the_rose•2mo agoProlific Poster

Stripped a faucet nut yesterday and suddenly missed the old days of copper pipes

Last week I was swapping out a kitchen faucet from the 90s in my place near Portland. Took me 3 hours just to get the old supply lines off because the plastic nuts had fused together. Remember when everything was brass or copper and you could actually use a wrench without it crumbling? 30 years ago my dad would have had that swap done in 20 minutes. I ended up having to cut the lines with a hacksaw and replace half the setup. Has anyone else run into this with newer plumbing parts just not holding up like the old stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_patel272mo ago

Honestly I feel this on a spiritual level. I had a shower valve from 2004 that just exploded when I tried turning it with a wrench, showered me in rusty water at 7am.

rileynelson2mo ago

I get the opposite of this. @ruby_patel27, that 2004 valve was probably one of the last ones built before they started cheaping out on the brass fittings. If you had a 1990s era one, it would have been totally fine. Maybe old plumbing is actually better than new stuff.

ryanh561mo ago

Bring a magnet next time you see a 90s era valve. @rileynelson is right that older stuff had better brass but a lot of those had iron pipe nipples that rust out just as fast.