Mike Quick opinions

Real Estate Investing Plumbing Part 2

By on Oct 23, 2017 in Plumbing Product Advice, Real Estate Investing | 0 comments

Plumbing 101 for Real Estate Investors [Part 2] by Master plumber Mike Quick

Fancy is fun, fancy is cool. Excitement attracts attention, buyers and renters. Fancy can be much less risky if you understand that new plumbing products take time to establish durability and reliability. Sometimes, real estate investors think the risk might be worth the reward. Sometimes, fancy might be okay.

In 2016, Water Ridge Pull Out kitchen faucets seemed reasonably worthy of risk. They were the only faucet I could find that mounts from the top. If the Water Ridge faucet failed pre-maturely, it would be extremely easy to replace and it was available at a more than reasonable price. For years, I wrote about serious problems Moen and other’s had with “Pull-Out Spout” kitchen faucets. I told my customers about problems I saw with extremely expensive Kohler faucets and other faucets and I begged people to avoid “Pull-Out Spout” faucets.  Since so many of my customers “had to have” this relatively new style faucet, I started installing Water Ridge faucets.

So far, I have found no problems with the Water Ridge faucets I have installed. In fact, the ceramic cartridge in the faucet I use looks just like the cartridge I found in a Moen faucet (both seem to have been made in China). I found a Moen faucet that had a ceramic cartridge installed too loosely and the loose seal at the base of the cartridge on the Moen caused a leak to run down under a kitchen sink. It might be too soon to say the Water Ridge is as reliable or as durable as older style, less complicated faucets. If a “Pull-Out Spout” faucet is required, so far, I recommend the Water Ridge.

Now, I see Water Ridge has introduced a “Pull-Out Spout” with a “no-touch” necessary feature. I have seen problems with other manufacturers introducing this “state of the art” feature and so far, I think this type of faucet should be considered too risky for long term investments. If a consumer just “had to have” the no touch feature, I would recommend the Water Ridge because theirs is the only one I found with the faucet mounted from the top.

Please watch for Part 3. Meanwhile, remember, trustworthy plumbers know about trustworthy plumbing products.