That appears to be a styling trend now. Why I have no idea after watching my dad have to repair the seats and washers on a regular basis in the 50’s. The only place I have them is with the utility sink in the shop but I know how to replace the seats thanks to my dad.
I have to replace seals in lever faucets, at least with Delta.
Not nearly as often as the old style washers.
OTOH, many modern twist faucets now use seals, similar to the lever faucets.
Yes, the old washer and seat faucets have gone the way of carburetors and ignition points, even with the separate hot and cold faucets for the sink. I have even gotten rid of the washer and seat cutoff valves for the toilets. I got tired of not being able to shut off the water completely when I needed to do something with the toilet float valve.
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I like the Delta faucets. Kits for rebuilding the faucets are readily available. These kits are not only made by Delta but there are after market manufacturers of these kits. I bought an aftermarket rebuild kit at our local Rural King farm store for $6. I had the faucet rebuilt in 15 minutes. It reminded of the 1950s when parts were available almost everywhere for Fords and Chevrolets.
As long as we are talking about cars, what do you mean? All I have ever seen is the standard shut off valves. They have some !/4 turn ones or something now if that’s what you mean. I know I’ve got a couple leaky ones in the bath room when I had to work on the faucets and couldn’t shut them off all the way. Figured to just rebuild them sometime. Plumber liked to use those compression rings making it tough to get off in close quarters.
Yeah I’ve got mainly Delta with a couple of others. Everything single lever though. Never do plumbing when the hardware store is closed.
Replace with one of the new shutoff valves. Any new plumbing will get this instead.
Karma is a beyotch
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@common-sense-answer Update on blowing up the lawnmower: I cleaned up my yard today and after taking up all the sticks and leaves that blew into my yard from the neighbor’s yard, I decided to get out the mower that had died last year and I had figured that the compression was so low that the engine was done. I pushed the mower into the storage shed. I pulled that mower out of the shed today figuring that if it started, I would go over the yard and take care of what was left after raking the yard. If it didn’t start, I was going to drag it out to the curb. There are always people driving around our neighborhood picking up things to sell for scrap. At any rate, the gasoline in the tank was left over from last summer. The oil was dirty, but was on the full mark on the dipstick. I pulled the starter rope and it started after four attempts. I did the final cleanup and the engine ran perfectly. Instead of buying a new mower, I will treat this mower to a change of oil, a new air filter.and spark plug, and some fresh gasoline. The money I set aside for a new mower will be used for something more important–beer.
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Perfect! Well done! 
There’s always time later to blowup that mower, but for now, Cheers! 
I’ll raise a glass of Landshark. (my Florida Margaritaville beer) Fins up!
p.s.
Here at the condo, I just gaze out at the lawn crew every week (and the golf course, every day) from 5 floors up and cheer them on. However, the grass up north will be waiting for me when I return… ugh.
CSA
@common-sense-answer Our son gave up suburban living for a condo. He, with his wife and daughter lived in a three bedroom house 35 minutes from his job. They sold the house and now live in a two bedroom condo with a five minute walk to his office. Not only does he gain an hour of time a day, but he doesn’t have to take care of a yard or do other house maintenance.
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Had a lawnmower not even 8 years old, craftsman with a honda engine, blowing grass out a rusthole and then the deck broke for 3 securing bolts of the motor. Sure my last one lasted 20 years until hitting a stump in little old ladies yard I mowed for charity. No fertilizer
@Barkydog . My ancient mowers, a Toro that I bought in 1988 and a Homelite-Jacobsen I bought in 1992 have cast aluminum decks that won’t rust. However, the Product Safety Commission no longer allows mowers to be manufactured with cast aluminum decks as the decks might shatter if the mower kicks up a stone and could injure the operator.
The Toro has a Tecumseh engine and Tecumseh engines are no longer manufactured. However, our local independent hardware store has a super repair shop and the technician was able to obtain a rebuild kit for the carburetor. The Homelite-Jacobsen was sold to another company and parts, such as the handle, are no longer available. Even the blade isn’t available.
I keep hearing that things aren’t made as well as they were in the old days, but these mowers outlasted the mowers my parents had and I used when growing up back in the 1950s.
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My cousin and her husband did that too. They moved to the DC area in the 1960s, and worked in suburban Maryland. They thought the cost of living was high, and found an apartment in Northern Virginia. The commute even then was about 45 minutes. Eventuality, they found a place within walking distance to work. They said they saved a bundle, even though the rent and taxes were higher.
I have adult cousins who live in NYC and never owned a drivers license. A couple of them are my age. A few of my cousins have never left the City in their 50+ years of living.
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We are living in Paradise with so many fun things to do every day, the last thing we want to do is home maintenance.
After about a year here, my wife was within ear-shot of me telling somebody that the smartest thing I ever did was to buy our condo here. It was actually the second smartest because according to my bride, marrying her was the number one smartest.
That takes care of the first two and tied for 3rd and 4th are annual individual golf memberships for my wife and I ( A little pricey, but we live in the golf course and play 5 or 6 days per week!) and getting a kayak storage locker in a salt-water preserve/recreation area, purchasing 2 tandem kayaks (and all the goodies).
We kayak several times a week (following the tide tables) and can get out to Palma Sola and Tampa Bay! The beauty, tranquility, and wildlife are outstanding!
Then there’s walking 8 miles of beach on the Gulf and swimming with the dolphins and playing pickleball.
We don’t want to waste time cutting the stink’n grass, washing windows, vacuuming the pools, sweeping the garage, or anything else we’d do if not in a condo. We even bought a robot vacuum cleaner for indoors. We are within bicycle distance of shopping, beaches, and kayaks.
I will dump our house up north ASAP and possibly look for a condo there or just rent for a month or two. Energy costs of a house are too high compared with a condo.
CSA
Nothing against that I guess but the places i worked, I would rather not live around them. Lots of guys at the truck plant lived within walking distance and would walk home for lunch. But these guys had been there since probably the 1940’s.
At any rate that reminded me of the New Orleans flood. People were transported to Minnesota temporarily until their homes could be re-settled again. It struck me that some of the kids had never seen a cow before and had never been out of the city. They had no idea milk did not come from the store. College required spending a semester in a foreign country. I’d like to see the same requirement for domestic travel to require lets say spending time in at least ten other states before graduation.
There is a theory that some people look back fondly on their college days because it was the only time in their lives that they got to live in a tight knit community with a five minute walk for a commute.
Oh yeah? No thanks. I’ll take a private bath and garage and shop anytime. I joke once in a while that the life cycle starts in a dorm progresses through an estate, and then ends again in an old people’s dorm-if you are lucky enough or unlucky enough depending on your fond view of dorm or barracks life.
At the university where I work the dorms are single-occupancy apartments and suites, with private bathrooms and access to shopping. Not many of the students do their own mechanical maintenance or repairs.
I’m not sure what college or university you attended, but I suspect they have probably also modernized their student housing since you were there. When were you there?
My kids went to 3 different colleges (4 if you count my daughters Masters program). The vast majority of all students do NOT own any transportation. And the ones that do don’t even know how to change their own oil.
Most of the dorms these days are all private showers. Back when I was in college the showers were just one big open area like the Army. Not anymore.
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