What shower faucet?

[cgallery]

I'm having a full bath redone. I have to pick a shower faucet. The contractor said I can either go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick one up, or I can get one from the plumber. My questions:

(1) Is there a large difference in quality between what a plumber sells and what is sold at a home improvement store?

(2) If I purchase something at a home improvement store, is there a brand or line that I would find easier to service in the future?

Same questions sorta for the sink faucet. I figured I'd stay in one line. But I suppose Moen (for example) may have great shower faucets and terrible sink faucets. I have no idea.

Thanks!
Phil

[Warren]

Moen and Kohler are the two big names I'm aware of. If the plumbing outfit is small, they probably buy from the big boxes or at a local plumbing shop. They most likely get a professional discount that you too can get if you have a business license.

A large plumbing contractor may stock and resell faucets if it has a store front. If not, stocking a vast range of styles is more than I would expect out of a plumber.

The plumber will probably not pass his discount on to you as he has to cover the cost of sending someone to the store. Further, he may add a charge to the bottom line to cover the time used for going to the store and making the purchase.

If I was married I'd grab the wife and push the cart while she picked out the faucets. Might do you both good to get away from the job site for a bit.

[WayneJ]

I won't buy another Moen faucet.I had nothing but bad luck with them. They would last about 2=3 years and then go bad The water in New Jersey has a lot of lime in it.oblem was in turning 0n and off, binding. Replaced the one in the bath with a Delta ,and one in the kitchen with american standerd.There the only ones I'll use now. YMMV
Wayne

[atgcpaul]

I figured I'd stay in one line. But I suppose Moen (for example) may have great shower faucets and terrible sink faucets. I have no idea.

Thanks!
Phil

One thing to also consider is that manufacturers will make matching faucets/
knobs/spouts for sinks and tubs. I like having the look of matching fixtures--
this even includes matching light fixtures so colors/finishes match/complement
those of your faucets. Do what I do--let my wife color coordinate.

Paul

[Cheeky]

IMO, it's not a good sign when a contractor tells you to pick-up fixtures at HD or Lowes. The product is inferior, plain and simple.

I had a Toto one-piece toilet and a Toto pedestal sink delivered to my house for a little more (~$75) than a cheesy 1 piece toilet and sink from Lowes. I'll PM you an unbeatable deal for the good stuff.

Ya, and stay away from Moen

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I won't buy another Moen faucet.I had nothing but bad luck with them. They would last about 2=3 years and then go bad The water in New Jersey has a lot of lime in it.oblem was in turning 0n and off, binding. Replaced the one in the bath with a Delta ,and one in the kitchen with american standerd.There the only ones I'll use now. YMMV
Wayne

Ditto, on the Moen.

[Handy Al]

The higher end Moen stuff usually has lifetime warranty. I've gotten replacement parts for other people by e-mail Moen the model and part number.
If you don't have the model number, send them a picture.

[cgallery]

Okay, thanks everyone! Lots of great information (as usual)!

[JSCOOK]

All of mine are Moen without any problems in the last 5 years ... we have extremely hard water and hasn't been an issue ... we elected to buy the "higher" end ($250+) Moen which may explain why we haven't had any issue like the others have mentioned ... the finish on ours is even lifetime.

Buy a maajor name brand with lifetime replacement and you should be fine ..

[thestinker]

I have several pegasus faucets from HD. They hae been problem free so far, and we just bought around 350 for shower and tub faucets. We had already gotten our sink faucets from somewhere else months ealier (found a great deal), but they are a similar finish and have very similar lines and what not to the shower and tub. Also the shower and tub are on one end of the room, the 2 sinks on the other.

Riley

[Tom Slick]

I've gotten 7 years of trouble free out of my bottom of the line $65 moen lavatory and kitchen faucets in commercial use. that means over 50 uses a day in 17 fixtures. the problems I have had are from hard water deposits, not from any manufacturer defects/bad design. they all use the same cartridges so they are easy to get and take about 10 mins to replace.
I'm not saying they are the best, I just haven't seen the problems the others here have.

I have a moen single handle shower valve with scald guard or whatever they call it. it absolutely works as advertised!! the water temp absolutely doesn't change no matter how many toilets are flushed, washing machine cyling, etc.

I wouldn't have an issue buying name brand fixtures from HD. you won't go wrong with moen, delta, american std, kohler, etc.

If there is a ferguson plumbing supply in your area it would be worth a visit to them. some have great showrooms.

[DaveStL]

Flow Control on Shower Valves

There is a feature you may want to consider when buying shower valves-- the cheaper ones have just one flow rate, and only allow you to vary the temperature. So if you want to vary the flow, you have to have a valve in the head, which is not typically the case if you have the head on a hose.

When we redid this house in 1997 we put in the higher line Moen, and have had no problems. We actually decided on the shower valves before picking out anything else-- needed to close up the walls, and these were recommended by the contractor and the plumbing supply house as being bulletproof. We ended up getting Price Pfister for the tub, lav, and toilet handle because my wife didn't like the "Aladdin's lamp" look of the closest Moens, and because they matched the shape of some Baldwin towel racks. The finish on the Moens has been perfect, but the brass on the PP's has been terrible. They're supposed to have a lifetime warranty, and I'm about to test that.

Another thing we did in the master shower was get a height-adjusting bar for the head that is rated as a grab bar. It is rock solid. Strangely, it has no maker's mark, but I think it was made in Sweden. The other shower-head mounts we looked at felt pretty flimsy, and if you slip in the shower, what are you likely to grab?

Dave

[ChrisD]

Phil, I went with Kohler for my bath hardware and Jado (an American Standard sub-brand) for my sink hardware. I bought the Kohler from HD and the Jado from an online retailer.

You really can't go wrong with Kohler.

[cwsmith]

Depending on your level of satisfaction and what exactly you are looking for, Home Depot and Lowes have a fairly narrow selection. I don't like the single handle designs of most tub/shower installations and therefore had a hard time finding what I wanted when we redid the bath in our future home (this past spring).

I went to www.faucetdepot.com and found a great selection on almost any brand you can think of. Price was very competitive and delivery was about a week.

I ended up with a Price-Phister and have been very happy. (Same faucet that I used in this house when we remodeled the bathroom about four years ago.)

I hope this helps,

CWS

[scorrpio]

My experience is that 'budget' stuff sold at HD/Lowes is real inferior. Moen, Delta, Kohler - you name it. And higher end stuff from same brands is WAY overpriced there. For quality, shop with a supplier. Might do some online research as well - you can get some good deals on the net.
Previous FHB issue (Kitchens and Baths) ran an article on shower valves/faucets, and detailed what to look for. I think their rock bottom of things to consider was around $200.
You want:
1. drop forged brass body for high strength.
2. no plastic.
3. no rubber washers or gaskets to wear out, leak, replace, and all that.
You want a design with ceramic discs. Discs have holes that need to align to allow water through. These discs are highly polished so they slide against each other easily yet maintain a tight water seal. And they are about as hard as diamond, so any impurities in water get ground up in them.