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How far off are you on the pricing? Because mid-range fixtures are still $400+ / each easy. If you are just looking for "shower head, functional" then why not use the old ones? Replace the cartridges and descale them before reinstalling them. Otherwise for literally $20 you can get a shower head at target. You're going to be replacing it every few years but they work. I am on my second one in 8 years of living in this house. https://www.target.com/p/ecoflow-hand-held-shower-head-4-mode-chrome-waterpik/-/A-14164891 The bulk of the cost is likely all the labor. Ask them to call out an allowance on it. Then you know how much they are integrating into the price.
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Dec 18, 2023 22:49
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Also, they get a 30% or so trade discount at the nice fixture place in town. So I don't see how it's gonna save you any money unless they let you go in there using their name to make the purchase.
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Dec 18, 2023 23:07
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Every now and then when using water in certain parts of a recently-purchased house (built 1989, but has been worked on since), I hear a steady tapping noise that sounds like a drop falling onto something - like, when using my guest bathroom on the second floor, I hear this tap/drop noise coming from the wall between the first floor bathroom and washing machine room (directly below). It starts off happening every few seconds, then slows down over the course of a minute or so before stopping. I haven't noticed any water damage or discoloration or anything like that. Any idea what could be causing that, and is it something I should be worried about?
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Dec 19, 2023 06:27
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what type of pipes do you have?
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Dec 19, 2023 13:16
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pmchem posted:what type of pipes do you have? No idea. How would I find out, short of opening the wall and looking?
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Dec 19, 2023 17:28
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Morpheus posted:Every now and then when using water in certain parts of a recently-purchased house (built 1989, but has been worked on since), I hear a steady tapping noise that sounds like a drop falling onto something - like, when using my guest bathroom on the second floor, I hear this tap/drop noise coming from the wall between the first floor bathroom and washing machine room (directly below). It starts off happening every few seconds, then slows down over the course of a minute or so before stopping. I haven't noticed any water damage or discoloration or anything like that. Any idea what could be causing that, and is it something I should be worried about? There are two possibilities is that one, you have a leak on either supply or drain side. Or you might have a poorly sloped drain somewhere that allows water to accumulate inside the pipe, probably in the newly renovated bathroom floor/wall.
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Dec 19, 2023 17:34
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Morpheus posted:Every now and then when using water in certain parts of a recently-purchased house (built 1989, but has been worked on since), I hear a steady tapping noise that sounds like a drop falling onto something - like, when using my guest bathroom on the second floor, I hear this tap/drop noise coming from the wall between the first floor bathroom and washing machine room (directly below). It starts off happening every few seconds, then slows down over the course of a minute or so before stopping. I haven't noticed any water damage or discoloration or anything like that. Any idea what could be causing that, and is it something I should be worried about? See if it's happening with only the hot water running. You probably have copper pipes, and they're expanding as the hot water heats them. Where they are clamped tightly to framing, or passing through subfloor or framing, they'll bump/slide and make that noise. You don't hear the contraction (usually) because the rate is slower when cooling down. I re-plumbed my house (with copper) & I have a few areas that do this. It does sound like water dripping.
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Dec 19, 2023 18:39
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Well turned out there was a very small set screw. I got the faucet apart and still no markings to tell me who the manufacturer might be. I matched it by inspection to a Kohl’s cartridge.
