Actually the first plumbing firm, was more than adequate, before. This last time though, the guy they sent really didn't seem to know what he was doing, including roughing things in in the wrong spot and having to redo it. The owner used to be more hands on, maybe he is getting ready to retire. By complete coincidence another contractor damaged the bathtub and paid for a replacement. He said it was good that they did anyway, the plumbing underneath the tub leaked at the solder joints. This sort of thing never happened before, but I have found out that several people have had problems with them recently, after using them for years. So incompetent may be bit harsh. Losing it, maybe. I really haven't asked his advice about any brands, he has just volunteered these opinions, because he likes to talk about plumbing--I am not really questioning anything except the tendency of plumbers over the years to like products that have very little public presence. I pick what I like based upon previous experience, overall reputation, and in no small part appearance. It's just in this case that, since this is a project in mid stream, I have Kohler Faucets for both tub/shower and sink, and I have a sink and toilet spec'd (not Kohler in this case) and with the faucets, the sink I spec'd and the toilet, he was like "Since you Have it already I will install it but I don't like Kohler, I don't like ___ I don't like___ ---and then names stuff I am barely acquainted with that he Does like. The previous plumber did this to some extent but I think it was because a lot of his clients just wanted the cheapest thing possible. I tend not to rely on the opinion of contractors in general, except when it is a matter of technical expertise. I've worked with some very good ones, both on my own projects and those of other people, and while I felt they executed my plans pretty well, when I saw things they designed themselves or did For themselves, I was usually pretty underwhelmed by their esthetic sensibilities. But plumbing fixtures kind of fall into a "technical" realm, so I at least want to investigate these brands. But, if these brands are so great how come the general population is not exposed to them? No advertising, horrible websites, limited options, etc. This post was edited by ineffablespace on Mon, Feb 3, 14 at 17:23

We were lucky in that our plumber's prices were right in line with what I found online. However, I think there is something to be said for maintaining the goodwill of the plumber (he's not exasperated if bits and pieces are missing, or other issues due to delivery), as well as potential warrenty type issues. Aditionally, our builder uses a local guy, and in this small town I'd call him if we had plumbing issues 4, 5, 10 years down the road- he knows his work, he can fix it back up, and I I'd rather not leave a bad memory. I also find it much more effective to go park myself in a store if there is a problem rather than deal with people online (if a part happened to fail down-the-line). Now, what this may be worth is up to you, and which items are worth potentially annoying the builder and/or plumber vs. other things you may want to do differently in your build.

I had an expensive HP portable printer, stand alone, no copier/scanner. I don't remember the model. It was a great printer, and I had/have a flat bed scanner, so didn't need the other anyway. It worked great. I used the Costco refills once. Worked fine. The next time the printer wouldn't work. I bought new HP cartridges. Didn't work. Bought new HP cartridges. Worked fine. Next time I bought new HP cartridges, the printer never worked again. This printer was over $200, and only available at Staples. I loved it. Didn't buy a new one. I bought a cheap all in one from Walmart for about $70 that had wireless printing capabilities. No more refills for me. Having said that DDIL uses refill all the time, something about continuous refill? From Amazon. If anyone wants more information on that, let me know and I will find out.

We bought Subzero, refrigerator and freezer, a large Wolf gas range and we got pushed into buying a Cove dishwasher. What a mistake. After 32 days, the dishwasher failed simply saying call service. We are in West Los Angeles, and there is only one company that does warranty work on Cove dishwashers, Box Appliance Repair. We waited two weeks for the first appointment and were told that we needed a new wash pump and it would take a week or two to get it and then they could schedule a follow up appointment. We pressured Cove and they expedited getting the pump so we only had to wait an additional 2 1/2 weeks. Today the technician replaced the wash palm and found that we also bad electronics. He replaced two circuit boards and found that a mechanical relay was also defective. We are now being told that once they get the mechanical relay they will schedule an appointment, probably two weeks away. So, all told we got 32 washes in before multiple parts failed. I told a friend of mine that I bought a Cove and he just started laughing. We have calls and emails into Cove now asking them to replace the dishwasher or give us our money back. I will post the outcome once this dishwashing nightmare is over.