears, American Standard does seem to have a far larger selection of products, both for the kitchen and bathroom.
Which Brand Offers a Better Selection of Toilets?
The selection of Glacier Bay toilets on the Home Depot site is a bit limited, whereas American Standard has literally hundreds to choose from.
Which Brand Offers a Better Selection of Faucets?
Although Glacier Bay does have a good number of both kitchen and bathroom faucets to choose from, at least a few dozen, American Standard still has many times more.
Which of the Two Brands Should You Choose?
The real difference between these two brands has to do with their selection.
Both brands make entry- to mid-level products at low prices, with the biggest difference being that American Standard just has many more products to offer.
Summary
The bottom line is that if you need decent plumbing fixtures for the kitchen or bathroom, at very low prices, then both of these brands are good options to keep in mind.