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Nitrox posted:You know, I took a bus here, so I have to buy a car! Yeah, they have legit permits with the city. My sister's husband is an electrician so he pulled permits for me.
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Nov 23, 2021 14:25
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Arsonide posted:Yeah, they have legit permits with the city. My sister's husband is an electrician so he pulled permits for me. Wait, your sister's husband pulled the permit for the plumbing?
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Nov 23, 2021 15:02
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Suspect Arsonside is using "pulled permits" to mean the brother in law knows how to look up permit information, and not the more common usage where "pulled permits" means you apply for the permits. The plumber should have "pulled" the permits, and your brother in law just knew how to look them up?
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Nov 23, 2021 15:45
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Arsonide posted:TLDR: I am at least not being overtly scammed. I was able to get some second opinions and they said the deal I'm getting is a little bit more than they would charge, but not much more. The house was simply that hosed up. The people I talked to also gave me some advice on where to get some assistance with it. It is still a lovely situation but at least now I know the work had to be done either way, and it was done in (relatively) good faith. Based on the information you provided here you are. None of it makes sense, from being able to start immediately to the test the performed which gave them an unrelated diagnosis. For you sake, I hope you just don't know/aren't explaining what actually going on.
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Nov 23, 2021 15:51
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Always, always, ALWAYS: - get a DETAILED written estimate (not 1-line that says "fix house: $20, 000") - get a copy of their liability insurance dec page/certificate - references from prior customers ...before letting anyone touch your house. You are not paying for personality. The detailed estimate is non-negotiable. I cannot tell you how many times folks (including members of my own family) have just let fly with no idea whatsoever what a job will cost. It should list materials/costs...it's OK to group these by type (i.e. equipment rental vs. plumbing vs. lumber vs. electrical) and you should question the numbers if they look high. If any contractor balks at any of these: run. The 'calling prior customers' part most people do not do, but calling the insurance agent at the top of the dec page is a no-brainer in order to confirm that the policy is in force, and also the agent's reaction to the contractor's name should give you an idea, especially if their insured's name is very, very familiar to them... Yes, I'm in the business several decades and have a fair working knowledge of the costs - I get that most people have no idea and that this makes it intimidating, but everyone understands that you don't just commit to hand over money to the first presentable ding-dong that offers you a product or service out in the world (retail, car buying etc) without some foreknowledge of comparative costs, so apply what you DO know...even caution alone - and slamming on the brakes at the outset and asking lots of questions costs nobody anything. Contractors take advantage of this constantly. Like replacing a toilet. To most homeowners, pulling the toilet borders on light trauma since it essentially renders a house non-liveable with the added bonus of now having a portal to hell in your floor. I have seen ridiculous charges for detaching & resetting a toilet, charges that people pay without a peep...and those are the lucky ones who aren't up-charged for a new toilet when all it needed was a valve assembly or a flapper seal (or even the pre-fill tube!). Questions set the expectation that you will not be hosed. Fly-by-nighters typically will run. Actual contractors will answer any & all questions and supply data & proof of permits. Sorry you are going through this, and hope that the process completes smoothly and gets you back. The first lesson can be very, very expensive. But now you know. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 19:45 on Nov 23, 2021 |
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Nov 23, 2021 18:46
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Another thing to note is that a job of this size can often be broken up into sub-jobs that might be cheaper to hire out separately. Plumbers hate digging, and they charge super high rates if they need to pickup a shovel or rent a miniex. Meanwhile, there are probably dozens of excavation contractors near you that have the equipment and operators necessary to dig/fill the trench in a few hours for much cheaper. Then, you just hire any old plumber to lay the pipe. The other benefit to this is the operator you get from a company dedicated to it is probably skilled enough to pluck a petal from a rose with his bucket, not a butcher that never uses one like Joe Plumber.
