Flutterby™! : Based on web sites and catalogs

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Based on web sites and catalogs

2014-07-13 00:35:05.132867+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

Based on web sites and catalogs, bathroom faucet companies are actively trying to discourage me from buying any of their products.

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2014-07-13 03:20:45.539597+00 by: Dan Lyke

So Charlene and I are plotting a bathroom remodel.

We have two requirements:

  1. The shower valve needs to have adjustable flow, not just temperature.
  2. We'd like a trim package in brass, "champagne bronze", or similar.

It looks like the Moen valve package we want is the "Moentrol" which is available as the 3510, 3520, or 3570, the first two are $141 list price, the last is $168.

So now I need a trim package, which is either the M-Pact or Moentrol trim package. No way to search for that on their site that I can see, I've found a handle and plate for as low as $160, most are up in the $400 range. For two pieces of brass plated metal, and a screw. And probably a cover plate.

Delta has a "Dual Function Thermostatic Valve"... I've been through a bunch of other web sites, Pfister, American Standard, Kohler, etc, and they all make it as hard as possible to search through their products to find anything other than some awful set of trendy "Collections".

I've spent so much freakin' time trying to figure out how to put together a package that doesn't look like some gawdawful steampunk kinkster's idea of the ultimate torture device, that isn't horrendously gaudy, and that only costs 4x what buying generic bits from my local big box hardware store, that I'm beginning to wonder if there is any real value here.

Do I actually get more longevity? Or is this all one bullshit play to simply extract more money from me?

I'm so sick of digging through pages of the ugliest-ass design out there to just find a basic set of functional tools, that I'm about ready to take one of the barely English literate Chinese knock offs that occasionally pop up in my search, and just populate the bathroom from that.

And I'd chalk this up as an attempt to give more business to reps and "kitchen and bath designers", but the ones that Charlene and I have talked to today haven't really been able to search by those two simple criteria either (hell, just explaining the "we want to be able to tone down the shower pressure" seems beyond most of 'em).

Ugh. Hate this business model where keeping the customer from actually understanding the product line is core to the profitability.

#Comment Re: made: 2014-07-13 03:41:18.062522+00 by: Dan Lyke

So far it's the

Considering the "Delta T17259-CZ Trinsic Monitor 17 Series Dual Function Pressure Balanced Shower Trim Package wi, Champagne Bronze" but that finish means I'm locked in to the Delta finish for tub spout and faucet. Their tub spout options are all gaudy, and their sink faucets are all hugely over priced, and fugly.

The one "okay, this seems reasonable": Two brass grab bars from http://www.plumbingsupply.com/grabbars.html

#Comment Re: made: 2014-07-13 14:46:20.05554+00 by: Dan Lyke

Narrowing in...

Seems like the right way to get flow control may just be a valve on the shower head, "Shower Head Water Flow Volume Control Polished Brass" brings up a number of options for something that just screws in-line with the shower arm. One less potential axis of failure on the valve itself...

I've probably lived all my life with the $50 single-handle bathroom faucet, torn between that and the $135 Moen, probably go with the basic Moen there. Certainly don't need to spend $450 to have my bathroom filled with fixtures that look like characters from Disney's Beauty and the Beast[Wiki].

#Comment Re: made: 2014-07-14 03:46:58.13695+00 by: Dan Lyke

Also want to note the Delta Lahara in champagne bronze