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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Do you have access to the hosebib in your crawlspace or wall. Beucase they arent to hard to replace if you can get to the threaded part of them. Yeah, I can get to them. I assumed they would be soldered though. Are there any connection options besides solder? Can I just cut off the old connection and use pex or something to connect the new one or is this more trouble than it's worth to avoid learning to sweat pipe? edit: the one leaking continuously stopped immediately when I tightened the nut so I guess that was the problem... crisis averted. The other sillcock is a frost free jobby and is apparently leaking back by the valve when you turn the water on, but is not leaking when you turn the handle off. There is no nut on the outside to turn. I'll have to crawl under the house and figure out what the problem is. wormil fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jul 23, 2009 |
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Jul 23, 2009 17:00
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wormil posted:Yeah, I can get to them. I assumed they would be soldered though. Are there any connection options besides solder? Can I just cut off the old connection and use pex or something to connect the new one or is this more trouble than it's worth to avoid learning to sweat pipe? Some pictures would give me an idea what you're looking at.
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Jul 23, 2009 19:51
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Most the time the hose bib is screwed into a female adapter. You can grab the female adapter with a crescent wrench and have someone outside unscrew the whole hose bib it self. That is good news. The house is 50 years old and most of the maintenance has been done by people who didn't really know what they were doing nor bothered to find out which usually makes big jobs out of small jobs. I'll get under there soon and take pics. I still have to finish weatherproofing the outdoor water heater closet. (our under the counter water heater went bad and a plumber installed the new one outside, we'll have to tear out the cabinets to get the old heater out, which were built around the water heater)
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Jul 23, 2009 21:56
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wormil posted:That is good news. The house is 50 years old and most of the maintenance has been done by people who didn't really know what they were doing nor bothered to find out which usually makes big jobs out of small jobs. I'll get under there soon and take pics. I still have to finish weatherproofing the outdoor water heater closet. (our under the counter water heater went bad and a plumber installed the new one outside, we'll have to tear out the cabinets to get the old heater out, which were built around the water heater)  Click here for the full 2048x1536 image. Here is the inside of the hose bib at my house. Luckily its an unfinished basement so its all exposed. See the white strip on it. Thats the Teflon tape on the male adapter. Most hose bibs are screwed into male or female adapters. *Use teflon tape and pipe sealent ( Pipe Dope) to install a new hose bib. Turd Herder fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Jul 23, 2009 |
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Jul 23, 2009 22:25
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I have no clue about plumbing, but have been thinking about this for a little while. If you wanted to have two shower heads with independent hot and cold knobs in the same stall, where would you have the second water line come from? I'm assuming if you tapped it from the primary shower head, the water pressure would be too weak for use?
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Jul 24, 2009 00:59
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BulimicGoat posted:I have no clue about plumbing, but have been thinking about this for a little while. If you wanted to have two shower heads with independent hot and cold knobs in the same stall, where would you have the second water line come from? I'm assuming if you tapped it from the primary shower head, the water pressure would be too weak for use? It all depends on the size of pipes running to your shower. Most likely its 1/2 inch pipe and i wouldn't suggest cutting into it to get another shower head. I would really suggest cutting into a two 3;4 lines at least for your hot and cold tie in.
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Jul 24, 2009 04:50
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Ya that sounds really cheap. Is he license and bonded? Oh, and he gave us an estimate of $5600 to replumb our house with PEX, and move the bathroom toilet across the and install piping for a shower that my wife and I will install. I'm guessing he'd be making a solid $4-500 an hour if we agreed to that (which we didn't, what we wanted doesn't look particularly difficult and I'll probably be tackling it myself). edit: the plumbing to the 2nd floor bathroom is a straight shot up from the basement, can I run PEX pipe through the wall without anchoring it, or am I going to have to open up walls so I can anchor it?
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Jul 27, 2009 04:14
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Is there any alternative to heat tape for freeze-proofing the well hookups underneath a manufactured home? My brother recently had his well replaced, and the plumber said he did something so he didn't need the tape, but of course my brother doesn't remember what he said he did. Google doesn't bring up any suggestions, and the only thing I can think of is the split foam insulation tubes, but I can't imagine that would keep enough heat in to prevent the pipes from freezing this winter. I would just crawl under and look for myself, but his place is a few hours away and i'm not heading that way for at least the next month.
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Jul 27, 2009 05:02
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dyne posted:Yeah he is, and it's actually $150 minus a $50 'gift certificate' our real estate agent gave us. When he came by to do the estimate he said he does it all the time. I cant say how much he's making an hour because i would have to see your house to get an idea on how much of a pain in the rear end it would be. Ask him if that bid covers all fixtures? PEX should be anchored every 32 inches vertical or horizontal (which ever way it runs). If not water hammer can make the pipes slap around and make noise.
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Jul 27, 2009 05:04
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Mthrboard posted:Is there any alternative to heat tape for freeze-proofing the well hookups underneath a manufactured home? My brother recently had his well replaced, and the plumber said he did something so he didn't need the tape, but of course my brother doesn't remember what he said he did. Google doesn't bring up any suggestions, and the only thing I can think of is the split foam insulation tubes, but I can't imagine that would keep enough heat in to prevent the pipes from freezing this winter. I would just crawl under and look for myself, but his place is a few hours away and i'm not heading that way for at least the next month. I imagine he used a form of pipe insulation. Or he's a retarded plumber and just used pex and said it wouldn't free and split. Which it will freeze and split. Its really hard to say what the plumber did since there are multiple options.
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Jul 27, 2009 05:08
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:I imagine he used a form of pipe insulation. Or he's a retarded plumber and just used pex and said it wouldn't free and split. Which it will freeze and split. That's what I don't get though, insulation just resists heat flow. If no one is around using water, the water in the pipes is eventually going to cool off enough that it freezes. Unless there's some sort of recirculating pump that constantly keeps the water moving, but that seems like more of a pain than the heat tape. I just don't get it.
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Jul 27, 2009 13:14
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Mthrboard posted:That's what I don't get though, insulation just resists heat flow. If no one is around using water, the water in the pipes is eventually going to cool off enough that it freezes. Unless there's some sort of recirculating pump that constantly keeps the water moving, but that seems like more of a pain than the heat tape. I just don't get it. Well have your brother take some pics down there. I am very curious to what the plumber did.
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Jul 27, 2009 15:17
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Well I found the solution to my dehumidifier issue, so that's good. Next item, which is actually plumbing-related. We have a well, and water pressure sucks on our kitchen faucet. I haven't investigated into the problem at all, but maybe part of the problem was the kitchen was an addition to the home and not part of the original plumbing. Could it just be the supply lines feeding the kitchen are inadequate or it just wasn't planned out very well? The faucet itself is fairly hard to operate as well, as if the water 'lever' was way too tight. Also, I can have the faucet running "full trickle" and use the sprayer and it doesn't cut off the water flow to the faucet, or seemingly effect the pressure at all. Is this odd as well? Pressure otherwise seems to be decent. The sink in our half bath is quite good, and the sink in the main bathroom is pretty good as well. The shower is ok but not great, but we got one of those big shower heads since before we were being sandblasted with the tiny jets on the other shower head. Are there things I can do or check without calling in reinforcements of the paid variety?
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Jul 28, 2009 21:02
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dreesemonkey posted:Well I found the solution to my dehumidifier issue, so that's good. Ya there is tons of stuff you can do yourself. What type of water piping is used in your house? You're kitchen sink is odd that the sprayer doesn't turn block the water from the faucet. I am curious what type of faucet it is. Since you're on a well you could be sucking up some sand and it has finally started plugging angle stops. You can flush out angle stops with usually a lot of ease depending on the brand of angle stop. Have you ever pulled the aerator on any of the sinks to see if any particles are clogging them? You can get a simple pressure gauge that will fit on a hose bib and you can see what type of water pressure you have.
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Jul 28, 2009 21:28
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Hello plumbing wizzards out there. We are having a recurring problem with a clogged trap in the bathroom sink. I've found these alternative no-clog traps that promise to solve the problem. But I'm still sceptical. Anyone experience with one of those? Do they work or do they stink?
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Jul 28, 2009 22:05
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Audio Rules posted:Hello plumbing wizzards out there. We are having a recurring problem with a clogged trap in the bathroom sink. I've found these alternative no-clog traps that promise to solve the problem. Yes, we used them in our 2 new store locations for one whole month before removing the strainers because the strainers needed to be removed and cleaned once a week. That name is really a misnomer, they aren't "no clog" traps, they're "easy to remove clog" traps. There's two problems with that design: 1. the strainers catch more hair and poo poo, actually clogging faster than a wide open drain, and 2. a grate serves the same purpose, and is easier to access and clean. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jul 28, 2009 |
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Jul 28, 2009 22:13
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Audio Rules posted:Hello plumbing wizzards out there. We are having a recurring problem with a clogged trap in the bathroom sink. I've found these alternative no-clog traps that promise to solve the problem. Hmmm... Of course, I don't really need to ever stop up the sink, maybe I aught to just remove it completely.
