Home Improvement : A Guide to Shopping for Household Items

Whether it is to improve the appearance of a bathroom or to replace a worn appliance or to make the kitchen more efficient, sooner or later all of us who own homes will have to make that dreaded visit to the plumbing supply, hardware or appliance store to select some new item for our house.

You walk into one of these places and see an intimidating array of product brand names, styles and prices. The salespeople try to explain various design elements and special features, but often the information is too technical to understand or it contradicts what others have said.

Frequently the final purchase decision is based on faulty information, resulting in needlessly high repair costs down the line.

Here is a guide to repair-saving features to look for when shopping for household items.

Faucets: Bath, kitchen, tub and shower faucets can account for a major portion of remodeling and repair expenses.

Unfortunately, many homeowners are wooed by style and appearance alone and neglect to consider reliability and ease of repair when the faucet leaks, as any faucet might.

Generally speaking, high-priced decorator faucets are more prone to problems and much more expensive to repair than cheaper faucets. Replacement parts for decorator faucets are normally found only at plumbing supply stores, and sometimes the price of repair can actually exceed the cost of a good-quality inexpensive faucet.

When faucet shopping, start at a good plumbing supply store and ask to see a selection of the most common American-made fixtures in the lowest price range.

The less you spend, the more reliable the faucet will probably be and the easier it will be to find repair parts when needed. Once you have selected a suitable faucet, shop around at other stores for the same fixture. Prices often vary greatly from store to store.

Also, bear in mind that brass-plated fixtures will tarnish over time. Stick with chrome or a baked-on finish whenever possible. Avoid sprayers sold with kitchen faucets. The diverter mechanism commonly fails. Instead, use a swivel aerator on the end of the spout.

Toilets: Most plumbers will agree that mechanical problems with toilets are one of the most common house call requests they get.

Keep in mind that the simpler and less expensive the toilet you buy, the less likely it is to break down and the cheaper it will be to repair when it does.

As you shop for a new toilet, lift the tank lid of the least expensive two-piece model (separate tank and bowl) on display and look at the controls inside.

You will see a ball cock on the left side of the tank attached to a float ball. The flush handle is connected by a chain or rubber cord to the drain ball on the tank bottom.

Remember this simple configuration as you look at costlier decorative one-piece toilets and try to find one that has similar-looking controls in the tank. Bear in mind that the less complicated the valve apparatus appears, the fewer problems one can expect later on.

Disposers: The garbage disposer should be used very sparingly to avoid drain stoppages. Disposers are available in a wide range of models and prices, but it is really not necessary to spend more than $100 to get a unit with a one-half horsepower motor that will work well and last long.

A very important feature to look for when you shop for a disposer is the keyway under the machine. A special wrench can be inserted in it to unjam the cutting wheel. The keyway is located on the underside of the disposer.

Major appliances: A good general rule of thumb when shopping for major appliances is to buy the most basic model manufactured by the best brand-name maker of the appliance needed.

The price difference between the best brand of dishwasher and the middle-ranked brand, for example, is not all that much but there is a big difference in durability.

Avoid appliances that have lots of special buttons and features.

Most people never use more than the most basic functions on their machines and the added features not only increase the purchase price, but may lead to higher repair bills later with that much more to go wrong.

Also, never buy any appliance that has a digital or computerized control panel. These controls are much more prone to failure than mechanical controls, and are very sensitive to blow-out from power surges through the electrical lines in your neighborhood.

Also, remember that any heat- producing appliance (dryer, range, oven, furnace, water heater) should be gas-fired, not electrically powered, if possible. Gas operation is not only much cheaper than electric, but helps reduce future repair bills, since there is no element or wiring to break down.

Automatic sprinkler timers: If you are considering installing automatic sprinklers, or if you already have a system with programming instructions, you do not understand, you may find yourself shopping for a new control timer. Virtually all residential sprinkler timers are interchangeable and present a classic example of how sometimes cheaper is better.

There are many residential timers on the market ranging in price from less than $100 to around $300, but by all means, stick with the least expensive timer that will operate all the valves on your property.

The pricier timers are generally much more difficult for the typical homeowner to reprogram and offer no more in the way of valuable features or longevity than the inexpensive models. For example, “Lawn Genie” produces an inexpensive line of timers that perform as well as any of the others on the market and sell for under $100.

Of course, sometimes we may wish to depart from these purchase guidelines to get an appliance or fixtures that look great with the decor of a room, or matches existing hardware. It’s valuable to know at the outset what problems may be encountered and make that purchase with your eyes open.