Plumbing entertainments

[delcrossv]

As life goes on , one of my MIL's tenants called to complain that he's getting (almost) no hot water from his tub spigot. Go over there and remove the hot cartridge and flow is fine from the input. Seems the faucet is clogged with scale etc. (it's probably been in there since the 60's) So for that one, I fortunately can get an exact replacement 2 handle Chicago Faucets 449-950. Not to bad at about 250 wholesale(whole kit incl spigot and showerhead). I'm going to go in from the back (bedroom wall) as the tub has been fairly recently tiled.

Next is the house- bought the house in '97 with a craptastic Moen kit (both sink and shower)installed by the previous owners- and of course both leak around the stem. Tried to pull the cartridge on the shower and, of course, it's frozen- It's MOEN!. I'm (eventually) going to do a full re-do on the bathroom so I'm getting a SymmonsTemptrol (balancing , non thermostatic) which should go in without too much hassle. Valve body alone is 100 without the trim. But man, the trim kit is pricey (getting the whole trim kit, even though I'm not going to use it all yet). When I get around to the refurb, I'll re-use the valve and install the rest of the trim.
I haven't had to buy top grade fittings in a while and while they're great products, they are not cheap.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I guess it's time to stop Moen-ing.

 

[Oracle]

Every time I get involved with plumbing it is five trips to Home Depot or Lowes and dealing with the kid who thinks a compression fitting is something put in a spark plug hole while a buddy cranks the engine.

 

[kenjen]

I have spent a lot of money on ''top of line '' spigots (Monen, Peerless, Price-fista, ect.) and the one that gave me the least headaches were the cheap Daltas, parts are easier to get.

 

[bigwheelzip]

We had just spent months fixing up a rental house to sell, which to that point included 4300 bucks in plumber's bills, when the 2nd floor tennant had a clog.
Plumber can't unstop it without cutting pipes in the basement which are behind a new sheetrock ceiling.
Knowing the plumber is sloppy, I completely tarp the new rug in the basement.
He cuts out the elbow to the waste riser from the 2nd floor, then calls me over to show me the riser is solidly clogged. Then, while standing directly under the clog, he reaches up and pokes through the clog with a long screwdriver.
Gravity being what it is, the clog lets go explosively, right on top of him. Ewwww! I felt so bad for him, but very glad for the tarp.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[quikdraw67]

Being in the wholesale business for 30 years. I can say Moen is garbage IMHO.

Poor handle cam system in their single handle kitchen faucets.

And the infamous cartridge. Royal pain to remove.

Delta is ok. Just make sure you use the OEM replacement parts.

I really like American Standard. Heavy, well made faucets. As long as you buy it from a wholesale company and not a big box.

Like a lot of things, most brand faucets have 2 grades. Wholesale and big box

There is a difference.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

We had just spent months fixing up a rental house to sell, which to that point included 4300 bucks in plumber's bills, when the 2nd floor tennant had a clog.
Plumber can't unstop it without cutting pipes in the basement which are behind a new sheetrock ceiling.
Knowing the plumber is sloppy, I completely tarp the new rug in the basement.
He cuts out the elbow to the waste riser from the 2nd floor, then calls me over to show me the riser is solidly clogged. Then, while standing directly under the clog, he reaches up and pokes through the clog with a long screwdriver.
Gravity being what it is, the clog lets go explosively, right on top of him. Ewwww! I felt so bad for him, but very glad for the tarp.

Having done maintenance for 44 years, you learn to avoid being in the path of falling sewage (grey or black) before that happens twice! But I saw so many of my men act before thinking.

On the Moen shower and sink cartridges: if it leaks around the bottom of a rotating spout, the O-rings are bad, There is a repair kid just for that, but HD either doesn't carry it, or they ran out and never reordered them!

There is a tool for pulling the cartridge, it is well worth buying! I have 2 Moen brand and one by a parts company that stocks HD & Lowe's it is $10 less and works better!

When the cartridge is bad, it leaks out the end or just locks up. Unbrand is not your friend! Buy the OEM brass cartridge for about $35 and save a trip!

I bought a 144 count case of OEM cartridges about 30 years ago, I used my very last one a year ago when my son's shower (in his newly acquired 1983 house) locked up. It was the first one I had the guts pull out, I too went in from behind to replace the shower control, a 10 minute job took 3 evenings plus drywall repairs, and 7 trips to Lowe's. Just remember "Sharkbites are easy, compression fittings are affordable!" (the total repair took 12 fittings!)

Ivan

 

[jeffrefrig]

Any brass fittings cost more now because of the recent (5 or so years?) lead-free brass laws. I believe they have a blue label on them so inspectors know they're lead-free brass. I'm not sure you can even find the old stuff anymore. I think even the brass pump impellars are lead-free; maybe only for potable water. But most all the decent brands of in-home fixtures contain some brass.

 

[delcrossv]

Being in the wholesale business for 30 years. I can say Moen is garbage IMHO.

Poor handle cam system in their single handle kitchen faucets.

And the infamous cartridge. Royal pain to remove.

Delta is ok. Just make sure you use the OEM replacement parts.

I really like American Standard. Heavy, well made faucets. As long as you buy it from a wholesale company and not a big box.

