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Plumber was by today to remove roots from my lines. He advised dissolving rock salt overnight in the toilets and flushing them in the morning as a root preventative. He said I should do it every night for 2-3 weeks, then taper off eventually only doing it once every six months. I've read that this can kill the whole tree rather than just new root growth. What has been your experience with this method?
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Jun 9, 2022 22:36
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Motronic posted:Okay yeah, that's a proper valve. I'd replace it with a quarter turn because the type you have there go bad so frequently, but whatever....that has nothing to do with the ceiling. Thanks Motronic. I'll see if I can pick up some 1/4 copper pipe straps and secure it to the joist. The 1/4 stuff makes me nervous to work with cause it's so soft, but it's been functioning for 30 years so, should be fine.
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Jun 10, 2022 12:15
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emocrat posted:Thanks Motronic. I'll see if I can pick up some 1/4 copper pipe straps and secure it to the joist. The biggest problem I've seen with the 1/4" stuff is when it's left unsupported any bends start to wear from movement caused by the water hammer of an ice maker/water dispenser valve. If it's still in good shape and you get it secured it should stay fine for you.
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Jun 10, 2022 14:29
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resting bort face posted:Plumber was by today to remove roots from my lines. He advised dissolving rock salt overnight in the toilets and flushing them in the morning as a root preventative. He said I should do it every night for 2-3 weeks, then taper off eventually only doing it once every six months. They make root killer that's supposed to only kill the roots and not the tree. I'd definitely use that before I started screwing around with salt.
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Jun 16, 2022 01:34
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Another question: our toilets have stopped gurgling and the water has stopped rising in the guest bath, so removing those roots has solved those problems. But we're still experiencing leaks directly under the dishwasher. As best as I can tell, when we run the dishwasher it drains but does not drain fully; there's still some standing water in the bottom, which leaks out of the door. When I cycle the dishwasher, it drains the rest of the water properly. Is there an obvious reason why it wouldn't drain properly the first time? why I need to cycle it a second time to fully drain it?
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Jun 16, 2022 01:42
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resting bort face posted:Another question: our toilets have stopped gurgling and the water has stopped rising in the guest bath, so removing those roots has solved those problems. Possibly a check valve in the drain line isn't doing its job anymore. Pump pumps the water out, and a bunch flows back in once the pump is finished cycling. Checking to see if its stuck is pretty easy, but might be a bit time consuming depending on the model of dishwasher. Check out this place: https://www.repairclinic.com Bring your make and model number of dishwasher. Plug that info in to the appropriate spots and see what comes up. I looked at a couple videos for my dishwasher and was able to change the circulation pump. Followed by the drain pump a couple years later. Then the inlet valve, last winter.
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Jun 16, 2022 01:47
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Thanks so much for this info!
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Jun 16, 2022 04:35
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PainterofCrap posted:An entire bottle of dish detergent, followed by lots & lots of extremely hot (coffee-pot / electric kettle hot) water. Hot water will melt it; detergent will break it down. This worked great, thanks!
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Jun 18, 2022 02:16
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Moron level plumbing question. Time to replace my washer valves, looks straightforward enough but trying to avoid a situation where I shut off the water, accidently gently caress something up, and get stuck with a pipe open or something. Are these just straight threaded on? Get new valves, teflon tape them and I'm good to go?  
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Jun 20, 2022 19:03
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Should be. Also buy different hoses. I had one of those black and brass ones like you have on your hot. The barbs on the other end let go/ slipped and left me spraying water about the laundry room causing water damage in the apartment below.
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Jun 21, 2022 02:17
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Also go to a plumbing supply store and spend the extra dollar for good quality valves rather than the lowes-depot valves that will probably stop working after a year.
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Jun 21, 2022 02:35
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Ambassadorofsodomy posted:Also go to a plumbing supply store and spend the extra dollar for good quality valves rather than the lowes-depot valves that will probably stop working after a year. Also this. I have one that's closer than my Lowedepots so I always go there. Plus they actually have poo poo. I needed a PEX barbed frost free silcock for a weekend project.. And lowesdepot (I had a bunch of gift cards) didn't have that combo in store but plumbing supply did.
