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Anybody have a good/bad opinion of Sioux Chief F1960 expansion pex fittings and their pex-a tubing? Also, is there a specific brand and model of manual expansion tool you recommend? Menard's carries one branded as Sioux Chief, but the one by IWISS is a similar price. Thanks for any advice. Planning a whole house replumb and can't decide if I should go with the expansion or crimp method.
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Apr 24, 2016 08:04
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Jadunk posted:My reasoning is twofold. First, I'm a pro so I'm charging quite a lot of money to fix your problems and throwing a sharkbite on in 2 minutes doesn't look as good to the customer. Second, if I'm going to use an O ring on copper pipe why not just use my propress? Fitting cost is comparable and they are much less likely to fail. I have seen several sharkbites fail due to house settling, thermal expansion of the piping or improper installation leaving the fitting getting pressured sideways. They do not deal with pressure/shifting perpendicular to direction of flow nearly as well as they do pressure in line with the flow. This is my experience with all types of push connections as well. They can and will hold up over time, under right conditions, but the risk % is higher than solder/crimp/adhesive. Don't burry sharkbites inside walls and such. Keep them easily accessible just in case.
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Apr 24, 2016 08:31
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Oh poo poo that reminds me.. I forget to check on the shark bite I put in our house when it was still my MILs it's the only repair I did quick n easy while I was head in charge of maintenance.
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Apr 26, 2016 02:43
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re: PEX-A It's pretty much all that gets used around me. I love the stuff. I can't remember what brand hand-expanders I've used, they were all about the same. As usual if you're gonna go for a power tool I recommend Milwaukee.
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Apr 26, 2016 09:00
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Any thoughts on these "better than wax ring" things vs wax rings? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fluidmaster-Better-Than-Wax-Universal-Toilet-Seal-7530P24/205762183
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Apr 29, 2016 17:37
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Is wax a problem that needed solving? I've installed a few in my lifetime and the poo poo didn't leak.
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Apr 29, 2016 18:23
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FogHelmut posted:Any thoughts on these "better than wax ring" things vs wax rings? Those are great, but it, use it, gently caress wax forever. It's reusable too, so if you need to pull that toilet some time in the future, no need to buy more. Personally, I get loads of mileage out of reusable toilet seals, because on some jobs I remove and reset the same toilet on nearly daily basis. Sucks doing a full remodel of the house' only bathroom.
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Apr 29, 2016 22:53
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wormil posted:Is wax a problem that needed solving? I've installed a few in my lifetime and the poo poo didn't leak. Wax rings almost always tear when you pull up the toilet. If you need to pull up a toilet for something other than replacing the wax ring (tile, plumbing work, something stuck inside the toilet's trap itself that you can't clear with a snake or plunger, etc), then you need to replace it over 95% of the time. That being said, I've never used them. I would imagine that they have a lifetime too, just like a wax ring.
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Apr 30, 2016 22:20
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If it's a wax ring you should replace it 100% of the time when you pull the toilet. Not 95%.(or are you removing the closet bend 5% of the time?!?) And it has nothing to do with the wax "tearing" and not being a ring anymore. Those things are fine I guess if you're planning on pulling the toilet multiple times in the near future. I just go with wax 100% of the time, it's cheaper. (but we buy in bulk so YMMV)
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May 1, 2016 01:01
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Okay, I didn't realize there were people pulling up their toilets on a frequent basis. That would be a handy product if you do that. 
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May 1, 2016 03:07
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I didn't even know toilets needed a wax ring at all. I've replaced the toilet in my house when I bought it, no wax ring or anything like that was needed. Just place the bowl, bolt it to the concrete floor with four M8 size bolts. The pipes all have those Xmas tree style fittings.
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May 1, 2016 18:25
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Another toilet question - last night mine suddenly started to fill extremely slowly. If I turn off the flow at the wall and turn it back on it starts filling at a normal rate, but with a odd higher pitched sound that is new. I take it the fill valve has gone? ed: gently caress it, no idea how old that valve is anyways and since it was like $12 for a fancy one I'm just going to go ahead and replace it and see what happens. Parts Kit fucked around with this message at 23:11 on May 2, 2016 |
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May 2, 2016 13:50
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Parts Kit posted:Another toilet question - last night mine suddenly started to fill extremely slowly. If I turn off the flow at the wall and turn it back on it starts filling at a normal rate, but with a odd higher pitched sound that is new. I take it the fill valve has gone?
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May 3, 2016 02:20
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That's what I did and yeah it's awesome! I'm pretty sure it still fills as fast as the old one but it's surprisingly quiet.
