Fifteen years ago when we had been living in this house that is our home for ten years, my husband decided it would be a good idea to make a number of alterations. He's been doing that ever since. Generally speaking, original finishes in most new houses that are not custom built, are not of a very high standard. And that fairly well describes most tract housing, even those in the middling-to-higher end. What builders do for the most part is to focus on finishes and accoutrements that look good, but their quality is of questionable durability and workmanship. This is veneer, to appeal to most people who like what they see at first glance and look no deeper.

The house we bought in 1991 had been built years after the other houses on the street. We were familiar with the builder, British in origin but well established in Canada. Our previous house to this one that we lived in for twenty years was built by the same builder, and this was a builder whose finished product was a decided cut above those of other area builders. The second house we bought from this builder was an experimental model, new in its open style construction, a house with a largish footprint, but a smaller living environment, as a result of two-story height rooms giving it a spacious, airy feel. To our knowledge that experiment was never repeated elsewhere in this city. We liked that spacious airy feel, but in the same token my husband immediately began changing all of it, closing some of the open concept to better suit our personal aesthetic.

Over the years he has made a wide number of changes to the house, of various dimensions. Of the more mundane changes was the work he did in the kitchen (the breakfast room, the powder room, the laundry room, etc.). The floor came first, to rip up the existing vinyl tiles and replace them with ceramic tiling. While he was at it, that ceramic tile crept up the walls as well. And since he was working in the kitchen he decided to rip out the existing counter tops, rebuild them more sturdily and tile them, as well. We were satisfied with the quality of the cupboards and they were retained.

So my husband rebuilt the counter tops (ditto for those in all the bathrooms)t, in the kitchen using the same tile that he had put on the floor, to top the central workplace island, and smaller white tile on the other kitchen counters, as well as the backsplashes. So of course he also replaced the kitchen faucet. We had used a counter-top water filter for years. New on the market was an American Standard faucet with sprinkler hose and built-in water filter capacity (the carbon filters themselves to be replaced from time to time). It wasn't cheap, but it came with a lifetime warranty. Five years or so after it was installed the sprinkler began leaking. A call to American Standard brought a replacement part, gratis under the warranty.

Now, ten years later again, another leak has developed in the replacement sprinkler hose, and yet another emailed request for replacement sent to American Standard has been honoured, and we're awaiting receipt of the replacement part so my husband can install it and restore the faucet to properly full functionality.