Did I screw up?

John/Charleston · Nov 16, 2009

I'm a carpenter not a plumber but I understand the basics. I recently installed a replacement vanity top for a friend in her 2nd floor bathroom. The top was a used cultured marble one from Habitat and it had faucets on it already. I tried to swap them out with the ones she had already which I thought were nicer but they didn't match up for some reason I can' quite remember but the point is I probably took the Habitat faucets off and put them back on again.

About 6 weeks after I did the job she comes home to water pouring onto her new oak floors. I just now got to look at the broken faucet and it has a hairline crack on the threaded plastic inlet that sticks thru the counter top and has a plastic nut that fastens it down. It broke right where the inlet joins to the bottom of the faucet and on the cold water side.

Did I tighten the nut too hard? How unusual is it that the inlet would crack 6 weeks after it was installed? How unusual is it that it would crack at all?

I feel bad about the situation and obviously the first mistake was re-using that Habitat plastic faucet but I'm wondering if it can be counted as my mistake or not.

The faucet is a Moen.

Thanks,
John

Doherty Plumbing · Nov 16, 2009

LocalHero said:
I'm a carpenter not a plumber but I understand the basics. I recently installed a replacement vanity top for a friend in her 2nd floor bathroom. The top was a used cultured marble one from Habitat and it had faucets on it already. I tried to swap them out with the ones she had already which I thought were nicer but they didn't match up for some reason I can' quite remember but the point is I probably took the Habitat faucets off and put them back on again.

About 6 weeks after I did the job she comes home to water pouring onto her new oak floors. I just now got to look at the broken faucet and it has a hairline crack on the threaded plastic inlet that sticks thru the counter top and has a plastic nut that fastens it down. It broke right where the inlet joins to the bottom of the faucet and on the cold water side.

Did I tighten the nut too hard? How unusual is it that the inlet would crack 6 weeks after it was installed? How unusual is it that it would crack at all?

I feel bad about the situation and obviously the first mistake was re-using that Habitat plastic faucet but I'm wondering if it can be counted as my mistake or not.

The faucet is a Moen.

Thanks,
John

It's impossible for us to say if it was your fault HOWEVER you were the last one to touch it/install it... so guess who's gonna get blamed?

I haven't ever seen a faucet do that but sometimes if something is too tight it won't split right away. It will put stress on the fitting and eventually break. Which could be the case here.

Sorry to hear about your luck.

Sponsor · 2022-01-29T12:20:58-0800

hj · Nov 17, 2009

faucet

I am not sure why the replacement faucet and countertop did not fit together, unless one was an 8" centers and the other 4". But, I would never supply a plastic body faucet, much less reuse one, unless the customer was aware that I was not guaranteeing ANYTHING about it. You were in a gray area, because you did not furnish the faucet, (unless you bought the countertop and faucet), but you did install it, and the claim could be that you overtightened it and caused a stress that caused the damage. Plastic faucets are "blue light specials" that sell for 15 and 20 bucks, so a new one would have been a better investment.

John/Charleston · Nov 17, 2009

I can't remember why I didn't use her original faucets but they were cheap faucets as well. Truth is, I'm not sure I even unmounted the one that broke but I did do one of them and it might have been that one.

She had someone else replace the vanity and they took the Habitat faucet off and the hot side broke off at the same spot when they were trying to unscrew the nut. They were possibly damaged while being handled at Habitat and maybe I tightened them enough that the damaged parts gave out. I don't remember tightening them excessively for any reason and I do plenty of bath remodels so it's not new to me. I do know that I would have tightened them enough so they didnt' move around when someone went to use them.

She bought the countertops & faucets and I guess it's impossible at this point to tell why it broke. She's probably out $1000 (insurance deductible) so maybe I should offer to pay that or split it with her. She was fixing the house up to put it on the market. I made $320 on the job....

hj · Nov 17, 2009

faucet

IF she furnished the faucet, and you did not mess with it, then you really have no liability, AND if you did have a liability, then your insurance company would have been the one to do the repair and YOU would have paid any deductible. I would have disclaimed any liability and let the insurance companies slug it out.

Krow · Nov 17, 2009

I find that any plastic parts that are used in cold, and especially hot running water, will fail sooner than later. The constant and drastic temperature changes will make any plastic very brittle and glass-like. (this includes long term usage of plastic drainage piping). So I would say that you are not responsible for it breaking, but you are responsible for not throwing that faucet as far away as possible once you removed it the first time.

John/Charleston · Nov 17, 2009

Thanks for all the thoughts. I did this job for a friend though I was being paid. She is dealing with her insurance co and is not asking me to pay anything but I sense that she does think it's likely my fault.

In 25 years I've never had to use my insurance and I'm not sure how they work but I was technically in a town I don't have a business license for, I was only replacing vanity tops so there was no permit and I have a state residential builders license but not a plumbing license. I figure the ins co would probably small print me on one of those issues if I did file a claim anyway.

I'll talk to her and find out what her losses were and work something out for friendship sake at least. Figures that right after I was done she had brand new hardwood floors installed in the entire first floor!

Next time I'll throw the plastic faucet away.

Doherty Plumbing · Nov 17, 2009

LocalHero said:
Thanks for all the thoughts. I did this job for a friend though I was being paid. She is dealing with her insurance co and is not asking me to pay anything but I sense that she does think it's likely my fault.

In 25 years I've never had to use my insurance and I'm not sure how they work but I was technically in a town I don't have a business license for, I was only replacing vanity tops so there was no permit and I have a state residential builders license but not a plumbing license. I figure the ins co would probably small print me on one of those issues if I did file a claim anyway.

I'll talk to her and find out what her losses were and work something out for friendship sake at least. Figures that right after I was done she had brand new hardwood floors installed in the entire first floor!

Next time I'll throw the plastic faucet away.

Haha you seem to know more about insurance companies then you let on!!! They will try and get out of paying a claim anyway they can!!!!

Did I screw up?

John/Charleston

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