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I had a shower cartridge shatter upon extraction, so I called a guy. He dug all the parts out, and now I have a leak in the wall. He's out for parts to fix the pipe, and recommended an electric anti scale system for my hard water. Are those real things? They sound kinda hokey
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Jun 9, 2019 00:20
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canyoneer posted:I had a shower cartridge shatter upon extraction, so I called a guy. He dug all the parts out, and now I have a leak in the wall. He's out for parts to fix the pipe, and recommended an electric anti scale system for my hard water. They're pretty much bullshit. Your first step should be to get a set of hardness test strips on Amazon (about $12), or see if somewhere around you will test your water hardness for free. If your water is hard enough to treat, get a regular, sodium-based softener. You can go big, expensive, and fancy, but I have one like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-30-000-Grain-Water-Softener-GXSF30V/203219771, and it seems just fine for my needs (I was at 13-14 GPG hardness, now at 0-1.) It also seems to barely use any salt for our average usage of about 100-120 gallons/day.
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Jun 9, 2019 00:39
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Rhyno posted:By fix you mean just make sure they are not leaking/reseal them right? What's the best way to accomplish that? Please forgive me as I said before, no plumbing experience here. Yes that's exactly what I mean. Water flows downhill, so start at the bottom and work up. Follow the signs. Water always leaves a sign behind, whether it's crap dissolved in the water that's now a surface deposit or it pushed dust aside. It's possible to have a leak up top and have it drip way down its own pipe. If you follow a water stain on a straight pipe up, it turns a corner inside a wall and you don't see that stain after the corner, then you may have to tear open that wall. You may have to follow it all the way to the roof, where it'd be a flashing issue. Such are water leaks. They SUCK. edit: one other tip for finding leaks is to get up to those stains and clean them all off, every single one. Wait for them to dry completely and get a helper. One of you needs to use those fixtures while the other has to watch below with a flashlight for leaks to form. Slow leaks can take awhile to form, from barely a trickle to a full drop. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Jun 9, 2019 |
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Jun 9, 2019 01:20
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B-Nasty posted:They're pretty much bullshit. Cool, I'll look into it. Welp, that was an expensive visit. Turns out all the connections to the valve had leaks too, because whoever joined those pipes had less than 1/8" of overlap before soldering.
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Jun 9, 2019 03:24
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kid sinister posted:Yes that's exactly what I mean. Water flows downhill, so start at the bottom and work up. Follow the signs. Water always leaves a sign behind, whether it's crap dissolved in the water that's now a surface deposit or it pushed dust aside. It's possible to have a leak up top and have it drip way down its own pipe. If you follow a water stain on a straight pipe up, it turns a corner inside a wall and you don't see that stain after the corner, then you may have to tear open that wall. You may have to follow it all the way to the roof, where it'd be a flashing issue. Such are water leaks. They SUCK. Alright, we're gonna jump on this later today. I am a little bit intimidated by this so if I come running back here for more help don't be surprised. I'm pretty lucky that all the pipes run through this part of the ceiling so if I have to enlarge my hole it's not a big deal. Edit: We ran the shower on full for 10 minutes, the drain pipe had no moisture. FLushed the toilet many times, ditto for that pipe. Feeling a little defeated. Edit 2: We may have found the main source that caused the ceiling stain. My wife took an actual shower and the way her shower curtain liner was laying it was funneling the water directly down the corner of the tub where it meets the wall. I only caught this because i popped my head into the ceiling to look at another corner and heard the water. Rhyno fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Jun 9, 2019 |
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Jun 9, 2019 09:36
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Rhyno posted:Edit 2: We may have found the main source that caused the ceiling stain. My wife took an actual shower and the way her shower curtain liner was laying it was funneling the water directly down the corner of the tub where it meets the wall. I only caught this because i popped my head into the ceiling to look at another corner and heard the water. Congratulations on having a best case scenario. All you need to do now is re-caulk.
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Jun 9, 2019 20:06
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Motronic posted:Congratulations on having a best case scenario. All you need to do now is re-caulk. Well, I have to patch the large holes I cut to access this mess. But I'm thrilled that it wasn't a massive failure. And now I know exactly where all my water lines run and I can start planning in advance for the remodel next year.
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Jun 9, 2019 20:27
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Rhyno posted:Well, I have to patch the large holes I cut to access this mess. Well, there's that. FYI, it took me until last year to know these were a thing, and they are awesome: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wal-Board-Tools-Drywall-Repair-Clip-6-Pack-54-014/202015408
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Jun 9, 2019 21:08
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Motronic posted:Well, there's that. You're the best! I had a plan (a very bad one) but this will be so much easier!
