Plumbing: i will hide my sins with silicone sealant

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Plumbing: i will hide my sins with silicone sealant

«‹›7 »

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Looking for clues as to how to troubleshoot/solve this weird issue. Brand new 3 year old house, all pex plumbing. 3 stories and the water main and heater on the 1st floor. The shower on the 3rd floor has dropped water pressure significantly within a last 6 months. The faucet in that same bathroom is ok, but it's hard to tell because it's barely used. This is in center city Philadelphia, and our water pressure is already borderline terrible. What can we do to troubleshoot this? Can I replace the shower head with a high-intensity unit of sorts? Thanks in advance

Unrelated question, different house. If I were to replace a section of vertical iron drain pipe with a PVC, what are the best connectors to use? I'm weary about rubber couplings because there is a certain amount of weight resting on this. Am I allowed to go from 4" iron to 3" PVC by code(s), considering that it's just 1 bathroom? I'd appreciate any opinions or advise on the matter

# ¿ Feb 22, 2012 04:27

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:44

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

Take the shower head off and soak it in vinegar for an hour or so. It will eat the calcium right up.

If you remove all of the 4 inch in the bathroom and replumb it all 3 inch then hook up to the 4 inch its fine. But you can not hook up 4inch to 3 inch then back to 4 inch.

There is a lot of ways to support cast iron pipe. You could frame wood from a joist to the center of teh pipe then wrap the bottom half with plumbers tape.

The diverter and shower head were filled with all sorts of gunk, not even sure what it was. Also, the rubber washer left a tiny opening and I replaced it with a less restrictive one. The shower never worked that good before, holy poo poo!

Also, can I pour concrete over a rubber coupling joint? Common sense says no, but my dad says sure.

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 04:25

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I'm adding a toilet in the basement, so the coupling for the new connector needs to be buried in order to keep that toilet at reasonable height. Is 2" pipe good enough for a toilet drain?

The gunk looked like paste, some fine shavings and possibly wood dust. Maybe a bit of calcium, but I couldn't tell. I imagine it's been there since the house was built 3 years ago. Once we started using the shower, it accumulated in the shower head and diverter, eventually clogging it.

Thanks for the advise.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Feb 23, 2012

# ¿ Feb 23, 2012 05:16

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Madox posted:

Thanks guys - that did the trick, for sure. However when I was shutting off the hot water line, the valve wouldn't close all the way and I saw bits of a rubber ring coming out in the water. So I ended up having to call a plumber anyhow to replace it, because that thing is soldered on there. I have my limits :p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RiqhtvgrH8

All you have to buy is a pipe cutter (~$5) and one of these puppies. Should take you minutes to do everything.

# ¿ May 24, 2012 06:22

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Abisteen, you'll be so much better off just picking up a new faucet and a pair of braided lines. There are $25 faucets at your local big box hardware store. You'll need 2 wrenches and smallest container of plumber's putty. It's rather easy as long as you follow instructions.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2012 00:28

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Bank posted:

I will never understand why there are 1 1/8 and 1 1/4 holes. It's such a small difference but such a drat headache with granite.

When I used to make counter tops, we drilled 1 5/8" holes in everything for this exact reason, you can always change things around.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2012 02:27

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I just failed inspection because:

Heating and Plumbing 7.1 - Adequacy of heating equipment
Install extension relief valve hot water

Could someone tell me what that means? I'm guessing they want me to run an overflow pipe from the pressure relief valve on top of the water heater, but not 100% sure. I can't get a hold of the inspector to clarify. GE 40 gal electric with pressure valve on top, 2 shut offs, simple stuff. Any help is appreciated.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Oct 31, 2012

# ¿ Oct 31, 2012 05:56

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

Code in washington atleast with the UPC says either the t/p has to either be pointed at the floor but left 6 inches above if its near a floor drain. Or Plumbed outside or to a drain. Do you have a floor drain in the same room?

It's a concrete floor in unfinished basement. I'm 99.9% sure they just want it dumping onto the concrete.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2012 04:58

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

AppleCider posted:

Thanks for your responses. I went ahead and took photos of the cracks for reference, just in case:

Most newer tubs are built with a lip that keeps the water from running over. Wall tile supposed to overlap that lip for extra protection. There is (very likely) an access panel in adjacent room, you can open it and see for yourself. That said, even if you aren't in danger of flooding the downstairs, that empty space will fill up with soap scum and mold. The best solution is to scrape everything out between the tile and the tub, and caulk that joint. Use silicone that specifically says "tub and shower" on the label.

