 | Richard Tade
is President and owner of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Wichita, a repair/remodel plumbing company formerly known as C. Lee Tade Plumbing, which has been serving Wichita since 1950. Water heaters, gas lines, garbage disposals, toilets, faucets, drain cleaning, water services, drain lines and whole-house repiping are some of the services offered by Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, where all plumbers are licensed, have passed criminal back ground checks and are randomly screened for drugs. Richard can be reached at (316) 265-1776, or email at: plumber@tade.com |
Plumbing
2002-09-01 09:27:00
To buy or not to buy
: I recently moved into a new home and the kitchen sink and bathroom lavatory faucets need to be replaced. A friend of mine told me I could save some money if I purchased the faucets myself and had my plumber install them. Should I go to one of the "do-it-yourself" stores and buy the faucets and have my plumber install them, or should I have the plumber supply the faucets and install them?
Richard Tade
Question: I recently moved into a new home and the kitchen sink and bathroom lavatory faucets need to be replaced. A friend of mine told me I could save some money if I purchased the faucets myself and had my plumber install them. Should I go to one of the "do-it-yourself" stores and buy the faucets and have my plumber install them, or should I have the plumber supply the faucets and install them? Answer: Yes, you could probably save some money by purchasing the faucets yourself and having your plumber install them, but you might want to consider all the facts before making this decision. From my experience, sometimes there is a difference in the quality of the product purchased from a plumber vs. the "do-it-yourself" stores.If you purchase the faucets yourself, you will be responsible for any missing or defective parts on the faucet. Depending on the faucet brand you purchase, you will probably have to call an 800 number to get any missing or defective part(s) replaced. Plus, you will probably have to pay the plumber to remove the faucet, if necessary, and pay him again to reinstall the replacement faucet or part. Most products or parts that have a "lifetime" warranty do not cover the labor associated with the replacement. If you purchase the faucet through your plumber, you should get a full parts and labor warranty. Depending on the company, this should be anywhere from one to five years. This means that anytime in the warranty period, if you have a problem with the faucet, it will cost you nothing to have it repaired or replaced, assuming that the problem was not caused by abuse. If you want a faucet that is out of the ordinary, most plumbers work with plumbing wholesalers that have showrooms where you can see all the latest and greatest faucets available. After you pick out the faucet, it is billed through your plumber and when he installs it, you get a full parts and labor warranty.The bottom line is what level of liability do you want to assume. Let's say you had your plumber install a brand new faucet you purchased. You saved $$ over what your plumber quoted you for the same faucet. Nine months later the faucet starts leaking. What is your time worth if you have to sit "on-hold" waiting for the customer service rep for the manufacturer to take your call. Then you wait another 5-7 days to receive the defective part in the mail. All this time you can't use the new faucet because it was leaking so bad you had to turn off the water. When the part(s) arrives, you have to stay home or miss work for your plumber to come back out and reinstall the part(s) that you received in the mail, plus you have to pay him a service charge to reinstall the part. Something to think about.