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Jul 28, 2009 23:13
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grover posted:Hmmm... Of course, I don't really need to ever stop up the sink, maybe I aught to just remove it completely. It's also there to prevent big stuff like rings and jewelry from getting dropped down the drain accidentally. I'd say leave it in.
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Jul 29, 2009 00:08
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grover posted:The problem in my bathroom sink has never been the trap, but the plunger/stopper. I have to take it out every 6 months or so and clean it, because it just gets so gnarled in hair and toothpaste and whatever other poo poo's there (not sure what else it could be besides toothpaste, mouthwash or water, not much else goes in that sink.) 6 months isnt bad. I would suggest stop washing hair down the drain, and honestly how much tooth paste do you brush with that makes it so think it clogs poo poo.
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Jul 29, 2009 02:52
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:6 months isnt bad. I would suggest stop washing hair down the drain, and honestly how much tooth paste do you brush with that makes it so think it clogs poo poo. 
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Jul 29, 2009 02:59
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grover posted:Not a whole lot. Nor do I wash hair down the sink, I honestly don't even know how the hair gets in there, it's not like I shed much, there's never any hair on my comb, but it obviously does get there somehow, because I pull it out when I clean it. I can only imagine tiny bits twice a day add up over time. I imagine they sell hair strainers for sink drains. You could always use one of those.
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Jul 29, 2009 03:57
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:Ya there is tons of stuff you can do yourself. What type of water piping is used in your house? Thanks for the reply. I'll look into this and get back to you. Under the sink I believe it's copper pipe. I can take pictures, for the faucet as well. The faucet originally didn't have an aerator on it, so we bought one of the swivel ones. Either way the water pressure has been fairly constant. I'm willing to bet your theory about the angle stops. When the realtor shocked our well (house was vacant for a few months and water came back with coloform bacteria present) it took him forever to get the bleach/chlorine out of the well and eventually ran it "dry". So you're probably right that there is some mud/gunk in the lines. How does one going about doing this? Another problem is that since the kitchen was an addition it's crawlspace only under that, and man do I NOT want to crawl under there 
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Jul 29, 2009 18:03
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dreesemonkey posted:
When we flush out angle stops at work we remove them. You can adapt it to copper with some brass fittings or you can just get some rubber hose and hose clamp onto the pipe. Have another person turn the Cold water on. Put the other end of the hose in a 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket up once or twice and it should be fine. Do not remove both angle stops and try this unless you have hoses for both. Because hot water will shoot out of the hot side even if you have the water heater inlet closed. (sometimes old cartridges in older fixtures can let water by to the side that has no pressure)
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Jul 30, 2009 01:25
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Alright, I have a kind of odd and frustrating issue right now. I live in an apartment on the 11th floor. One day, I woke up, and there was no running cold water in the bathroom. Hot water works just fine in the sink and the shower, but setting the faucet to cold just results in, well, nothing. The cold water in the sink in the kitchen works just fine though. I don't imagine they would be on separate loops or something. Obviously, this is incredibly inconvenient and weird. There's a small chance this has to do with the air conditioner replacements they've done throughout the building, but I say that only because they both involve water and this water issue happened around the time I imagine they were recharging the air conditioning system. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, in case it's something really stupid. If it's not, I'll get the apartment company's maintenance out here.
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Jul 30, 2009 19:37
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Check your cold water shutoff under the sink, maybe you hit it while doing something there. Could also be your faucet - is it one with separate handles for hot and cold or a single one that you move side to side?
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Jul 30, 2009 20:39
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jackyl posted:Check your cold water shutoff under the sink, maybe you hit it while doing something there. Could also be your faucet - is it one with separate handles for hot and cold or a single one that you move side to side? I haven't touched anything under the sink since I moved in. Also, this is the sink, toilet, and shower that all don't have cold water. Yet the kitchen is fine. The faucet is one that you turn side to side for hot and cold. Again, it's pretty odd. I called the landlord two hours ago and just got a "Huuuuh that's really weird" response back. Nobody has even come around to look at it. You'd think they'd be a bit more concerned about not even having running water but this place also shut off the air conditioning for three weeks in the middle of the summer soooo.... I'm a bit frustrated in case you can't tell 
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Jul 30, 2009 21:44
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Oh, I missed that the toilet and shower were out too... Do you hear anything when you open the valves for cold water?