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Nov 23, 2021 19:40
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devicenull posted:Nope - only concern would be if you've got a lovely plastic drain valve, but if it was installed in April it's probably still in good condition. Thanks, done and done! Water was crystal clear so I'm not sure what's up. Once water heater fills up I'll test again and see if we still get loud popping noises. While messing around with the valves, I also saw two things of concern. First was a deformed piece of plastic (I think):  It's only that one and the other two are fine, so I'm not sure if it's heat because or that's how it is built because the other two are the same distance from the flue. The flue also looks like it's only screwed down in I've spot, and the others are secured in a way they I can't identify. It passed city inspection, so am I overreacting or does the plumber need to come back and fix something?   edit: popping/banging immediately starts once the heater starts heating the water again. We have the ceiling above the heater still open and it sounds like the noise is actually coming from the vent run now that I can stick my head up there, so maybe just the pipe flexing. There's also no heat coming out of the flue at the water heater where that melted(?) plastic is. I remember the first city inspection didn't pass because the plumber didn't screw down all three legs of the pipe on the water heater, so I wonder if there was some heat there that deformed that one plastic ring before he fixed it to the way it is now. I think everything is fine and I've checked everything I can think of so at the least I saved a couple warranty calls and can move on now PageMaster fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Nov 23, 2021 |
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Nov 23, 2021 20:03
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B-Nasty posted:Another thing to note is that a job of this size can often be broken up into sub-jobs that might be cheaper to hire out separately. Plumbers hate digging, and they charge super high rates if they need to pickup a shovel or rent a miniex. Meanwhile, there are probably dozens of excavation contractors near you that have the equipment and operators necessary to dig/fill the trench in a few hours for much cheaper. Then, you just hire any old plumber to lay the pipe. The other benefit to this is the operator you get from a company dedicated to it is probably skilled enough to pluck a petal from a rose with his bucket, not a butcher that never uses one like Joe Plumber. This x100, my dad runs an excavation company, and he charges a fraction of what some plumbing companies charge for even minor excavation work, and I'll bet 10/10 he'll clean the job up much nicer and do less collateral damage (to grass, shrubs etc). That is ofc considering the plumbing company didn't just book him for the job and upcharge you for the service.
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Nov 23, 2021 20:50
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PageMaster posted:Thanks, done and done! Water was crystal clear so I'm not sure what's up. Once water heater fills up I'll test again and see if we still get loud popping noises. Since only the one side is melted, I'd attribute this to something happening during install versus something more serious like the heater backdrafting. It's only really a cosmetic thing, so just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't spread. Flue is fine - that's mostly held in by gravity and the vent pipe. The other legs will have some T shaped metal on the end, which holds it in. Honestly even the one screw there is one more then my heater has.
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Nov 25, 2021 16:30
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I'm having a hard time figuring out the difference between these two Rheem water heaters: * https://www.rheem.com/product/performance-platinum-proterra-hybrid-electric-water-heater-with-leakguard-65-gallon-30-amp-xe65t10hs45u0 * https://www.rheem.com/product/professional-prestige-proterra-hybrid-electric-water-heater-proph65-t2-rh375-so Both seem to show up on the tax credit list. Or said another way, "Platinum ProTerra" vs. "Prestige ProTerra" -- both are 30 A, LeakGuard-enabled, hybrid heat pump water heaters. Home Depot carries the XExxxx part number. Some light Googling indicates professionals complaining because on service calls, Rheem gets you parts for one of them, but not the other. Potentially some construction difference also to get the Home Depot price lower. I'm getting the sense that kinda like TVs, one of these is a Home Depot-only SKU and the other is an "everyone" SKU that you can get from a supply house. And I suspect that warranty work / service work is different on them despite being (probably) the same drat thing. movax fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Nov 29, 2021 |
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Nov 29, 2021 21:39
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/not a plumber but the specs show different dimensions and slightly different run times. If it were me, I'd go for the slightly smaller one (assuming no other differences) as it's smaller and gives more hot water per session (36 minute single shower vs 30).