Edit: I also want to point out that you never fill the tub/tile joint with grout for this exact reason. Wall and tub will expand and contract at different rates, eventually breaking that joint. It needs to be caulked, always.

NickNails posted:

I have a 40 gallon natural gas water heater. If my wife and I shower back to back, or one of us takes a long shower (more than 10 minutes or so), the water starts to get cool, and then eventually cold. It's set pretty high, on the second highest setting. The hottest setting is too much in my opinion, will hurt really bad if just hot. I don't understand why this is happening. I would like to think that it should be able to keep up. It's only 3-4 years old and we have a newer shower head, so it should be fairly efficient.

What is the flow rating of your shower head? Being newer, means nothing.

You're obviously running out of hot water. The solution is to either use less water or get a bigger tank. You may also upgrade to a tankless unit that will heat water continuously for as long as you need it, but those are pricey.

But first look into a water-pinching shower head that has a much lower rating than your current one. Going from 2.5GPM to 1.5GPM saves you 40% of hot water. These are available at Home Depot for about $15

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Nov 11, 2012

# ¿ Nov 11, 2012 04:05

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

InternetJunky posted:

Thanks!

Do you have any opinions on this set-rite extender? It looks dead simple and that's pretty appealing to me.

Also, one follow up question -- I replaced the other toilet in my house as well and the flange was flat to the floor. From what I understand it should actually be about 1/2" above the floor. Is there a risk of a bad seal on this toilet as well or is 1/2" close enough?

A wax ring can fill joints up to 1.5" if I'm not mistaken. The kit you linked is very nice, but it not be necessary.

maniacripper posted:

So I took a shot at it, how'd I do?

Home Depot sold a kit with the torch, no-lead solder, flux and a brush, some sandpaper and a pipe cutter later I walked out the door 30 bucks poorer, but the water is on and no leaks.

Gonna check it every hour or so, but is there a time when I'll stop worrying?

You did a great job, especially if this is your first solder repair.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Nov 11, 2012

# ¿ Nov 11, 2012 04:20

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

Don't get a tankless water heater. They are junk.

Can you please elaborate? Worldwide, tankless gas/electric heaters are overwhelming majority. I've personally used many and can attest to their effectiveness.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2012 07:48

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

In washington and other colder climates they have issues of heating the water properly. When you have in coming water coming in at 35�F. And the heater has to raise it to 120F. It usually slows down the water to make sure it can heat it properly. You then get 2-4gpm which can run a shower and a lav roughly.

Also you have to have a water softener in front of it. To keep calcium from plugging up in the heat exchanger of the tankless heater.

Then the bags of salt for your water softener will add up. Depending on what you get you will use roughly 1-3 bags a month. Averagoing around $6 dollars a bag.

This is very informative, thank you.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2012 00:51

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Maneki Neko posted:

Not quite sure if this is appropriate for this thread or not, but I've got a couple of what appear to be 1 piece tubs/surrounds in my bathrooms. The previous owner installed some godawful piece of poo poo shower door systems that I'd like to get rid of, but it appears holes got drilled into the surrounds to actually install the door frames.

If I remove those, any thoughts on what should I use to fill those holes? I'm guessing this is some sort of vikrell type material, it doesn't feel particularly expensive. If it's easier to snap a picture, I can certainly do that.

You can just use silicone sealant to fill the holes. Get one that specifically says "tub/shower" on the tube. Use putty knife to remove the access and it will look like a rubber plug once everything dries.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2012 23:14

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

A new flapper is $1.99 and takes one minute to replace. Why not just change it anyway?

# ¿ Dec 16, 2012 19:18

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

And caulking around the back of the toilet in my opinion is a joke. Water takes the path of least resistance. So unless you completely seal the flange with a wax wring it will most likely leak through it first.

Is caulking the base a common practice? I usually never do unless there are shims involved and even then leave the back side open.

Not sure if anyone here can answer this one, but here goes. This is some sort of pressure regulator valve in the boiler supply line. As you can see it's leaking from where top and bottom parts of the casing come together. Can anyone tell me whether I need a new gasket or replace the whole thing? Thanks

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Feb 8, 2013

# ¿ Feb 8, 2013 06:04

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Nitrox posted:

Is caulking the base a common practice? I usually never do unless there are shims involved and even then leave the back side open.

