home plumbing (can include carpentry, wiring, etc.)

[3bob]

just installed a Shark Bite brand valve on a 1/2 inch copper line,  so far so good.

 

On another note I installed some brass gate valves years ago for my main shut-off to the house - that was a mistake and they will be replaced asap with high quality ball valves.  (they leaked water into my crawl space resulting in a mess)

 

it amazes me to see  plumbing that is unprotected from possible cold temps in areas that have border line freezing periods...where I live it sometimes hits 20 below and you better have some protection for your plumbing!

 

 

Edited June 28, 2018 by 3bob

[Lost in Translation]

Plumbing is the worst. I should have repiped the whole thing instead of just redoing my kitchen when I bought my house. 

[Marblehead]

1 hour ago, Lost in Translation said:

Plumbing is the worst. I should have repiped the whole thing instead of just redoing my kitchen when I bought my house. 

If your mastery of plumbing is anywhere close to mine we both should have hired someone to do it for us.

 

[Marblehead]

2 hours ago, 3bob said:

and you better have some protection for your plumbing!

Yeah, it's important for one to protect their plumbing.

 

[ralis]

3 hours ago, 3bob said:

just installed a Shark Bite brand valve on a 1/2 inch copper line,  so far so good.

 

On another note I installed some brass gate valves years ago for my main shut-off to the house - that was a mistake and they will be replaced asap with high quality ball valves.  (they leaked water into my crawl space resulting in a fair mess)

 

it amazes me to see  plumbing that is unprotected from possible cold temps in areas that have border line freezing periods...where I live it sometimes hits 20 below and you better have some protection for your plumbing!

 

 

 

 

I see you learned about gate valves which are notorious for leaking. Ball valves are the way to go, but buy good quality at a local plumbing supply and not Home Depot or Lowes.

 

The newest generation of Shark Bites are very reliable. If you need to remove it there is a special tool available.

Edited June 26, 2018 by ralis

[Nungali]

15 households and their gardens  over about 50 acres plus a community house barn amenities block,  orchids and festival site , one gravity feeding central water tank, one pump by the river   and ......

 

40 years of hippies laying ag pipe (as domestic supply line ) - with gate valves -   all over the place , where ever  ... !

 

Black underground spaghetti ! 

 

And you guys talk about water problems  !

 

(The most recent adventure was the old original farm metal pipe  from pump house  under the main  external sealed road to the residential side {and the only line there }   rusted out .   Drill under the road ?  Dig a trench and re tar  ?   (At the moment its a dodgy 'quick / emergency' patch up job - done 10 months ago ! )

[3bob]

On 6/26/2018 at 3:34 PM, ralis said:

 

 

I see you learned about gate valves which are notorious for leaking. Ball valves are the way to go, but buy good quality at a local plumbing supply and not Home Depot or Lowes.

 

The newest generation of Shark Bites are very reliable. If you need to remove it there is a special tool available.

 

Agreed about getting the higher quality ball valves which are not cheap up-front but are cheap insurance against leaks!  If one looks at the guts of a cheap ball valve you can see that ball casting inside has a route to leak  out at the top where the lever hooks up (and whatever else is cheaper about them like their thinner walls).  I think some of the big hardware stores sometimes have the better quality valves which are almost double the price of the cheaper ones. 

 

Btw, it is a nice feeling when one does a perfect job soldering on copper lines,  watching the solder melt, flow and seal up is fun after one has gets the hang of it... even if it is an older way of doing plumbing compared to all the newer stuff available.

Edited June 28, 2018 by 3bob

[3bob]

I don't have that much experience with all these paints that have primer added into them, I still like and trust (old school) of using latex primer. (for latex paint)

 

Btw, we had a nightmare experience of a contractor not using enough primer after finishing a mud job which resulted in poor adhesion of paint which we painstakingly removed after the contractor was gone.  (and who we didn't want back!)  Thankfully the area involved was rather small.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2018 by 3bob

[Lost in Translation]

Home repair is a chore, but if you ever move the equity is nice. 

[dawei]

We rent out one unit and they complained it was leaking underneath for a bathroom sink.   The good news is, we're one building over and I can look at my own sink plumbing and understand it a little bit before I go over.  We turn the water on and it immediately starts to backup in the sink itself and then starts to leak as they said...   I said, I need to take apart the plumbing likes to see why it is not draining as expected.    As you might guess, it was completely and thoroughly clogged with hair.   At least this was an easy fix to just clean out all of the line possible.

 

What's strange about this development is our unit and the second are the exact same layout and size yet the switches work different things when there are multiple ones together.   Weird.

 

Good news is, I had to replace our garbage disposal about 2 years ago and I sweated that out for quite some time due to rust.  When they told me theirs was leaking, I felt both confident in what to do but regretted facing a rust battle.  I asked them to at least get the kids out of the house so they did not hear my ranting and raving... the god news got better:  Theirs did not have any rust and it twisted free on the first, strong twist.

 

Now, my current issue is my wife broke a sensor on the garage door so I ordered new sensors.  I just have a bad feeling and have delayed almost 2 months to even try to replace it.   

[3bob]

why delay if that is  a safety device, the feeling could get much worse if something unsafe happens!

