For my own place though, I’m with you—Moen and Delta just make life easier when something inevitably needs fixing.
Yeah, I hear you on that. I tried a “fancy” faucet once because it looked cool in the showroom, but when it started leaking, finding parts was a pain and the plumber charged extra for the weird install. Never again.
Honestly, Moen and Delta are kind of boring but they just work. Parts are everywhere and even I can swap out a cartridge without calling someone. For toilets, I’ve had decent luck with American Standard—nothing flashy but they don’t clog as much as the cheap builder-grade ones.
I get the resale thing, but for my budget, reliability wins over style most days. Those boutique brands might impress buyers, but if you’re not planning to sell soon, is it really worth the hassle? Maybe I’m just too practical...
Had to laugh at the “fancy faucet” pain—been there, regretted that. I once spec’d a high-end European brand for a client who wanted “something different.” Fast forward a year, and I’m getting frantic texts about a mystery leak and a replacement part that had to be shipped from Italy. Meanwhile, my own kitchen has a Delta that’s survived everything from dropped pans to my nephew’s “science experiments.” Not glamorous, but it just keeps working. Sometimes boring is the real luxury, you know?