Not sure if anyone here can answer this one, but here goes. This is some sort of pressure regulator valve in the boiler supply line. As you can see it's leaking from where top and bottom parts of the casing come together. Can anyone tell me whether I need a new gasket or replace the whole thing? Thanks

Thanks everyone who replied with helpful suggestions. Turned out that the leaking pressure release valve was completely redundant because there was one on the heater itself. So all I had to do is remove it, but leave the regulator part.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2013 19:46

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

I have a 1920's house, 2 bed 1 bath. I would like to add at least a toilet, but ideally a toilet and a sink. I have had two contractors take a look in the basement and they both gave me estimates of 10k to add a toilet and sink. I'm not looking for fancy, just a place to poop. I do not care about having a slightly raised floor under the toilet. The clearance in the basement is about 7&3/4ft.

The main stack is cast/lead pour. In the basement I cannot see where the sink drains so I assume it drains into the stack behind the walls above the basement (the sink drain is 90* into wall.) The line from the tub is PVC.

The gutters drain into cast pipes that then run form the front of the house to a cistern in the back yard (only use to water lawn so don't mind losing.) Into that same pipe (orange) the washer and wash basin drain (pvc)

So with my goals of a)not spending 10k and b) adding a toilet, does it look possible to do in the basement or (after I bring water up to the attic) place a toilet on that stack? I feel like my main limitation in the basement is venting.

And as a side question, are cast pipes worth enough in scrap to justify dismantling the cistern run and/or replacing the main stack with pvc? I would only do the main stack if I were adding a toilet into the mix somewhere. And would hire a plumber to tell me what to do.

See my drawing as to what contractors are looking to do. Gray rectangle is an area of concrete that they will have to dig out to attach new drain branch to existing stack. Your new bathroom floor would not be raised. If you just want a toilet in the basement without digging the concrete, the cheapest way would be to move that gray rectangle up above the floor, and build up a pedestal for a toilet to sit on. Here is a closest example I have. Or spend money on a drain system that runs off an electric pump. http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/SubCategory/Product/?p=36&s=0&c=21

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Feb 28, 2013

# ¿ Feb 28, 2013 16:03

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

So it is ok to tap into that stack and use it as a vent even though a toilet is above it?

You don't need a new vent for every toilet. Here is example of building above concrete http://i.imgur.com/FYsWIgF.jpg

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Feb 28, 2013

# ¿ Feb 28, 2013 16:17

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

So that is a great setup I would like to copy. In my house the floor vent is in between the cisterns drain and the main stack. Is there a way to test so I don't have poop hanging out in the floor drain?

Floor drain is not connected to your gray water (poop) plumbing, or at least it shouldn't be.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2013 16:51

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Where do you live?

# ¿ Mar 8, 2013 15:38

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Valiant Pudding posted:

Belgium, why?

(this is a house we're renting btw)

It's a bit unusual design, but my experience is limited to NA

# ¿ Mar 8, 2013 16:04

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Ender.uNF posted:

Just do it right, vent it outside. You also shouldn't join the vents or the exhaust from one fan will push back down the pipe and into the other bathroom.

You can put an inline flap door in one of the ducts and it'll be just fine.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2013 07:11

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Dragyn posted:

I've had this shower stall installed in my (only) bathroom for about 3 years now, and I've had no end of trouble with leaks in it. I think there's more caulking than wall in some spots. I've resigned that I'm going to have to rip it out and install something better, but all the ones I'm finding online have similar ratings.

I need something that is going to be relatively tenant-proof. Has anyone found another shower stall, similar to this one, that is worth the money?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100168319?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=shower+stall&storeId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=100168319#BVRRWidgetID

Those corner units are notoriously lovely. Don't put corner units into rental properties, it's a guaranteed failure.

Don't buy anything that requires assembly. Get 1-2 piece molded stall and nothing but. I built and maintain rental properties, and simple molded fiberglass enclosures are the ones that don't require any repeated maintenance or adjustments. Make sure it's leveled, secured to all 3 walls and sitting on a cement bed. Use portland mix for best results.

Example
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/100116159?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=fiberglass+shower+stall&storeId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=100116159

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Mar 17, 2013

# ¿ Mar 17, 2013 05:00

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Bolek posted:

I have somewhat of an issue with drainage in my bathroom. The issue is that when the faucet drains it takes about 10 seconds before water starts coming up from the shower drain. Since noticing the issue yesterday the toilet has been flushed several times and the faucet used to wash hands/brush teeth. I tried plunging the bathtub for a considerable amount of time and there is about half a galon of pitch black water that comes out. The water eventually settles at around half a liter and will not drain further. I can't really access the bathtub trap without cutting apart the linoleum tile.

Some secondary info: I live in the second floor of a two floor apartment building. The setup of the bathroom is as follows from the left as you enter: Toilet > Sink > Tub.

I have tried snaking the bathtub drain for a while but did not get more than a few feet in. As I'm not too experienced in this I'd like to ask for some advice before I continue. Thanks.

