Had something similar happen a couple years back. Kept greasing it thinking it'd loosen up, but turns out the cartridge was actually cracked slightly—probably from overtightening or age. Once I swapped it out, problem solved. Alignment checks help, but honestly, cartridges just wear out eventually... especially if tenants or previous owners weren't gentle. If greasing isn't doing the trick, I'd just replace the cartridge and save yourself the headache down the road.
Had a similar faucet issue when I first moved into my place. Thought for sure it was the cartridge too, but turned out the valve seat was corroded. Replaced the cartridge first—no luck. Ended up having to swap out the whole valve assembly, which wasn't exactly fun... or cheap. Cartridges do wear out, yeah, but sometimes it's worth checking deeper before tossing money at replacements. Learned that one the hard way.
Interesting point about checking deeper before replacing parts. But do you think it's always worth the extra hassle to dig into the valve seat or assembly first? I've had a couple faucets where swapping the cartridge fixed things right away, no deeper issues. Maybe it depends on the faucet brand or age...? Seems like sometimes it's just luck of the draw whether it's a quick fix or a bigger headache.
Good points, but honestly, I'd say it's less about luck and more about experience. I've seen plenty of cases where a quick cartridge swap masked deeper issues temporarily. Checking valve seats or assemblies upfront can save callbacks later...depends how thorough you wanna be, I guess.
"Checking valve seats or assemblies upfront can save callbacks later...depends how thorough you wanna be, I guess."
Interesting point—I hadn't thought much about valve seats before. As a new homeowner, is that something I should regularly check, or only if there's an issue? Seems like faucets hide more complexity than I realized...
