While we are not part of any of those empires, we do re-use the boxes whenever we can. We believe in recycling. You may even find a local newspaper in your package. Enjoy the fine journalism.
FAQ’s
The state of California instituted a series of regulations, effective January 1st, 2016 (called Title 20) that requires lavatory, kitchen, certain tub shower valves, toilets, and shower heads to meet certain water volume restrictions. Also, any of the aforementioned fixtures have to be certified “Low flow” by the State of CA. Unfortunately, older fixtures which used to be exempt are no longer. Certifying old fixtures simply isn’t cost effective as each individual fixture would have to be sent to a independent laboratory for certification, adding $1000’s of dollars to the cost of a $300 faucet.
As the reproduction Faucets/toilets are certified by the manufacturers, we will again be allowed to sell them.
You’ve accessed our catalog! Due to the volatility on raw material pricing, we can no longer offer a printed catalog. (Basically, by the time we finished proofing and printing a catalog, the prices were wrong). If you have Internet “issues”, let us know what you are after and we’ll be happy to print out pages from our website and mail them to you.
Not unless you are close to Murphys, California! We have a “stand-alone” business located in Murphys, halfway between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. The best place to see our products is on our website.
We send the Boss out as much as we can! 3-5 times a year, he takes off in a RV and cargo trailer and spends 3-6 weeks traveling the country buying old plumbing.
As of 12-30-15, we’re not looking to purchase fixtures. Our warehouse is full.
You have 60 days to return any stock item purchased from us. Keep in mind that many of our antiques are large, and you will be responsible for return shipping. To paraphrase, measure twice, buy once!
Special order (non-stock) items will incur a 50% restock fee if they are returned for any reason.
We do offer a consulting service by telephone. Give us a call or send an e-mail to set up an appointment. Be ready with your questions and pictures. Rates are $150 an hour with a 1/2 hour minimum. As of right now, we do not do house calls. Calls regarding parts and pieces that you bought from us are of an entirely different matter.
All our keys came from England. They were collected by the children’s T.V. show, “Blue Peter” back in 1978 and sold to an antique dealer with the proceeds being donated to charity. Fortunately for us, the antique dealer decided to resell them rather than melt them, and eventually they would up here.
Do we have a key that fits? Maybe…. We’ve watched customers go up to a bucket of keys, pull one out, and have it work in their lock. We’ve watched other customers spend the better part of a day trying keys with no success. Will we try for you? Sure, the charge is $95 an hour, 1/2 hour minimum with no guarantee of success. Also, we would need your lock. Names and numbers from your lock will not help.
Possibly… We’ll need to know several things. If you know the maker of the faucet, often that will help. (UPC is NOT a maker) If the faucet is not marked, remove the old handle and measure the diameter of the stem and the amount of splines (little points) on the end of the stem. Call or e-mail with that information. Do not guess or give rough estimates of this information. Also, pictures showing the stem and a tape measure nearby simply do not help. If you cannot read a tape measure, find someone who can. Remember, we specialize is pre-1960 plumbing. If your faucet is newer than 1960, we probably do not have it.
Without a manufacturer, not much. Start by doing a Google search. If nothing comes up, we do offer consultation services. Fees are $150 an hour, 1/2 hour minimum, with no guarantee of finding any information on your item.
Please give us 48 hours to get back to you, especially if you send your e-mail on a weekend. Our plumbers aren’t always in the building, and often one of them will have to respond to your question. Also, BE SURE that the pictures you e-mail in are no larger than 2 MB per picture. Remember, cameras these days take 10 Megabyte pictures, and our I.S.P. will block files larger than 10 meg’s. Lastly, please look at them before you send. Blurry, out of focus pictures will not do either of us any good…