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

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Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

FogHelmut posted:

Any thoughts on these "better than wax ring" things vs wax rings?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fluidmaster-Better-Than-Wax-Universal-Toilet-Seal-7530P24/205762183

Those are great, but it, use it, gently caress wax forever. It's reusable too, so if you need to pull that toilet some time in the future, no need to buy more.

Personally, I get loads of mileage out of reusable toilet seals, because on some jobs I remove and reset the same toilet on nearly daily basis. Sucks doing a full remodel of the house' only bathroom.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2016 22:53

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 21:00

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

oldpainless posted:

Shoot them

Who?

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 16:54

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

wormil posted:

That Pex adapter leaked like crazy. Two of us together can't tighten it enough to stop the leak.

What were you trying to mate it to? I use PEX extensively and have never had a problem.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2016 02:04

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

kelvron posted:

That looks a lot better. Never heard of Danby, so I avoided them initially. Sweet home looks pretty reputable too.

Still looking for an answer to my other question about portable dishwashers and sink sprayers. Is it something thats fixable? Or will I have to lose my sprayer to get the portable dishwasher?

Get a new faucet, save old faucet to reinstall for when you move out. You can get a faucet with wand sprayer and rigid spicket all in one, like this one http://www.homedepot.com/p/MOEN-Banbury-2-Handle-Mid-Arc-Standard-Kitchen-Faucet-with-Side-Sprayer-in-Chrome-CA87553/202060906

If you're a renter, clear all this with your landlord first.

chef posted:

We bought a 115 year old house a year ago. Plumbing has been updated at some point- copper and plastic everywhere I can see. Drains were running a bit slow when we looked at it but they cleared them up for the inspection somehow.

The sink drains are getting slow again. My wife sheds hair like crazy and the tub upstairs has needed a little Drano and zip-it treatment. Downstairs bathroom needs plunging more often that normal (like 1x a month) and today I had to snake it to open it up. I noticed some sewage came up into the sink drain in the same bathroom when I used the zip-it in there right after snaking the toilet clog.

We're back to normal, but I'm wondering if there is any preventative maintenance I can be doing to keep the sinks flowing fast. Seems like I have gummed up pipes in general and will have slow drains again soon, but what do I know. There's lots of chemicals that promise to take all the gunk off your pipes- are any really worth using? Or do I need to call a pro?

Don't call a master plumber for this, but find a plumbing contractor with flat drain cleaning fee, usually $80-120 in my city. They can snake your entire house drain starting with the highest toilet.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Jun 13, 2016

# ¿ Jun 13, 2016 13:23

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I second that PEX is great. One rehab job had all it's copper replaced with pex, as sloppy as possible. Many pipes in exterior walls, in uninsulated crawl space, kinked to hell and back, you name it. pipes routinely froze, but never burst or leaked, since 2007. So the moral of this, is PEX allows drunk incompetent people create functional plumbing.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2016 19:04

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

PainterofCrap posted:

Not in my neighborhood (Gloucester County, NJ)...when I replaced my breaker panel, which was grounded to my 3/4" copper water main, code inspector said I had to have two grounding rods, 8'-long, buried at least 6'-apart, and with lines run to the panel in parallel, not series.

I told him I thought that this was major overkill, since the soil is sandy & damp. Not to mention, the existing ground.

Wouldn't sign me off until I did it.

Your gas/water main supply should double as a grounding point. Unless it's a new construction or something.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 04:11

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Alpine Mustache posted:

I have a toilet that is constantly (though very gradually) losing water from the tank to the bowl causing it to trigger the tank to refill several times per hour.

I already tried cleaning a little bit of gunk/sediment off of the flapper in case that was causing the flair to not close all the way, but it made no difference.

What are the chances that it is the flapper vs. Tank to bowl gasket vs the fill tube thingy that the flapper is attached to? Is it worth it to troubleshoot each part or better to just replace everything?

Just replace the flapper, it's $1.50

# ¿ Oct 3, 2016 03:50

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Sounds like you need your subfloor repaired and reinforced, then fix the iron pipe, likely replace entire section with PVC. There are many repair options for a broken flange, but no longer useful to you, if the connection further down the line is now broken. Call a licensed contractor.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2016 13:53

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I'm trying to imagine what's going on in that room of yours that can't be cooled by window/portable plugin unit.

If you're looking for more serious climate control option, I'd recommend a mini split. What you have there is like couple of steps above.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2016 18:26

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Koryk posted:

I'm renovating my bathroom and had new tile put in. I removed the old toilet flange, which was broken and am planning to install the new flange on top of the finished tile and put the toilet back on tonight.

The problem is, the flange is 3/8" thick and I have less than 1/2" in the recessed part of the toilet. Resting the seal and the flange on the bottom of the upside-down toilet results in this:

The toilet will float a 1/2" off of the floor. I know the seal will compress some, but its not going to be less than 1/8". It's 1/2" as it is.

Ideas?

Why not tile around the new flange instead?

