I must be the only one!

My family owned rental property for about 50 years. I grew up learning how to do just about anything that needed to be done on these units. We hired out almost nothing.

Out of all the work I learned, and after all the plumbing I've done in my life, I can say with certainty that I rarely had to change out valve washers more than every 5 years or so. Probably more! And these were well abused fairly low rent units.

So here I am, no longer in the business, just a simple homeowner (Ok we have small "compound" with 9 people and a church we watch over so it's a slightly above average amount of plumbing I still have to do).

I have to say I've never had so much trouble as I have since the ceramic cartridges came out. Seriously, as I said, rubber washers took all of 2 minutes to swap out and worked perfectly. Hard water, soft water, etc, no effect.

My point in this post is that I'm hoping someone will lead me toward a solution. I have to clean or replace cartridges every few months or I get squeaky and stiff valves.

I'd like to hear that one manufacturer is better but I don't have high hopes. I've had to replace the diverter in the kitchen faucet 3 times int eh last 1.5 years.

Can't anybody make quality stuff?

sounds like you have sand/grit in your water.

has there been any utility construction in your area?

having to clean strainers is a indication of trash in your line.
open hose bibs and try to blow out what ever is in there
remove aerators and run the water
do you have old galvanized water lines? rust

find the fire hydrant open it up and let it blow out for about an hour.

dont get caught

frodo said:

sounds like you have sand/grit in your water.

has there been any utility construction in your area?

having to clean strainers is a indication of trash in your line.
open hose bibs and try to blow out what ever is in there
remove aerators and run the water
do you have old galvanized water lines? rust

find the fire hydrant open it up and let it blow out for about an hour.

dont get caught

Click to expand...

New construction (about 10 years), so no old lines.

We don't have hard water and no noticeable sand and grit.

I'd kill for NOS faucets! I hate the cartridges.

Looks like Chicago faucets have rebuildable valves. Pricey but may be worth it.

What brand of faucets do you have? Newer stuff just isn't made like they used to. I like Moen, Price Pfister. & Delta. They have been around for awhile, but even some of their new designs are suspect. Spending a lot of money on a high end faucet is not a guarantee you'll have better longevity either. But almost guaranteed that you will have trouble finding parts for it

I haven't seen one of the newer Price Pfisters that I like, and I am very suspicious of the new Moen kitchen sink cartridges. I don't see why they had to change from the old version, it was relatively durable and generally rebuildable.

I've got Pfister, Moen and Kohler in the house.

The only thing positive I can say about any of them is the Kohler is a bit heavier and Moen is very easy to deal with and offer replacement parts free.

That said, there really is no quality to any of these brands. They are all disposable.

Funny thing is, the old stuff was so simple that there really was very little to break. it took decades to actually wear out a stem, etc. Now wee have the so called simplicity of cartridges, but they are so cheap they don't last.

I remember when the local Salvation Army used to have mountains of junked tubs, sinks and fixtures. Today i found a restoration website that was selling that same old "junk" re-chromed, for upwards of $800 for standard fixtures!

We are a throw away nation now days. We buy the pretty thing not the quality product so they don't even make quality anymore.

I agree...... Disposable.


Then you have the so called high end designer faucets. I have customer with a house full of Watermark faucets. Try finding parts for their pressure balance tub and shower valve. Go to their web site and you get the run around. Well I finally discovered that they are glorified trimmed out Symmons valves. So many parts. Has 2 internal seat that require a special tool to replace and it will do the same thing a Moen Positemp valve can do. The trim is really nice though. Very solid. Don't drop it on your foot . you could loose a toe.

This is depressing.

Anyone have any experience with Chicago faucets?

yes, commercial grade. installed bunch's of em. good faucets

i actually like the HC wrist blades. better than a knob

OK, now what I'd really like to do is eliminate the diverter.

Does anyone make a stand alone side spray? I'm sure I could rig one up, but I'd like to have the faucet and spray be independent.