Function Over Form

It works, and there are no leaks.

In 2012 I replaced the corroded faucet in one of our bathrooms with upscale $200 fixtures (pricey ten years ago) that looked nice but became harder and harder to turn after only a few years. Worse, parts were hard to find, and the faucet was difficult to repair because the home handyman had to go underneath the sink in order to loosen and tighten the handles.

So I spent this holiday weekend installing a new faucet. (I actually consumed more time hacksawing off the old one.)

Gone was the desire to look at fancy fixtures. Easiness of installation and repair was the priority; in the future cartridge replacement will be done from the top of the sink.

Beauty lies in simplicity, not shininess.

Fulfilling the criteria was a Price Pfister $100 model. Your humble amateur do-it-yourselfer took his time--three hours--making sure that the spout and handles were straight, the hot and cold lines weren't crossed (been there!), and teflon tape was wound around each thread to protect against leaks.

I'll spend more for quality and beauty, but in the future the form of a mechanism will take a distant backseat to function.