Home plumbing - argh.

[sugarplumkitty]

Our bathroom faucets have problems. OK, our pipes have problems because they're ancient. When Eric replaced the washer on the cold water faucet the water pressure dropped to about half what it was before. He tried to tell me it was always like that. I let it go. Now he claims he never fixed that faucet. *sigh*

The hot water started dripping months ago. Eric replaced the washer. It still dripped, so we examined the stem and discovered it's pitted beyond repair. There were no replacement stems at any of the hardware stores anywhere around us. I wrote to Price Pfister and they sent us two new replacement stems which have been sitting on the edge of the sink ever since because Eric wanted to do the job.

The dripping turned to a steady trickle and our water bill was three times higher than normal last month. Eric finally replaced the hot water stem last weekend. I told him ahead of time I didn't want it to drop in pressure like the cold water did, then I went to class. When I got home he told me it turned the wrong way. I told him the other one must be meant for that side, and he swapped them. Silly man, NOW it turns the wrong way. Then he said I wouldn't like the result. The water pressure was just as wimpy as the cold water. Then yesterday, it stopped altogether. We no longer have hot water in the bathroom sink.

All we can figure is mineral deposits broke off the inside of the pipes while he was working on them, fell down the pipe and are now blocking the valves on the faucets. We're hoping if we take them apart and turn the water back on to blast out the open pipes that they'll clear. I'll hold a bucket over them and aim the water into the sink while he turns it back on.

Man I hope it works! We can't afford to replace our pipes.

Comments

[yrushallow.livejournal.com]

I feel for ya. We currently (and have had for awhile) the same problem with our cold water pipe to the bathroom. The cold water pipe to the bathroom is the LAST remaining iron not copper pipe left in the house. My Dad replaced the hot water pipe to the bathroom about 12 years ago and it "seemed" like not so difficult of a job but he has since had his 70-80 mini strokes and his carotid artery clogged so a lot of his memory is just GONE. He's come down and looked at our cold water pipe and thought that between he and Wiggy they could fix it and then promptly went home and forgot all about it! I know Wiggy and I could fix the darn thing if we could just borrow Dad's sautering thingy and the other tools but I hate to nag my Dad. (He still works full time and is busy).

In the meantime, I have compensated for the boiling hot only water baths by adjusting the temperature on our hot water tank and am just 'dealing' with it. Though it does suck and we're going to have to replace the pipe sooner or later.

[sardonic-sage.livejournal.com]

If you guys need help or advice give me a call, the problem may not be totally in the faucet, they may be in the stop valves under the counter. Those have to be turned off every time you mess with the faucets.
check out www.inspiredhomesolutions.com or drop me an e-mail, you guys are a little out of my service area but since you are such good friends of Blonderoots, maybe we could come down for dinner or something and I could look at the problem if necessary.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Eric went in to take the hot water one apart and discovered he'd kinked the feed hose when he was tightening the connections. D'OH! The stop valves under the sink are frozen open. We have to turn the water off either at the street or at the water heater.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

It turned out he had accidently kinked the flexible feed hose under the sink. It's fixed!

[yrushallow.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a relief!

[sardonic-sage.livejournal.com]

Ok, well if I can help in the future feel free to give me a call. I'm glad you figured it out.

[ninjafeline.livejournal.com]

waaa!! Oh man, I hope it works too!!! That's nasty! One of those things you think you don't need to worry bout if you're renting - then again that's up to whether you've got a decent landlord.
Meep. Have you got insurance covering it and stuff? I hope you get it cleared, lack of water makes you suddenly realize how much you rely on it being everywhere!

hugs xxxx p.s. aww your background is so cool

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

I still need to talk him into trying it with the cold water faucet to get the water pressure back but the hot water was a kink in the flexible hose he accidently put into it when he tightened everything. That was easily fixed!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, and no, we don't have insurance for it. I'm not sure they have insurance for home repairs beyond the first year. We were both raised by "Mr. Fix It" dads, so it would seem disloyal to not try to fix it ourselves. It is one of the downsides to home ownership. I miss being able to call my dad to help us learn how to do home repairs we haven't tackled before. I ask him still and hope he inspires me with the right ideas. Eric's dad is too far away to be much help.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Darn I hate that anonymous post stuff!

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Oh and the background? Thanks! It's my sweet Scamperdoo from a photo series I took of her in April.

[ninjafeline.livejournal.com]

hehe, so many replies!!! well, I hope you can fix it!!! I know about the pride of fixing things yourself, but yes, it can feel messy, too *hugs*
Scamperdoo is amazing. It's cute, I always see her in front of my mental eyes when I think of you in LJ terms, cos she's obviously your userpic, but she looks so expressive, like it's really her writing the script ! :D

and then I've got the photos of pretty you that you sent me :)

xxxxx

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

LOL. I shouldn't try to reply when I'm still half-asleep! This working full time stuff has my LJ time all messed up.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

I do have one question for you. Eric is finally ready to replace our garbage disposal. We've lived without it for a year now and it's starting to grow interesting crud inside it. bleech.

He wants to take it out and take it with us to Home Depot to make sure we get one that will fit the same. I told him I think they're standard and it would be stupid to haul an entire garbage disposal with us to the store. Even if they're not standard, we can write down the brand and model and get one that will fit. Paper is much lighter than a garbage disposal.

Are the fittings all standard?

[sardonic-sage.livejournal.com]

yes most of the garbage disposals are standard, you will need to buy a new cord for your new garbage disposal or take the one from the old one. Also you might spend the extra $10 and get a Garbage disposal drain plumbing kit. You will end up with tons of extra parts, but you should have any plumbing pipe or fitting you might need when installing the new G.D.
Plan one to two hours to do the job, and clear everything out from under your sink before you start.

[sugarplumkitty.livejournal.com]

Will do! Thanks!