Bought a cheap toilet flapper and learned my lesson the hard way

I was at Home Depot last month picking up some paint for a unit I'm flipping. Saw a universal flapper for $4.50 and figured why not, save a few bucks. Installed it in a rental bathroom on Tuesday and by Thursday the tenant calls saying the toilet won't stop running. I go over there and the plastic arm broke clean off. That cheap thing wasted way more water than I saved. Now I only buy the Fluidmaster brand ones for like $8 even though they cost more. Has anyone else had bad luck with the super cheap plumbing parts?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel85712d ago

Fix em with some plumbers putty on the screw threads next time.

foster.charles29d ago

Oh man "learned my lesson the hard way" is right. I did the exact same thing with a $3.99 flapper from Lowes. Had a rental property where I put it in and within two weeks the rubber seal got all hard and wouldn't seal right. Water kept trickling into the bowl and the water bill went up like $15 that month. Took me three trips to figure out it was that cheap flapper. Now I'm team Fluidmaster all the way too. The extra $3-4 is worth not having to deal with a pissed off tenant at 8pm on a Thursday.

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henry_martinez29d ago

Buddy of mine had the same thing with a no-name flapper.