Spent 6 hours trying to fix a leaky faucet that needed a $3 part

My kitchen faucet started dripping last Thursday and I figured I could swap the cartridge myself. Watched a few videos, took it apart, then spent the whole afternoon driving to three different hardware stores because none of them stocked the right size. Turned out the old cartridge was a weird brand that got bought out years ago and the replacement part was only available online. Finally found it on a plumbing supply site for $2.89 plus shipping, and it took four days to arrive. By the time I fixed it, the drip was gone in 10 minutes. Has anyone else wasted a whole Saturday on a simple fix that snowballed like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.christopher15d ago

Yeah I actually just read something about how home improvement stores are getting worse about stocking common parts because they'd rather sell you a whole new faucet for $80. I think that's exactly what happened to you. Same thing happened to me back in May with a toilet flapper, took three trips to Lowes before I gave up and ordered the damn thing from Amazon. It's like they assume nobody even tries to fix stuff anymore. Kinda makes you wonder if the whole DIY thing is becoming more of a hassle than it's worth sometimes.

skyler_craig15d agoMost Upvoted

Man @coleman.christopher really hit the nail on the head there. It drives me nuts how they'll have the whole aisle of faucets but nothing for the rubber gasket that's a three dollar fix. I tried to replace a sink stopper a few weeks back and the guy at the register just shrugged and pointed to a whole new pop up assembly. Makes you wonder if they even want you to fix things anymore.