Faucets and shower valves that DON'T leak?

[Tonesky 947]

And, don't cost a fortune.  So, we are finally building on our lot post-Harvey.  We are about to complete framing and the builder will need tub/shower valves soon.  Hoping to stay at a lower price point for kids' bathrooms, we made a Moen selection.  When getting some quotes, I got push-back on the Moen from a different vendor that "you will (or will pay a plumber to) change the cartridges every two years or so."  Google agrees.  And, when I called a buddy who always seems to be changing the cartridge in his kitchen faucet to ask the brand, he said Moen.  So, what the fuck to do?  The salesperson who warned of Moen also somewhat snootily said "we don't sell Moen, Kohler, or Price Pfister."  She all but said "Get out your wallet."  It is not the end of the world if we need/decide to swap out a faucet down the road, but I'd like to avoid framing and tiling in a shitty shower valve.  Anyone here have a Moen or Kohler valve for 5+ years without leaks or other failure?  Any suggested brands that have reliable valves/cartridges that don't cost as much as a handshake with a 5 star recruit?

[66BUFF 2564]

8 Kohler shower valves for 8 years and have had 0 issues,

[CooterBrown 18022]

Change out the valve’s cartridge. It’ll fix 99.9% of leaks. It’ll cost like $25 for the OEM and like $12 for an after market replacement. It’ll take you longer to walk out to the water shutoff at the curb than to change it out. Just remove the handle and surround and the cartridge is held on with 4 screws. Unscrew and pull it out. No need to damage any tile work.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

Change out the valve’s cartridge. It’ll fix 99.9% of leaks. It’ll cost like $25 for the OEM and like $12 for an after market replacement. It’ll take you longer to walk out to the water shutoff at the curb than to change it out. Just remove the handle and surround and the cartridge is held on with 4 screws. Unscrew and pull it out. No need to damage any tile work.

Heheheheh you said pull it out......

[milkman 428]

I would recommend Delta. They have a universal shower valve that works with both Delta and Brizo trims. If you want to change out trims or decide to upgrade to Brizo its easy peasy!

[TwiceHorn 31516]

We have Price Pfister.  They're 10 years old and don't leak.  However, the cartridges do need replacing from time to time due to hard water scale.  This results it slower flow and maybe cold being stronger than hot or vice-versa, especially after the city occasionally cuts off the water for a couple of hours or you have water heaters replaced, which events seem to loose a cascade of scale that gets into your cartridges and screws them up to varying degrees.

[Tonesky 947]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Change out the valve’s cartridge. It’ll fix 99.9% of leaks. It’ll cost like $25 for the OEM and like $12 for an after market replacement. It’ll take you longer to walk out to the water shutoff at the curb than to change it out. Just remove the handle and surround and the cartridge is held on with 4 screws. Unscrew and pull it out. No need to damage any tile work.

I know someone with a moen faucet that does this every 12-24 months. I’m not going to put $$$$ of plumbing in the kids’ bathrooms, but I’m building a custom house and want better than that. 

[TwiceHorn 31516]

1 minute ago, Tonesky said:

I know someone with a moen faucet that does this every 12-24 months. I’m not going to put $$$$ of plumbing in the kids’ bathrooms, but I’m building a custom house and want better than that. 

I think it's kind of inherent.  No brand is better than another, particularly where Texas hard water and scale are concerned.  May be less of an issue in Houston.  

I'm not sure if two-handle faucets have cartridges, precisely.

[LebongJames 1813]

Out of the major brands that aren’t just ridiculously expensive it’s: I was a rep for Kohler and now I run a very large scale RNC plumbing company.

kohler

Grohe

delta

moen

In that order.

 

[Gil Bang 25985]

i've got Grohe.  Fuck Grohe. 

[Tonesky 947]

6 hours ago, LebongJames said:

Out of the major brands that aren’t just ridiculously expensive it’s: I was a rep for Kohler and now I run a very large scale RNC plumbing company.

kohler

Grohe

delta

moen

In that order.

 

That is where we ended up. One kid with Kohler and the other with Grohe. 

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

Has more to do with the water in the area, than the brand. If you have hard water, then you will be replacing cartridges as needed, as it also depends on your usage. 

Plenty of Moen in custom homes. I know because I built one with their finishes. 
Moen is for life. Just call them on the 1.800 number. The rep will give you a number to send the pic of your faucet (or whatever) and they will send any part you need... for free. They don’t even charge for shipping. The reps know the exact model just by the picture... it’s impressive. 
And if you don’t know how to change a cartridge, aerator or whatever, it has directions or you can YouTube. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by JerrysJheriCurl

[DCA_HORN 725]

As soon as I figure out what fucking brand mine is ill let you know what not to get.

[DCA_HORN 725]

Apparently I have a Hudson Reed which is a British company and doesn't really make faucets anymore because of course they don't. I can't seem to find the replacement cartridge but that doesn't matter anyway because I can't get it out without Tsing the whole faucet out basically. So looks like I'm in the market for a new one as well.

[Okie State 3821]

All I've used is Kohler since owning a home and have never had a single issue.

[Native Horn 3505]

Replacement cartridge for my Moen shower faucet supposed to arrive today.  Am not a plumber, but YouTube makes it look pretty simple.  Will report back, hopefully without using a snorkel.

[Native Horn 3505]

Update:  Switching out the Moen replacement cartridge #1222 was pretty straightforward.  I am a below-average home repair dude, and if I can do it, y'all shouldn't have too tough a time.