Have you tried one of these? It pulls all sort of accumulated crap from your trap.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/BrassCraft-Zip-It-Bath-and-Sink-Hair-Snare-BC00400/100665735?N=bqnc

# ¿ Mar 21, 2013 14:23

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Grifter posted:

I have an existing hookup. I'm now thinking of doing it through Sears as they only charge $150 for the service.

Make sure they take your old unit and all the trash.

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

Or sell your old units for 10 to 20bux scrap

...if you happened to own a truck, live near a scrap yard and think your time is worth $10/hour.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 19:56 on Jun 7, 2013

# ¿ Jun 7, 2013 18:49

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Why is there an unheated bedroom? Was there a radiator there at some point?

# ¿ Jun 19, 2013 20:55

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

BobbyDrake posted:

The water pressure in my house sucks. The plumbing is all PEX. I've made sure that the main water valve to the house is on all the way, so it's not that causing it. I've only had the house since June, so I don't know what the pressure was like before the PEX refit. Is there an easy and more importantly cheap way to increase the pressure?

Not unless there is an actual obstruction in a pipe that could be removed. And that is extremely rare. Measure the actual pressure and complain to local water utility.

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Cash-Acme-24438-SharkBite-Pressure-Gauge-with-3-4-Tee-Lead-Free

Edit: wait a minute, just noticed the word "refit". Was it done a by an actual plumber or some craigslist clown?

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Oct 15, 2014

# ¿ Oct 15, 2014 21:55

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Jadunk posted:

If you're gonna spend a couple hundred and it's your place I'd recommend going to a toto drake. I've installed maybe a thousand of the Toto Drake 1 (mostly the eco model) and have only had literally 2 complaints. Great toilet, should be able to get one out the door for around 300.

What makes it better to justify the price? Better than $90-250 toilets from the big box hardware store.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 06:44

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

beepsandboops posted:

I've had two people tell me our house's water pressure is ~10 PSI higher than it should be. Is this something that I can fix on my own and if not, around how much would it cost to have a pro do it?

There's a bit of pipe coming out horizontally from the wall that's capped off, but has started dripping water recently. I think The only thing that's hooked up to this pipe is the washing machine drain, which is physically below where the drip is happening. Any tips for troubleshooting/fixing?

How did they measure that water pressure? The solution is simply installing one of these at your main supply
http://www.grainger.com/category/wa.../ecatalog/N-rgz

# ¿ Dec 30, 2015 07:54

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Does anyone know if the Rheem water heaters at Home Depot are the same as the ones sold though plumbing supply? All I know is their GE heaters were loving horrendous. It's no secret, that in order to meet HD's low buy in price, manufacturers of reputable products has been known to cut some corners...

# ¿ Jan 5, 2016 01:27

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I for annoyed with a pop up drain accumulating hair and gunk and replaced it with a strainer-type. See picture.

With the pop up drain, water drained effortlessly. The new setup is giving me some weird bullshit. For the first 15 seconds, the water drains like it supposed to. Then it starts to back up. If I turn the water off, it'll drain a but, then stop. The water will stay in the sink until I force it to move, which can be accomplished just by stirring it. Then it drains out quickly. Note, that if I flick the faucet back on, the rush of water will stir the puddle and it will also drain at a normal pace. My morning routine is pretty much "water on, water off, water on, water off, done". It's ridiculously annoying.

Does anyone know why? All plumbing in the cabinet has been disassembled and cleaned out.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ¿ Feb 11, 2016 07:35

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Rd Rash 1000cc posted:

I hate those strainer drains. They always drain slow and never really work that well. Also when they get clogged you have to disassemble the p trap to clean them from below.
I'd put a pop up drain back in. Is the p trap 1 1/4 or 1 1/2?
.

It's 1 1/4. Is there better alternative that doesn't have moving parts, but will keep a toothbrush from falling in?

# ¿ Feb 12, 2016 03:14

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

PainterofCrap posted:

Yes.

I have exactly the same drain that I installed in an IKEA sink for exactly the same reason.

The problem is that these don't have any vent holes to break vacuum. You probably noticed when you took the old drain/tailpiece out that the waste/overflow drains into the area between the sink basin and the underside of the spud (the bulge under the sink basin) where you spin on the rubbber bushing & nut to tighten down the tee, and that your original pop-up tailpiece had holes in it to permit overflow water to drain into the tailpiece.

You will further notice that these strainer tees do not have these holes.

I mitigated this problem by taking a 1/2" drill bit & drilling a hole in the side of the tee about 1/4" below the drain.

