The faucet I thought I liked turned out to be Brobdingnagian. I found one that looks better, but it's by this company I've never heard of. It's Zurn Z8842j4 They appear to make industrial and restaurant fixtures -- a point in their favor. It's listed as a brass, ceramic disc, 2.2 gpm flow rate commercial type faucet. The style is pleasantly industrial. The price in very nice! But I'm a little concerned that, as a kitchen faucet, it might be a watered-down (no pun intended) version of the industrial version. Anybody know anything about them? The company is in PA. Don't know where the faucet is actually made, if that makes a difference to anyone.

I have one and I am not happy with it. The faucet does not retract as easily as others. I feel I have to pull on the handle to hard to pull out the spray. Honestly I wish I bought Rohl instead. They said it was a installation issue. They gave me an additional weight to help it retract better. I realize that’s not the issue. I also feel like the metal reacts with the temperature of the water and makes it harder to pull. I have another sink where I installed a cheaper $500 dollar faucet and it works so much better no issues at all and it was installed exactly the same way as the MGS. MGS claims this is the first time they have heard any complaints about the faucet. I doubt it and also the lever that turns on the water unscrews really easily and you have to keep screwing it back in. It’s really annoying I don’t know why they would not make a permanent fixated part. The rep told me to glue it so it does not come off. This should not be a $1200 dollar faucet in my opinion.

I don't know a whole lot about them, but I did get a quote from a local cabinet company that sells their line of cabinets mostly to contractors. I think it may depend on the look that you want for your kitchen. Since I was looking for a painted finish on maple with some glazing, I had the shop order sample doors for me. I wasn't impressed by either their cream colored or their black heirloom finish. The brown glazing on the cream colored cabinet looked as if someone just took one big fat crayon and put a bold fat line around the raised panel. Also, the hierloom black finish was too regular where the corners were rounded with the sander, which looked rather fast, expedient, and too regular without a lot of thought as to how to make it look like a vintage cabinet. It also appears that you can get "semi-custom" cabinets from them in the sense that they will do customize sized cabinets. For example, I originally wanted a Victorian cresent panel door on two upper cabinets prepped for glass, which isn't available from all cabinet manufacturers. I also wanted 10" deep peninsula cabinets, which they could also accommodate. So, from that point of view, it's a flexible line. Also, the black heirloom finish was only available on alder wood, and it is too soft of a wood for my purposes. Doing a search on the Web, it appears that Karman was bought by Wellborn. I thought that the door samples were well constructed. I think they have enough door styles to choose from and if you were to stick with cherry or a stained wood species you might be okay. So, I ruled them out. The all plywood option is also available as an upcharge. The actual construction of the boxes and drawers looked fine. You may want to get samples from them as well before committing to buying from them.

I've managed rental properties for years. Now I have properties of my own to manage and have a property manager I've never heard of a monthly "repair allowance" either. Though there is a limited emergency amount called discretionary funds I would use if the owners were not available in and emergency situation.EMERGENCY does not mean replace the faucet dripping for the last week but if the pipe breaks, there is flooding because the shut off valve broke and there is no way to contact the owner. Repairs should be done after notifying you of the nature of the problem, giving you a cost estimate from the licensed and insured contractor doing the work this info should be provided by the property manager. You should see the written estimate and OKAY it before any work is done (unless it's an emergency making the property uninhabitable, then you should get a verbal estimate and still okay the work. The licensed repair company immediately afterward should send a copy of the bill for the finished work to the owner!!!It is not unusual for property managers to have a preferred electrician, plumber, general contractor, painters, etc we rely on to do the work promptly and professionally. I have made friends with many of these professionals over the years the important thing is that they are professionals and charge fairly and I have given the owners any price breaks I would get because these people are my friends. Property managers have work because we need them to watch over our concerns not rip us off. Most definitely ask for copies of invoices and canceled checks for the labor and materials involved in the repairs. If the request is refused write a formal complaint letter to the local Board of Realtor s in the county or state you have the property. Inform the Board of REaltor s you have been charged for an exceptional number of repairs and have been denied invoices, by the property manager and would like to request an investigation of his ethics and business practices. You may also see if you can find a legal aide to check over your contract for any kind of way to nullify or negate. Good Luck CT