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Dec 19, 2023 19:33
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Morpheus posted:No idea. How would I find out, short of opening the wall and looking? Usually you can tell where your service enters your house. If you have manifolds with plastic everywhere, you've got PEX. If the pipes stay metal, you've probably got copper. If they're ancient, you may have got galvanized and would want to think about replacing it. You can test with a magnet if you're not sure. There's also CPVC, which was only used for a short while. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Dec 19, 2023 |
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Dec 19, 2023 21:31
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Lately, my electric water heater wasn't performing very well lately. This is the second time in just over four years. Hot water wouldn't last very long (as in, a ten minute shower would require me to have the faucet about 80% to the hot side (and the mixing on the new tub faucet was set to "hottest)), despite being a 50 gallon tank and heating elements that were only 4 years old. I got new ones, 4500 W each with new thermostats and...it's not much better. I have both thermostats set to about 145, but I tested the water coming out the kitchen tap and bathroom tap, and kitchen is just under 120 F, bathroom is just over ( I assume it's because the kitchen is on the far side of the house from the water heater, the bathroom is right above it.) I have the tiniest of wiggle room left in the thermostat to set them to "150 F", which might ,make it close to 125 F, but it's clear the tank itself might be the issue. Def. a good deal of corrosion on the old elements when I removed them, and I wasn't able to replace the anode, because it's the bitch of a kind where it's built into the outlet pipe. Single piece, and I don't have three feet of clearance above it, so I'd ALSO have to remove the inlet pipe to tilt it to get the new one in there...not something I had any interest in. At one point I was thinking about finally getting a gas hookup and going to an on-demand water heat, BUT lately I'm thinking I should go to a heat pump water heater. Between state rebates, local utility rebates, and federal tax credits...I basically can get a unit for free, and just pay for the install. Here's a list of units that I can the rebates from. Is there a "goon standard" recommended one? Ideally 220V, since I can then just reuse the same electrical already there. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11m7tXVRpX3a5YdaLwSrUv_0s3wyLfpES/edit?usp=drive_link&rtpof=true&sd=true Unfortunately, selecting 220v vs 120v wasn't a filterable option. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Dec 20, 2023 |
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Dec 20, 2023 21:15
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Before you throw good money at this you need to figure out why a water heater killed its elements in 4 years. That's all that will happen with a new one but it will be way more expensive to replace. Post pics of the old elements and your current setup.
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Dec 20, 2023 21:44
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Here are the two elements:  The first one had similar corrosion near the base like the second one, but it fell off when I put it in the trash can. Here's the setup, you can see rusting and paint peeling from mostly the outlet, but a little at the inlet:    And a little corrosion in both the inlet (blue) and outlet shutoff valves, and a bit at the tee above the hot outlet:    No other significant corrosion anywhere else, just a few spots of green, nothing like the build up at the water heater.
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Dec 20, 2023 23:55
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You have a water chemistry problem and need to get a proper water test from your local ag extension to find out exactly what is wrong and how to mitigate it. E: unless you are on public water. Then those tests should already be available. But that doesn't look like city water. Double edit: your very first post in this thread is about a mixing valve. You should consider the likelihood that it is causing your temperature problems as well as/in addition to your broken water heater. Motronic fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 00:00
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Imagine these two pictures, but on a $1800 heat pump water heater. And no new rebates because you've already done it once. Plus install. Motronic posted:You have a water chemistry problem and need to get a proper water test
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Dec 21, 2023 03:09
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Motronic posted:You have a water chemistry problem and need to get a proper water test from your local ag extension to find out exactly what is wrong and how to mitigate it. I'm on city water, so I'll try to find info on the most recent tests. I know a good chunk of my neighborhood have houses with electric heat and hot water, so maybe I'll also check with neighbors and see what they do? And that post about the mixing valve was my old house with sweet lady DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 05:20
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There's also a sacrificial anode rod in the water heater that should have been corroding before everything else thanks to the magic of electrochemistry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3bY1UR77Dw I suspect that it is long gone which is why everything else is going to poo poo simultaneously. Just a warning: they are notoriously difficult to remove. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 13:29
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Shifty Pony posted:There's also a sacrificial anode rod in the water heater that should have been corroding before everything else thanks to the magic of electrochemistry. Oh, I know: quote:I wasn't able to replace the anode, because it's the bitch of a kind where it's built into the outlet pipe. Single piece, and I don't have three feet of clearance above it, so I'd ALSO have to remove the inlet pipe to tilt it to get the new one in there...not something I had any interest in. I mean, with how terribly things seem to be going, I guess it might be worth actually doing that whole process; but at this point with how badly it's heating with brand new elements, I think the damage has been done and a new anode won't save it. The other guys are right that I need to fix the underlying water issue first, and then I can get a new water heater. Fake edit: Well, there might be just enough room above the water heater to replace the anode if I can just slightly push the outlet pipe out of the way after detaching it, but again...I think it's too late for this water heater. Real Edit: Here's my town's water test results from 2022, as far as I can tell, there isn't anything that REALLY stands out as being crazy: https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/tiles/2022%20Consumer%20Confidence%20Report_Final_0.pdf I'm suspicious of the iron because I get an absolute TON of reddish/orange staining, though I've been told it could also be a bacteria? I clean my bathroom weekly, but I still get spots of pinkish orange stain starting to form in the corners where the tub wall meets the tub on the silicone, where the water sort of sits and doesn't dry well. Which, yeah, again, bacteria would like those spots too, but I'm just not ruling out any options, here. I will probably have to just get my own water tested, maybe the pipes in my neighborhood are failing or something so whatever is in my water isn't accurately reporting on a collected average. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 15:34 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 15:20
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DrBouvenstein posted:Fake edit: Well, there might be just enough room above the water heater to replace the anode if I can just slightly push the outlet pipe out of the way after detaching it, but again...I think it's too late for this water heater. You don't need full clearance to get the anode rod out. You just cut it as it's coming out. Most replacements are 3-piece because they know virtually nobody has the room to take out the stock solid rod. Don't drop it in the heater. You should tie it off below where you're cutting.
