Good points Sandy. Hooking the pot filler to cold water is actually better though, unless you have an insta-hot or a small demand water heater under the sink. You usually have to run hot water a few moments to get it to the faucet anyway, and with a pot filler there is no where to run it except into the pot.

I've built several houses and agree that using the best subs is crucial to a good project. if you find a good sub, he WILL listen to your ides, he will offer his own, he will tell you why something won't work or that its not to code, but he won't say he can't do it because he's just too lazy to try.

Good points. Thanks for the advice as they are almost done framing our 2000 sf additon to our house (we bought a 1500 sf house on a big lot).

One thing i'd argue with - hooking pot filler to hot water. The dAnger of hooking your pot filler to hot water is that you're using water that has been sitting in a hw tank, leaching metal into your water. It's one thing for showering, but a different for water you're using to cook. I like to let water run for a few seconds before using it to cook so it hasn't even been sitting In the water pipes!

We have pex pipes. They aren't copper. I cook a lot so there would be water flowing through at least once or twice a day.

Good point for people with copper pipes!

They aren't talking about your pipes -- it's the metal hot water tank the water is sitting in where you get all kinds of krud and more of it will go into hot water than cool water. Might be different if you have a tankless system.

Great advice, thank you so much for posting all the information. I felt a little embarrassed the other day when the contractor brought in his tiler for an estimate and I asked him about the niche to make sure he was going to slant it a bit in the bathroom-he rolled his eyes....well, that wasn't a good response in my opinion-I was just asking a question that I learned on here! We are going with a different tiler.

I do have a tankless hot water heater on/under the sink. I will check before changing it.

Dont assume they know what theyre doing just because its their business. I can tell you horror stories about the framer that added 12 to the back of the house and about the electrician. They are both licensed contractors but didnt/dont have a clue. We had to go back and totally rebuild the roof and part of the walls in the addition. The electrician failed 2 final inspections and finally passed. Last week, I had the 2 fans and lights on in the bedroom, the tv and was vacuuming. It blew the circuit because theyre too small. I can go on and on about both of them but you trust that they know what theyre doing since theyre licensed and they have to pass inspections.

I think there's a good caution in there about hiring "friends" to do work, too.

When we were redoing the kitchen in our former house, we got three estimates, two from people we had personal connections with and one kitchen store. When we showed up for the appointment with the one who we had the closest tie to (he's my best friend's step-dad, and has a very successful kitchen/bath business in town), it was clear he had not spent any time at all on our kitchen layout, had not listened to a word about what we wanted or even looked at our suggested layout. We decided then and there to go with the kitchen place where we had no personal connection and where we could be demanding costumers and no one would take it personally. We didn't regret it for a moment, and went back to the same place for the kitchen we're doing now.

I'm sure there are circumstances and some relationships where hiring family or friends is necessary, but I think it's better to keep professional and personal relationships separate if possible.