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May 3, 2016 16:57
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Always do yearly maintenance on your hot water heater folks, this spring's flushout cost me $30 instead of an emergency replacement. After I bought my house I made the foolish mistake of not immediately assessing the state of the hot water heater. After all, it was operating normally and continued to do so until this spring when I decided to do the recommended flush and check of the various valves. Flushing turned out to be a good idea as a fair amount of sediment came out. Operating the T&P valve though left the damned thing dripping and it wouldn't stop. I shut down the heater to diagnose it and even with a cool tank and no pressure the thing still oozed water. I called a couple professionals and they recommended I head to the hardware store and replace the valve. So I did. Here's what the old one revealed. Pretty nasty buildup, I'm fairly confident the previous owners didn't exercise that thing very often and it fouled on some sediment. Anyway, the new valve is in place and operating normally. The whole heater will be replaced soon since it is 10 years old, but it's not a NOW NOW NOW replacement and there's no strangeness in the water hot water supply. I do have a question for any experts lurking around though. The replacement valve has a longer shank than the old one, though the replacement is a recommended valve for the brand and model of heater I have. Neither had a problem dealing the insulation, is the longer shank an issue? At the moment I'm more inclined to trust the manuals and replacement parts recommendations than what the previous owner may or may not have installed at some point.
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May 21, 2016 18:41
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El Spamo posted:Always do yearly maintenance on your hot water heater folks, this spring's flushout cost me $30 instead of an emergency replacement. After I bought my house I made the foolish mistake of not immediately assessing the state of the hot water heater. After all, it was operating normally and continued to do so until this spring when I decided to do the recommended flush and check of the various valves. Flushing turned out to be a good idea as a fair amount of sediment came out. Operating the T&P valve though left the damned thing dripping and it wouldn't stop. I shut down the heater to diagnose it and even with a cool tank and no pressure the thing still oozed water. I called a couple professionals and they recommended I head to the hardware store and replace the valve. So I did. Here's what the old one revealed. Don't exercise that t/p ever. You will cause it til fail. The longer t/p valve is for a heater with a thicker insulation on it. Ad long as the BTU rating on the new one is close. Then you won't have a problem. If you installed a water softener, you wouldn't have all the sediment in the tank.
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May 21, 2016 21:01
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Don't exercise that t/p ever. You will cause it til fail. Someone has never read the manufacturers instructions. If the valve is regularly exercised and the tank drained/flushed it shouldn't fail every time you exercise it. If you're the first one to exercise a T&P that has been in place or 10-20 years yeah, it's gonna fail. If someone puts hands on it once or twice a year it'll probably be fine. If a faucet hadn't been used in 10 years and it leaked after you ran it for the first time would you say the proper solution is to replace the faucet then never touch it again? Rd Rash 1000cc posted:If you installed a water softener, you wouldn't have all the sediment in the tank. Depends on the cause of the sediment. Also depending on the water softener / water heater adding a water softener can cause an early tank failure.
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May 22, 2016 00:22
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El Spamo posted:Always do yearly maintenance on your hot water heater folks, this spring's flushout cost me $30 instead of an emergency replacement. After I bought my house I made the foolish mistake of not immediately assessing the state of the hot water heater. After all, it was operating normally and continued to do so until this spring when I decided to do the recommended flush and check of the various valves. Flushing turned out to be a good idea as a fair amount of sediment came out. Operating the T&P valve though left the damned thing dripping and it wouldn't stop. I shut down the heater to diagnose it and even with a cool tank and no pressure the thing still oozed water. I called a couple professionals and they recommended I head to the hardware store and replace the valve. So I did. Here's what the old one revealed. I have a 9 year old water heater, and apparently super hard water. I've found like 1/8th inch of build up in the copper supply pipes. I'm way too scared to drain the water heater at this point, I'm thinking the sediment is the only thing holding it together right now! (Thanks previous owner for neglecting every type of maintenance).
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May 22, 2016 01:21
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The previous owner of my house was also terrible at maintenance but the hot water heater is only 3 years old, I should get on that.
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May 22, 2016 01:23
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Jadunk posted:Someone has never read the manufacturers instructions. If the valve is regularly exercised and the tank drained/flushed it shouldn't fail every time you exercise it. If you're the first one to exercise a T&P that has been in place or 10-20 years yeah, it's gonna fail. If someone puts hands on it once or twice a year it'll probably be fine. If a faucet hadn't been used in 10 years and it leaked after you ran it for the first time would you say the proper solution is to replace the faucet then never touch it again? All it takes is one sediment and you are replacing a t/p valve. But to each his own. And how can a water softener cause early tank failure?
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May 22, 2016 17:35
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:All it takes is one sediment and you are replacing a t/p valve. But to each his own. Not really. If it's just a little sediment that causes it to stay dripping than flushing it for an extra 10 seconds and mayyybe lightly tapping on the t&p trip lever should stop it. Rd Rash 1000cc posted:And how can a water softener cause early tank failure? By changing the composition of the water, leading to an early anode rod failure. If I remember correctly, the stock Bradford white anode rod is a magnesium alloy. they make an alternate anode with an aluminum alloy for system that have a salt based water softener. Technically I believe salt based water softeners actually void the warranty on a bradford white water heater if you don't swap the anode at time of install. (not that it would likely be enforced, much like the requirement for an expansion tank on a closed system, if the installer doesn't tell them they won't know)
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May 23, 2016 04:55
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Jadunk posted:By changing the composition of the water, leading to an early anode rod failure. If I remember correctly, the stock Bradford white anode rod is a magnesium alloy. they make an alternate anode with an aluminum alloy for system that have a salt based water softener. Technically I believe salt based water softeners actually void the warranty on a bradford white water heater if you don't swap the anode at time of install. (not that it would likely be enforced, much like the requirement for an expansion tank on a closed system, if the installer doesn't tell them they won't know) No poo poo. I got me some learnin' today. I'm gonna have to check the anode in my shop water heater (not like it would be a huge loss, it's just a little 6 gallon to make enough hot water to wash my hands). House is tankless, so that's not a concern there.
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May 24, 2016 01:10
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Cross posting from the homeowners bitch thread... I have a couple of slow drains, but not all of them are slow. House was built in '91, slab foundation. Here's a pic of the clean out:  And here's a pic of the edge of the yard where the ditch starts. It seems to sag a bit there.  And here are the two trees that the line runs between:  Should I be concerned here? I was planning on having a plumber come out to figure out the slow drains (they're all sinks), but should I do a sewer inspection too? This house is going up for rent next month and I really don't want to have a sewer disaster once it's occupied.
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May 28, 2016 00:11
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question.. Is it ONLY sinks that are slow or sinks that are slow after you shower, or shower/toilets are also slow? Sinks may just need the trap cleaned out or even pull out the drain plug and clean the pile of disgusting soap and hair mache that's caught on them making your stuff go slow. I'd say, turn on the shower or fill the tub up and then drain it and look at the clean-out, then have someone flush a toilet. Obligatory I'm not a plumber If the house was built in 91 they were probably using PVC for the drain pipe, which means that unless the roots have shifted your pipe around, or you had a ground collapse incident you shuld be okay. The reason roots are bad for older homes is that they used clay pipe, and each section fits into another section but there's not a solid connection, the roots seek out the dampness and reach in between the "press fit" connection and then either does one of 2 tings 1. Create a root ball that traps TP and poo poo (Literally) or if someone accidentally flushes a diaper wipe or tampon..( dont do either of those ever). 2. Grows thick enough to make the pipe crack and really puts the hurt on you, trees dont' care about your weak rear end clay pipe.
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May 28, 2016 03:47
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Thanks for the detailed reply. There are three sinks that drain slow and it seems to happen regardless of when other stuff was run. If I go up and turn on one of the master bathroom sinks right now it'll fill up pretty fast. In the master, the shower, tub, and toilet are on one pipe down into the slab, the sinks are on another. There's also a sink downstairs in a bathroom that runs slow, but the kitchen drains fine. Sounds like it is 25 years of human grossness. I'll take one of the traps off and look.
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May 28, 2016 04:18
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In order of likelihood base on my experience as Being A Homeowner Once: Those drat drain plug things are full of hair and grunge There's a clog a little further down from the drain plugs being full of hair and grunge in the past The venting is hosed up There's a real problem somewhere
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May 28, 2016 04:56
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It's usually hair and grossness according to a family member who is a plumber. Be like me and be Completely Hairless Everywhere. (Whispers in your ear) everywhere
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May 28, 2016 05:15
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oldpainless posted:It's usually hair and grossness according to a family member who is a plumber. 
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May 28, 2016 05:29
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Jealous Cow posted:Thanks for the detailed reply. Yeah it's prbably hair and crap, If when the sink(s) are draining slow they aren't 1 making a gurgling noise somewhere else in the house.. then it's probably the trap / drain plug. Check both.. My downstairs bathroom had the nastieset poo poo I've evern seen on a drain stem (or whatever the plastic part that's below the actual drain is. I ran a small snake donw there and now it's fine.
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May 28, 2016 06:26
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Anyone have any good resources for creating a shower? Mostly it's the pan that I'm wanting to read up on some more, but a little more guidance on the walls probably wouldn't hurt. So far I've been reading this http://floorelf.com/how-to-create-a-shower-floor-part-1 and it's been good (I think?).
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May 29, 2016 21:44
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oldpainless posted:It's usually hair and grossness according to a family member who is a plumber. You still need to remove the hair and it has to go somewhere Unless you get into a waxing habit and that's expensive.
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May 31, 2016 04:18
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minivanmegafun posted:You still need to remove the hair and it has to go somewhere Trash can, dude. Geez
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May 31, 2016 04:22
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minivanmegafun posted:You still need to remove the hair and it has to go somewhere Sorry friend. No hair is due to winning the genetic lottery. Please excuse my outrageous acne and perpetual dampness. It occurs naturally and I can't help it.
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May 31, 2016 04:27
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I'm trying to repair a toilet and can't seem to resolve a slow leak from between the tank and bowl. The hole on the bowl where the big gasket rests isn't a nice neat hole like other toilets I've repaired, but rather has a bit of a lip, or kinda swoops in at the back. My speculation is that the portion of the flapper valve/overflow tube assembly that sticks out the bottom of the tank is catching on this lip/swoop and is pushing upward on it, breaking its seal on the bottom of the tank when everything is assembled. To resolve it I have tried cutting down the tube that sticks out the bottom so it will sit in the hole on the bowl without hitting the lip, shimming around that tube so it wont hit the lip and all manner of tightening/loosening nuts but nothing so far has worked. I'll snap a picture of it when I take the tank back off, but here's a picture of the hole I'm talking about (is there a name for this?)  The markings on the tank are all but completely worn off, but I think it's a mansfield toilet. Could I just need a special gasket or adapter to accommodate that unusual hole? Is there an obvious fix I'm missing? Would it be the worst thing in the world to assemble everything and then just murder the inside of the tank with flex seal and call it a day? For reference I am using this kit http://www.fluidmaster.com/complete-toilet-tank-repair-kit.html and have used it before without problems.
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May 31, 2016 12:58
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oldpainless posted:Sorry friend. No hair is due to winning the genetic lottery. The Egyptians would have considered you a God.
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May 31, 2016 13:39
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Traffic Reporter posted:I'm trying to repair a toilet and can't seem to resolve a slow leak from between the tank and bowl. The hole on the bowl where the big gasket rests isn't a nice neat hole like other toilets I've repaired, but rather has a bit of a lip, or kinda swoops in at the back. My speculation is that the portion of the flapper valve/overflow tube assembly that sticks out the bottom of the tank is catching on this lip/swoop and is pushing upward on it, breaking its seal on the bottom of the tank when everything is assembled. To resolve it I have tried cutting down the tube that sticks out the bottom so it will sit in the hole on the bowl without hitting the lip, shimming around that tube so it wont hit the lip and all manner of tightening/loosening nuts but nothing so far has worked. First off, are you absolutely sure that the tank is leaking there and not from a crack? Tank cracks can be extremely small, like you have to stare at it for 5 minutes and it just looks like the tank is sweating from "pores" along a miniscule crack. I just always called that the tank hole. It's possible that it takes a special gasket. All the Mansfelds that I've worked on had their weird cylindrical combination flush valve/overflow tube. I suppose one of those could take a special tank gasket. Does your tank have one of those, or a plain old flapper inside? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 16:28 on May 31, 2016 |
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May 31, 2016 16:25
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stupid puma posted:Anyone have any good resources for creating a shower? Mostly it's the pan that I'm wanting to read up on some more, but a little more guidance on the walls probably wouldn't hurt. So far I've been reading this http://floorelf.com/how-to-create-a-shower-floor-part-1 and it's been good (I think?). Tom Silva goes into walls in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAKfLIN79pY
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May 31, 2016 18:19
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kid sinister posted:First off, are you absolutely sure that the tank is leaking there and not from a crack? Tank cracks can be extremely small, like you have to stare at it for 5 minutes and it just looks like the tank is sweating from "pores" along a miniscule crack. It definitely had one of those weird cylindrical valves before that was disintegrating. I was hoping to replace it with a flapper valve so it is a bit easier to service down the road, but if getting another weird valve is my only option then oh well. Do you know if those are pretty standard or if I'll have to figure out the model of this thing? I checked for cracks previously, but admittedly not that closely so I'll double check that as well.
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May 31, 2016 18:27
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Qwijib0 posted:Tom Silva goes into walls in this video Those Kerdi shower kits are awesome, I used one on a former house and had no problems. They run about $550 with all the extras. Make sure to get the correct pan, all the extra corners and drain set etc. In Norcal Bedrosians Tile has them onsite so you can check out the kits.
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Jun 1, 2016 02:01
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Is there an upside, downside, no-side, going from 1/2" copper to 3/4" pex to 1/2" pex? It's a small bathroom. The main line running to it is 1/2" copper, then there is a short line of 3/4 pex (don't ask why) that will feed 1/2" pex going to fixtures.
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Jun 1, 2016 04:18
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