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Nov 29, 2021 23:49
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Probably a dumb question, but are press fittings for copper reputable or a cheap cost savings? I only know of sweating, and I've heard to stay away from sharkbite, but that's it. I have a plumber installing a phyn plus on our copper water main and their quote uses this coupling:  I've never seen these before so I didn't know if it's fine and just down to personal preference or if sweating is the way to go and they're trying something low quality. PageMaster fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Dec 1, 2021 |
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Dec 1, 2021 04:19
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In what limited experience I have, pro press are "better" that solder in the sense that they are easy, hard to gently caress up, and require little skill. However make up for all that in being expensive as gently caress, (for the fittings and the tool to press them) especially for anything large diameter. Afaik they are just as strong as welded or soldered connections.(probably better on average as they are harder to gently caress up) Rakeris fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Dec 1, 2021 |
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Dec 1, 2021 06:03
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Pro press is quickly becoming the mid grade standard. They're fast as gently caress to install, really reliable, have no fire/smoke risk, and require very little skill/training to use. If you can get the toolhead into the necessary area, you can make a solid connection with no leaks, pretty much guaranteed. We'll see what the long term reliability has to say, but I'll bet it's pretty good. Not as good as properly soldered copper, but probably better than a lot of PEX.
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Dec 1, 2021 13:26
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Press fittings are widely used in commercial construction, they're fine. Really the only thing we don't know are exactly how long they'll last. The o-ring on the inside will wear out eventually, but that might still take 50+ years to happen. They are definitely preferable in tight places where you don't want an open flame.
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Dec 1, 2021 20:04
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Thanks. It's an exposed copper line with plenty space in the garage so it sounds like it should be hard to mess up and it's it does fail well see it without anything being damaged.
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Dec 1, 2021 20:24
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I have this disaster: I'm going to be replacing the sink faucet and installing an RO system... the main shutoff in the house is also an ancient gate valve, and is buried in a closet full of junk. Would it be crazy to get another 1/2 ball valve and screw it onto the top of this one? That way I can hopefully use this one to shut off the water as best as it can, add the new valve, and then open the gate valve up fully and never touch it again. This is fairly "temporary". The kitchen is getting some remodeling in a year or so, but the current faucet is on it's way out.
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Dec 5, 2021 04:00
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Slugworth posted:Does it make sense that all the sinks and the water heater are stubbed out in copper though? Is it common to finish a poly or pex line with copper? I suspect that's why my inspector failed to notice this, it wasn't visible until I tore out drywall (well, he probably should have spotted it in the HVAC closet, but oh well). Yes, copper stub-outs on PB was extremely common in the earlier to mid 90s, until PB was phased out, because 1) it gave a higher end appearance to show copper, but more critically 2) it kept people from realizing they had PB plumbing, which already had a bad reputation at that point. I’m honestly surprised that the PB came up through the slab though. I had thought any buried plumbing would be copper and transition to PB where exposed/above grade.
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Dec 5, 2021 11:00
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So I recently installed a bidet. Now it sounds like the toilet is always running and a small amount of water is coming out of the handle. I assume it’s always running cuz a slight amount of water is coming out of handle but might be unrelated. I Google searched and got a lot of Reddit posts about people doing this and just having to turn their fill valve back to fix it like here. My fill valve does not seem to twist like that, and my toilet innards are very different. Is this an easy fix I should be able to make?   
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Dec 6, 2021 06:37
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Is the float uh floating? If you flush and then lift the float by hand, does the water turn off? Also, the overflow tube is too tall, the extra water should be going in there instead of out the handle hole. It's usually the tube that the hose goes into, but your setup is a bit special.
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Dec 6, 2021 14:26
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Guy Axlerod posted:Is the float uh floating? If you flush and then lift the float by hand, does the water turn off? I thought the overflow tube was too tall, but I don't think this happened before I installed the bidet (but we only lived here a week before this happened). If it didn't happen beforehand it's not like the overflow tube grew. Fritzler fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Dec 6, 2021 |
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Dec 6, 2021 15:58
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The overflow tube being too tall isn't causing your fill valve to stick on all of a sudden, but it is the reason you have water coming out the handle instead of spilling down the overflow tube. If there's no obvious adjustment available, or the adjustment isn't working, just throw a new float valve assembly at it.
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Dec 6, 2021 16:29
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Go buy a universal guts replacement kit, not parts, and fiddle with your existing one. If you can't unstick it into working then replace the whole guts. If you don't want to then call a plumber and say you need the guts on a toilet replaced. It's a super easy job and is going to cost you a call out. I wouldn't hesitate to use the cheapest plumber around for toilet guts. It's in fact the only job I would use a special discount plumber on it's so easy.
