5p rubber washer to over £100 to replace

[devonwoody]

I bit the bullet this week and decided to change the rubber washer in our kitchen mixer tap, a drip, shut down the mains etc. and took out the tap valve, it does not have a rubber disc washer, oh well off to the plumber, the first one £10.50, no good took it back, went to B & Q £15+ choice of three different dimensions tried one back home it does not fit when connected up to base, off to another plumber his one will not fit, (learning) so ordered a new mixer tap, £113 less trade but I need a fitter, havent got the strength these days to undo some nuts.
So approaching £200 to replace a rubber washer, I feel ripped off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MikeG.]

Except it isn't a rubber washer. You have a ceramic disc tap, as do most, and unless you have extreme luck you will never (as you've discovered) find an exact match for the cartridge when it wears out. They don't last long in hard water areas. There's a reason why I always go for old fashioned screw-type taps, and not the modern quarter-turn alternative: my rubber washers cost me pennies.

 

[Geoff_S]

I had a similar problem with rubber washers on our bathroom taps.

They are rubber washers, but a size only supplied by the manufacturer.

So just what is the mentality of a tap designer that thinks "There are plenty of standard rubber washers in the world, but no, I will identify
one that isn't available and then invent it" ?

 

[Marineboy]

You could have tried these:

https://www.tapmagician.co.uk/TMdefault.aspx

They have a huge range of ceramic cartridges. I actually converted my rubber-washered shower valve to ceramic (much easier to operate) with no problem at all.

 

[Tasky]

So just what is the mentality of a tap designer that thinks "There are plenty of standard rubber washers in the world, but no, I will identify
one that isn't available and then invent it" ?

Since you asked...

"There are plenty of people who will pay a plumber £2-300 to come fix a tap instead of doing it themselves. We want a piece of that. I'll make a tap with proprietary components, so the plumber has to order one in for the customer... which means buying from us!".

 

[devonwoody]

The help counterat bq said we always have trouble with these fittings and at the time I had to get a promise I could return if it did not fit ,reluctantly .

 

[kevinlightfoot]

This is one of the reasons I pay plumbing insurance,we had a similar problem and the insurance covered it,the plumber fitted new mixer taps instead of finding an elusive repair kit.You only need one emergency call out and the insurance costs are more than recovered.Around £300 will cover plumbing drains,electrics and central heating,this will also cover the cost of an annual boiler service.Seems a no brainer to me.

 

[nabs]

I've always found the same - despite extortionate British Gas charges, they (generally) have well trained engineers who turn up when they say they will and, if you follow my strategy of maintaining crappy old boilers well beyond there use-by date, then the insurance always pays for itself (ditto electrical and plumbing problems).

It was a bit of a blow when I moved house recently and BG concluded that the current boiler is so bad they could not provide cover anymore.

To be fair, they did fix it first: the previous enterprising DIY'r decided that - rather than replace the £2 seal that had failed causing condensation to leak internally - it would be better to fashion an elaborate spiral support using the lead from an old window and to then epoxy the support to the top of the fan so he could go on to glue a Tupperware lid to the support in such a way as it was angled to direct the water away from the circuit board underneath and onto a sponge (in a bowl glued to the inside of the housing)! It was a work of some genius and several BG gas engineers came round to have a look before it was put back together properly