Best Of
Re: Faucet brands
Delta used to take a lot of us plumbers to the Indy 500.
They always had good factory tours and great customer loyalty programs. The had "A" level reps where I worked. Must have bought a lot of loyalty:)
It has always been the Delta ball, vs the Moen cartridge. I didn't so much like the Moen pull out as people would rip the T/S valves off the mount screws when the cartridge seized. The Delta ball was more user friendly in that respect, regardless if it was a kitchen, lav or TS valve.
T&S pre-rinse faucets have always been single hole, if you are into the industrial look.
hot_rod
Re: Need a bit of help/advice...
City of Cleveland Fire Chief 216-664-6800
City of Cleveland Public Safety Department 216-664-2200
This is the only way to solve this and protect themselves as the gas utility did not report them obviously for a code violation.
leonz
Re: Faucet brands
But more $$ may not get you any better valve mechanism. Maybe more brass or a designer look. It's the pieces in the water flow that take the beating. Even the high dollar faucets with ceramic cartridges fail. Buy spare cartridges when you buy a high end faucet. In my experience the cartridges become un-obtainable in a few years.
If the "feel" of the faucet is important, solid brass is still available from Chicago, Zurn, T&S and other commercial names.
On our current bath remodel I went with the Moen ARRIS line and was surprised how heavy the lav and tub fillers are, still some brass in this line and mid price range
hot_rod
Re: Faucet brands
If you want cheap and easy to service, get a Delta. I've used them in apartments forever because they are easily serviceable. Lately though, they've turned so skimpy I've switched to Gerber, which are expensive but prison-quality-bullet-proof.
A $40 plastic Delta from the special **** "Home Depot consumer line" is about the cheapest serviceable faucet you'll find. But remember you get no more than you pay for. Don't overtighten the nuts.
Re: Leaking new vents?
the rate of a given radiator filling has a lot of variables but that sounds reasonable
Forgot to mention, the pipes between the header and the main get steam-hot after about 2 minutes.
And this can vary a lot depending on how much time has passed since the last boil, but in the winter it is probably boiling about every hour anyway so will never take long to start making steam.
Re: New Century House with Two Pipe Steam - Questions
@Hedwig595 I do have some bad news - as near as I can tell, there isn't a true and knowledgeable residential steam mechanic north of Westchester, and most certainly not in Central or Western NY (where I own a 1920 two-pipe steam system in Rochester). If you find one, please DM me as I'd pay the extra 3 hours of (round-trip) travel time for some of my jobs.
The best I've been able to do is find a good (hydronic) boiler mechanic not afraid to work on cast iron pipe and who can maintain boilers. I hope like me you are technically minded so you can properly direct workers to keep your system up to date.
I'm also surprised no one has mentioned it, but the best thing I did was replace all the steam traps - some were new traps, and others were replacement inserts.
KarlW
Re: New Century House with Two Pipe Steam - Questions
Also you may want to consider disassembling the LWCO and give it a good cleaning as it is probably full of crud.
Another springtime job.
Just adding my caution to @AdmiralYoda . Beware unscrupulous "boiler salesmen" posing as techs.
Re: New Century House with Two Pipe Steam - Questions
This is a heat exchanger for the water heater which looks like it has been abandoned.
mattmia2
Re: Faucet brands
I've liked the American Standard and Kohler stuff I've used. Delta and Moen have put fancy finishes on the same basic designs and jacked their prices up to near Kohler and American Standard levels while the mechanical designs of the 2 latter are significantly better. I've had to replace the ceramic hot cartridge in the 2 handle American Standard about 3 times over the past 25 years. The single handle Kohler is about 10 years old and hasn't leaked yet although the pause button on the pull down spray popped off and disappeared a couple years in. I think they would send me a new spray if I went though the process to ask for one.
mattmia2