Like a lot of things, most brand faucets have 2 grades. Wholesale and big box

There is a difference.

Am Std.(not big box) is good, Chicago Faucets has a better cartridge IMO. Agree, Moen is junk.

There really is a quality difference between Supply House and Big Box. I do see a lot of contractors buying stuff at HD. Kinda doubt the customers are getting what they think they are.

I have spent a lot of money on ''top of line '' spigots (Monen, Peerless, Price-fista, ect.) and the one that gave me the least headaches were the cheap Daltas, parts are easier to get.

None of those are "top of the line". Peerless is a Delta brand.

 

[delcrossv]

On the Moen shower and sink cartridges: if it leaks around the bottom of a rotating spout, the O-rings are bad, !

Yep. Frequently. Not a long lasting design.

There is a tool for pulling the cartridge, it is well worth buying! I have 2 Moen brand and one by a parts company that stocks HD & Lowe's it is $10 less and works better!
Ivan

The infamous Moen spanner. Doesn't help with a frozen cartridge- also a Moen "feature".

 

[chief38]

I stopped shopping at H-D for plumbing parts a long time ago! Their valves, unions, etc are horrible, leak from the get-go and their copper fittings are very thin! They usually carry the cheapest of the cheap just to compete on price - my labor is worth more than a few dollars!

I now go to a regular plumber's supply company (locally) and get much better quality parts - most of which are actually made in the USA, some are not but still much better quality than the stuff from China.

For the most part I won't even use their PVC parts for the pool anymore! I will spend the extra coin to go with Hayward - believe me, it's not that much more and the quality is much better!

 

[chief38]

As long as we are discussing Plumbing....... I have a two products to highly recommend! Both are made by Blue Monster.

The first is their Pipe Dope and is by far the best I've ever used! It will work on any kind of pipe material, it's fully approved for potable water and simply always works perfectly - even of other brands have failed! Far better than the Hercules brand IMO.

The other product they make which is also excellent is their teflon tape. Available in multiple widths and comes on really long lasting rolls, it is a
blue color and way thicker than the junk the big box stores sell. It will not rip by accident, won't tangle up and again - it works great!

BTW these items are available in some plumbing supply Co's or online. Just google Blue Monster. I've been using these two items for 8 years and have never been disappointed!

 

[CH4]

Thought this was going to be another discussion about prostates and catheters.

 

[chief38]

Thought this was going to be another discussion about prostates and catheters.

Now that's a hoot!

 

[delcrossv]

As long as we are discussing Plumbing....... I have a two products to highly recommend! Both are made by Blue Monster.

The first is their Pipe Dope and is by far the best I've ever used! It will work on any kind of pipe material, it's fully approved for potable water and simply always works perfectly - even of other brands have failed! Far better than the Hercules brand IMO.

The other product they make which is also excellent is their teflon tape. Available in multiple widths and comes on really long lasting rolls, it is a
blue color and way thicker than the junk the big box stores sell. It will not rip by accident, won't tangle up and again - it works great!

BTW these items are available in some plumbing supply Co's or online. Just google Blue Monster. I've been using these two items for 8 years and have never been disappointed!

Big fan of Blue Monster. Tape on supplies, can on drains. It's that or Slic-Tite.

 

[Golphin]

Having done maintenance for 44 years, you learn to avoid being in the path of falling sewage (grey or black) before that happens twice! But I saw so many of my men act before thinking.

On the Moen shower and sink cartridges: if it leaks around the bottom of a rotating spout, the O-rings are bad, There is a repair kid just for that, but HD either doesn't carry it, or they ran out and never reordered them!

There is a tool for pulling the cartridge, it is well worth buying! I have 2 Moen brand and one by a parts company that stocks HD & Lowe's it is $10 less and works better!

When the cartridge is bad, it leaks out the end or just locks up. Unbrand is not your friend! Buy the OEM brass cartridge for about $35 and save a trip!

I bought a 144 count case of OEM cartridges about 30 years ago, I used my very last one a year ago when my son's shower (in his newly acquired 1983 house) locked up. It was the first one I had the guts pull out, I too went in from behind to replace the shower control, a 10 minute job took 3 evenings plus drywall repairs, and 7 trips to Lowe's. Just remember "Sharkbites are easy, compression fittings are affordable!" (the total repair took 12 fittings!)

Ivan

I agree with this. I was going to say get a Moen cartridge puller. When I was plumbing in the late 70's and early 80's Moen and Delta were the most used of any faucets. The Moen was more money and considered better at the time. . The Delta was easy to fix. Single handle facets were the thing at that time in most homes.

 

[quikdraw67]

Blue Monster is a great product and company.

The dope is excellent as is the tape.

Hercules used to be great until they were bought out by Oatey. Now they are just a trademark instead of an independent company.

I used to use and sell Hercules exclusively BITD.

 

[arjay]

I lost count of how many kitchens and bathrooms I remodeled over the years. All I can say is I'm glad that's in my past [emoji38]

 

[chief38]

I lost count of how many kitchens and bathrooms I remodeled over the years. All I can say is I'm glad that's in my past [emoji38]

ahhh - there's always one more!

 

[arjay]

ahhh - there's always one more!

That's gonna take a lotta $$$$ lol