If you can make it bigger, do so. Just make sure the hole is within the confines of the spud. Mine still occassionally backs up at first, but then realizes the error of its ways and drains itself out. Were I less lazy I'd pull the thing out & drill another hole in it.

Thank you, that really helped

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 07:24

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

So I've installed one of these silly things.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_40252-29279-873-3804___?Ntt=garner+0040252&UserSearch=garner+0040252&productId=4757819

As you can see, it has a pull tab on a spicket , which is how you send water to the shower head. The problem I'm having, is that water wants to come out of the shower head by default, once the pressure is high enough. Not much, just a small stream, but annoying nevertheless. I've bought another, swapped cartridge, and still it's leaking, albeit less. The installation is very simple and straight forward, no way to install mixing cartridge at anything other than 90 degrees. What's going on here?

# ¿ Mar 3, 2016 15:34

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

It is PEX. Is it because it has led inner diameter than copper? Still, sounds like something a faucet manufacturer has to consider

# ¿ Mar 3, 2016 23:11

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Vulcan posted:

Do whole house filters make sense?

The wife likes to filter the drinking water and the shower head, I like to filter the coffee maker.

I'd like to keep the small area under the kitchen sink free of 3 big filters, so its logical to install it in the basement... which brings up the point of, why not just get whole house filtration? What I don't like is the idea of filtering the water we use for everything else (water lawn, car wash, toilet flush).

Something tells me its cheaper to filter all that water than it is to have a plumber separate the lines that go to the kitchen + shower and put a filter on just those lines. What do you say?

Is it stupid to filter before 15-20 year old copper pipes and then run the clean water through those old pipes to the tap?

It's cheaper to install, yeah. But you're filtering a higher volume of water, so your filter replacement is more frequent. At some point, you'll be spending more on the whole house filtration.

I've installed a dual filter system in my dad's kitchen, he loves it. Not sure what brand it was, but he paid something like $200, it came with dual filters and a little faucet. Everything mounted in sink base cabinet and took very little space. They just use it for cooking, and the filters last a very long time. Drilling a new hole in granite top was the most complicated part of that install

# ¿ Mar 13, 2016 16:20

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

sirr0bin posted:

Yes I've heard it is because the pex fittings have a smaller diameter so more resistance and it forces the water up and out of the shower head. Copper is the way to go.

You could always install a ball valve before your shower head, then the next owners can post in the crappy construction thread!

You're joking, but it's a thing that people actually do.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Shower-Shut-Off-Valve-9D00089171/100167870

# ¿ Mar 16, 2016 03:31

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Nitrox posted:

So I've installed one of these silly things.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_40252-29279-873-3804___?Ntt=garner+0040252&UserSearch=garner+0040252&productId=4757819

As you can see, it has a pull tab on a spicket , which is how you send water to the shower head. The problem I'm having, is that water wants to come out of the shower head by default, once the pressure is high enough. Not much, just a small stream, but annoying nevertheless. I've bought another, swapped cartridge, and still it's leaking, albeit less. The installation is very simple and straight forward, no way to install mixing cartridge at anything other than 90 degrees. What's going on here?

Just want to update anyone who may be interested in a solution that does not involve ripping out tile. Lowering the water pressure going to the shower seem to have done the trick. Didn't use the pressure gauge, but the water pressure in the house is fairly high, above 50psi or so they said. I've spliced in couple of regulators and adjusted them evenly. With a low flow shower head, it's working wonders.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 13:00

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Zhentar posted:

That's bullshit. How much flow do you think a lavatory sink needs?

Not much, but if you remember from couple of weeks back, the sudden drop in pressure screwed up my shower installation. I had to "fix" it by restricting volume. Over-sizing water supply is a good thing.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2016 14:17

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:44

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Jadunk posted:

My reasoning is twofold. First, I'm a pro so I'm charging quite a lot of money to fix your problems and throwing a sharkbite on in 2 minutes doesn't look as good to the customer. Second, if I'm going to use an O ring on copper pipe why not just use my propress? Fitting cost is comparable and they are much less likely to fail. I have seen several sharkbites fail due to house settling, thermal expansion of the piping or improper installation leaving the fitting getting pressured sideways. They do not deal with pressure/shifting perpendicular to direction of flow nearly as well as they do pressure in line with the flow.

This is my experience with all types of push connections as well. They can and will hold up over time, under right conditions, but the risk % is higher than solder/crimp/adhesive. Don't burry sharkbites inside walls and such. Keep them easily accessible just in case.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2016 08:31

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Plumbing: i will hide my sins with silicone sealant

«‹›7 »