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Jun 21, 2022 12:22
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Thanks for the tips, decided I am really gonna put myself through the ringer on this one and just replace my washer box with this: https://www.oatey.com/products/oatey-quadtro-14turn-washing-machine-outlet-boxes-1485668646?upc=038753385402 (HD will ship these but found them OTS at my plumbing supply). The only valves I found that are drop ins are junk, and I do have some mild hammer from these so I wanted arrestors, and they don't fit in the old box anyway, and I don't want the janky add-on arrestor fittings. God drat it this is like the 8th time I've been "Done With Drywall."
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Jun 22, 2022 22:06
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Lol you own a home you'll never be done with drywall
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Jun 23, 2022 02:12
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tater_salad posted:Lol you own a home you'll never be done with drywall  It's beadboard instead, in sizes that haven't been made for decades. 
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Jun 23, 2022 04:06
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A possibly inconsequential question. Just had our countertops replaced, which included replacing our weirdo piece of poo poo three basin monstrosity that had a disposal in the middle with a single basin sink with the drain on the right side. I'm going to put a new disposal there, but it's a bit further from where the previous trap connected. I'm wondering whether it matters if I: a: put the trap roughly where the existing one is, with the drain from the disposal having a horizontal run that then elbows down into the trap b: put the trap closer to the disposal, with the drain elbowing down into the trap and then having a horizontal run to the existing drain pipe Some bad sketches:   The second image poorly conveys things; it would need a 90 degree turn towards the wall to go into the existing 90 degree turn to the left that is currently embedded in there
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Jun 23, 2022 04:43
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Anyone know anything about Viqua UV filters? We just installed one and it's giving an error that's not exactly in the book. Gives a number on the control box consistent with extremely poor UV intensity, but not the corresponding error code or audible alarm.
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Jun 24, 2022 05:51
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Is anyone able to tell me the difference between an Inskinerator Badger 15ss and an Insinkerator Badger 5XP? Both are 3/4 HP, but the design does seem to be a little different between the two. edit: related, my dishwasher drain hose is like 4 inches too short to connect to the disposal directly, so I have a 2-3 foot hose extensions coiled up under the sink. Any recommendations on how to extend it with a shorter piece of hose? The Slack Lagoon fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Jun 24, 2022 |
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Jun 24, 2022 18:01
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What’s the deal w backup sump pumps. A friend had the sump pump fail and their finished basement flooded ... this is now my nightmare. I had Permaseal come out and of course they have super fancy backup sump pumps that test your existing pump each morning and send you an update about all sorts of trivia, but it’s like $2000/pump. Yeah. I’d almost be willing to live with that if they didn’t charge a loving subscription service for the cloud data  its ‘only’ $12/month but I don’t wanna do it on principle alone.Compounding the matter is the fact that i have two sump pumps.. one for the overhead sewer system and one for a drain tile system. I know that the sewer ejector pump doesn’t “need” a backup provided that nobody uses the drains while the power is out (which is good bc the sewer ejector pumps are so expensive) but I think the drain tile sump pump should have a backup pump. Considering what’s at stake, I am willing to invest good money but I don’t think i need the super high end deluxe package offered by Permaseal. What’s a decent mid-range set-up that would at least alert me when its not working anymore, and ideally serve as a backup pump in the interim? Let’s say a budget of $1000-2000 for the two sump pumps.
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Jun 27, 2022 15:48
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Get a water-driven backup so that it'll still operate when the power goes out. Install it so it kicks on when the crock is filling higher than the setting for your electric pump.
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Jun 27, 2022 21:38
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I need urgent help with a sump pump issue and I'm losing my mind. It's going to rain Sunday night. After a dead pump and a flooded basement, I bought a Zoeller M53 which is sort of the go-to recommended 1/3 HP pump. I got some 1.5" PVC and a threaded coupler and all is good.... except the pump housing is loving reverse threaded! I checked it like fifteen times to be sure I'm not crazy, but no, it absolutely tightens to the left when viewed from above. I have had absolutely no luck finding anything like a reverse/left-hand threaded 1.5" PVC adapter when searching online. So what the gently caress am I missing here? Did someone have the threading machine set backwards when they made this thing? How the hell do I attach a pipe to this?
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Jun 30, 2022 22:22
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If it's an urgent matter and the PVC and the outlet of the pump are both 1.5" I would use a 1.5" diameter thick rubber hose of some kind and several hose clamps just while you figure this out.
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Jun 30, 2022 22:32
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VelociBacon posted:If it's an urgent matter and the PVC and the outlet of the pump are both 1.5" I would use a 1.5" diameter thick rubber hose of some kind and several hose clamps just while you figure this out. Bonus points for an actual fernco style coupling. Which I would consider good enough to be a permanent solution.
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Jun 30, 2022 22:34
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Looking at the picture here, if you zoom in on the top thread, it's clearly normal right-hand threading. https://www.sumppumpsdirect.com/Zoeller-M53-Sump-Pump/p3751.html EDIT: I figured out, the threads aren't technically backwards, they were just at a wild 10-15 degree angle off vertical, and combined with the sloping top surface made it appear they cut in towards the left instead of the right. They also are really poorly cut, so they're nice and deep on one side and rather shallow on the other. Still, I managed to get the PVC fitting to thread in a good 3-4 turns. I'll put a nice bead of silicone around the edge and call it good. For low pressure it should be fine. The pump will just sit slightly off the bottom on one edge, but I can't imagine that's a problem. Rescue Toaster fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Jun 30, 2022 |
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Jun 30, 2022 22:54
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I have a work related question. I've been tasked with coming up with a solution for a problem a different department is having. Their potable water line (stainless steel) has rusted(???) and leaked in the past, damaging equipment and being generally annoying. Yes, I know, how can stainless steel rust? That's the problem, no one's really sure. The best guess going around is there must be carbon steel fittings, and those are what rusted and sprung a leak. My initial solution of rip it all out and replace with stainless steel piping (properly) was met with skepticism: "what if the issue repeats? Are you sure it will work? How do we know the fittings might be carbon steel?". Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be that caused the leak. I wasn't even aware stainless steel could corrode. Update: I just read up on stainless steel corrosion so now I realise it's not impervious to rust like I previously thought. Still stumped on what could cause the leak, I'm still leaning heavily towards carbon steel fittings cause it's the only thing that makes sense.
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Jul 3, 2022 05:05
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Qubee posted:I have a work related question. I've been tasked with coming up with a solution for a problem a different department is having. Their potable water line (stainless steel) has rusted(???) and leaked in the past, damaging equipment and being generally annoying. Yes, I know, how can stainless steel rust? That's the problem, no one's really sure. The best guess going around is there must be carbon steel fittings, and those are what rusted and sprung a leak. My initial solution of rip it all out and replace with stainless steel piping (properly) was met with skepticism: "what if the issue repeats? Are you sure it will work? How do we know the fittings might be carbon steel?". Get pictures. Could be steel fittings, could be environmental conditions (unlikely), or they could be Riftia and their portable water is highly enriched with hydrogen sulfide. You could also use 316SS instead of 304SS, which will resist corrosion a lot better.
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Jul 3, 2022 13:04
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I've got some pictures I can share, the rust is really bad and surprisingly shocking for something that is Stainless Steel. The grade of SS is 316/L? That's what's written. I don't think it's hydrogen sulfide because this is water the occupants of the department drink. Tomorrow I'm going with some contractors to have a closer look and use their ladder to get up high.
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Jul 3, 2022 14:45
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Edit: nevermind, I was born stupid and never got better.
EssOEss fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Jul 3, 2022 |
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Jul 3, 2022 19:57
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Newbie question. I’m doing a bathroom renovation and since I’m in here, I figure I could replace the multi turn valves that are 30 years old with new ones. I’m a bit baffled by the apparent chrome extensions on this- I was planning on cutting and replacing with sharkbites, but I don’t think that’s possible given how close to the wall the joint is. Based on what I’m looking at, I guess this is an excellent opportunity to learn how to unsolder, right? No easy way out? 
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Jul 5, 2022 20:26
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DkHelmet posted:Newbie question. Those aren't chrome extensions, those are the actual valves. You should get quarter turn ones and cut them to length (if necessary). Unsoldering is easy. Soldering might be harder, it's all about the prep. But yes, you should absolutely not use sharkbites anywhere. Unless you're a flipper. You'll be gone long before they cause a problem.