# ¿ Apr 10, 2018 04:22

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Macerator pump will have like a 2" dump tube. Just splice a wye into a piece of straight pvc. Don't mess with the cleanout.

Bad Munki posted:

Maserati toilet

Wroom

Unrelated question. I'm shopping for a tankless water heater, and loving things are expensive. Does anyone know where a good deal could be found?

# ¿ Apr 29, 2018 02:01

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I think tankless appeal more to people who don't use hot water often.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2018 00:09

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

devicenull posted:

If you're going to do it, I'd just replace the entire toilet. It's only a couple more steps, and modern toilets are way better then builder grade 1996 toilets..

$9 and 20 min of work versus $100 and half a day of labor... Great advise for someone who just admitted to know noting about plumbing.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2018 07:21

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

stupid puma posted:

It’s finished but I think I’ve got 3 stacks that extend into the basement. I would think if there was a side drain clog the washing machine would be draining into the same side drain and would have affected the amount of water I was seeing in the floor drain but I didn’t see any change at all in the level last night. I mean I’ve been renovating our house and cleaning all manner of mortar and joint compound off my tools in the shop sink in that laundry room for the past couple of years so there could DEFINITELY be a clog but so far it’s just this one weird drain that is acting weirdly.

This is what I’m starting to think more and more. I have no idea why they wouldn’t have just tied the floor drain to the main line but it was the 50s, so who knows.

As soon as you mentioned 50's, I immediately realized that your rain and sewage water are likely connected. I'm 99% sure you have a clog between floor drain and street. Call drain cleaning service, it's about $100.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2019 16:21

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Don't mess with brand new installation. Let the original contractor handler it

# ¿ Apr 4, 2019 13:38

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I suggest you don't gently caress with ancient high pressure NYC plumbing. A minor mistake can turn into a very expensive problem in a blink of an eye. And the property management will charge you for it, and not at handyman rate.

Document all your inquiries, look up Tennant rights. You most likely can withhold rent until the issues are resolved. But you have to do it in a very specific manner, likely vie escrow account. That usually gets repair team out to you in a jiffy.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2019 23:13

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Guy Axlerod posted:

Can't your super do work without you home?

The answer is yes, absolutely. I've worked with tenants who, while living in squalor and having nothing to their name, were incredibly concerned about maintenance coming over to do the most basic work, like changing an air filter. They would take a day off from work just be there for this monumental event. I'll never understand

# ¿ Apr 11, 2019 15:40

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Wait until you cleaning the gap between the undermount sink and counter top. That silicone always works itself loose

# ¿ Apr 22, 2019 15:13

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I'm sure developers are celebrating hard

# ¿ May 28, 2019 13:13

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Google showerhead shut off valve, they're like $7

# ¿ Aug 28, 2019 23:38

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I mostly use teflon paste nowadays.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2019 01:02

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

At least when you screw up at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, you know the plumbing supply opens in 10 hours. When you do it on Saturday afternoon, you got 2 days of no water to look forward to.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2019 13:05

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Do you have access to most of the pipes in the house? Open basement ceiling, etc? If it was only one faucet, I would have suspected the faucet itself growing bacteria, but if it's more than one, I'd look downstream, like a laundry sink fixture or something. See what else smells in the morning. It's a very rare problem.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2019 14:48

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

You can unscrew the 1/4" plastic line and nut and replace it with blind cap. Available at any box store or plumbing supply. Make sure you get a rubber gasket to go with it and use teflon tape/paste on the threads. Less than $10 in supplies total.

Then you can reconnect the water line when you have a different fridge if desired.

Use the water heater shut off to stop the water. Cut the plastic hose over a bucket and let all residual water drain out. There will be loads of water, use a large bucket.

Good luck

# ¿ Oct 12, 2019 19:33

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

PremiumSupport posted:

This comes from IT, but I think it applies here: If it's currently working, don't gently caress with it.

It may not be right, but it's working.

I second that emotion

Unless you're ready to replace everything properly, don't mess with it yet.

# ¿ Oct 17, 2019 18:36

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

It looks like a trailer hitch with a pair of rubber testicles underneath.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2019 14:35

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

The first time I tried to relight one of those water heaters, I had the same problem. Turned out, I was looking through the sight glass at the wrong angle. When you hear the click sound, do you also see the spark? If not, you may be having the same issue I did.

Now, if the spark is clearly visible, and nothing lights up, you may have some residual air in the gas line. Hold the button for several second at a time, before hitting the ignitor.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2019 16:02

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I just googled reverse osmosis water, because I honestly don't know much about the subject. Looks like it removes minerals from water, raises acidity, but also acts as a lovely and slow filtration mechanism? This was in regards to whole house system, when compared (unfavorably) to your average filtration

Is there an overwhelming benefit than I'm not seeing?

# ¿ Nov 15, 2019 19:09

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

jackpot posted:

Faucet came loose, but somehow I’m having a hard time finding this exact problem when I search for it. Does it have a name? I can’t really maneuver myself to see underneath, to see what exactly happened here.

https://youtu.be/ZHabDPI-EZM

Tighten the nut/bolt/whatever was holding it down?

# ¿ Nov 26, 2019 15:22

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

fatman posted:

Just a heads up dude those caps arent for copper they will at some stage leak, you want the black ring ones.

What are you talking about? The sharkbite fittings are perfectly serviceable for copper

https://www.sharkbite.com/resources/faqs/universal-brass-push-fittings-faqs

I quote:

SharkBite fittings are certified for use with:

Copper pipe hard drawn Type K, L and M and annealed Type M not to exceed 3/8 nominal, complying with ASTM B88

PEX pipe complying with ASTM F876 or CSA B137.5

CPVC pipe complying with ASTM D2846 or CSA B137.6

PE-RT pipe complying with ASTM F2769

HDPE pipe complying with ASTM D2737 (SDR-9)

# ¿ Dec 27, 2019 07:30

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Whoever re-grouted your shower, just scraped the surface and then skim coated everything with similar color. It's basically the only thing you can do with this kind of setup, otherwise it's almost cheaper to rip it out and retile the entire area. If you want to redo this better, I can give you step-by-step instructions that you can follow, but it will take up 2 days of your time easy

It involves digging out 1/8" of surface grout and then using epoxy.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2020 18:17

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

If you're not very handy or don't want to experiment with soldering, you can use this:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/SharkBite-...ctor/1000179023

This takes care of many issues like lining up existing tank and worrying about soldering a dozen individual connectors. Code compliant in my area. You can buy them at 1/2" or 3/4" output size.

Shark bites are fine as long and you don't bury them inside a wall

# ¿ Jan 20, 2020 08:11

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I just used a similar item to repair a pinhole leak in an apartment complex, no way to shut off water to the building until tomorrow morning. Those repair clamps work remarkably well on the clean flat surface.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2020 03:21

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

You can turn that vent between first and second floor to come up inside your new 2f framing, but the hvac vent is in the way. You can make that turn sooner, in the first floor bathroom ceiling, and whatever's on the other side of the wall is going to have a soffit. Once the pipe is up in the attic, turn it again to match the existing roof opening. Keep your turns on 45's, not 90s.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2020 21:59

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

It's a relief valve, and in my neck of the woods, they basically drain into a vertical pipe that ends 6" off the floor. Are you in a condo or something? Does the bottom of the water heater has a pan that connects to a hard drain pipe? Because that's where the water is likely to come from.

You can cut and join it back together if your heater is the same size.

Or use this premade one
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-NPT-x-60-in-Polypropylene-Center-Top-Mount-Drain-Tube-for-Tank-Type-Water-Heaters-EB11956B/204834466

# ¿ Feb 25, 2020 04:39

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Hahaha, that is some stupid poo poo. That pan supposed to have a hole, and from that hole a PVC pipe should be going to a drain in the wall, much like the one in the picture you posted. The relief valve should be positioned to drain into the pan. When the water heater starts leaking, that water runs down, and the pan is there to catch it.

If a drain connection is not an option for some reason, you still use a pan with the moisture sensing alarm inside.

Make sure you hire a licensed plumber, not some guy with tools. Their liability insurance is really important when you live in the condo building.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2020 04:51

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Gin_Rummy posted:

Self-quoting for context...

I spoke to my contractor and he says the best option is to level out the drain with one more pour. Is it ok to just pour as-is, or do I need to etch/score the existing material at all? He says if his crew does it, they won�t do any prep work at all, which concerns me... would you not want the next layer to adhere/mix, rather than just sit on top?

That depends on the product they are using. Shower bases are made with portland mix, which is usually for 2" or thicker. For thinner surfaces, you will need something different. The adhesion should be okay, since your current wetbet is fresh enough and rather porous.

Booley posted:

Either way, it sounds like I should hire a plumber to make sure it's up to code. If it was a normal setup without that weird pipe I'd be perfectly happy to replace it myself, but if that's confusing people in here then I don't want to try to puzzle it out.

You need to hire a plumber because you live in a condo and I bet you dollars to donuts, you signed a contract that stipulates that. It's mandated by every condo insurance I've ever seen. Check with your association. Bad water heater install has potential for tens of thousands in immediate water damages. God help you if your installer isn't properly insured to handle that.

Nitrox fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Feb 26, 2020

# ¿ Feb 26, 2020 04:17

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

Gin_Rummy posted:

Does your opinion here change if I say the pan was poured and shaped in like November/December?

It all depends on what product is being used to add material to the existing pan. Read minimum requirements for thickness and adhesion and you should be fine

# ¿ Feb 27, 2020 04:22

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

You can reuse that compression nut and replace all subsequent brass with a standard issue 1.5" s trap kit. Replace the tailpiece and washer that connects to the strainer while you there. May be a good time to upgrade to an actual garbage disposal whole you're at it.

# ¿ Feb 29, 2020 03:55

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 21:00

Nitrox: Jul 5, 2002

I know you can put an air admittance valve under the cabinet in compression plastic, I just can't search right now. Somebody sells a kit, I've seen it.

# ¿ Feb 29, 2020 16:23

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

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