Kohler Faucets - good company

[Swerd]

Sometimes when small things in life go wrong, the fix, on rare occasions, is easy – even pleasant. I have a kitchen sink faucet I put in about 8 years ago, made by Kohler. I bought it at Lowe's and installed it myself. It's a fairly standard single lever faucet with a hand spray – not an expensive item.

Recently a leak began around the base of the faucet. I know how to fix that, replace the O ring and bearing. Kohler sells both items as one repair "kit". I went on Saturday to a plumbing parts store, but that kit was out of stock. The guy there suggested I call Kohler and order it direct from them.

I did that this morning, and learned my faucet is still under warranty. They would send me the parts free of charge. How many would I like? I asked for two. No problem .

By the way, customer service was in Wisconsin where Kohler headquarters is located. No customer service reps from Mumbai. Apparently, Kohler never heard of of the so-called customer service plans most cable companies use.

Other faucet makers may also be good, but I recommend Kohler because they went out of their way to provide free repair parts for my faucet.

 

[rojo]

I've had similar experiences with Kohler. In my previous house, I had a faucet drip in my bathtub. Found the part I needed online, called Kohler, and they said, "Oh, let us send you this entire assembly," which also included the part I needed. They shipped it to me quickly for free, I replaced the faulty bit, and good as new. Same problem developed in my second bathroom. I called them again. Same thing, and it was fixed again in no time. If only they'd built the rest of the house....

I think the faucets in this house are Moen. Not sure what to expect when I need to start repairing faucets here, but Kohler sure spoiled me.

 

[TheWarrior]

For future reference, or for anyone looking for a new faucet (of any kind), seek one with a ceramic valve. You should have a lifetime of leak free use!

Now if we can only get legislation requiring water heaters to be rust proof, instead of the whole country chucking theirs every 5-8 years!

 

[Rickster71]

For future reference, or for anyone looking for a new faucet (of any kind), seek one with a ceramic valve. You should have a lifetime of leak free use!

Now if we can only get legislation requiring water heaters to be rust proof, instead of the whole country chucking theirs every 5-8 years!

I've had a lot of luck checking the anode rod and changing it out periodically.
Another way to extend the life of a HWH, don't set the temp too high. The fewer temp swings and reheating cycles the better.

 

[TheWarrior]

I drain my water heater annually/bi-annually but it seems it only buys an extra couple years. But yes, I keep my temps down. My house is a 'story and a half' so all the regularly used faucets are within a couple feet of the heater which helps immensely!

But seriously, are sales really that important that we can't build lifetime water heaters?!

 

[Swerd]

For future reference, or for anyone looking for a new faucet (of any kind), seek one with a ceramic valve. You should have a lifetime of leak free use!

I've heard that same claim about ceramic valves. In my previous house, I replaced an old leaky Moen kitchen faucet that I had to frequently repair, with an American Standard faucet with a ceramic valve. The guy in the store told me AS was the last faucet maker to go washerless, and they learned from the mistakes of others. It did last longer than the Moen valve, but it eventually had to be replaced too.

Ceramic valves might actually work much longer with soft water, but I live where the water is hard, loaded with limestone (calcium carbonate). No plumbing part seems to lasts very long with water that hard.

That's why I commented about those Kohler faucets.

 

[KEW]

My mom bought a Moen kitchen sink faucet. She had it "professionally installed".
She was complaining to me about having to buy a new faucet after only 5 years (and this one was, by now, in sad condition - lots of slop in the mechanism). I suggested she contact Moen before she replaced it.
Moen got the model number and asked her if they had applied the silicone, she responded there was a little packet labeled "silicone lube" that was with the manual she used to find their phone number. They sent her a replacement (same) unit for free and told her to be sure the silicone is used. The new one is now 15 years old and counting. It seems like the silicone will eventually wear out or get contaminated and lose effectiveness, but so far so good!
Either way, I was impressed Moen gave her a free replacement even after discovering it was due to an error on the part of the installer.
That was years ago, so their CS may have changed completely.

 

[Rickster71]

My mom bought a Moen kitchen sink faucet. She had it "professionally installed".

Moen got the model number and asked if they had applied the silicone, she responded there was a little packet labeled "silicone lube" that was with the manual she used to find their phone number. They sent her a replacement (same) unit for free and told her to be sure the silicone is used.

There is so much that can be done with this post.
Just adding Adam & Doug's names and rearranging a few words.
I can't bring myself to do it, thereby ruining a perfectly good faucet thread.

 

[rnatalli]

Had a similar experience with First Alert. Smoke Detector went bad, they sent out a replacement. Not a lifetime warranty like some faucets, but still pretty good.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

That's very nice. My wife bought a $600 Kohler kitchen faucet when we redid our kitchen a few years ago. It developed some "slop" in the handle about a year later. Everyday, for the past few years, I thought it would finally fail but it never has. Maybe now, I won't worry about it.

 

[mtrycrafts]

For future reference, or for anyone looking for a new faucet (of any kind), seek one with a ceramic valve. You should have a lifetime of leak free use!

Have you used one for a lifetime?

Now if we can only get legislation requiring water heaters to be rust proof, instead of the whole country chucking theirs every 5-8 years!

I have a heater for the radiant floor that is still in service after 20 years; but then, it is a closed system.
After replacing the house water heater about 5 year cycle, I stumbled on the Rheem with their on line library full of good info. Now I inspect the sacrifice rod and replace at about 3 years. So far so good, going on 8 years.