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Jun 9, 2019 21:11
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Motronic posted:Well, there's that. I always use a 1x2. You can get 8 feet for a buck and it works with all thicknesses of drywall.
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Jun 9, 2019 21:57
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kid sinister posted:I always use a 1x2. You can get 8 feet for a buck and it works with all thicknesses of drywall. Also a good plan, but these things are just so drat easy and require even less skill. I just had to deal with a clogged bathroom sink, what I took apart was DISGUSTING because it had been draining slow for a while (as I was later informed) and now after cleaning out what I could take apart it's still slow. I'm off to the OP/thread history to see if there is any possible way I get out of dealing with a pipe snake going to who knows where (double sinks, both going to the wall individually, connected to ...something.... with freaking ferncos). Edit: Okay, no help there. Typical slow bathroom drain poo poo. Am I really gonna have to snake this out (if so I'd love some pointers on exactly what I want to use - probably something from the tool rental place) or if there is some magic septic safe thing I can dump down there now that is is flowing but flowing slowly. Motronic fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Jun 9, 2019 |
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Jun 9, 2019 22:27
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Motronic posted:Also a good plan, but these things are just so drat easy and require even less skill. Is it only the bathroom sink that's slow or is anything else on that stack slow as well? For instance, is there a kitchen on the other side of that wall?
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Jun 10, 2019 01:04
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kid sinister posted:Is it only the bathroom sink that's slow or is anything else on that stack slow as well? For instance, is there a kitchen on the other side of that wall? This is all upstairs.....downstairs is fine. The sink we are talking about is in the hallway bath, the other sink in that bath is just (nearly) as slow....girls, hair in the drain....hard to tell but this is the easy part to fix. The showers work fine in both bathrooms on that level and the sinks in the other bath are better but not great. You can run water in one for like 2 minutes that drains then it starts draining slower and filling the sink. To me this all looks like a vacuum issue, but I defer to the experts. For now what I'm dealing with are slow draining lines and one of those is so freaking nasty in the parts I can easily access that I know I need to do something now to fix symptoms and then something soon to fix the root cause. E: yeah, this is the stuff I'm dealing with: 
Motronic fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Jun 10, 2019 |
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Jun 10, 2019 01:18
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Motronic posted:This is all upstairs.....downstairs is fine. The sink we are talking about is in the hallway bath, the other sink in that bath is just (nearly) as slow....girls, hair in the drain....hard to tell but this is the easy part to fix. The showers work fine in both bathrooms on that level and the sinks in the other bath are better but not great. You can run water in one for like 2 minutes that drains then it starts draining slower and filling the sink. To me this all looks like a vacuum issue, but I defer to the experts. Do you have a drill? I have one of these, it makes fixing the shower drain when it clogs pretty straightforward: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Cobra-1-4-in-x-25-ft-Music-Wire-Drain-Auger/1000768702 I'd estimate it takes me like 20 minutes to do the entire job, and it's done... it's not really worth screwing around with poor alternatives. Did you remove the strainer and clean that? If so, I'd start by removing the trap, and seeing if that's filled with crap. If you don't want to deal with cleaning it, you're probably looking at like $20 to replace all that stuff.
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Jun 12, 2019 00:19
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devicenull posted:If you don't want to deal with cleaning it, you're probably looking at like $20 to replace all that stuff. Yes, I have one of those and everything to the wall is already clean (and of course it was disgusting to do that). This is all the easy part. I can see that poo poo and take it apart. I'm looking for behind the walls poo poo that doesn't require my non-plumber "rip out some drywall and run new stuff". Also that thing only clears super bad clogs. We're taking about 1 1/4" that is not quite totally clogged so mechanical remedies would have to be a lot bigger. Motronic fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Jun 12, 2019 |
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Jun 12, 2019 02:09
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So I'm about to order a bathtub (https://www.wayfair.com/home-improvement/pdp/kingston-brass-aqua-eden-54-x-30-alcove-soaking-bathtub-lbnf2734.html) and the product lists several drain assemblies. My question is do I have to use one of these listed parts, or are there 'universal' drain assemblies I can get?
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Jun 12, 2019 20:20
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The universal ones should work. They're all built on standards. Just make sure you get one that supports your tubs overflow drain height (14-3/8")
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Jun 12, 2019 20:34
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I have a lovely mid nineties hot tub in a bathroom with separate hot and cold water handles. They just spin to turn the water on and off, but there is no “stop” to it, ie, I think I can keep on spinning it forever. It is now super finicky to get one side fully turned off—we usually have a slow drip. Is there some basic/dumb fix to this that does not require tearing apart tile to get to and presumably replace the valve?
