Delta Faucet Honors Their Warranty

Kitchen Faucet week recently here at the International Fixit Headquarters based in Raleigh, NC.
As a purveyor of small batch handcrafted home repairs those of you with long memories may remember at least one previous entanglement with kitchen faucet repairs. (CLICK LINK HERE)

Two different brands, two different experiences. The first adventure was with a premium Delta Kitchen Faucet approximately 10 years old with an unusual problem. The main tube clamp through the countertop had broken into two pieces and left the entire faucet spinning loose and unanchored.

I called the Delta Warranty Phone Line on a SATURDAY and was connected with an extremely knowledgeable help desk Technician. I explained the problem and he immediately set up a case account for me and walked me through the steps required to receive a replacement part.

I would need to send pictures of the installation so they could analyze the situation. So I sent a series of pictures to their email account later that afternoon.

The view from underneath the sink.

The model number tag.

And an overall shot of the faucet spinning loose in the hole. (Note handle at the front)

Monday morning I called to see if the email pictures had arrived in good condition and I was connected to another, DIFFERENT extremely knowledgeable help desk Technician. She immediately found the email pictures and advised me repair parts were unavailable as that model was obsolete but the current model was almost indistinguishable from this older version and that she would set the wheels in motion to deliver a completely new faucet by UPS Package. Monday Afternoon I received an Email with a package tracking number for a brand new ($365.00) Delta Kitchen Faucet sent directly to the homeowners address.

Imagine my amazement when the package arrived on Thursday Afternoon of THAT WEEK to a very surprised and happy Homeowner! Yes, the last time I had such uneventful warranty service was with a Sears Craftsman Wrench (CLICK LINK HERE)

So all is well that ends well. The homeowners have a brand new Delta Faucet at no cost. And I have a picture of the very odd metal failure that was at the heart of their distress.

Yes! Another handcrafted small batch home repair and improvement!

Dog Days of August 2021

Too expensive to replace a customized cabinet and counter top? Drop a new porcelain overlay sink into the existing hole.

The dog days of August ended with a flurry of faucet and sink replacements, a somewhat truculent toilet flush valve and even a little cosmetic medicine cabinet and baseboard work! Good cool air conditioned indoor work! Just a few simple changes can make a big difference in the feel of a bathroom.

Rusty vintage 1920’s medicine cabinet dominating the wall over the sink? Remove the poor thing and hang a framed mirror in the same spot.

An old timey surprise! Used razor blades from the medicine cabinet razor slot piled up in the rough vintage plaster wall!!

Sometimes a basic faucet replacement is all you need to freshen up an otherwise usable lavatory sink and countertop. But there could still be complications!

This time not so much! The rusty bolt sheared apart as soon as the wrench tried to twist the nut! Whew! For an example of a rusty faucet gone wild CLICK THIS LINK HERE

In other news, apparently there are some “Universal Toilet Replacement Valves” that are not so “Universal”.

This particular design is too large for the crowded low flow water saving tank. If the flap cannot close the water will just keep running down the drain.

Other work in this particular bathroom included an FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) overlay panel to dress up the battered plywood surface on the base cabinet and fresh baseboard to create a clean line with the existing floor tile.

Little changes for a big difference in appearance and overall “feel”!

CoronaCovid Chronicle Part 2 Faucets

Plumbing awaits no virus. Drips and leaks are drips and leaks through fair weather and foul.

Consider the mudroom sink. Hearty, robust, good for washing pets or boots or anything in between.

Almost a throwback to the legendary farm sink where Grandma canned vegetables and strawberry jam.

Mudroom faucets are also usually more functional than decorative. This is the mudroom after all.
A gooseneck spout complete with a garden hose attachment thread is the very epitome of life in
a household mudroom.

So naturally with a drip or leak the guiding principle is simple: Expensive repairs with inadequate
replacement hardware must be avoided wherever possible.

Fortunately, I happen to have an extensive assortment of washers from the Pleistocene onboard my truck.

Yes, there was a time in America when a jar of washers was the only item necessary to fix just about
any faucet in a typical home. Bathtub, lavatory, kitchen, cutoff valves and even the outside hose bib
were all repairable with little more than an adjustable wrench and screwdriver.

Since all this hardware was also from the Pleistocene repairing 2 cutoff valves and the hot and
cold handles on the sink made for a straightforward service call.

I even threw in a chichi new handle set from my legendary salvage hardware box as part of the job.

Your mileage may vary since this type of fixit is increasingly uncommon in the 21st Century,
but this time everything went well with no trauma attached to changing mudroom routines because
of new or awkward modern hardware.

Replace Legacy Shower Faucet

Out with the old, in with the new!

The big box stores still carry legacy 3 knob faucets!
I still carry an (old school) propane torch, solder and flux!
None of this plastic pipe stuff here!

DIY Remove Rusty Kitchen Faucet

Warning! Shocking real life story about kitchen faucet replacement ( or why there is no
such thing as a simple job!) Not some showroom shiny parts kabuki theatre, but an
ACTUAL SINK with ACTUAL rusty flanges and rusty nuts and rusty bolts and an ACTUAL
oscillating multitool to cut them off! Probably the only such example on the ENTIRE
INTERNET! Never watch a prancing pony of pecuniary production parsimony demonstrate
a Fixit Job! For the real thing call a real FIXIT GUY!

How-To DIY Multitool Dust Shroud

Kudos To Wayne At Garner Lowe’s

An overdue shout out to Wayne at Lowe’s #0488! Wayne greatly expedited my
search for a basic replacement faucet last month. Almost without looking he
went to the display board-of-many-parts-and grabbed the exact supply valve
brass cap I needed. Normally this task alone could be a ten minute search
through row after row of obscure gaskets, connectors, elbows and couplings.
But he knew EXACTLY where the correct package could be found.

But the real help came when he explained the $20.00 difference between identical
packages with Faucet #A and Faucet #B. Turns out the latest, greatest generic
faucets come from the factory with supply tubes already installed. So,
paradoxically the more expensive faucet was by far the best value since
accessory supply tubes would not need to be purchased or assembled!

This kind of fine detailed assistance can only come from a guy who REALLY knows
his plumbing inventory. It made my day! Thanks Wayne!

Reminds me of the great experience I had with the Sears Craftsman Tool Warranty.

CLICK LINK HERE

Or the Ace Hardware Vintage Replacement Valve Stem

CLICK LINK HERE

Mystery Toilet Tank Back Pressure Gas

For many years at the beginning of the month I have gotten calls from people who tell me their toilet partially empties and refills in the middle of the night.

Most of the time they want the tank drain flap replaced. Many times the tank flap is in fine shape and does not necessarily need to be replaced.

Finally, in 2005, I was able to capture on video a toilet tank emitting so much bubbling gas the tank flap could not shut.

My solution was to turn the water off and check later in the day to see if it stopped. It did. And there was no more trouble after that. But I still have no logical explanation.

So, today, from the Pottyology archives my captured video of an unsolved mystery.

What you see here is gas in the toilet tank with enough pressure to keep the tank drain flap open.

Most knowledgeable people (me included) will tell you the design of a toilet makes this type of bubbling gas pressure virtually impossible.

Any engineers with any explanations?

Legacy Faucet- Ace The Place!

1968 Era Vintage Valve Stem

Ace (hardware store) really IS the place- as in legacy plumbing parts! For those situations where mere replacement of the rubber washer just does not do the job to stop the drip, drip, drip, some people (me) ride to the thrill of the chase, others say why bother?

So what are the odds replacement valve stems for a bathtub faucet installed circa 1968 are still available at the local hardware store?

Well ….. seems the odds are really pretty good!

Two local Ace Hardware outlets each had exactly one (correct) valve stem still on the shelf!

The plastic on one package was visibly yellow with age but inside the brass parts were still shiny and new, and even included a replacement valve seat!

So why bother? All other things equal, with two replacement valve stems and seats this bathtub shower valve is good for another 45 years of service!

Well worth the effort when compared to the cost and aggravation a modern replacement valve would
have been.

Clogged Toilet Time

Wad Of Super Absorbent Material

Sooo, a few weeks ago it seemed we were up to our earlobes in 19th Century Technology here at the International Handyman Headquarters. CLICK LINK HERE

Recently, (last week especially) all roads seemed to lead to Pottyology. (Again!)

In addition to P-Traps so fragile (frag-gill-lee) they can be crushed with light pressure from a fingertip,CLICK LINK HERE we had one of our semi-annual drain clearing riots over at one of our
favorite ancient office buildings.

For your edumafication a photograph of the result when bad things happen to good toilets.

The porcelain fixture must be detached from the floor and a long metal cable inserted into the pipe underneath to clear out whatever ails the clogged plumbing.

In the picture you see a wad of super absorbent synthetic material easily purchased at pharmacies and supermarkets everywhere –which somehow traveled into the company toilet.

Now some of you may think it impossible for one little tiny wad of this stuff to clog a four inch drain.

You would be correct.

The one you see is the one that did not get away. There were at least half a dozen of her little buddies packed so tightly into a four inch pipe that the cable actually bored through and punctured this one in the middle of the clog.

Once the tension was broken the rest of the gang just scampered off into the city sewer lines.

Folks, the only manufactured material that should go into a toilet is bathroom tissue.

Really.

Anything else will just gunk up the works.