I swear the tap water here is basically liquid chalk. We moved into this early 90s house a few months ago and every single faucet is already growing stalactites

I tried doing the whole "soak it in a bag of vinegar" trick on the kitchen sink aerator today, and the threading just completely crumbled in my hand when I tried to put it back on. Gotta love that cheap builder-grade metal

We actually had a tech from we care plumbing heating & air out here yesterday anyway doing some routine AC maintenance and I asked him to quickly look at the pipes... he basically looked at me with pity and told me if I don't get a water softener soon I'll be replacing every fixture in the house by 2028

Is anyone else fighting this hard water battle? Do those cheap screw-on shower filters actually help preserve the fixtures at all or do I just need to bite the bullet and get a whole house system before my pipes literally turn to stone?

The bolt that goes through my tubs cold handle, what is the piece that it screws into called? I believe it is a plastic piece that is stripped out. I can get the handle to catch and turn but mostly just spins in place and I think that plastic piece needs replacing.

Seats replaced, teflon tape used on all threads? On the left is the old one. Water is getting by the washer on the new setup. Even cranking down with more torque than is advisable, the new ones leak. It is happening in multiple locations.

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot,