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Evrart Claire
Jan 11, 2008

kid sinister posted:

As for the whistling, is there any water coming out of the bottom of the tube on the side of it?

Yeah, not now because it's shut off but there was a fair amount of water coming out when it was on and whistling

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kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Zerilan posted:

Yeah, not now because it's shut off but there was a fair amount of water coming out when it was on and whistling

It probably needs a new pressure relief valve. They're cheap.

If you want to see something fun, look up on YouTube what happens to water heaters with faulty pressure relief valves. They can blast through the roof of a 2 story house from the basement.

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Mar 21, 2018

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Hello friends, sorry I have been busy as hell. Residential service is going crazy here right now. I have seen a couple posts in the past page or so I could help out with if the problems have not been fixed recently.

ManDingo posted:

I need to tie into some old under slab cast iron drain pipe in my basement. Seems like the outside of the pipe has some serious scale on it. My plan was to cut it out to the left of the hub shown here: <snip>

Would I run into problems using a fernco no hub coupling because the surface of the pipe is in such rough shape? My other option I guess is to melt out the lead from the hub and clean it out enough so I could use a donut style coupling. Would this be easier?

Get a wire brush and a claw hammer. Using the claw hammer to scrape on the cast iron while lightly tapping will get most of that off. The dirt and mud is basically forming a wrapping around the pipe. When a big chunk comes off with black on the inside do not cry and think you broke the pipe. This is normal. Use the wire brush to clean up the rest. First before doing any of this check for any cracks or chunks missing out of the cast iron pipe. If you see this stop immediately and consult someone.

You have 2 options for transitioning from CI to PVC/ABS. You can use a heavy duty Fernco or Mission Band (one that has 4 gear clamps and a metal shielding in the center) or a no-hub band with a PVC/ABS no hub adapter.

Do not use a regular 2 clamp fernco as they have no protection in the middle and WILL sag over time.

Do not use a no-hub band directly to pvc with out the adapter. A lot of people do this and it's wrong because the outer diameter of CI is different than schedule 40 PVC. It puts necessary stress on the rubber causing it to fail sooner AND it does not create a 100% proper seal. Ferncos are made to handle this difference, No Hub Bands are not.

Josh Lyman posted:

Question about shower diverters. We have a 3 knob setup where the middle knob controls flow up to the shower head or down to the tub spout, and the stem is an old Sayco that's slightly broken/missing a piece in the back so that water doesn't fully go up to the shower head when it's closed and it also leaks out through the front by the knob. If we leave it fully open, water comes through the spout fine with no leaks, so we installed a spout diverter. However, when water comes out the spout, a little bit also comes out the shower head, and we think this is because the water pressure in this particular bathroom is super high (it blasts out the 2 sink faucets); FYI, water pressure is fine elsewhere in the house including the adjacent bathroom.

Water pressure does not vary through-out a building unless you have a pressure relief valve installed in some weird location. I am 99% sure you do not have this, especially in a house that looks the age yours does (no offense intended). What may really be happening is you have galvanized steel water piping, which is clogged up with calcium build-up. The areas of the house where you say the water blasts out of the faucet may be because those have the least amount of build up. What you think is blasting is actually normal pressure, youre just used to the bad pressure from the other fixtures. The only way to remedy this is a re-pipe, there are no magic fixes. It's possible the aerators on the low pressure faucets are clogged up and need to be cleaned out. It is also possible the stops stuck are half open, but I doubt this happened through the entire house minus the lavatory.

As for the shower valve, sorry your wording is not exactly making sense. You can find stems for anything if you look online. I personally have not worked on Sayco so I can't speak to exactly how to repair it. You could try changing the rubber washers on the stems to see if that helps. They should be available in any standard plumbers washer kit available at a plumbing supplier. If you are sure one of the broach teeth are broken, I would call around to some actual plumbing supply stores and not 90 year old Bob down at ace hardware. Sorry but hardware store guys as nice as they may seem are not plumbers or trained at all. Don't take their word as gospel.

Anybody else having any residential problems I can help with?

EDIT: $800 for a shower valve replacement is ridiculous by the way, at least in my State. We usually charge in the $400-500 range unless you are some weirdo hoarder where we have to move a bunch of garbage to get to the work area.

BubbaGrace fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Mar 21, 2018

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


BubbaGrace posted:

Water pressure does not vary through-out a building unless you have a pressure relief valve installed in some weird location. I am 99% sure you do not have this, especially in a house that looks the age yours does (no offense intended). What may really be happening is you have galvanized steel water piping, which is clogged up with calcium build-up. The areas of the house where you say the water blasts out of the faucet may be because those have the least amount of build up. What you think is blasting is actually normal pressure, youre just used to the bad pressure from the other fixtures. The only way to remedy this is a re-pipe, there are no magic fixes. It's possible the aerators on the low pressure faucets are clogged up and need to be cleaned out. It is also possible the stops stuck are half open, but I doubt this happened through the entire house minus the lavatory.
The house was built in 1960 and the previous owner was a general contractor who did some weird things, like the master bedroom's toilet is hooked up to hot water. I don't know if we have any galvanized steel, but I do know we have cast iron for some of the outflow pipes. Notably, the plumber who came by for an estimate on the shower used a gauge to check the water pressure on our newly installed A.O. Smith and said it was fine.

As for other fixtures, there are 4 bathrooms and 2 kitchen across a main floor and finished basement, and only this bathroom has super high water pressure. It also happens to be the closest to the water shutoff on the front lawn, for what that's worth.

quote:

As for the shower valve, sorry your wording is not exactly making sense. You can find stems for anything if you look online. I personally have not worked on Sayco so I can't speak to exactly how to repair it. You could try changing the rubber washers on the stems to see if that helps. They should be available in any standard plumbers washer kit available at a plumbing supplier. If you are sure one of the broach teeth are broken, I would call around to some actual plumbing supply stores and not 90 year old Bob down at ace hardware. Sorry but hardware store guys as nice as they may seem are not plumbers or trained at all. Don't take their word as gospel.
I don't know why we didn't try looking online, I guess because we didn't know how to identify the part. Home Depot didn't have anything that looked the same, and the guy at Ace looked up the part in a book only for it to be too long. When we went to return it, he said that if that part didn't work, we'd have trouble finding the correct replacement.

Both he and the plumber who did the estimate quickly identified the part as Sayco, so I assume that's correct. On Danco's site, 3 of their 4 diverters are 5" while this one is 4.68", but that's the one we saw at Home Depot and it's not the same as what we have. Notably, the part to the right of the middle o-ring, I would describe it as a narrow cylinder with a few slits cut into it. I guess I could take the stem out later and get a photo for you guys.


Regarding the shower valve replacement cost, I have no idea if $800 is too much, but our looks like this.

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 08:46 on Mar 22, 2018

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Looks like a standard 3 handle tub and shower valve. The stem you are looking for should be one of these. If you see one that matches make sure the broach count (number of teeth on the end that looks like a gear) and length are correct.

http://realdealsupply.com/cart.php?m=search_results&search=sayco

If replacement of the entire valve is the only option I would just have a modern single handle installed with a trim plate that covers the old holes. Some jurisdictions will require this anyway if a mixing valve is not installed, which I'm pretty sure you wont have.

GWBBQ
Jan 2, 2005


Josh Lyman posted:

toilet is hooked up to hot water
New thread title?

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

I didn't even notice that part lol. Yea, might wanna get that fixed before someone's rear end is filled with ceramic shrapnel.

Anne Whateley
Feb 11, 2007
:unsmith: i like nice words
Is it only hooked up to hot or is it hooked up to both? I thought sometimes they did it with a lukewarm mix to avoid sweating in the summer.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Josh Lyman posted:

I guess I could take the stem out later and get a photo for you guys.

Please do, along with the bonnet and how long it is. Could you also count how many splines are on the end where the handle goes?

Hold on, is this it?

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Mar 23, 2018

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

kid sinister posted:

Please do, along with the bonnet and how long it is. Could you also count how many splines are on the end where the handle goes?

Hold on, is this it?

I've been using this for quite a while to identify stems and cartridges with no branding on the trim. So far it hasn't let me down.

http://realdealsupply.com/FaucetTubShowerPartsAllStemsCartridges-c86/

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

BubbaGrace posted:

I've been using this for quite a while to identify stems and cartridges with no branding on the trim. So far it hasn't let me down.

http://realdealsupply.com/FaucetTubShowerPartsAllStemsCartridges-c86/

Nice link! Thank you. I've been using Faucet Parts Plus forever, but I like the pictures and interface of your site a lot better.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


kid sinister posted:

Please do, along with the bonnet and how long it is. Could you also count how many splines are on the end where the handle goes?

Hold on, is this it?

BubbaGrace posted:

I've been using this for quite a while to identify stems and cartridges with no branding on the trim. So far it hasn't let me down.

http://realdealsupply.com/FaucetTubShowerPartsAllStemsCartridges-c86/
16 splines but the back is unlike anything I've seen. The people at Home Depot and Ace seem to think a part broke off and inside the valve but there's definitely nothing rattling around inside. The back also has 3 hairline cracks that you can see in the closeups.











Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Mar 24, 2018

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Okay, photodump completed. Just FYI, I don't have the diverter out and about since it's my roommate's bathroom.

Chef Boyardeez Nuts
Sep 9, 2011

The more you kick against the pricks, the more you suffer.
Our old as gently caress gas water heater is on its last legs and I'm looking at replacing it. Does anyone have experience with whole house tankless water heaters? The house, when complete, will have two full bathrooms, two half baths, a kitchen sink and a hot water laundry hookup.

I've got plenty of room in my basement subpanel, and recently put most of the house on a pex manifold supply system.

devicenull
May 30, 2007

Grimey Drawer

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

Our old as gently caress gas water heater is on its last legs and I'm looking at replacing it. Does anyone have experience with whole house tankless water heaters? The house, when complete, will have two full bathrooms, two half baths, a kitchen sink and a hot water laundry hookup.

I've got plenty of room in my basement subpanel, and recently put most of the house on a pex manifold supply system.

An electric instant water heater? That sounds way more expensive to run then the corresponding gas version.

angryrobots
Mar 31, 2005

Yeah if you must go instant hot water, go gas. It's likely that even if you have enough space in the panel, your electric service itself can't handle it at full load. I spec'ed out upgrading an electric service for a guy our system, and we were looking at a 50kva transformer and 4/0 overhead wire feeding a 400A service. He uhhhh changed his mind.

I will say that the new condensing gas tanked water heaters are supposed to be the most efficient thing on the market right now... Cheaper to run than instant on natural gas as I understand.

Chef Boyardeez Nuts
Sep 9, 2011

The more you kick against the pricks, the more you suffer.
Good to know. I literally am just dipping my toe into the market.

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Josh Lyman posted:

16 splines but the back is unlike anything I've seen. The people at Home Depot and Ace seem to think a part broke off and inside the valve but there's definitely nothing rattling around inside. The back also has 3 hairline cracks that you can see in the closeups.

The end of the broach with the washer appears to be completely gone. If it's stuck in the valve goodluck getting it out. It kind of looks like its against the seat, but I can't tell. I am almost positive this is your stem though. You can give it a shot before 86'ing the whole valve.

http://realdealsupply.com/Sayco-Hot-Cold-Stem-417015-p108306.html




If you are gonna do it, do all three. Grab two of the above and get the diverter stem. I'm assuming it's the one in the link below, but if not let me know. These are a lot cheaper than a new valve so it's worth a shot.

http://realdealsupply.com/Sayco-K1D1116-Shower-Valve-Diverter-Stem-417013-p112842.html

BubbaGrace fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Mar 25, 2018

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:

Good to know. I literally am just dipping my toe into the market.

Electric tank less water heaters are trash. Do not buy. Honestly if you are going to do it go with a Navien. Go to their website and located a tech nearest you. Don't play the craigslist handyman game with this one, seriously. Tankless water heating units are very fickle. If they are not installed exactly as recommended by the manufacturer you are in for a rough time.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


BubbaGrace posted:

The end of the broach with the washer appears to be completely gone. If it's stuck in the valve goodluck getting it out. It kind of looks like its against the seat, but I can't tell. I am almost positive this is your stem though. You can give it a shot before 86'ing the whole valve.

http://realdealsupply.com/Sayco-Hot-Cold-Stem-417015-p108306.html




If you are gonna do it, do all three. Grab two of the above and get the diverter stem. I'm assuming it's the one in the link below, but if not let me know. These are a lot cheaper than a new valve so it's worth a shot.

http://realdealsupply.com/Sayco-K1D1116-Shower-Valve-Diverter-Stem-417013-p112842.html
We tried messing around inside the valve to see if anything was stuck and nothing moved. I doubt it fell back and down since it seems too big.

That photo you posted is a hot/cold stem, not a diverter though.

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 00:37 on Mar 26, 2018

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Josh Lyman posted:

We tried messing around inside the valve to see if anything was stuck and nothing moved. I doubt it fell back and down since it seems too big.

That photo you posted is a hot/cold stem, not a diverter though.

Just for the record, what do your stems look like?

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


kid sinister posted:

Just for the record, what do your stems look like?
Unfortunately, that is more difficult to answer. The house is owned by a friend who lives out of state and he's selling this summer. Because of the house layout, a 3/3 main floor and a huge 1/1 finished walk-out basement where I live, I've been the de facto landlord with 3 upstairs roommates but I'm moving next month. I mention this because the faulty shower is in one of their bedrooms.

I first attempted to fix the shower situation in August. A handyman came by who didn't really fix the diverter (obviously) but was able to stop a small leak from the hot water handle. This was 8 months ago, but I want to say the hot water stem looked a little different than the diverter? I don't really know.

The basement has a drop ceiling and one of the tiles got soaked through a month ago. I discovered there was a small leak from behind the bathtub, inside the wall, which brought us back to the diverter issue. We had a plumber from a large Atlanta company come by to do an estimate and his initial thought was the stem which he said I could replace myself or he could replace all 3 for $225, or he could replace the valve and shower head for $800.

The owner was in town a couple weeks ago and we tried to fix the diverter. We thought we found the correct replacement at a General Hardware/Ace Hardware (that was my OP) but it was too long. We turned off the water at the time; we didn't have the proper tool but were able to get enough leverage using a channellock turning a pliers. I don't think we actually did anything other than clean out pipe putty the handyman had applied, but we were able to stop the leak, at least while the diverter is turned fully counterclockwise and out (which I guess is open?). There's a separate diverter on the tub spout that the handyman installed as a stopgap solution and that's what's been doing the tub/shower diverting since August.

Since there's currently no leak, and because I'm moving in a few weeks and there won't be anyone around to do maintenance until the owner comes down in June, and because we don't have a water shutoff tool, we're a little hesitant for me to mess around too much. But, it seems like something he'll have to do anyway in June, in which case I might as well do it now while you guys are helping.

Edit: Talked to the owner, I’ll pick up a shutoff tool at Home Depot and get photos for you guys in the next couple days.

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 02:48 on Mar 26, 2018

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Josh Lyman posted:

We tried messing around inside the valve to see if anything was stuck and nothing moved. I doubt it fell back and down since it seems too big.

That photo you posted is a hot/cold stem, not a diverter though.

The diverter stem is the bottom link.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


BubbaGrace posted:

The diverter stem is the bottom link.
Is the part I marked in green supposed to screw in all the way? To my eye untrained eye the linked hot/cold stem looks closer to my diverter than the linked diverter, which is why I assume kid sinister asked to look at the hot/cold stems.

Would you suggest trying that diverter first before I go buy a shutoff tool and take out the hot/cold stems?

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Yes, that screws all the way in. That is called a packing nut. If you ever have a leak from the handle itself the packing nut is usually the problem.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Josh Lyman posted:

Is the part I marked in green supposed to screw in all the way? To my eye untrained eye the linked hot/cold stem looks closer to my diverter than the linked diverter, which is why I assume kid sinister asked to look at the hot/cold stems.

Would you suggest trying that diverter first before I go buy a shutoff tool and take out the hot/cold stems?



Actually, I was wondering if the stems were put back right in the correct holes, or at least all of the parts for each of the stems. Something doesn't add up. The stem you pulled out looks nothing like the picture. It looks like something goes on the end of it and you need to find that part.

PremiumSupport
Aug 17, 2015

angryrobots posted:

Yeah if you must go instant hot water, go gas. It's likely that even if you have enough space in the panel, your electric service itself can't handle it at full load. I spec'ed out upgrading an electric service for a guy our system, and we were looking at a 50kva transformer and 4/0 overhead wire feeding a 400A service. He uhhhh changed his mind.

I will say that the new condensing gas tanked water heaters are supposed to be the most efficient thing on the market right now... Cheaper to run than instant on natural gas as I understand.

I love my natural gas tankless system. Works great, and is pretty damned efficient. In the summer when it's the only consumer of gas in the house, I have all the hot water I could ever want and my gas bill is pretty much the minimum service charge. It costs virtually nothing for me to run it. Only drawback is that it takes a few seconds longer to get hot water at the tap than it did with a tank.

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

kid sinister posted:

Actually, I was wondering if the stems were put back right in the correct holes, or at least all of the parts for each of the stems. Something doesn't add up. The stem you pulled out looks nothing like the picture. It looks like something goes on the end of it and you need to find that part.

Yea something seems janky. The hot/cold and diverter stems I linked are the only ones that match the brand, broach count, length and even look close to being the same visually. You may be on to something. Honestly, until OP has all 3 stems in his/her hands with pictures there is probably not much else we can do. All I can be sure of is the stem originally posted is missing parts. Where those pieces are? Who the hell knows.

EDIT:

Look at this picture OP posted earlier. This is the valve body. That does not look like a metal seat to me. It almost looks like a Delta style rubber seat, but can't be because it wouldn't make sense for this style of valve nor did Sayco ever build anything using them AFAIK. This has to be the end of that stem still threaded/wedged in there.

BubbaGrace fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Mar 26, 2018

A 50S RAYGUN
Aug 22, 2011
when i run my shower upstairs (or flush the toilet in the same bathroom), my downstairs toilet fills (or, as we learned during a long shower, overflows). my super basic construction mook knowledge of plumbing is telling me the water must not be getting through a waste pipe somewhere past my downstairs toilet, but can i diagnose any better than that with the information i have? i'm going to pick up a toilet auger tonight, but what are the chances that that won't do me any good?

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


BubbaGrace posted:

Yea something seems janky. The hot/cold and diverter stems I linked are the only ones that match the brand, broach count, length and even look close to being the same visually. You may be on to something. Honestly, until OP has all 3 stems in his/her hands with pictures there is probably not much else we can do. All I can be sure of is the stem originally posted is missing parts. Where those pieces are? Who the hell knows.

EDIT:

Look at this picture OP posted earlier. This is the valve body. That does not look like a metal seat to me. It almost looks like a Delta style rubber seat, but can't be because it wouldn't make sense for this style of valve nor did Sayco ever build anything using them AFAIK. This has to be the end of that stem still threaded/wedged in there.


Are you saying the red or green arrow indicates the end of the stem? We poked around to see if anything was loose and nothing budged, but we never tried yanking something out. FWIW, what the red arrow is pointing to, I believe we poked at it and determined it was metal, not rubber, but I could be misremembering.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Josh Lyman posted:

Are you saying the red or green arrow indicates the end of the stem? We poked around to see if anything was loose and nothing budged, but we never tried yanking something out. FWIW, what the red arrow is pointing to, I believe we poked at it and determined it was metal, not rubber, but I could be misremembering.



Neither. The end of the stem is probably past them. Basically, it looks like the diverter stem that you took out is missing these pieces in my picture. That means that they're probably still stuck in that hole. They should pull out, but maybe they got jammed and broke off the end of the stem. Look at the photo. The first piece past the bonnet is almost as wide as the bonnet. My guess is that it's the piece you marked with your green arrow. The piece behind it is narrower, so it should just fall out once you get out the piece in front of it.

Maybe try putting your stem in without its bonnet and see if you can rock that front piece back and forth to wiggle it out.

edit: you might be able to verify if that first piece past the bonnet is the one still stuck in the housing. Do you see how in the picture it has those 2 slots cut in either side of it? Can you stick your finger or a screwdriver in the hole there and feel around for those slots?

Only registered members can see post attachments!

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Mar 27, 2018

HycoCam
Jul 14, 2016

You should have backed Transverse!

A 50S RAYGUN posted:

when i run my shower upstairs (or flush the toilet in the same bathroom), my downstairs toilet fills (or, as we learned during a long shower, overflows). my super basic construction mook knowledge of plumbing is telling me the water must not be getting through a waste pipe somewhere past my downstairs toilet, but can i diagnose any better than that with the information i have? i'm going to pick up a toilet auger tonight, but what are the chances that that won't do me any good?
City sewer connection or septic tank? What happens when you flush the downstairs toilet?

A 50S RAYGUN
Aug 22, 2011

HycoCam posted:

City sewer connection or septic tank? What happens when you flush the downstairs toilet?

city sewer. downstairs toilet doesn't flush that great, intermittently doesn't let water through.

so far i've run a 15 foot auger down the downstairs toilet, and i have an enzyme cleaner in the upstairs and downstairs toilet. i could feel a blockage with the auger that got cleared, and it seemed to flush a bit better, so i'm hoping it's cleared from one mechanism or another. i'll run the shower tomorrow am and see if the downstairs toilet water level changes at all.

glynnenstein
Feb 18, 2014


A 50S RAYGUN posted:

city sewer. downstairs toilet doesn't flush that great, intermittently doesn't let water through.

so far i've run a 15 foot auger down the downstairs toilet, and i have an enzyme cleaner in the upstairs and downstairs toilet. i could feel a blockage with the auger that got cleared, and it seemed to flush a bit better, so i'm hoping it's cleared from one mechanism or another. i'll run the shower tomorrow am and see if the downstairs toilet water level changes at all.

Is that toilet the lowest drain opening in your place? If it is then the clog could be a lot farther than 15 feet, depending on your configuration. If you've been having trouble for a while you might have a break in the main line out or maybe a lot of build-up.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


kid sinister posted:

Neither. The end of the stem is probably past them. Basically, it looks like the diverter stem that you took out is missing these pieces in my picture. That means that they're probably still stuck in that hole. They should pull out, but maybe they got jammed and broke off the end of the stem. Look at the photo. The first piece past the bonnet is almost as wide as the bonnet. My guess is that it's the piece you marked with your green arrow. The piece behind it is narrower, so it should just fall out once you get out the piece in front of it.

Maybe try putting your stem in without its bonnet and see if you can rock that front piece back and forth to wiggle it out.

edit: you might be able to verify if that first piece past the bonnet is the one still stuck in the housing. Do you see how in the picture it has those 2 slots cut in either side of it? Can you stick your finger or a screwdriver in the hole there and feel around for those slots?


You know, it's an ordeal every time I take the stems out because I need to schedule it with my roommate and removing/reapplying silicone adhesive every time is super annoying. However, I think we've found some answers this time.

I originally wanted to remove all 3 stems, but the cold water one wasn't touched when the handyman came by in August so it was a real bitch to remove the faceplate. Unfortunately, what I discovered was too hardened to chisel without fear of damaging the stem/valve, so I left it in. Is it normal to have all that poo poo?



Here is the broken diverter above and the "working" cold stem below. I'm not sure what we can learn from these 2 photos:



But here is where things get interesting. As I said previously, I didn't think anything had fallen out or gotten stuck inside because when I poked around with a screwdriver, nothing moved. However, you can clearly see the diverter valve has something inside it that the hot water valve doesn't. That would appear to be the piece that broke off the diverter, but it is welded in or something at the red arrow and that goes around 3/4 of the way. There's a spot to grab at the green arrow, which I attempted to do with a small needlenose pliers, but it wouldn't budge and I just ended up gashing the metal.



It would appear that if that broken off piece can't be removed, we'll have to replace the valve body, which the homeowner is prepared to do. The $800 estimate I got a few weeks ago may be high, but I don't really know. I suppose it makes sense to replace everything with a single handle, though I feel like the trim plate will have to be pretty big to cover all 3 holes.

BubbaGrace
Jul 14, 2006

Yea a remodel trim plate is decently sized. Are you worried about the aesthetic? Let's be real here, you have 1960's pink tile. Don't get picky on us now.



* Not my install, or nasty bathroom

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


BubbaGrace posted:

Yea a remodel trim plate is decently sized. Are you worried about the aesthetic? Let's be real here, you have 1960's pink tile. Don't get picky on us now.



* Not my install, or nasty bathroom
The owner is planning to sell the house in August so the aesthetic doesn’t really matter.

There’s nothing wrong with pink tile though. :colbert:

Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Mar 27, 2018

HycoCam
Jul 14, 2016

You should have backed Transverse!

A 50S RAYGUN posted:

city sewer. downstairs toilet doesn't flush that great, intermittently doesn't let water through.

so far i've run a 15 foot auger down the downstairs toilet, and i have an enzyme cleaner in the upstairs and downstairs toilet. i could feel a blockage with the auger that got cleared, and it seemed to flush a bit better, so i'm hoping it's cleared from one mechanism or another. i'll run the shower tomorrow am and see if the downstairs toilet water level changes at all.

Did the 15' auger reach the clog? If not I'm with glynnenstein that your problem is most likely somewhere in the waste pipe beyond the 15' reach. If you have a 4" waste line, every 2' of pipe will hold about a gallon. So if you could dump 8 gallons of water in the pipe at once and your clog is 16' down the pipe you won't have a problem. Showers typically dump out 2 gallons per minute. But your pipe doesn't seem completely clogged--so some water is trickling past while the pipe fills.

glynnenstein is also right on about the two most likely causes--something clogging the line or a collapsed sewer line. If you house was built before the 80's--you probably have a ceramic sewer line. If you have a wet area or really green area of lawn between your house and the road--huge chance you are going to be a doing some digging and replacing the sewer line.

Having city sewer means you might be able to save a few hundred dollars, though. Tree roots grow through the waste lines connecting houses to the sewer on a regular basis. The water department has trucks with auger snakes mounted on them--designed to go from the city side of the waste pipe and chew through any roots/clogs. The trick is to get those guys to come out and try to clear your line before you pay a plumber. In the past, flat out lying to the water department has worked for me... O.o The spiel going along the lines of "had this plumber come out to fix a clog and he told me the clog was beyond his reach/on the city side of the sewer lines and I needed to call the water department to clear the drain." Dropping the name of the least reputable plumber in the area and mentioning a bill for a few hundred dollars and still having the problem sometimes helps. Tipping the guys that come out $10-$20 each never hurts either... The guys that come out clear so many waste lines day in and day out, they will be able to tell you by holding onto the snake what is causing the clog collapsed, roots, or something like cotton rats.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Josh Lyman posted:

There’s nothing wrong with pink tile though. :colbert:

Come in my peach bathroom and I'll punch you in the nose. poo poo's horrid.

Anyway, it looks like that's grout surrounding the packing nut of the cold valve. At least you know that the cold valve has never needed service since the tile was installed. That's the packing nut on the surface there. You'll have to chisel out enough for the bonnet to come out too if you need to remove it.

All the crap inside the escutcheon is probably plumber's putty that's hardened over the years. Also, "silicone adhesive"? Is that's what's holding your escutcheons on? Look on the inside of your packing nuts. Do you see how they're threaded too? There's a little tube that screws into those, then the escutcheon screws onto that tube. They're super cheap.

Start wiggling around on that stuck part. I bet it will come out. It's not screwed in. The only thing keeping it in there is crud.

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Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


kid sinister posted:

Come in my peach bathroom and I'll punch you in the nose. poo poo's horrid.

Anyway, it looks like that's grout surrounding the packing nut of the cold valve. At least you know that the cold valve has never needed service since the tile was installed. That's the packing nut on the surface there. You'll have to chisel out enough for the bonnet to come out too if you need to remove it.

All the crap inside the escutcheon is probably plumber's putty that's hardened over the years. Also, "silicone adhesive"? Is that's what's holding your escutcheons on? Look on the inside of your packing nuts. Do you see how they're threaded too? There's a little tube that screws into those, then the escutcheon screws onto that tube. They're super cheap.

Start wiggling around on that stuck part. I bet it will come out. It's not screwed in. The only thing keeping it in there is crud.
The escutcheons were attached with caulk so I just did the same since I think you're supposed to have a waterproof seal around the top half.

I did my best with a small needlenose pliers but it really seems like it's fused to the surrounding valve. My pliers were gashing the metal and I didn't want to break anything since that bathroom belongs to a roommate who isn't moving out for 2 more months. I guess the owner can try to chisel it out after but I'm guessing he won't have much luck.

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