kitchen faucet

construct30 said:

I'm sure in some areas cost of living and cost of doing business is a lot less than others.

Click to expand...

You hit the nail on the head. At $20.00/hr plus a $20.00 trip fee, I'm among the highest paid handymen in my area. We're very close to the Mexican border, here, so most of the locals get stuff repaired very cheaply. In many cases, people will work for just the aforementioned beer and cigarettes.

Herk said:

But unless you're feeling suddenly qualified to shut the water off and tear the faucet down to its component parts and replace the cartridge, I'd call someone to help you.

Click to expand...

I'll take ambitious, motivated, and determined over "qualified" any day of the week.

I couldn't have gotten there without someone taking the time to REALLY help. The diagram you gave me was the courage I needed to take things apart. Without that, I may have given up. Keep up the good deeds. This forum needs more members like you. :

Verdeboy said:

You hit the nail on the head. At $20.00/hr plus a $20.00 trip fee, I'm among the highest paid handymen in my area. We're very close to the Mexican border, here, so most of the locals get stuff repaired very cheaply. In many cases, people will work for just the aforementioned beer and cigarettes.

Click to expand...

I can't hire a qualified plumbing technician in my market for $20/hr. It costs me considerably more than $40 to send a truck to someone's house. Is this how you make your living or is this just side work?

A plumber starts at $145/hr here, most are closer to $200, break out any special machines (rotor router, thawer, etc) and that price can hit $300/hr.

plumby dumby said:

I couldn't have gotten there without someone taking the time to REALLY help. The diagram you gave me was the courage I needed to take things apart. Without that, I may have given up. Keep up the good deeds. This forum needs more members like you. :

Click to expand...

Congrats on the repair. Please understand that a significant portion of our revenue each month comes from following after home owners and handymen who have attempted repairs when they shouldn't have. So when I tell someone to get a pro it's because I don't sense that they are up to the task at hand. No it's not rocket science but there is also no substitute for experience. In your case I was wrong and I'm happy for your sake. I routinely encounter people who have caused themselves a lot of stress and extra expense sometimes hundreds of dollars because they tried to tackle something that they just didn't have the knowledge or skill to handle.

smellslike$tome said:

Is this how you make your living or is this just side work?

Click to expand...

Let's just say it supports my Bohemian lifestyle. I like to write songs and play music. I've also written a book and several articles. None of that even begins to pay the rent, hence the handyman gig.

I'd suggest (now that you're an experienced plumber) calling PP and have them send you a new cartridge.....most of their stuff is under warranty for life so the part(s) are free. That way, when it starts acting up again (or leaking) you'll have one on hand to get the job done in record time. They're actually pretty helpful folks and stand behind their product without a lot of questions or hassles.

Mort (who would have bought a Delta but his wife wanted this thing)

Verdeboy said:

Let's just say it supports my Bohemian lifestyle. I like to write songs and play music. I've also written a book and several articles. None of that even begins to pay the rent, hence the handyman gig.

Click to expand...

So I was right to begin with. You're not running a business. If you have enough for a six pack and a new sack, maybe a new guitar pick, you're happy. Am I wrong?

Old age and treachery will out do youth and inexperience every time. LOL

smellslike$tome said:

So I was right to begin with. You're not running a business. If you have enough for a six pack and a new sack, maybe a new guitar pick, you're happy. Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

I was trying to cut you some slack, money man, but you're starting to get on my nerves now.

You must 've missed the point about how my creative endeavors don't pay the rent or put food on the table. No, it's not side work. I live very simply and own very little. Hence, I don't need to make as much as you or even one of your technicians. Been there, done that.

Turn the handle clock wise and grease properly. Be careful not to lose the parts. Then, screw it back on. Or call the plumber that should be qualified. You should have checked after installing facet. Let me know if that helped? http://tonawandaplumbers.com/

Verdeboy said:

I'll take ambitious, motivated, and determined over "qualified" any day of the week.

Click to expand...

Ambitious, motivated and determined was the guy that decided to conquer his fear of a 4" cast iron stack and cut in some new plumbing a few months ago.
Qualified is the plumber (me) that finds out where the drain is gushing from up inside the wall because the ambitious, motivated and determined fella didn't know he should have braced the stack.
There are countless things that can and will go wrong when assumptions are made that it only takes determination.
This fella may be going to court, I feel for him because he doesn't have liability.

GrumpyPlumber said:

I feel for him because he doesn't have liability.

Click to expand...

Big trouble here if you do work with insurance and some thing happens. We don't have licensing, but they still watch us on that stuff. What good does you people having a license do if you don't have simple rules to follow?

GrumpyPlumber said:

Ambitious, motivated and determined was the guy that decided to conquer his fear of a 4" cast iron stack and cut in some new plumbing a few months ago...

Click to expand...

In my mind, and apparently in the OP's mind, being ambitious, motivated and determined means getting advice from someone who is qualified before jumping into uncharted waters.

There's an old saying, "If we all waited until we were totally ready to do something, we'd all still be crawling on all fours."

It may be plumber couldn’t have installed faucet properly. So you should check it again Or reinstall.

smellslike$tome said:

Saved a lady from having me install a pp lav faucet the other day. I do not like their products. I know you just want to know how to fix it but that is not something I can do without tearing it down. My best advice is to take the loss, remove it and install something of better quality.

Click to expand...

So what brands are good quality? I am about to replace all my bathroom faucets. How is American Standard?

Delta's good.

HIGHLAND said:

So what brands are good quality? I am about to replace all my bathroom faucets. How is American Standard?

Click to expand...

If you like faucets that are 50% defective out of the box...

Moen & Delta can't go wrong there!

Redwood said:

If you like faucets that are 50% defective out of the box...

Moen & Delta can't go wrong there!

Click to expand...

Amen!!!

Basically I prefer anything with ceramic disc. If you can, handle the faucet before you purchase it. If it feels cheap it probably is. Don't buy anything that has a plastic pop-up/drain assembly. If the handles flex at all when you reach the end of their range of motion it most probably means that the cartridge stems are plastic and I would not buy it. STAY OUT OF THE BOX STORES! I don't install a lot of American Standard but what I have seen seems fairly decent with the exception of their kitchen sink faucets which seem to have a problem with the o-rings sealing the spout body. They may have corrected this by now, I don't know. I really don't see a lot of them. In my area, Delta seems to be king, that and a lot of kohler. I love Delta from a repair standpoint because they are so susceptible to problems associated with hard water. Also in my opinion they are in general very cheaply made yet they want a handsome price. I don't mind paying for quality but I do mind paying for cheap junk. I NEVER recommend them for a new or replacement install and I do not carry a single one on my truck but I generate a LOT of income from repairing them. Kohler on the other hand is a pain in the neck because it seems they feel the need to re-engineer almost every model that comes off of their production line (not literally it just seems that way sometimes). In my experience it is often difficult to find repair parts locally that are in stock and the ship times are outrageous sometimes.

Recommendations:

low end - myremodelremedy.com or premierfaucet.com - I would stick with anything that has ceramic disc cartridges.

high end - calfaucets.com I really like their selection and their website but they do not currently offer any kitchen sink faucets as far as I know.