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Jun 13, 2019 01:06
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SpartanIvy posted:The universal ones should work. They're all built on standards. Just make sure you get one that supports your tubs overflow drain height (14-3/8") Looking at the cost of assemblies + hardware to match my shower fixtures (matte black) I went ahead and just ordered the suggested one with the right color hardware included.
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Jun 13, 2019 01:57
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gvibes posted:I have a lovely mid nineties hot tub in a bathroom with separate hot and cold water handles. They just spin to turn the water on and off, but there is no “stop” to it, ie, I think I can keep on spinning it forever. It is now super finicky to get one side fully turned off—we usually have a slow drip. Is there some basic/dumb fix to this that does not require tearing apart tile to get to and presumably replace the valve? Take the handles off, which are usually held on by a screw behind a removable cover plate in the center or a small hex set screw on the bottom side. Underneath the handle should be some type of stem or cartridge, made of brass or plastic. This is more than likely the source of this problem. I have never worked on a hot tub, but am assuming they work like every other shower valve, tub valve and faucet in the world.
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Jun 13, 2019 02:00
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Motronic posted:Yes, I have one of those and everything to the wall is already clean (and of course it was disgusting to do that). This is all the easy part. I can see that poo poo and take it apart. I'm confused, you have a snake but you only ran it up to the wall? I pretty much go the full length of the snake whenever my shower starts to drain slowly. I'd suggest giving it a shot, you don't really have really anything to lose.
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Jun 13, 2019 23:44
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devicenull posted:I'm confused, you have a snake but you only ran it up to the wall? I pretty much go the full length of the snake whenever my shower starts to drain slowly. No, I don't have a snake for pipe like this - I have a big flat snake for busting up crap in sewer laterals. I disassembled everything up to the wall and cleaned it in a bucket. 
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Jun 14, 2019 02:02
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This weekend the coupler at our water meter broke. The city came and replaced the riser... at 2AM. Yuck. The next morning our hot water is mild as hell. Normally it's just above OMG it burns at full power. Now it's almost tepid at full blast. What should I check first?
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Jun 17, 2019 16:40
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xwing posted:This weekend the coupler at our water meter broke. The city came and replaced the riser... at 2AM. Yuck. The next morning our hot water is mild as hell. Normally it's just above OMG it burns at full power. Now it's almost tepid at full blast. Is your water heater in some kind of fault mode? Gas or Electric? Looking for blinking lights or a lack thereof, and a little sticker that explains them.
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Jun 17, 2019 17:05
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Also you might drain it. Sediment could have gotten in when they swapped out the line, maybe.
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Jun 17, 2019 17:09
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I returned some stuff at Menards today and wandered by the tankless water heaters. Super cool poo poo over there man.
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Jun 17, 2019 17:12
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H110Hawk posted:Is your water heater in some kind of fault mode? Gas or Electric? Looking for blinking lights or a lack thereof, and a little sticker that explains them. Electric and it's older. I've never noticed any blinking lights before. I'll definitely flip the breaker though. SpartanIvy posted:Also you might drain it. Sediment could have gotten in when they swapped out the line, maybe. Can do. Rhyno posted:I returned some stuff at Menards today and wandered by the tankless water heaters. Super cool poo poo over there man. This has always been my plan... just not right now. 
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Jun 17, 2019 18:06
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Rhyno posted:I returned some stuff at Menards today and wandered by the tankless water heaters. Super cool poo poo over there man. Wait until you see the circuit size you need for an electric one. You'll probably need to upgrade the service for your entire house.
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Jun 17, 2019 21:10
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Does that mean there are natural gas heated units? On another note, I replaced the tank internals on a toilet that was running too often and had a low water level in the bowl. Despite new parts the bowl level will not rise. I have tried everything suggested by a dozen YouTube videos, the toilet is not cracked, there are no leaks anywhere and the exhaust pipe is not clogged. What could I be missing?
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Jun 17, 2019 21:19
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Rhyno posted:Does that mean there are natural gas heated units? Not sure if you're joking or not, but the vast majority of the tankless units are natural gas. It's far easier for a gas burner to heat water quickly enough for a tankless setup than it is for an electric element to do so.
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Jun 17, 2019 22:14
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PremiumSupport posted:Not sure if you're joking or not, but the vast majority of the tankless units are natural gas. It's far easier for a gas burner to heat water quickly enough for a tankless setup than it is for an electric element to do so. This. Most electric systems can only handle 1-3gpm of hot(ish) water which is a stretch for things like showers. Gas is really your only good option for a whole-house system.
