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Community Corner

Faucets That No Longer Leak

Once-burned columnist finds a reputable handyman.

A week ago, I had five new faucets installed in my home’s kitchen and bathrooms. The hose to the sprayer in the kitchen sink had begun to leak, so instead of paying to fix the old kitchen faucet, I decided to upgrade all the clunky builder-grade faucets in my family’s home.

After pricing the job with a local plumber, I hired a Mr. Handyman franchise in Monmouth County to do the work, since its handymen could install the faucets and put up a shelving system in my house’s laundry room, all for less than the price that the plumber had quoted me.

The day of the installation, everything seemed to go well. I tipped the Mr. Handyman technician for his work.

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A few hours later, however, I noticed that three of the newly installed faucets were leaking beneath the sink. I was quite upset and worried, and phone and emailed the company to let the owner know of my dissatisfaction. I worried that the company wouldn’t rectify the problem.

My contractor distrust comes from another job I had completed at my house a few years ago. I hired a contractor who advertised that he could complete all the “minor changes” homeowners have around the house. But, when his subcontractors left a rip in the middle of my living room’s wall-to-wall carpeting, the contractor (who never stepped foot in my house after I signed the paperwork to begin the project) left a major mistake that he refused to fix. (That carpet tear remains to this day, unfortunately.)

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So, I was happily relieved when Stephen Boehler, the owner of the Mr. Handyman franchise, came to my home the next day to fix the leaky faucets himself.

The contractor spent about four hours in my home and took out the cheap plastic pop-up assemblies (the drain stoppers) that came with the faucets (the faucets were all priced between $60 to $80 at a local home improvement store) that I had purchased and installed heavy-duty all metal stoppers that he bought instead. He explained to me that sometimes the plastic drain stoppers that come with the faucet kits fail. The new stoppers that he installed should last forever, he said. He also mentioned that he might require all his customers who are installing such kits to go ahead and buy the all metal pop-up assemblies on their own, since he’s run into a problem with them before.

He didn’t charge me for his four hours of labor – I just reimbursed him for the new all-metal pop-up assemblies (at about $25 each) after seeing the receipt.

While I did have to put $75 more into the project than I had initially planned, what I thought was an awful experience turned out to be a fairly good one. I have found a handyman service that I can use if other repairs crop up around the house, since I’ve found someone who will actually stand behind his work and ensure a quality job.

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