Well, I've had it! I tried to be loyal and buy American. I have purchased faucets from a company in Cleveland Ohio called Central Brass.
Now if you look at the faucets they make and picked one up and felt the weight you'd say...NICE...HEAVY..cast brass. And you'd think GREAT faucet, it'll last. Well I've had these in my house for YEARS. I even had a pressure regulator put on my house's plumbing to take the pressure off my appliances.
Now initially I had Central Brass faucets with the regular valves with rubber washers. And they dripped. So I would replace the valve seats, which are copper rings that screw into the inside bottom off the faucet, and I also replaced the washers. I did this all the time!
Washers, you think 50 cents each? Well those metal valve seats they are like $3 EACH! And you have to end up replacing them since if you don't and the seats are scuffed then the washers wear out that much faster...like in weeks or days!
So I started replacing the faucets with Central Brass faucets with CERAMIC VALVES. I went to Home Depot and Lowes and saw many faucets that had ceramic valves and they all had lifetime warranties and you figure if a company offers LIFETIME warranties they MUST EXPECT the darn things will last. And everyone I saw had that lifetime warranty.
The "ceramic valve stem" is a valve that instead of a rubber washer that is screwed down against a metal valve seat to stop the water, you have two ceramic disks that are VERY hard and according to This Old House actually should get better with time. So I figure this is the way to go!
But I chose Central Brass faucets with ceramic valve stems. To my surprise I found Central Brass of Cleveland Ohio doesn't warrant those ceramic stems very long. They told me that the ceramic valves from Central Brass only have a ONE YEAR warranty as opposed to LIFETIME warranties from most other faucet manufacturers!
Now to be fair. Most manufuacturers giving you the lifetime warranties tell you it's "limited lifetime" meaning for as a long as YOU own the house and the faucet isn't in a commericial setting it's warranted for life.
I can live with that. I even checked what would a typical "Kohler" ceramic valve cost me. I saw $14.95, which wasn't bad, compare that to $25 or even $31 for a Central Brass ceramic valve stem for a Bathroom OR Kitchen faucet!
Anyone interested in my opinion...STAY away from Central Brass faucets. I called them and asked about their warranty and they told me ONE YEAR.
Now is Kohler, Delta, or American Standard are any better...quality wise? Well, that's not that important. I just don't want to have to go out and shell out a lot of money for replacement parts all the time. I want a faucet that will WORK and LAST.
I especially don't want to have to repair a leaking faucet, only to find out it's actually CHEAPER to rip out my Central Brass faucets that buy the replacement cartridge that most other manufacturer would ship me for FREE.
Replacing a cartridge is easy. I've done it. Actually several times in the case of my Central Brass faucets. Just because I didn't feel like changing out the whole faucet!
But stay away from Central Brass faucets. Even my plumber who just replaced a waste pipe for me told me he doesn't like Central Brass anymore.
Well off to the Home Centers....this time I'll pay closer attention to WARRANTIES! If a manufacturer believes in it's products then they would have no problem standing behind them with warranties that are comparable to their competitors.
Central Brass just doens't stand behind their products in my opinion!
Please post any comments or suggestions on faucets you like and companies you feel stand behind their products!