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Dec 6, 2021 19:59
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Fritzler posted:So I recently installed a bidet. Now it sounds like the toilet is always running and a small amount of water is coming out of the handle. I assume it’s always running cuz a slight amount of water is coming out of handle but might be unrelated. I Google searched and got a lot of Reddit posts about people doing this and just having to turn their fill valve back to fix it like here. My fill valve does not seem to twist like that, and my toilet innards are very different. Is this an easy fix I should be able to make? The float should not be that far underwater - so yea, something's up there. Are you sure the float was not originally at like a 7 oclock position in that first screenshot? It should be able to fully raise without hitting anything.
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Dec 7, 2021 00:12
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devicenull posted:The float should not be that far underwater - so yea, something's up there. Are you sure the float was not originally at like a 7 oclock position in that first screenshot? It should be able to fully raise without hitting anything.
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Dec 7, 2021 06:23
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Fritzler posted:Ok. I moved it to 7 (maybe more like 8) with your advice and the water level is not rising as much either. That fixed everything. Thanks for the help so much! 
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Dec 7, 2021 20:13
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Finally had my water monitor with shutoff installed. I guess there wasn't enough length available between the existing fittings and the shutoff valve to for the pressure regulator and the device so plumber did this: I don't have issues with aesthetics or anything, but should it be secured to support the weight in some way so it's not free-floating or is it fine?
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Dec 9, 2021 20:27
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If it was me I would feel better if it was supported. Also was that white clamp and wire on the bottom left attached to the copper pipe before? It probably should be as that looks like your electrical panel bonding wire.
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Dec 10, 2021 01:37
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SpartanIvy posted:If it was me I would feel better if it was supported. Also was that white clamp and wire on the bottom left attached to the copper pipe before? It probably should be as that looks like your electrical panel bonding wire. You also probably want similar bonding across the meter - so, put the clamp back on the bottom, and get another clamp and piece of wire to put on the top horizontal bar as well. At the moment, you've bypassed the grounding for the rest of the plumbing.
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Dec 10, 2021 02:39
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SpartanIvy posted:If it was me I would feel better if it was supported. Also was that white clamp and wire on the bottom left attached to the copper pipe before? It probably should be as that looks like your electrical panel bonding wire. Thanks, I asked the plumber back about securing in some manner and the clamp. It would have been nice to somehow put the new detector in-line without needing to make that large bend but I think that would have involved cutting the PEX line higher up which is why they did this? I didn't think to take a picture of our exact setup before this was done, but I do have one of when we bought the house before we repiped and the original did have the clamp on the line just above the PRV. Plumber should know this answer, right? or would I need to ask an electrician? Not sure the exact layout of our house, but the electrical panel is outside on the exact opposite side of the entire house so I'm not sure where the bonding wire runs to (or from) but that seems to be the only answer I can find online. devicenull posted:You also probably want similar bonding across the meter - so, put the clamp back on the bottom, and get another clamp and piece of wire to put on the top horizontal bar as well. I'll ask about this, too, but for my own understanding, wouldn't the top and bottom horizontal runs not be isolated from each other because of the water? Wouldn't the water act the same as a wire connecting the two?
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Dec 10, 2021 03:36
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PageMaster posted:Thanks, I asked the plumber back about securing in some manner and the clamp. It would have been nice to somehow put the new detector in-line without needing to make that large bend but I think that would have involved cutting the PEX line higher up which is why they did this? I didn't think to take a picture of our exact setup before this was done, but I do have one of when we bought the house before we repiped and the original did have the clamp on the line just above the PRV. Plumber should know this answer, right? or would I need to ask an electrician? Not sure the exact layout of our house, but the electrical panel is outside on the exact opposite side of the entire house so I'm not sure where the bonding wire runs to (or from) but that seems to be the only answer I can find online. quote:I'll ask about this, too, but for my own understanding, wouldn't the top and bottom horizontal runs not be isolated from each other because of the water? Wouldn't the water act the same as a wire connecting the two?
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Dec 10, 2021 03:55
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SpartanIvy posted:No because if the electricity is going through the water it will also go through you while you're using a bidet Don't kink shame!
