Replies

1. 
   DanH | Feb 02, 2010 07:29pm | #1

   I've have very little trouble
   I've have very little trouble with Moens. There's a simple trick to pulling the cartridge when you need to (every 10-20 years), or you can buy a puller.

   They have some nice faucets at the gym where I go that I believe are American Standard. Pretty sure they're ceramic, and they stand up to a lot of abuse.

   But I gotta wonder what's in your water that's going through faucets do fast. We've got two Valley units (also sold under a more familiar name which I forget). Bottom of the line, pretty much, but both are over 30 years old -- one got new innards about 10 years back and the other's never been serviced.

1. 
   k1c | Feb 03, 2010 02:47pm | #3

   Thank you for the reply. The trouble I had with Moen is their single handle shower control. I've always had trouble pulling out their washer stem. After the clip is pulled out, something seems to make their stem stick to the valve body. Would you tell me the trick? As for Moen sink faucet, the handles became sticky (I think the grease washed out) and worked themselves loose. The Moen kitchen faucet handles broke on 3 faucets that I used.

   So I changed to Kohler kitchen faucets and so far the handle operates smoothly and feels solid.

   I considered Kohler single-hole faucet but I think these single hole faucets need a solid base (I am using 1/2" solid surface) that needs to be built up to 1". I am saying this having installed Kohler single hole kitchen faucet on a stainless basin and the faucet just did not feel solidly based. The stainless basin's sheetmetal flexed just little enough to give me that feeling. I also imagine someone slipping in the bathroom and grabbing the faucet and breaking the top. I just prefer the 4" center faucets for their "more solid" contact with the countertop. I will check the websites again for American Standard but I checked the sites such as Faucets.com and so far I haven't found anything that looks ok except the Delta. Only thing is, one Delta specs said it has washerless ball-valve so I wondered if they had improved on their valve system. Thanks.

1. 
   DanH | Feb 03, 2010 08:39pm | #4

   The trick to removing the Moen cartridge is to reach in with a pair of needlenose and twist the cartridge (not just the stem) back and forth a couple of times before pulling.

   The kitchen faucet probably feels wobbly because the sink is lightweight.

   Pretty much all single-handle faucets will claim to be "washerless". They still have seals, though, generally O rings or something similar.

2. 
   NickNukeEm | Feb 04, 2010 08:42am | #5

   the 1/2" solid surface top should be enough for a single stem installation, and sturdy enough to feel solid. (Mounting a single stem faucet to a SS sink basin alone will make any faucet flex, and the taller Kohlers will flex even more.)

2. 
   wane | Feb 03, 2010 08:33am | #2

   unless you buy really cheap most of these are gonna last a long time, ps all the ceramic cartridges I've come across are water savers ..

1. 
   k1c | Feb 05, 2010 01:22pm | #6

   Thank you all for the reply. The Kohler kitchen faucet is tall, but kept it anyway for the looks.

   I have new Moen that was leftover from other bathroom so I am just going to use it. It is two handle faucet. I measured the threaded tube under each handle and they are not long enough for the 1" top, phew! I will leave the top at 1/2".

   Thank you for the stem remove trick. I would always grab the part that the handle installs and try to pull it out, but they always seemed to stick. Thank you all.

3. 
   barmil | Feb 09, 2010 09:57pm | #7

   Sorry, but you seem to have wasted a lot of people's time. In the future, you might wish to describe the set-up (4", 8", etc.) before asking for advice and what your end game was.

1. 
   Scott | Feb 10, 2010 01:11pm | #8

   >>>Sorry, but you seem to have wasted a lot of people's time.

   Barmil, you really ought to get back on your medication.