LESLIE: Now we’ve got Joseph in Kentucky on the line who’s got a question about stainless steel. How can we help you?
JOSEPH: Three-and-a-half years ago, I was using these rubber PZV water-supply lines in the bathroom, under the commode and the sink.
TOM: OK.
JOSEPH: And one of them had busted at the time and it flooded the floor in the bathroom and the hallway with water. So I went over to the hardware store and I got these braided stainless steel and put on there.
TOM: Right. Uh-huh.
JOSEPH: I was told at the time that these here were not supposed to break or leak. But the – one of them under the sink has started leaking up under the sleeve, next to the coupling nut.
TOM: OK.
JOSEPH: And I tried tightening it down a little bit but that didn’t do any good, so I finally went back over to the store and got two new ones and put on the sink. Is there some kind of a time-replacement period on these things or just did I get a bad hose?
TOM: I think you did, because it’s very unusual for those flexible lines to leak – to break down and leak. They are clearly the most convenient way, when you’re replacing a faucet in a situation like that, because you don’t have to get the length just right. You know, if you’re a plumber, you cut everything to fit nice and neat and tight. But for a consumer, they’re the way to go.
I’ve put on dozens of those over the years for sinks and toilets and other fixtures and I’ve never had a problem with them. So I suspect that you got a bad one or perhaps when you attached it, maybe you cross-threaded it, maybe there was a bit of debris in it that caused the leak. And now that you’ve replaced it the second time, does it seem to be holding?
JOSEPH: Yes.
TOM: Yeah, I suspect that there was either a problem with the installation or the product the first time around. You just got a bad one.
JOSEPH: Is there any kind of a time-replacement period on that thing? Say, 10 years or 15 years or …?
TOM: Well, I’ll tell you what, all those products have their own warranty. And I’ll give you a little aside story. I told this on the show several months ago but my mom, we had bought a sink for her 17 years ago from Home Depot, through American Standard.
JOSEPH: Yeah?
TOM: And it chipped. And I was getting ready to replace it and I mentioned it to one of the guys in the store. He said, “I think there’s a warranty on that.” And he was right. They no longer carried them in the store but I contacted American Standard. They sent me a new sink 17 years later and only because I had the warranty and I had the receipt, because my mom is great about saving stuff like that. She saves everything.
So, if you happen to have the receipt and there is a warranty, maybe you can get a few dollars back that you spent on that. But otherwise, I would just chalk it up to bad luck and move on.
JOSEPH: Well, OK then. Thank you.
TOM: You’re welcome, Joseph. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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