On Sun, 23 Apr 2006, Mark and Gloria Hagwood wrote:


A retirement house we built got several brand-new, out of the box, faucets
(one for kitchen, hot & cold levers), several for baths & sinks. The
kitchen unit developed a leak after 1-1/2 years. We could "fix" the leak
by wiggleing the lever arm into some fairly sensitive position! As time
went by, this got more difficult to do.

In an attempt to fix this, a trip to the hardware store showed a large
number of these new and very very complex plastic inserts. None of the
ones at the store matched what I had (and, I was out of warranty, no
manual, no receipt situation).

Another faucet (bathtub, also new) is also leaking. Can't do any wiggling
at all to stop it. Still another faucet is leaking about one drop every
ten minutes.

All of the above are Pfister faucets. (their motto: pforever [I say:
fooey])

Now, in talking with a friend, he tells me he has a new sink faucet only 3
years old and it's leaking. He took his apart, went to the store, got a
new _insert_ and he says guess what, it leaks. Brand new insert! He
returned it for a refund. Then he goes to one of the big box home
improvement places, buys a new faucet, and, guess what, it leaks. I didn't
ask him the brand.

Now, is this coincidence or are the manufacturers making defective
products these days (in addition to all that stuff that breaks down
sometime just after the warranty expires)?

Oh, yes, I did get a new faucet, and it looks like it drips about one drip
per 10-15 minutes (I suppose this is the new technical specification of
what the definition is of "faucet turned off"?).

And, this time I read the warranty, which requires that you save the
coupon, save the original receipt, and something else that makes life
difficult, and you have to send in the parts, too.

This is an interesting thread. Pfister is considered a good, decent faucet,
as is Delta. My recollection is that Pfister has a lifetime warranty and that
you can call them and get any replacement part that has failed. Here is their
forever warranty page:
http://www.pricepfister.com/website/...p_Warranty.asp

A faucet should not leak for years with normal usage. Water pressure might
be a problem. Go to a hardware store and buy a $6 pressure gauge that you
can connect to an outside faucet. I don't like more than 75psi, though some
folks prefer even less.

We had some of the ultra high end Hans Grohe faucets at a second home we
owned and I have to admit that the "feel" of the hardware was nice. However,
there's what's called the 80% rule that applies to about anything in life:
20% of the cost, time or effort will result in 80% of the desired outcome.
The remaining 20% is what runs up the price. In the case of faucets, I still
prefer Delta, even though it's not considered posh. Our present house has
Delta throughout and the main benefit is that when (not if) a drip occurs, I
can go to Home Depot, Lowe's or any plumbing supply store and get a rebuild
kit. Recently, a seldom used tub developed a drip. I went to Lowe's and got
rebuild kits for ALL the tubs and vanitites and even the kitchen sink. Within
a couple hours, I'd replaced the cup washers and spring throughout the house
and am now set for another ten years or so.

Mark


Thanks for your comments. Up to now, I've never had any problems with
faucets of any kind. And, since my friend had identical experience, I was
wondering if this was some new kind of scam going on.