Hi there,

First - thanks for running such a great service. It has been very helpful! I have one question for which I've not been able to find an answer here.

Our house has an original laundry tub and wall-mount faucet in the basement laundry room. It is a "Cuthbert" compression faucet with 8 inch centers (circa 1948-50) and is dripping profusely. I tried taking the stems apart to replace the washers but when I went to Home Depot for replacements the guy just laughed at me. Anyway, even if I found adequate washers I expect that the valve seats are wrecked. So it's time for a new faucet. Thankfully one can get (very swish) wall-mount faucets online, made by Kohler, American Standard, etc. They have 8 inch centers and swivel-spouts of various lengths. I've attached a picture of one that looks much like our current faucet, although ours is crusty and corroded.

Before I shell out $200-$300 for such a faucet, I wonder if you could tell me how likely it is that I could install it to the current pipes. These new faucets all have inputs specified as "1/2 inch NPT female". I don't know exactly what that means. I believe we have 1/2 inch copper pipes, but the connecting nuts on the old faucet are massive - like 2 inches in diameter. It connects right to the pipes at the wall, without any intermediate supply lines or shut-off valves. If for some reason my pipes won't accept the new faucet, could I rig some connector / adapter between the pipes and the faucet inputs?

I'm happy to call a plumber to do the install if necessary... I just don't want to waste money on a pricey faucet if it is going to be useless!

Thanks!

Gned (Halifax, NS, Canada)

http://www.plumbingstore.com/images/bk-wall-faucet-123-009.jpg

when I went to Home Depot for replacements the guy just laughed at me. Anyway, even if I found adequate washers I expect that the valve seats are wrecked. Forget the big box stores. Take the washer into a Plumbing Repair Shop and have them replace them. When you have the stems out take your fingernail and run it around the seats. If you find any nicks or rough spots either replace them or if they're not removable take the entire valve in and have them reseated. This will cost you much less then replacing the entire valve, good luck, Tom

Thanks Tom! I will give that a try.