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Dec 10, 2021 04:35
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Grabbed this nipple too hard: Sprinkler plumbing, and in this case, a 1" PVC pipe buried about two feet underground and embedded in concrete, feeding a single sprinkler. I about poo poo myself when this happened. Thankfully, this exists and I can pick a few up tomorrow. I'm pretty sure most of the reason this happened is the whole manifold is overweight, overcomplicated, and unsupported.  This sprinkler setup is pump-fed and the new pump I just installed will happily feed all four legs simultaneously. PO spent way too much money and effort here trying to use a goddamn Harbor Freight semi-trash pump instead of doing it right. There's literally no reason for any of these valves to exist anymore, other than the fact that removing the two furthest ones will require the pump to be removed for access. The failed one is, thankfully, the closest one and has clear access.
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Dec 10, 2021 05:57
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Well old home ownership rears it’s head again. We had all the cast iron and galvanized that wasn’t behind a tile wall replaced with pvc for drainage and a manifold pex system. That replaced about 95% of all the pipes in our house. The shared drain stack between the lav vanities wasn’t replaced except where it popped into our basement because of the tile. Now those vanities are non functioning. Tried cleaning traps, an augur, the whole deal. Because it vents out and requires taking tiles down, im going to ask the professionals to take care of it. We were hoping we could get by until we Reno our bathroom but that’s the way it goes. We have spent so much on plumbing for this house the should send us a card and bottle of wine.
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Dec 10, 2021 12:49
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So you have a run of drain in the wall, where two vanities drain into the wall & then turn down into the basement? With new pipe tied in at the basement? Or is this like an ideal bend - a lateral drain under the floor that the two vanities drain into?
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Dec 10, 2021 15:27
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PageMaster posted:Thanks, I asked the plumber back about securing in some manner and the clamp. It would have been nice to somehow put the new detector in-line without needing to make that large bend but I think that would have involved cutting the PEX line higher up which is why they did this? I didn't think to take a picture of our exact setup before this was done, but I do have one of when we bought the house before we repiped and the original did have the clamp on the line just above the PRV. Plumber should know this answer, right? or would I need to ask an electrician? Not sure the exact layout of our house, but the electrical panel is outside on the exact opposite side of the entire house so I'm not sure where the bonding wire runs to (or from) but that seems to be the only answer I can find online. Since you have a pressure reducer in there, I don't think there was room to do anything different based on where the pipes come in, and the pipes go out. Maybe he could have oriented things different, but it still would have been protruding somehow.
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Dec 10, 2021 16:04
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PainterofCrap posted:So you have a run of drain in the wall, where two vanities drain into the wall & then turn down into the basement? With new pipe tied in at the basement? Or is this like an ideal bend - a lateral drain under the floor that the two vanities drain into? As far as I can tell comparing where the vanities are and where things pop out into the basement, it seems a fully horizontal drop that also extends up for the vent.
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Dec 10, 2021 18:44
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So they connect at or near the sinks, then go down & across to connect to the stack at the toilet?
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Dec 10, 2021 19:44
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It looks like this (I am assuming) if you had x-ray vision: The pipe above the 90 and behind the wall going up is still cast iron. The 90 and the line to the main drain stack (and all the drain stack) is now PVC. Really I just want them to try to cut along the grout line when they do it and I can attach some 2x4 and just drywall the opening. They are square tiles that are all lined up. KKKLIP ART fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Dec 10, 2021 |
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Dec 10, 2021 20:25
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SpartanIvy posted:I think the plumber should know to reattach bonding clamps. Plumber actually took pics before work and clamp was not attached, but I have pics from moving in before repiping and there was a clamp attached to the original system (though i've never seen copper like that and I wonder if it was the polybutylene) so it might have been something missed by the repiping plumber and city inspectors. I can reattach the clamp myself, but are there any things I would need to watch out for or test in the line first? Very original setup:  Finally, plumber said the setup is fine without bracing; I'm still having that conversation with him, but how would I do this (or would I just hire a handyman)? I've seen copper pipe braced to studs before, but never the outside of drywall like this.
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Dec 10, 2021 21:57
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