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Dec 21, 2023 15:28
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Based what has been shown cutting may not be necessary.  Reading that report it leaves out a critical peice of the puzzle: pH. You have very low alkalinity and if you have out of range pH that would explain the hilariously rapid corrosion of your water heater. Test strips are ultra cheap and readily available. Pool stores, places that sell fish tanks, probably lowesdepot, etc. Otherwise Amazon. You can pH test all kinds of things once you have em. See if your distilled water is truly distilled, if your white vinegar is actually 4%, you get the idea. https://pwp.cityofpasadena.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Pasadena-2023-WQ-Report-web-ready-2.pdf H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Dec 21, 2023 |
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Dec 21, 2023 19:20
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I've got test strips and one of those little garden probes, so I'll check those out tonight.
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Dec 21, 2023 20:04
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I had to replace the anode rod once to take care of stinky hot water. It worked!
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Dec 21, 2023 20:42
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I bought a used, very fancy Kohler Artifacts faucet that the seller claimed worked great. I had a plumber come over and try and install it and it turns out that the side sprayer is stuck in the "on" position. The hot water is clogged too. I feel pretty dumb. Is this worth fixing?
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Dec 30, 2023 23:24
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I bought a used, very fancy Kohler Artifacts faucet that the seller claimed worked great. I had a plumber come over and try and install it and it turns out that the side sprayer is stuck in the "on" position. The hot water is clogged too. I feel pretty dumb. Is this worth fixing? Any reasonably new Kohler faucets are lifetime warranty as far as I can remember, and I know first hand they are very good with support. I called them about a stuck thermostatic valve for a shower and they were like "we know about that, it's hard water give me you address and we'll just send you free parts." Give them a call on Tuesday and see what they have to say.
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Dec 30, 2023 23:31
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Motronic posted:Any reasonably new Kohler faucets are lifetime warranty as far as I can remember, and I know first hand they are very good with support. I called them about a stuck thermostatic valve for a shower and they were like "we know about that, it's hard water give me you address and we'll just send you free parts."
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Dec 31, 2023 01:27
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kid sinister posted:That looks like a frost free sillcock. The shut off is back where the pipe threads in. It shouldn't be freezing and cracking. The idea is that with the shut off so far back, all the water left inside after it's shut off will drain out via gravity.  thank you for your reply on this but i'd like to add a real shutoff valve to this since it would make any replacement in the future much easier. i'm confused as to why the installation is currently set up the way it is...they routed the pipe back outside the drywall and covered it with foam to prevent freezing. can i buy a sharkbite ball valve and place it on the right side, which would then go pex to 90* elbow and pex to sillcock and keep it all tucked inside the wall (except the knob for the valve). i think the 90 elbow would need to be braced, right?
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Jan 1, 2024 01:14
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OBAMNA PHONE posted:
It's just the geometry of the wall hydrant. The seat has to be inside the wall and a 2x4 wall isn't deep enough to accommodate everything. At best you'll be tight up inside the drywall but I doubt you'll get it all to fit the way you are thinking. There's also a benefit of having the additional distance and mass inside the insulation. If it's halfway in the wall it's half as much insulation. Copper is going to conduct heat and cool off as well, so the added depth and insulation helps. Rig up whatever you want, just be sure to put you valve higher than the outlet so it'll drain. It's not necessary but doesn't hurt. No different than before don't forget to unhook your hose and drain it.
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Jan 1, 2024 04:41
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there was no insulation in there because its in my garage
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Jan 1, 2024 05:07
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OBAMNA PHONE posted:there was no insulation in there because its in my garage That was a commentary on how frost free silcocks work and why they are the length they are, not about your garage.