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Jul 30, 2009 22:19
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jackyl posted:Oh, I missed that the toilet and shower were out too... Do you hear anything when you open the valves for cold water? At one point there was a hissing/whooshing sound but it quickly stopped. I'm guessing that's not good.
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Jul 30, 2009 22:53
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ryanmfw posted:At one point there was a hissing/whooshing sound but it quickly stopped. I'm guessing that's not good. They obviously shut off a valve some where on the cold water to make your water stop working. Have you tried turning the angle stops under the sink?
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Jul 30, 2009 23:48
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:They obviously shut off a valve some where on the cold water to make your water stop working. I just tried it now. Not sure I turned it the right way or anything. :P I turned it counterclockwise two turns with no change in anything. I do not believe anyone came into my apartment, so I imagine it would be an external valve. Yet I think if nobody was getting cold water there would be a bit more of an uproar or something and the people at the maintenance office would know about it. Arghhhhh
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Jul 30, 2009 23:58
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ryanmfw posted:I just tried it now. Not sure I turned it the right way or anything. :P You turned it the right way. Can i get a picture of the water piping behind the valve? IF its an older apartment that was run in galvanized then they could of turned the water off for some reason. Well once you do that all the rust that was on the walls of the pipe will now be set free from lack of pressure. Once the waters turned back on it will push all that rust everywhere. Which inadvertently clogs up water pipes.
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Jul 31, 2009 00:07
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I can't get a picture unfortunately, but the pipe isn't a copper color at least. Would there be any way I could determine if it's galvanized?
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Jul 31, 2009 00:35
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ryanmfw posted:I can't get a picture unfortunately, but the pipe isn't a copper color at least. Would there be any way I could determine if it's galvanized? tell me a rough measurement of the pipes outside diameter. 1/2 copper is 5/8ths of an inch. 3/4 galvy is 7/8 of an inch.
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Jul 31, 2009 01:22
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Rd Rash 1000cc posted:tell me a rough measurement of the pipes outside diameter. 1/2 copper is 5/8ths of an inch. 3/4 galvy is 7/8 of an inch. Well, I don't have a ruler or anything, so I got a twist-tie. The diameter to a pretty close approximation is similar to that of a dime, so ~0.705 inches if Wikipedia is correct.
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Jul 31, 2009 01:48
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With out a picture i cant be for certain.
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Jul 31, 2009 03:31
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Hooray, after a good deal of finagling I got my cellphone to actually send me the picture: Click here for the full 1280x1024 image. Edit: holy poo poo tables
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Jul 31, 2009 03:59
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Hey ryanmfw, your bathroom is on the edge of your entire apartment, right? Is the apartment on the other side of that wall vacant? I'm thinking that the plumber who built your place did a poo poo job and that your bathroom's cold water line might actually be attached to the neighboring apartment's piping. If nobody there pays the bill, the water company should come and shut off all their water...
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Jul 31, 2009 06:00
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kid sinister posted:Hey ryanmfw, your bathroom is on the edge of your entire apartment, right? Is the apartment on the other side of that wall vacant? You are right about its location. The thing is, everything is included, water, electric, even cable and air conditioning. There would be no reason to shut their water off. That's why it's such a fuckup that they've had the air conditioning shut off for two weeks now in the middle of the goddamn summer.
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Jul 31, 2009 07:10
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So, no cold water since Tuesday, and every time I tell someone they just go "Huuuh weird" or "Woah that's odd" and then they never look into it. What the hell. EDIT: quote:IF its an older apartment that was run in galvanized then they could of turned the water off for some reason. Well once you do that all the rust that was on the walls of the pipe will now be set free from lack of pressure. Once the waters turned back on it will push all that rust everywhere. Which inadvertently clogs up water pipes. I have a feeling this is the case. According to the maintenance guy, there's water at the bottom of the stack, but between my apartment and the bottom, it's stopped. It seems they're still trying to narrow down which floor that's on. How would they go about fixing this? I don't really think they know much about plumbing. ohgodwhat fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Jul 31, 2009 |
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Jul 31, 2009 18:18
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You could blow air back into the line at your apt. It may break up some of the rust. We've done it when a dip tube clogs a hot line.
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Jul 31, 2009 19:22
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