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Don't do any repairs on someone else's property. I'm pretty sure it's written in the lease somewhere. Because now you're on the hook for all subsequent damage, or at least up to the amount of your security deposit. There is not going to be a plumber on taskrabbit, not a real one anyway
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May 17, 2024 03:45
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After reading plumber and task rabbit I expected far worse than what I read. That's like hiring an electrician from under the tree in a home depot parking lot.
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May 17, 2024 03:47
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That said, your drain will (probably) not explode. Post a picture.
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May 17, 2024 11:05
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Yeah first and foremost everyone is right in making fun of you for hiring someone on task rabbit to work on your landlord's property. That being said, to maybe calm your anxiety: Yes P traps are pretty elementary in terms of plumbing. No one can correctly assume what went wrong without seeing it. P traps come in sections so you can easily clean them out. They are supposed to be hand tight-ish, so this literally might be a moment of needing to tighten is just a hair more. It's a drain, the only likely chance of it exploding is if you are pouring explosive chemicals down it. Maybe you post a pic and people are like "Yeah just tighten that part" but you're still going to (rightfully) get a lot of "don't do maintenance on rentals" -- because it's rule #1. The Dave fucked around with this message at 13:03 on May 17, 2024 |
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May 17, 2024 13:01
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It doesn't sound this way, but for all we know the landlord sent the task rabbit person to do the work. I agree you shouldn't do repairs on your rental, but if all op needs to do is tighten the slip but on their drain, they don't need to involve the landlord.
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May 17, 2024 13:49
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What the gently caress? House plumbed into a storm drain somehow? Vitamin Me posted:Netherlands had some rain/hail today   
shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 21:05 on May 20, 2024 |
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May 20, 2024 21:03
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shame on an IGA posted:What the gently caress? There's still a lot of combined storm-sanitary sewers out there so probably yeah.
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May 20, 2024 21:28
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If you connect your toilet cistern to the hot feed it will help you flush the hailstones.
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May 21, 2024 08:20
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Man, reminds me of a house I did work on years ago that had a field tile ran through the basement, but they opened it and just had a channel for the water. (Old clay pipe iirc) So it came in one side and out the other. Was loving wild. Like a little creek straight through their basement. Home owners said they loved it as their dogs always had fresh water and they liked the sound of running water.... I just hope the exit is never clogged.
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May 21, 2024 13:40
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We had a couple neighbors on my street growing up that had open channels like that. The neighborhood was a development built in 1911-12; the street followed the path of a small creek and it ended in what was essentially a holler (a tiny valley) with fairly steep hills that the homes were built along. Well, you can bury a stream, but you can’t easily eliminate one, so the little feeders kept coming down the hill. When I was a kid in the 60s, the bottom of the block would flood, and when the storm drains backed up, we’d all go swimming in the 3-4’ pond that would form. I remember also, water jetting through the rubble & mortar walls and my dad using a gas-powered trash pump to stay ahead of the flooding. What is all of the white crystal stuff in those images? Soap suds?
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May 21, 2024 14:44
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PainterofCrap posted:What is all of the white crystal stuff in those images? Soap suds? sky ice
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May 21, 2024 17:47
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shame on an IGA posted:sky ice Someone threw change at the strip club?
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May 21, 2024 18:07
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What could cause a water shutoff valve to close by itself?
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May 22, 2024 19:34
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Hungry Squirrel posted:What could cause a water shutoff valve to close by itself? Punk kids, little shits, etc.
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May 22, 2024 19:36
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Valid, generally. For this, though, assume that this happened in a house with only one person, an adult, who is me, and who very much didn't do it. The water company came to swap out my meter about an hour before I realized there was a problem but I can't imagine that the water company's (old while male) tech would be pranking homeowners.
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May 22, 2024 19:45
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it sounds like the water company shut off the water in advance of installing a new meter?
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May 22, 2024 20:39
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Quick question: getting a water heater (30 gallon short tank for condo) replacement this week. I have a plumber lined up and plan to buy the unit itself from Home Depot. I plan to drive the new unit the 2~ miles from HD to the building in the back of an SUV. Unfortunately, because of the size of the unit and the orientation of the SUV's cargo area, I'll have to transport the heater on its side... despite being labeled to be kept upright. Is this a serious issue that i need to reconsider or nothing to worry about for the 10 minute trip?