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Jan 1, 2024 16:55
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Well poo poo: That's the (new) main thermostat for my water heater. I look it out and noticed it was wet behind it, right where it sits up against the tank. I think the nipples at the top are so corroded now that some water is leaking in the gap behind the outer panel and insulation/inner panel, and it caused it to short out...at least that's all I can guess? As far as I can tell, the wiring was correct. The scary part is it didn't trip the breaker for the water heater... though I think the small, internal breaker on the thermostat itself tripped first? But now its' absolutely new water heater time, AND it's the lovely benefit of an emergency. I have a friend with an old, but working, water heater so I might take that just as a "need a water ASAP" type of deal before looking into a permanent replacement. And my water seems fine, at least as fine as anyone else's. I just think the problems all trace back to a very old water heater (the only date on it I could find was an Energy Star label dated 1994, don't know if that means that was also the tank's install year. Byut probably.) So yeah, nearly 30 year old tank, odds are the anode never changed.
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Jan 1, 2024 20:25
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Got home from vacation yesterday. We were gone about 9 days and left the water heater at the same temperature as normal, but the main water to the house had been shut off. Hot water was fine yesterday as late as 7:30pm, but this morning it wasn't. Had a vague hint of warm-ish water during my shower this morning, but that seems to have been the last of it. Go out to check the water heater and find a small puddle under it, and also water on top of the tank around the hot water outlet. Didn't notice moisture coming from any obvious place (pressure relief, drain, or cold water inlet). I also can't seem to get the pilot to re-light... won't even spark, and on further investigation it looks like there's water/moisture inside the burner chamber. I'm guessing the moisture is preventing the igniter from sparking, and is probably what killed the pilot in the first place. Calling around to find a plumber that'll come out and fix/replace it, but obviously being a holiday my choices are slim to non-existent. Waiting on a call back from one, others aren't even answering. The water heater was replaced in 2012 by the PO. So before I freak out (or pay emergency call out fees), google is telling me that this might be condensation, and not an actual leak. Is this a likely cause in this scenario, or is the tank hosed? Edit: Welp didn't have to worry about emergency call fees because nobody could make it out today. The guy I have scheduled for tomorrow is highly confident that it's toast based on the above info. Whether he's right or wrong, it's old enough where it's probably better I replace it now rather than wait for the next inevitable emergency. DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Jan 2, 2024 |
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Jan 1, 2024 20:54
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Uh hey thread I uh went to visit a friend just after they moved in to the new house and while I was there I helped to diagnose why their rainwater pump wasn't working (weed wacker cut the float switch wire) anyway they had a setup I have never seen before, it's one of those wall shaped water tanks but set up away from the house and plumbed in below ground here a crappy diagram of the setup  Is this like a thing you can get away with? I'm kinda iffy on having a downpipe full of water all the time.
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Jan 3, 2024 14:48
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A cistern if you will. What do they use it for? But yes there is nothing particularly wrong with having a gravity "primed" pipe as long as they have something on both sides to deal with clogs/overflow. Specifically the house side needs to have a regular gutter drain for whatever doesn't make it down the pipe. I'm surprised they don't have another pump in there to fill the cistern. How much elevation difference is it actually between the low point on the roof and the high side of the filler?
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Jan 3, 2024 18:24
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H110Hawk posted:A cistern if you will. What do they use it for? But yes there is nothing particularly wrong with having a gravity "primed" pipe as long as they have something on both sides to deal with clogs/overflow. Specifically the house side needs to have a regular gutter drain for whatever doesn't make it down the pipe. Ok no worries then thanks. I think the rainwater is plumbed into the toilets via some sort of switchover valve unfortunately I wasn't there long enough to find it, there was also a faucet for the garden hose. There was only about a 6 inch drop between the base of the gutter and the top of the filler and then another 2 inches from the filler to the top of the tank, the tank is one of those waffle shaped ones specifically designed to sit flush against a house I haven't got a clue why the builders decided to put it against the back fence 7 feet away.
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Jan 3, 2024 21:01
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I've got a pinhole leak from a pipe above our kitchen ceiling. Our usual plumber is backlogged so it's going to be a week or two until he can make it out, what's the best temporary fix for this? You can't really tell from the photo but those boards it's between are offset vertically so I might be able to slip one of those repair clamps on it. In the case I can't is there something else that might work?
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Jan 5, 2024 05:58
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Could you cut it off square right on either side of the leak and just slam a shark bite coupler on there? 20 bucks says that's what your plumber is gonna do. I'm assuming you're able to cut/move the boards. If that's not the case then idk how you or the plumbers gonna go anything about it.
