Universal Rundle?
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That's funny because as I was reading the first post I knew I was going to say that UR had to be one of the worst toilets ever made right up there with Briggs and Mansfield. Now I know why.
UR was worse, Briggs wouldn't buy their molds or any of their design, they just wanted the production facilities. UR did bring one good thing to the fixture industry, they were among the first to use acrylic for shower stalls and tubs.
The Briggs Manufacturing Company was founded in 1908. In the 30's, they expanded into steel plumbing ware and ceramic toilets. Currently they also own the Sayco Faucet brand.
At this time, Briggs Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceramicas Industriales Limitada, of Chile.
At this time, Briggs Industries is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ceramicas Industriales Limitada, of Chile.
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378 Posts
I've repaired /rebuilt U.R. faucets,color coded stems if I remember correctly,but don't remember really having a problem with their w.c.
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203 Posts
Don't run into many of those at all anymore. I live in a town that has a fair amount of turn of the century and up to early 40's houses. Those were the ones you would find the Universal Rundle and Briggs in. Even had some original tanks 6 feet in the air with the pull chain to flush it! Repair parts started to become harder to locate around mid 90's for some of the more uncommon brands. Always a treat running into one, when you hadn't repaired one in a while. Their linkages on their ballcocks were pretty ingenious for the time they were invented. All brass with lever fulcrum type. Still have one or two laying around. I have an old 2'X2' Stem and seat repair box from way back. Have brand new Sayco,Briggs,Universal Rundle ,Savoy-Tub and shower valve stems and seats. When was the last time someone pulled out a faucet seat that was about 1 1/2" long ? Or ran into an American Standard flush valve that was a 4 inch brass canister with a leather washer? Now that was a flush valve ! Not some tube of plastic, that you could snap the ears off of it attempting to remove it. I still have a couple of the leather washers. They were usually on the one piece American Standards. They had three screws holding the 4" brass seat going through the porcelain. The heads would always just come off the screws when replacing it. You would have to try and drill out what was left, without cracking 50 year old porcelain. Any of the old timers remember the old American Standard Single Porcelain handle and thick Porcelain cover shower valve ? Had the split threaded barrels and graphite and brass rings with one single spindle ? Their was an art to repairing them. You had to get everything lined up just perfect and slide it all in. Turn the water on in the basement, come all the way back up to the second floor to find it dribbling away ! Did not matter how many you repaired. Some you got on the first try, others you learned new curse words on ! I can't imagine the guy who invented them! Quite a complicated assembly. Most of the outfits in my area wouldn't even touch them. After a while, the supply houses around me didn't even have the kits that I did. They were one solid brass valve though. Valve would way 10-15lbs when you did a reno and ripped one out. Actually wished I had kept one, complete with trim. It would make a nice display with a sign that said circa 1930 ! The majority of those homes were bought up by yuppies that renovated them and I could not tell tell you the last time I even saw one, let alone repaired one. Actually had a house that was built for the aggregate contractor for the Empire State Building. The Architect was the same. The interior walls were 8' poured concrete. Wonder if the concrete for the house went on the bill for the Empire State Building ? The main water came in the house then dived back down into the ground and came up in all the many concrete petitions in the basement. After years of repairing leaks on all the brass water, he decided to repipe all the basement piping above ground to all the risers. Took two weeks with four guys to break the tops of the concrete walls and ceilings to expose the ends of the risers and tie in. Some of which actually had shut offs, at least to be able to locate the risers. Anyone want to guess what it was like trying to tie on to brass water piping form mid 1930's ? Would you believe they still had the pull chain toilets, most of which all the bathrooms were still in good shape. Tile was relay properly maintained. Then a VP for American Express came in and gutted it!! It was old,but still in good shape. Had the coolest wings and hallways. The guy paid $5 million to renovate it. Made me want to cry ! Ok I'll stop boring everyone with old man plumbing stories. Ya young wiper snappers !!!
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1,399 Posts
Let's talk about 1/4 turn ceramic stems. Milwaukee/universal-runtle will outlast. F u Kohler-f u am-standard. 7 years? Thats all it lasts? F no thank you.
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203 Posts
KoleckeINC- Good point !
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203 Posts
Another hardly found one anymore is Savoy- They made 2 and 3 handle tub/shower valves. You needed their stem tool to remove their stems. They had two flat sides on the removal lock nut. Two sizes, large and small. you didn't have the tool it was a real pain to remove it for repair ! They made them so the removal nut was just inside the tile wall.
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203 Posts
Redwood- Your correct in saying that none of those mentioned were worth fixing. Except when the customer had a 1930 or 40's bathroom, where the bathroom was kept up well. They really didn't want to rip open the tile that was decent and put in a modern valve. They would much rather have you spend the two hours repairing the original valve to the house. Which some of the time was a much better quality valve then a new one. Some were really a waste of time because the repair would last maybe a year at best, like later manufacturers - Price Pfister- Gerber-Briggs-Chicago- Rundle. I still repair the old American Standard -Tub/Shower valve with the Long barells, instead of seats.
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20,658 Posts
There ya go...
Am Std Re-Nu...
The first thing in this thread worth repairing...:laughing:
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maybe with a hammer. LolRedwood said:
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1,399 Posts
Interchangeable with Milwaukee-tiny cups and springs-keep the plastic seats on standby-pray it doesn't have the 2" long ones because you are fudgerd. I'd just send a pic of all the parts to [email protected]. But be ready for it to explodejim3153 said:
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