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May 22, 2024 20:50
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Leperflesh posted:it sounds like the water company shut off the water in advance of installing a new meter? I was trying to do the thing where I try not to get into the weeds with the whole story, but that may have been suboptimal. The water company sent a letter that they need to change the meter. No problem, scheduled the guy for yesterday. I had a guy out to look at my fireplace at the same time, so I was puttering in the area of the indoor meter the whole time, and the meter guy looked like he just got in there, did the thing, and left. I tried to run a load of laundry about half an hour later, on the sanitize setting, and the washing machine did not fill. It ran the full two hour cycle with no water. At the very last rinse it did let cold water pour in, but that was it. I figured my washing machine died, but the water heater didn't feel warm and wasn't making it's usual noises. I did have hot water at the kitchen tap, but only warm water at the back bathroom. The floor around the water heater was wet, but the meter wasn't ticking upwards, so probably not a leak (or the meter is busted). Flushing a toilet did tick the meter up about wo gallons, as expected. So, the water was getting from the street to the house, and then within the house. Cold was fine, hot was iffy. It looked like it was probably the washing machine, but also possibly something fucky with the heater. Plumber came out this morning, turned the hot water inlet knob behind the washing machine, fixed everything. I didn't think to check the washer shutoff valves because they're way the hell behind the washer behind a pile of dirty laundry, and I couldn't easily get to them, and they didn't look leaky or anything so I figured that couldn't be it. Clearly I was wrong, but my point is that if someone wanted to turn them off as a prank, it would take effort, and it would be enough work that I think the meter tech would remember if he had needed to do it. The water company checked with the tech who advised that not only did he not do it, he can think of very few times when someone would need to. So! It's either ghosts, or some weird-rear end edge case happened causing things to get stuck and then unstuck with no direct action, but I like knowing things so I figured I'd ask what may have happened.
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May 22, 2024 21:48
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Someone posted this on imgur, they're very proud of the repair 
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May 22, 2024 23:33
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I am in need of a new hot water heater and other than some basics I don't know how to tell different options apart. Current (old) unit is tall tanked natural gas unit, I think either 40 or 50 gallon capacity. House is 2600 sqf 3 bath, 2 adults 2 kids, in central VA. Existing unit is located in an unfinished but conditioned section of the basement and has been completely adequate for our needs. I have municipal natural gas service and unless there is a strong case id rather keep using rather than having to add electrical capacity. So, with that info, how to I evaluate potential replacement units? Are there efficiency levels I should look for? Brands to seek out or avoid etc. Good features I should look for?
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May 28, 2024 13:44
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Personally, I'd go back with what you have. If you have a metal flue pipe it's not a high-efficiency unit. If that's what you have, you can go 1:1 If you want a high-efficiency unit, the only major change from what you have is to run PVC pipe for the flue - 2-1/2" or larger diameter (that runs out of the home "uphill" from the heater so that condensed water can run back to the drain at the water heater) and route it through the side of your home at least 6' away from a door or window. I did this because my chimney was falling apart & it cost me about the same (doing the work myself) to replace my old heater with an HE unit (plus central A/C, which we never had) as it would to have the chimney rebuilt.
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May 28, 2024 15:16
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A tankless is also an option. We straight swapped our nat gas tank heater for a nat gas tankless. Capacity depends on the size of the gas supply and water pipes, and it's a lot more expensive up front, but can produce a long-term cost savings and of course you never run out of hot water.
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May 28, 2024 20:14
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FWIW, we have a 50gal HE natgas unit, and we've never encountered a situation where we run out of hot water. Tankless would need an annual maintenance check, tanked gas is pretty easy to maintain. I basically drain/flush mine annually in the spring, when I'm already spending an hour in the utility space changing filters, turning off the humidifier, cleaning our air exchange unit, etc. I set myself a calendar reminder every spring, and keep a list of everything I need to have onhand, what I need to do, and what needs to be checked.
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May 29, 2024 20:50
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Just a friendly reminder that with a tankless unit, the annual flush with descaler solution is MANDATORY. You're supposed to flush your hot water tank periodically, but very few people actually do, and those tanks last over 10 years without a noticeable drop in performance. Simply because of the volume of water involved, and the only thing you actually lose is few gallons of capacity. Unless it's a GE unit though Home Depot, in which case it's just going to rust itself to death by year 8, no matter what you do. But failing to properly flush the tankless unit, leaves you with permanent calcium deposits between the fins. And the drop in performance is going to sting, just like replacing the entire fully functional unit, because suddenly you can't run water through it.
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May 30, 2024 02:36
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Got a sewer gas question. A couple weeks ago, our master bath started to really stink. Two sinks, a shower/bath, and toilet. After poking around I figured the most likely problem was the toilet seal going bad (toilet had a bit of play, I couldn't find any evidence of leaky/dry traps or any other leaks in drains, and I checked on the roof to verify the vent was well protected, unlikely to be clogged, and it was looking okay from what I could see), so I put a new wax seal on it. Since then, I think the smell has gotten a lot less bad, but doesn't seem to have totally disappeared; comes and goes a bit. Are there any specific things I should be looking at that I didn't already consider to try to narrow down what's still funkifying the room?
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May 30, 2024 04:18
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Thanks for the water heater info, appreciate it. It seems like Painterofcrap is right on the money really. We are kinda into the idea of a tankless, but it seems like the locations present some pretty big challenges there pushing the costs up even higher. Most likley gonna do a 1 for 1 drop in replacement, and might just do it myself. Question, I have been told replacing the tank will require the installation of an expansion tank. We are on city water. House has been there since 72, current water heater installed in 2009 with tank and no issues. Do I actually need this?
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May 30, 2024 13:32
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An expansion tank costs $40 and is usually a good item to have.
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May 30, 2024 13:39
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Expansion tank is great to have. Before I installed one the TPR valve would occasionally release some water, but since installing one there have been no issues. It also helps with water hammer somewhat in my case.
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May 30, 2024 17:47
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They musta hired the architects who turned the entire Hindu Kush into an Al-Qaeda fortress. very late edit: WOW did this get posted in the wrong thread SORRY YALL Fender Anarchist fucked around with this message at 23:41 on May 30, 2024 |
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May 30, 2024 18:50
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My understanding is that a pressure is needed on city water if your water valve has a backflow preventer, so that when pressure increases on the cold water line between the heater and the valve increases, it has somewhere to go. If you don't have a backflow preventer valve, that pressure can push back into the main supply with no issues. I (aka my father in law) just swapped my water heater, and we put in an expansion tank just in case, even though I'm pretty sure the main valve doesn't have a backflow preventer in it. But maybe someday the city will change it, at which point I'll be glad I have the expansion tank.
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May 31, 2024 01:48
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Pulled out my water heaters anode today for the first time in the 5 years since it's been installed, but it's a 12 year warrantied heater. We have very hard water and I thought it would be toast, or close to it, so I had a corro-protec ready to replace it. Looks like I won't be needing it anytime soon though. 
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Jun 3, 2024 03:38
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That galv elbow ---> copper nipple will fail before that anode does. Get some bi-metal tape on it, stat
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Jun 3, 2024 04:19
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PainterofCrap posted:That galv elbow ---> copper nipple will fail before that anode does. Get some bi-metal tape on it, stat Not to worry, that's a brass elbow in poor lighting.
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Jun 3, 2024 04:56
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How simple is it to put a new flapper on a toilet if the new one is a different shape from the old one? Our half-bath has what I assume is an outdated flapper design in the tank- It's a little tough to tell, but that red sealant along the bottom of that central cylinder fell off earlier today so now the tank just runs because it can't get filled up. Could just silicone it back on but if replacing the whole mechanism is something a plumbing novice could do on their own then I kind of just want to switch it out for something newer. It looks like there a base that the cylinder rests on that would also need to be replaced, and I re-did the flush valve on our full bath toilet last year and that was fine so I might as well drain the tank and do them both... E: for reference, this is the upstairs toilet with what I assume is a more standard flapper design. Feel like I have seen this on the shelf at Home Depot and the like so I assume that a layperson can install them- 
C-Euro fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Jun 4, 2024 |
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Jun 4, 2024 17:33
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That Kohler ring gasket costs $5 and is available at every hardware store or big box retail including Walmart. Why do you feel the need to try to reassemble the old one?
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Jun 4, 2024 18:34
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Have been toying with the idea of replacing the entire flapper because the flush mechanism sometimes catches in a continuous drain cycle and it annoys me a bit. However if a new seal is $5 and a minute or two of work, I'm already super busy this week and could be talked into just doing that. Maybe if valves are on sale or something I will treat myself to one of those while I'm messing around in the tank.
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Jun 4, 2024 19:29
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C-Euro posted:Have been toying with the idea of replacing the entire flapper because the flush mechanism sometimes catches in a continuous drain cycle and it annoys me a bit. However if a new seal is $5 and a minute or two of work, I'm already super busy this week and could be talked into just doing that. Maybe if valves are on sale or something I will treat myself to one of those while I'm messing around in the tank. I could not for the life of me figure out how to replace my Kohler unit with one of the Korky units. I am not really sure if it's possible to be honest. It's a much bigger opening than most other manufacturers use from what I can tell. It ended up being the lever causing issues in my case anyway. Like the other goons suggested, I'd recommend trying to replace the seal first. Here's a how to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KL1nW4Uk8
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Jun 4, 2024 21:02
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Oh I didn't realize this was still current tech, I assumed all toilet manufacturer just used the same flapper. That's good to know, nevermind on replacing the whole thing then. Thanks!
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Jun 4, 2024 22:11
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C-Euro posted:Oh I didn't realize this was still current tech, I assumed all toilet manufacturer just used the same flapper. That's good to know, nevermind on replacing the whole thing then. Thanks! 99% of old tech toilets do. The modern dual flush ones are proprietary. We will see in the future whose dual flush system is superior after patents expire.
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Jun 4, 2024 22:14
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