It’s always SOMETHING! I guess that comes with home ownership, doesn’t it? There’s always a “to do” list that seems to shrink and grow at the same time.
(add to list — Repair Shower Valve)
So here’s my lovely Danze shower valve with chrome trim. I love her. She batted her eyes at me online and said “buy me, I’m so simple and pretty, buy me”! I fell for it, she was mine. After glowing reviews and 5 stars a plenty… she arrived during our bathroom renovation and was installed end of 2010.
We really don’t use this bathroom much at all… so her pretty chrome knob wasn’t turned until March of this year. I think I used it twice for shits and giggles because I felt the bathroom shower was lonely. But in general we use the shower in the master bathroom because it’s convenient. This March that master bathroom had to be put out of commission due to a leak. It has to be gutted (add to list!). So we finally get to “turn her on” and make her happy. (okay, I’ve been reading 50 shades of gray… it’s the mood I’m in. HA HA!)
Just two months into using this bathroom the beautiful slender bar knob began to squeak with every turn and it eventually became so difficult to turn that I had to use two hands. OH NO! This was not happening! I got online and sure enough… many people with the SAME problem. So I call Danze because they guarantee their products for “life”. Okay, at this point I’m thinking “get ready to fight, Stacey”… it’s going to get nasty. To my surprise, it was the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. They got my name, when and where it was purchased (buying online makes that info easy to get to) and said the problem was a defective cartridge… they put one in the mail to me immediately. WOW, that was easy.
Within a few days the box arrived and the “honey do” list got a little shorter Saturday.
Here’s “honey” reading the directions.. which of course are HORRIBLE and might as well have been written in Chinese. Oh wait, it was! And lots of confusing pictures that look nothing like what you’ve got. I’m sure you can relate!
Of course he trashes that and moves on. It wasn’t long before it was all back together and turning like “butter baby”. Ahhhh, she’s back and her surgery went well.
I did enjoy seeing the trim off the valve and remembering how I cut that tile around the circle. Not bad, really. I had forgotten that stress. Like giving birth, they say… you forget the pain. Thankfully!
So we’re back in action without the squeaks and I’m a happy girl.
But I guess the question is… doesn’t it bother you that buying new things isn’t as fun as it should be. Seriously, nothing is made well, it seems. I don’t buy the cheapest things, nor the most expensive, but honestly it probably wouldn’t matter. Things just seems to be crappy. Pretty, but crappy. Maybe that’s why I love old stuff so much. They just don’t make things like they use to. (probably every generation mutters that one!) We’ll see if this sucker holds on… otherwise Danze will hear from me again. :-)
I didn’t have a shower caddy in here until we started using this bathroom but it was a necessity. No place to put anything! I’m not a big fan of these but I have to admit that the Simple Human products are really nice. This little baby is all stainless steel and fits so snug to the shower. It never moves and all the shelves are adjustable both side to side and up and down. This might be one thing that I could say is “made better than they use to be”. Finally something! HA HA HA! I think their products are wonderful for todays living.
So, it’s back to the list… one down, plenty to go.
How do you feel about new products? Have you experienced something similar and were you treated well by the manufacturer?
Yay!! Glad to see you’ve got that ONE thing taken care of (feels so good)!
When my hubby and I moved into our apartment last year, the landlords left us a heck of a job (although they said everything would be “professionally cleaned” – it wasn’t). There was dog hair everywhere (in the washing machine, under the fridge, in the bathtub – you name it) and the shower head was so violently splashy it was almost better to stand AWAY from the water until you needed to rinse. Then there was the issue of the water shooting out of the hosing – it was so bad it went over the curtain and got the toilet, shelving and floor completely drenched!
Luckily, my dad is ever the handy man and was nothing less than thrilled to help out – and can I say how awesome a NORMAL working showerhead is? I’m never taking it for granted again! :)
Kristina
Nook & Sea
HA HA! That’s a great story. Seriously, what are people thinking. I’m sure your landlord wouldn’t accept that in his own home… why should you. It’s frustrating.
A well-working shower head, faucet, …. even a toilet is heavenly. That sounds so silly.. but it’s true. As another follower mentioned…. thank goodness for the men in our lives — fathers or husbands who save the day! Thanks Kristina.
Haha exactly! A lot to be thankful for :) Have a fab week Stacey!
As I’m sure you’ve experienced, bathroom and kitchen renovations can be a nightmare unless you have a great contractor or honey-do’er :) Thank goodness for our men, sounds like yours saved the day!
Man, I don’t know what the hell I’d do without him! I try not to take it for granted but sometimes you just forget that not everyone can do stuff like this. I know you would agree with that in regard to your guy. Plumbing is NOT on his list of favorites but he succeeds with it every time he tries and always learns from it. THANK GOODNESS, is right!
I care about your fixtures. I do. I care more about what you think of fifty shades. My take: Twilight for adult women.
HA HA HA HA! Hey Brandy. Screw the fixtures… lets talk trash! Actually my husband is giving me a very hard time for reading this. He’s a book snob but I’m ignoring him. I would say yours is a very good take. I can hardly believe I’m caught up in it but it’s definitely FUN! (I’m only half way through it) Lets just hope they don’t make it into a movie. (i.e. Twilight) I know it’s in the works but It would ruin my lovely image of Christian.