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Jun 17, 2019 22:19
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https://imgur.com/a/lajn4LF Any kind goons tell me what I'm looking at here (take off and nuke the site from orbit being an option) - slow leaks from both closeup sites. edit - in the last image if it's not clear the leak is coming from between the copper s-bend going into the black thingy under that weird gold-looking thing. My plumbing experience is the hacking game from System Shock. edit 2 - I have absolutely no idea what that tap does in the 4th pic. It's currently set to halfway. Yoshimo fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Jun 17, 2019 |
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Jun 17, 2019 22:49
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By process of elimination... i.e. I had the presence of mind to test all other fixtures and my tepid water is an issue with my mixing valve at the shower. Cheaper than a water heater.
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Jun 17, 2019 23:40
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Yoshimo posted:https://imgur.com/a/lajn4LF I have no idea what I'm talking about but that big thing with the valve might be a pressure regulator of some sort? Its general shape makes me think of natural gas regulators.
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Jun 18, 2019 00:17
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Yoshimo posted:https://imgur.com/a/lajn4LF It looks like you may just need someone to cut out and redo the copper fittings, which look poorly done. I believe those black things are balancing valves on the returns.
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Jun 18, 2019 00:28
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PremiumSupport posted:Not sure if you're joking or not, but the vast majority of the tankless units are natural gas. It's far easier for a gas burner to heat water quickly enough for a tankless setup than it is for an electric element to do so. I was starting to drift off when I posted that, I meant to ask if this meant that they were no longer selling NG units for some reason. The "upgrade the service" reply confused my sleepy brain.
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Jun 18, 2019 03:33
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I have a new tub I am about to install with a brass overflow drain piece. The existing exposed drain & ptrap in the floor from the old tub is also brass but in good shape. Putting the new tub into its alcove, the drains do not line up 100%, they are a few inches offset from each other. With the alternative being moving a wall over 1 inch or cutting off the exposed brass ptrap/drain pipe and replacing/joining with PVC, is there any sort of flexible PVC attachment that can bridge the gap between these? Fernco, or something else that is recommended? For reference this is what I’m working with: https://imgur.com/a/dmAQD3l Spring Heeled Jack fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Jun 19, 2019 |
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Jun 18, 2019 17:03
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So not exactly plumbing but water mitigation issue. Our sump discharges out the back of the house. The PO ran a buried flex pipe about 30 feet away from the house where is dumps into a flat are of the yard. Between this and the constant rain this season we have a small swamp back there. The grade of the yard slopes down away from the house so we have no water in the house issues but the water in the yard is a problem and it sounds like it's been an issue for years according to the irked neighbor. So after doing some reading, my plan is to install a L-shaped french drain in place of the pipe and then build a 55 gallon dry well in the center of the yard. Is this the thread for outdoor plumbing or is there a better place to discuss this and bounce my plans around? Or should I just make a thread for it?
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Jun 25, 2019 19:19
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Rhyno posted:Is this the thread for outdoor plumbing or is there a better place to discuss this and bounce my plans around? Or should I just make a thread for it? My general approach on these questions is: 1. Is this an ongoing thing with regular updates? If so make a thread. If not post in a megathread. 2. Which megathread has the best concentration of people with the knowledge and skillset to answer your question? For #1 only you can answer that. For #2, I don't know enough about indoor or outdoor plumbing to make that call, but if the folks in this thread chip in and suggest it's out of their remit then I'd suggest another thread. There doesn't seem to be a landscaping questions thread. The closest would be Veggie and Herb Gardening (which is more about growing things), Plants in General (which is more about plants, in general), or Home Spergin (which is more about the house itself). Maybe we should make one. I'm going to make one. Edit: I made one https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3892694 Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 10:48 on Jun 26, 2019 |
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Jun 26, 2019 10:39
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I doubt there’s an LP plumbing thread so maybe this is close enough. My house has tanked propane, and I want to hook my grill up to it. It’s the sort of grill that takes bog standard LP bottles. On my patio, there’s already an LP hookup tied into the house’s system:  It works, I checked. Anyhow, what do I need and what do I need to be aware of to connect that to my grill? The grill is about 8’ away, more or less straight up. Also it’d be nice if whatever I do doesn’t actually modify the grill itself at all such that switching back to a bottle (for mobile ops) will be nothing more than disconnecting the normal gas hookup and putting a bottle back on. So like, if it used the same connector and regulator that’s already on the grill, that’d be ace.
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Jun 29, 2019 22:51
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