There is nothing more annoying than doing a nice paint job on a bathroom,
only to have the escutheon covering the toilet water supply rust.
I tried using shellac, and it only bought me about a month.
Would polyurethane or spray lacquer work?
I don't really want to invest any more than $3 on a simple thing, and I
don't understand why they make this crap so cheaply. Bathrooms are
_supposed_ to be moist.
buy one that's chromed brass, or even better, stainless steel.
Chromed steel will rust, unless it's excellent chrome, and you're not
going to get excellent chrome for $3, you're going to get crappy flash
chrome.
nate
Hey, I learned a new term from that site: "smitty plate". But not sure
what exactly that is: a plate to cover up plumbing boo-boos?
--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism
> On Aug 12, 11:26�am, "Perry Aynum" <jc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > Are there any tricks to preventing the $3 plumbing pipe escutcheons from the
> > BORG from rusting after 2 months?
> >
> > There is nothing more annoying than doing a nice paint job on a bathroom,
> > only to have the escutheon covering the toilet water supply rust.
> >
> > I tried using shellac, and it only bought me about a month.
> >
> > Would polyurethane or spray lacquer work?
> >
> > I don't really want to invest any more than $3 on a simple thing, and I
> > don't understand why they make this crap so cheaply. �Bathrooms are
> > supposed to be moist.
>
> buy one that's chromed brass, or even better, stainless steel.
>
> Chromed steel will rust, unless it's excellent chrome, and you're not
> going to get excellent chrome for $3, you're going to get crappy flash
> chrome.
>
> nate
Yeah, no shit. So many people want it both ways. OP says:
> > I don't really want to invest any more than $3 on a simple thing, and I
> > don't understand why they make this crap so cheaply.
That's a guy who couldn't define "irony" if you waterboarded him.
My point was (directed at "Smitty, who seems to have a personality disorder)
, why bother selling something if you know it will quickly turn to crap, and
replacing it is not very convenient - you have to turn off the main water
supply and remove the valve. I might as well wipe my ass with $3.
A local plumbing supply recommended white plastic for $.23 each. Sounds
like the way to go.
Primarily used when you go from an old 3 handle system to a newer 1 or
2 handle system.
You use them when replacing tiles is not an option.
>
> --
> Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
You want cheap stuff but somehow it should be good?
Hey I like the plastic idea if I can find them. Gave me an idea,
though. I can turn an escutchen in about 10 minutes on my lathe, no
need to buy anything.
Yeah, my psychiatrist diagnosed my "personality disorder" as "contempt
for lunacy." It can be managed to a degree with wine, sex, and sleep,
but it's not really curable.
Ignorance, I'd say, is you buying something for $3 and expecting it to
be high quality.
Insanity, I'd say, is you repeating the experiment several times and
expecting different results.
Look, if something is $3 on the store shelf, then it cost no more than
75 cents to manufacture. So please explain how you're going to buy the
material, manufacture the escutcheon, and plate it, for 75 cents, and
have it be anything other than a piece of shit.
And putting a $10 price tag on it doesn't make it any better.
> So please explain how you're going to buy the
> material, manufacture the escutcheon, and plate it, for 75 cents, and
> have it be anything other than a piece of shit.
Make it out of 10 cents worth of aluminum instead of 2 cents worth of
steel? Better yet, 15 cents worth of brass? I suspect even the OP
would pay an extra 13 cents for something that would last longer than
his house...
I just spent about 12 hours removing, cleaning, and replacing the sink
faucet and handle, bath faucet and handle, and shower trim chrome ring
in my bathroom. They're all 30 years old and had very thick deposits of
scale. I attacked them with razor blades, comet, and scouring pads. It'd
be tough to find something in the Borg today that was made to stand up
to that and come out shining like new.
What happened to that guy who said he could make a new escutcheon on the
lathe in ten minutes? I meant to tell him, I don't believe it. It'd take
me 1/2 hour just to find the right piece of stock and the tools to do
the job.
since when did HD start charging $3 for thpse piece of crap plated
steel ones?
lats year I bouht some for ~$1
unfortunately gotta buy a pack of 50 but onlly a bit more than $1 each
with shipping
My buddy & I got a pack and they're decent.
cheers
Bob
Well, that's a good guess, but there are limits to the economies of
scale. Having been in manufacturing my whole life, I tend to evaluate
most of the things I buy in terms of what I think it would cost to make
one piece. It isn't particularly useful information, just an
intellectual curiosity. But I see things that sell for $1 that it would
take me all day to make, and other things that sell for $100 that I
could make in an hour.
As a WAG, I imagine escutcheons used to be machined out of brass, then
heavily plated. Nowadays I guess they're stamped out of beer can stock
and ordered to pass within 50 feet of the plating tank on their way into
the package.
Paint them the same color as the wall. Lotsa coats.
because for the mfgr. to sell them, they don't have to look good after
they've been in your bathroom under the toilet for a year; they only
have to look good in the blister pack.
Sucks, but that's the way it is. Too many people buy on price and
don't bother to ask "is this steel or brass?"
nate