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Jan 10, 2024 16:20
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Motronic posted:The point of the tank is that if and when the volume of water increases (because it's being heated) it buffers in the tank instead of puking out of your T&P. Regular size expansion tanks are HUGELY oversized for a typical household system so they'll barely fill and even then only occasionally. There must be something I've done wrong, or am misunderstanding. After replacing my expansion tank a few weeks ago (it was clearly broken, 100% full of water) with another of the same model, I'm still dumping water out my boiler's T&P. It's not leaking, the bucket underneath is dry for several days in a row, but once or twice a week there's a a cup or two of water expelled. To recap I have a 15 psi autofill valve in front of an HGT-60 expansion tank, pressurized to ~15 psi. The pressure/temp gauge I have on the radiator loop usually reads about 18-20 psi. The expansion tank appears to be empty, when I knock it with a wrench it sounds hollow top and bottom. However when I let air out of the expansion tank, my pressure gauge reading lowers, so there must be some water in there (as suggested it's probably oversized for this application). 1. If I sit and watch my boiler go through a heat cycle, I see the pressure gauge reading move up and down, maybe as low as 15 and as high as 23. My understanding is a thermal expansion tank should buffer the excess volume of water, thereby holding the pressure steady at a particular reading (or at least cap the system pressure to whatever the tank is set at). If my tank is at 15 psi why is my system going up to 20+, or really even moving around at all? 2. Could it be the temp that's triggering the T&P rather than pressure? The gauge reads as high as 160 F during a heat cycle. Is there any way to test this, other than sitting and watching everything for hours?
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Jan 12, 2024 15:57
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epswing posted:Could it be the temp that's triggering the T&P rather than pressure? The gauge reads as high as 160 F during a heat cycle. Is there any way to test this, other than sitting and watching everything for hours? If you called in a pro plumber/HVAC person they would have replaced both the expansion tank and the T&P. In almost every case I've seen, once an older T&P is activated it never fully seats again. I live in an area with hard water, so I'm sure water chemistry has something to do with it, but I sure wouldn't be worried about your issue until I'd replaced the T&P. But before ordering one, go track down the manual for your heater and verify what T&P it's supposed to have. Your autofill sound like it's set too high (typically more like 3-6 PSI), but there's something else to check manufacturer recommendations for along with high temp set/high limit. Your expansion tank pressure will need to be adjusted accordingly if you need to change the autofill pressure. As to your question in #1, an expansion tank buffers volume. You're still going to see pressure changes. Motronic fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Jan 12, 2024 16:06
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First hard freeze since repiping the house, very nice to have proper frost-free silcocks and outdoor hydrants, (was just copper sticking out of the ground with a spigot on it) and not have to cover them and worry about them freezing/breaking.
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Jan 16, 2024 19:55
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Hi thread! I have a combination radiator/towel rail that's decided it doesn't want to be warm this year, but it was working last year.  Due to its shape it happens to be the tallest venting point for trapped air, so I've regularly opened the valve at the top to let any air out, and all that's coming out is water. It's coming out at a high pressure too, but weirdly, it's cold. Every other radiator in the house is roasting hot. In the basement where I see the supply and return pipes for this particular loop, they're both hot (I don't know the full plumbing of it, I'm assuming there is at least one other radiator sharing that supply/return), but in this bathroom, the pipes at the bottom both feel cold also. If there was a leak, I would have noticed it by now, and the pressure of the water coming out the relief valve tells me it's connected to the system just fine, but I don't understand why the hell it's not warm. I was running the release valve for a few minutes. Do I need to run it longer? Is there a chance the thermostatic valve (bottom of the picture) is locked to an off setting? It's set to full, but that's assuming it's functioning... Or maybe the system is clogged and the water that's coming out is coming from pressure in the return pipe? (But even my return pipes are hot right now...)
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Jan 17, 2024 03:00
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I installed a new dishwasher and the drain hose isn't quite long enough to do a loop before connecting it to the garbage disposal. I need like a foot more of pipe, and the "extension hoses" I've found are like 5 feet long. Would using a hose like this, that I could cut to size, work? https://www.lowes.com/pd/EZ-FLO-7-8-in-Inner-Diameter-x-2-ft-Rubber-Disposal-Hose/1000365019
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Jan 20, 2024 00:45
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