D
13

Hot take: my plumber's comment about my shower valve made me rethink everything

I was fixing a leaky shower handle and my plumber, Frank, said 'You know, most people think the handle is the problem, but it's usually the cartridge behind it that's shot.' He was right, and that $12 part from the hardware store saved me from a full $400 valve replacement. It made me realize I jump to the biggest, most expensive solution before checking the simple stuff first. Anyone else have a moment where a pro's offhand advice saved a whole project?
2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
2 Comments
knight.drew
Remember how car mechanics used to say "it's probably just a sensor" before everything went computer controlled? That's the modern version of your plumber's advice. We're trained to assume complex systems need complex fixes now, when half the time it's still a cheap, dumb part failing in a smart machine. Makes you wonder what else we're overengineering solutions for because we don't trust the simple answer first.
7
skyler_mitchell
Exactly like @knight.drew said, my mechanic saved me with a cheap sensor.
5