He’s like this post… he’s lovely and makes me squeak!
(I didn’t just say that!)
Are you finished with it? Have you read the others?
I could go on and on about my thoughts on this book and all the criticism it’s getting… People need to stop over analyzing it. Its fun …they should just “lay back and enjoy it”. (giggle) Thanks for the fun! :-)
Oops.. that could have been a loaded question! You got me to spill the beans and admit (embarrassingly so) that it’s secretly fun.. but you didn’t fess up! Fess up, Brandy. Good, bad or fun. Obviously ridiculous and overblown…but do tell.
HA!
fun. totally fun. i am about to start the second one. tell your husband i am a book snob too, most of the time. but this isn’t a book in my mind. it’s cotton candy, which you gotta have every once in a while or you get too serious. all work and no play, you know.
besides, i didn’t post all last week. what do you think i’ve been doing?
B
Whewwww, thought I might be alone there! ha ha! I’m almost finished with the first one, just a few pages left…
Love the cotton candy reference… couldn’t agree more. My husband said “with all the great literature in this house and you choose to read THIS”. He just shakes his head at me. (LOL) I just pull an Anastasia – bite my lip… and stick my tongue out at him! Have fun getting into the next one!
ask him if the story of O or anything by henry miller would pass muster. classics, indeed.
You are too funny using the phrase “sh*ts & giggles” in post about your bathroom:)
It’s refreshing to hear that you found great customer service for a change. I tend to just live with the defects rather than make the effort to return something – it’s pure laziness. I don’t recommend it.
It’s not a defect, but recently I ordered a rug from overstocks.com and it wasn’t what I expected – mostly because I didn’t research it well myself. Rather than bother trying to repackage a huge rug (and honestly, paying to return it) I’ve decided to keep it. I do like the color and pattern, it was just a different texture than I had expected. I’m going on and on about this silly rug because it, along with your random pattern Flor tile runner in your hallway, was the inspiration for my weekend painting project. That’s all I can tell you right now because I’m not prepared to post the final result. But I wanted to let you know (what a tease I am!) that you inspired me! So thank you!
Hey Cathy! Thanks for you comment. I do have a “potty” mouth ( again, perfect for bathroom talk!), so I hope I don’t ever offend anyone. I’m glad you giggled about it! Funny you mention the rug thing because I too ordered one from Overstock.com and was not so hip on the color. They called it “white” but really it was more like dark ivory. I was quick to rate that on the website. Ordering online is sometimes hard… but the price of the rug was unheard of and it was really nice wool …so like you, I just dealt with it.
Painting project!!! Now you’ve got me squirming and I can’t wait for your post! Oh you little tease…. what a great blogger you are! Always making us want MORE! I really loved your friends house. She has some really cool “stuff”. Very eclectic and put together beautifully.
I know, I’m terrible. Especially since it will probably be next week before I’m ready to share. So sorry – I was just bursting to tell you!
You’re awesome. I’m so glad we met!
Looks nice. I need to do the same!
Thank you! I love it more now that it’s fixed. Bathrooms and kitchens give me a headache. Glad you stopped by. I’m anxious to know what shade of blue you picked. Still deciding??? They were all so pretty.
Now we’ve edged our way back to green! It would be a lot easier if hubby didn’t care about such things!
I hear you!! But honestly it’s lovely that he cares. It takes teamwork, for sure. Sounds great!
I can totally relate had a brand new faucet installed and it leaked, same cartridge problem! Not to sound old or anything but I’m with you on this thought “….Maybe that’s why I love old stuff so much. They just don’t make things like they use to.” I would take old charm and function over the new stuff any day and it’s not because of preference, simply from experience and not wanting to backtrack and repair or replace. Glad you got another checked off your to do list.
Well, it’s just like your door knobs… ( I KNOW how heavy those babies are! )
These days you go to replace a knob and what do you get? If you’re lucky to live near a salvage shop, you have some different choices but in general it’s pretty cheap stuff that might fall apart in you hands if you’re not careful. Probably why so many of us love to renovate old houses… traditional or modern…. they are just special!!
I’m impressed with how perfect the circle you cut in your tile is… It’s seriously accurate.
We bought the same style dial/one handle/diverter thing from Restoration Hardware. It’s pretty on the outside—but plastic on the inside. And the knob for the diverter falls off at will. I never took it up with them, since like you, we don’t use that bath much… and it’s not worth it to rip it off the wall. But it irritates me.
It is irritating! Right now it’s working well… but who knows! It’s a crap shoot. I can deal with replacing things that don’t work or are cheaply made… but Victoria, you summed it up for me.. it’s the thought of tearing out an entire wall for one little fixture. It gives me anxiety to think about it. Lets hope this fix holds.
I guarantee you the diverter that was in there was probably 20+ years old… and it was working. Ugly but worked. Not one bit of it was plastic that I remember. (sigh) Thanks for commiserating!