lizzy88 writes: "Does anyone use Moen fixtures? It's cheaper than the Grohe or Hansgrohe, but how's the quality?" Most makers make several lines of fixtures, with different levels of quality. In some cases, the lines are differentiated by brand name (the way that in the car business Lexus and Scion, both made by Toyota, are differentiated from Toyota and marketed through separate channels); for instance, Delta and Hansgrohe are part of the same corporate group, but are marketed to different customers. In the case of Moen, the Moen-branded units that you find in the blister packaging hanging from a shelf hook at Target are different from -- different in quality from -- the higher end Moen-branded units that you are likely to find only at a plumbing specialty store. (And probably are manufactured on a different continent.) When we remodeled our shower nearly nine years ago, we installed a Hansgrohe Axor Steel valve, volume control, mixer, and handle, and are very happy with that choice, but we saw no reason for our choice of mixer/handle to limit the choice of showerhead that attaches (in our case, via an articulated arm) to the pipe coming out of the wall above our heads. A showerhead does not look anything like a mixer handle, so a Hansgroher Axor Steel showerhead would not "match" the mixer handle any more than any other brushed steel/brushed nickel showerhead fixture would. It would take some pretty amazing peripheral vision to look at the mixer handle and the showerhead at the same time to determine if the exact color tone of the one matches the exact color tone of the other. Accordingly, we selected the showerhead with an eye more to function than to styling In the nearly nine years since we installed the Hansgrohe mixer, we have used three different showerheads in that shower: originally, an Australian "Down Under Wonder Shower" showerhead, then for a while a Hansgrohe handset showerhead, and now our present one, a Moen Velocity 6320bn -- the "bn" stands for brushed nickel which unfortunately commands a substantial price premium over the plain 6320 polished chrome model. There is no way that anyone could rationally argue that the styling of our Moen showerhead is less of a "match" for the styling of our Hansgrohe mixer than a Hansgrohe showerhead would be. The Moen Velocity is the best showerhead that we ever have used in any setting, home or away from home; it is simply wonderful. We have slightly lower than average water pressure in our shower, but the Velocity lives up to its moniker and gives us more "zip" in the water stream than we have achieved with either of the other two shower heads. I have provided a link to the Amazon listing below, but with a little shopping, you might be able to find a better price. One other point: Moen customer service is great; Moen stands behind its products Here is a link that might be useful: Moen 6320bn (Amazon listing)

We bought a new construction house in 2008 that has all Newport Brass fixtures and decorations. - 5 bathrooms, a three sink kitchen, and 2 wet bars. And I mean it is all Newport Brass - sink handles and faucets, towel bars, toilet bowl handles, etc. And here is what has broken, starting in less than one year: bathroom tub diverter handle, kitchen sink mixer cartridge, shower head, bathroom sink faucet connector, another shower head, shower temperature mixer valve, and another bathroom sink faucet connector! The parts are insanely expensive to replace, it is difficult to make sure that you have the correct model, and even harder to make sure you have the correct finish. The most frustrating thing (and why I am writing this up) is because one of the broken bathroom faucets is now discountinued, and I am stuck with the a bathroom that has a dozen plus Newport Brass installations that I will not be able to match. Ever! The "help" that I have received from Customer Service is a joke. They cant help identify part numbers or finishes, and dont seem particularly interested in the fact that there stuff keeps breaking. I have taken to proactively switching out parts, especially shower heads, with stuff on Amazon and which I feel is better quality and much, much cheaper. Do not dare install this overpriced garbage in your house!

socalgrl, Thanks for your reply. We are also the exact same heights so I would take your advice but...apparently, I have the world's dumbest plumber. He kept telling me that the shower shelf was adjustable and could go anywhere on the bar so yesterday, I pulled the whole thing out and played with it to see how to put it together (the same one you have) and the shelf HAS to be on the bottom like the picture. Now I have a problem-grrr. He mounted the elbow 4 inches below the valve and if I lower the bar, the hose will run over the shelf. As it is now, there is only one way to mount the bar and the height is going to be too tall for even dh at 6'2". I am about to cry. So the shelf will be directly below the valve/plate/handle to turn on the water and above the elbow for the hose and that puts the bottom of the bar 40 some inches from the shower floor-ack! I wanted to be able to flip the head over to be able to use the spray at least on my lower back. (I love this thing and how it flips!) I think I will try and take some pictures and see if anyone here can help me figure it out. The painter comes tomorrow so I still have a few days. Thanks again!

Tiled shower stall is leaking at the bottom (or course). There are openings where the cover plate meets the tiled wall and the shower water may be entering through these crevasses. Should I be placing silicone sealer around the edge of the cover plate, or is it necessary to remove the plate and look for some kind of damaged gasket under it? When it was originally installed by the professional plumbers there was no silicon sealer used. Advice will certainly be appreciated.