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by 3bob

[joeblast]

figure out how to remove the silly sensor, its not like your garage door is going to pull an "I know what you did last summer" and kill someone

[dawei]

I know how to do it.  Just keep wondering if I'm going to end up asking a contractor to get it working.   It won't close without your hand constantly on the button and you can let go anytime if something occurred.   

 

I had a stupid issue with replacing my thermostat... couldn't get it to work at all.  Called out the A/C guys... he opened the instructions to a page that I somehow overlooked about 10 times.  Just had to set one home setting. 

 

I just want a backyard where I can grow stuff and not be fixing too much

 

[3bob]

this is probably redundant but those sensors (if I understand the situation correctly)  were largely added to protect kids or smaller people who could be crushed by the door coming down or to prevent damage to items left in its path.

[dawei]

On 6/29/2018 at 1:53 PM, 3bob said:

this is probably redundant but those sensors (if I understand the situation correctly)  were largely added to protect kids or smaller people who could be crushed by the door coming down or to prevent damage to items left in its path.

 

Yes.  There is a sender and receiver that when tripped (ie: something breaks the signal light from getting to the receiver), it stops the door.

 

 

[joeblast]

Note to self - if the top flapper in the toilet leaks a bit, its not a good idea to say ahhh I'll clean all the cleaner out of the bowl in the morning, and leave it overnight....

 

.....so that the top may drip drip into the bottom, slowly push enough of that toiler bowl cleaner through the elbow....

 

...so that it can drizzle down, undermine the wax ring, and then you go to flush it and a bit of water comes out in between toilet and floor.

 

like I didnt have enough to do already, without taking the freakin toilet completely apart to reseat that damned wax ring....

[zerostao]

The guy who lives across the street from me is a plumber. My house is around 90 years old and has brand new everything regarding plumbing --sewer line, water lines--went with pex, pipes, fixtures, all I've basically had to pay is the price of parts. When i get my back porch (screened) redone, I like using 6x6 beams for joists instead of 2x8s and will use bamboo for decking boards. It will be able to support the deep freezer and jacuzzi no problem, we can turn the music up and jump around--no worries.

[3bob]

that's cool man...

 

[3bob]

another day of plumbing:  I'm putting in high quality outdoor freeze resistant faucets.  1st one was easy with good access,   2nd one not so much since  I had  to saw a hand size+  hole in the base of the sink area for access,  then I couldn't drain the line to re-solder for the new faucet and since any water in the line makes soldering near impossible  I gotta figure out a way to get the water drained without causing myself to much extra work...or catching the woodwork on fire.

 

and of course make at least two trips to Ace to get the right parts and supplies,

and make at least one trip to the fridge for  bud light.

Edited August 4, 2018 by 3bob

[3bob]

ok, some plumbing tips:  (add yours if you like)

 

1. never reuse old copper fittings unless used in very easy to get to and to work on areas.  (new fittings almost always solder up better)

2. a small air storage tank (like 2 1/2 gallons) with hose and nozzle can be used to flush copper lines of standing water as long as the air has somewhere to push out the water...then re-soldering on said lines may be possible. 

3. to much heat is not better when soldering.

4. don't spare on the flux.

5.  if your mate is happy you are are likely to be more happy, so get the job done and turn the water back on asap.

Edited August 5, 2018 by 3bob

[Daemon]

6. Even if you're using new copper, make sure that you give both the tube and the fittings a really good clean with wire wool before applying the flux.

7. Give the joint a good clean afterwards to remove the external flux residues.

8. Flush the pipe thoroughly afterwards to remove the internal residues.

 

☮️

[dawei]

While Drano may be a clogged lines best friend, rust is a different product.  

 

I went The Home Depot and talked to their toilet specialist about removing rust stain from the bottom of the toilet... he showed me what they had but said that nothing really works.  It was like he was suggesting to just buy a new toilet (?).  Reminded me of my friend who when I said the door lock I bought would not fit, he said just buy a new door      So I decided not to buy anything there.

 

One day walking around the Dollar Tree (yes, the real one where everything is truly $1), I saw a bottle of Lime-A-Way... and read its back and decided for $1 it would be worth the loss.   Low and behold, it worked like magic     I basically emptied the toilet of water to get it as dry as possible and then put in enough to completely cover the rust spot and left it there for 30 minutes... came back and scrubbed it.   Some times I did it twice to get it all out.

 

I recently found a second use: The Rust around the sink drain ring which is stainless steel.  Rust showed up between the ring and porcelain sink.   Well, I'm batting 2-for-2 as that worked great. In this case, I just dropped a bit with the plunger down and used a toothbrush for about 10-15 seconds and they were rust free and shiny.    

[3bob]

I wonder if oxy-clean would work as well for rust?  I know it works for pet piss smell on a carpet when nothing else would work, including enzyme wonder cleaners. 

[3bob]

you know you are getting old when you forget to reverse a drill after reversing it for retraction - but then wonder why you can't drill another hole...

[dawei]

On 9/5/2018 at 3:32 PM, 3bob said:

you know you are getting old when you forget to reverse a drill after reversing it for retraction - but then wonder why you can't drill another hole...

 

Along with vice grips and a hammer... a drill is a gift from god