I recently purchased a roman tub faucet online. It was a discontinued
product from a company called westbrass (http://www.westbrass.com),
and as such was pretty inexpensive, but it seemed like the quality
should be good. When I received the product, it seemed quite
respectable.

I had a plumber install the new faucet, because removing the old and
attaching the new would require skills outside of my scope (or
comfort level), such as using a blow-torch to remove some old copper
piping, and basically dealing with non-threaded pipe connections.

That was all fine, I was willing to pay the plumber to get it done
right, and the overall cost was still reasonable. However, a few days
later, and I have noticed that the new faucet drips!!! It doesn't
seem to do it all the time (?!?!), and it seems to be from the hot
water line (determined by alternately shutting off the cold and hot
water lines further upstream). So the problem seems to be in the
valve under the hot water knob.

I'm not sure why the drip is sporadic, but our house is on a well (not
municipal water), and our pressure tank not necessarily up to snuff.
Our water pressure varies from reasonable to low - so maybe the
variance in water pressure has something to do with the sporadic
nature of the drip - like it might be leaking when the pressure is
higher.

Anyway, I figured I could at least take the knob off and do some
poking around - but the plumber somehow managed to strip the tiny
inset hex-head screw that holds the hot water knob in place. I can
remove the screw in the cold water knob, but that doesn't help.

So what should I do now. I'm afraid the plumber will say it's a
defect in the product that he can't fix, after charging me many more $
$ to come back and look at it. If it was something simple, like a
piece of debris caught in there, I could probably fix it myself - if I
could get the damn knob off, and it would really gall me to have to
pay the plumber to do that, especially since I'll be paying for his
travel time as well - and he was the one who stripped the screw. Not
to mention that removing the stripped screw could take him a while.

Please give me some advice.

Also, if you have heard of Westbrass, can you tell me anything about
them? The product I installed is the 2820LB, and can be seen he
http://westbrass.com/discontinued.htm

Thanks.

-J

On Feb 19, 12:34*pm, J wrote:

snip

Anyway, I figured I could at least take the knob off and do some
poking around - but the plumber somehow managed to strip the tiny
inset hex-head screw that holds the hot water knob in place. *I can
remove the screw in the cold water knob, but that doesn't help.

The product seems to rather underdesigned if the assembly depends on a
'tiny' retaining screw. I would give him a pass on that aspect and
have him make the repairs. He will probably drill out the screw and
complete the disassembly./diagnosis and be able to fit a new retaining
screw. Discuss that with him in advance so he can bring the
appropriate tools/parts which will keep the cost down. You might do
well to choose future plumbing products from makers of more robust
hardware, especially Kohler, Moen, and Delta. Being on a well your
water has a good chance of having much more debris in it than a
municipal supply, and that amy be the root of the problem. Good luck.

Joe

snip

On Feb 19, 1:34*pm, J wrote:
I recently purchased a roman tub faucet online. *It was a discontinued
product from a company called westbrass (http://www.westbrass.com),
and as such was pretty inexpensive, but it seemed like the quality
should be good. *When I received the product, it seemed quite
respectable.

I had a plumber install the new faucet, because removing the old and
attaching the new would require *skills outside of my scope (or
comfort level), such as using a blow-torch to remove some old copper
piping, and basically dealing with non-threaded pipe connections.

That was all fine, I was willing to pay the plumber to get it done
right, and the overall cost was still reasonable. *However, a few days
later, and I have noticed that the new faucet drips!!! *It doesn't
seem to do it all the time (?!?!), and it seems to be from the hot
water line (determined by alternately shutting off the cold and hot
water lines further upstream). *So the problem seems to be in the
valve under the hot water knob.

I'm not sure why the drip is sporadic, but our house is on a well (not
municipal water), and our pressure tank not necessarily up to snuff.
Our water pressure varies from reasonable to low - so maybe the
variance in water pressure has something to do with the sporadic
nature of the drip - like it might be leaking when the pressure is
higher.

Anyway, I figured I could at least take the knob off and do some
poking around - but the plumber somehow managed to strip the tiny
inset hex-head screw that holds the hot water knob in place. *I can
remove the screw in the cold water knob, but that doesn't help.

So what should I do now. *I'm afraid the plumber will say it's a
defect in the product that he can't fix, after charging me many more $
$ to come back and look at it. *If it was something simple, like a
piece of debris caught in there, I could probably fix it myself - if I
could get the damn knob off, and it would really gall me to have to
pay the plumber to do that, especially since I'll be paying for his
travel time as well - and he was the one who stripped the screw. *Not
to mention that removing the stripped screw could take him a while.

Please give me some advice.

Also, if you have heard of Westbrass, can you tell me anything about
them? *The product I installed is the 2820LB, and can be seen hehttp://westbrass.com/discontinued.htm

Thanks.

-J

Listen, life is too short to let the plumber get u rilled up. It's his
loss, and u should tell him that in your opinion, its was his fault,
and if he want's your business in the fiture, he should give u a
refund on the second visit. If u get no reply, say by-by, and tell him
u can be sure when my neighbor's ask for a referral, u will not be on
my list, and that shoud do the trick. The money has been paid and i
hope everything is ok now, so shrug it off and be happy, henry penta