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Jul 5, 2022 22:04
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My bathroom piping recently started leaking into the kitchen ceiling. Because it was actively dripping after flush,I suspected the toilet waste out though the dripping wasn't obviously gross. But, once I opened up the ceiling and ripped out most of the soaked drywall in the lathes and everything above started to dry out and eventually I could no longer detect the leak although I assumed it had not been fixed cuz I hadn't done anything yet. Yesterday I cleaned the wax out and put a new seal on the toilet. I didn't notice any obvious nastiness anywhere except coming directly off of the waist pipe from the sewer. How concerned should I be about potential yuckiness trapped between?
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Jul 6, 2022 17:57
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It's not necessarily the waste line. The toilet has to draw in fresh water to replenish the tank whenever it flushes, and that could be leaking instead. That said, if you can't reproduce the leak, it's gonna be hard to fix.
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Jul 6, 2022 18:08
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:It's not necessarily the waste line. The toilet has to draw in fresh water to replenish the tank whenever it flushes, and that could be leaking instead. There is no detectable leak from the toilet, just some drips between the floor and ceiling below, so I figured if there is a leak leading to that supply it would leak all the time, not just when drawing. Is that not correct? Should I be going in from the floor of the bathroom or the kitchen ceiling to check? I figure with the ceiling already somewhat open that might be easier?
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Jul 6, 2022 18:11
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You've hit the limits of my expertise  I'm pretty sure I've heard of lines that leaked only when water was flowing, but that's about all I can supply here. Hopefully someone else with more experience can chime in.
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Jul 6, 2022 18:49
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Harold Fjord posted:My bathroom piping recently started leaking into the kitchen ceiling. Because it was actively dripping after flush,I suspected the toilet waste out though the dripping wasn't obviously gross. But, once I opened up the ceiling and ripped out most of the soaked drywall in the lathes and everything above started to dry out and eventually I could no longer detect the leak although I assumed it had not been fixed cuz I hadn't done anything yet. When you removed the wax seal: did all or part of it come clean off, or did you have to work to scrape all of of the mating surfaces free? Because you are describing a classic closet flange leak, which contain the following elements: - starts very slow, can be leaking a little at a time for months - when it reaches a certain point, you start to see staining on the ceiling below - but nothing in the bathroom or around the toilet - can stop & start, depending on use, if someone heavy sits on the toilet or is able to move it a little; but - toilet may be solid, no rocking. - all or part of the wax seal practically falls off when the toilet is pulled. Mating surfaces must be almost hermetically clean & free of liquid/grease. Yes it's Category 3 (black) water. But it's gone now. If you have to patch the ceiling, open it up & give it a healthy shot of Lysol. Flush the toilet a few times; you'll see it drip if the wax / rubber ring didn't take.
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Jul 7, 2022 01:52
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Need to get a basin wrench for a faucet swap and happened across one of these fancy looking alternatives. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? Fancy dodad
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Jul 7, 2022 05:23
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Is there a good wrench to use on delicate surfaces that someone might recommend? Maybe a leather/rubber strap wrench? It's for plumbing fixtures no wider than 1⅝"
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Jul 7, 2022 06:07
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PainterofCrap posted:When you removed the wax seal: did all or part of it come clean off, or did you have to work to scrape all of of the mating surfaces free? This sounds right. We eventually saw a bubble and found soaked ceiling above. I had to scrape the wax and it came apart in chunks. There's still some under the flange somewhere out of the way of the new rubber seal. I did scrape the flange real good and feel pretty confident with the new seal so I'll just spray up into the ceiling from below as suggested. Thanks much
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Jul 7, 2022 22:56
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Rakeris posted:Need to get a basin wrench for a faucet swap and happened across one of these fancy looking alternatives. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? That's a lot of little plastic nubbins for something meant to apply force.
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Jul 8, 2022 11:34
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We've had whistling pipes recently which apparently can be due to high water pressure. Had a look around in the basement and there's a pressure regulator/meter just after the water meter. With all the taps in the house off, this reads as 100 PSI which I know is too high. If I turn a tap on, it goes down to 40-50. I fiddled with the regulator to turn that down a bit, but when I turn the taps back off the pressure starts creeping up and goes right back up to 100. I've tried turning the regulator all the way down and the water from the taps slows to a trickle, so I know it's doing something, but I assume that regulator is hosed in some way? Are there filters/washers that I can replace or is this time for a new regulator?
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Jul 9, 2022 15:52
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