I restrict my work on plumbing facilities to replacing the toilet seat.
Married with plumbing
- Thread starter NFrameFred
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BLACKHAWKNJ
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In years gone by I told people who wanted to buy a "fixer upper" that they should volunteer with their local Habitat for Humanity chapter, spent some time working with them, then decide.
One friend noted it's amazing how, when a toilet needs repair, everyone loses control of their bladder and bowels.
So far my plumbing experience has been limited to replacing a flow valve. Found the tab that presses down on it had broken off-1 piece unit. Tried an adjustable length valve, couldn't take the water pressure, exchanged it for a fixed length unit, that had a brass screw that allowed finer adjustment of the flow. Perhaps an hour's work-yes, I did turn the water off and drained the tank. On my way to work one morning, the flush valve broke-the metal just snapped. I've been here for 44 years, so it's not like it owed me anything. To the hardware store, got a Flushmaster brand, allows for some fine tuning, working fine since.
One friend noted it's amazing how, when a toilet needs repair, everyone loses control of their bladder and bowels.
So far my plumbing experience has been limited to replacing a flow valve. Found the tab that presses down on it had broken off-1 piece unit. Tried an adjustable length valve, couldn't take the water pressure, exchanged it for a fixed length unit, that had a brass screw that allowed finer adjustment of the flow. Perhaps an hour's work-yes, I did turn the water off and drained the tank. On my way to work one morning, the flush valve broke-the metal just snapped. I've been here for 44 years, so it's not like it owed me anything. To the hardware store, got a Flushmaster brand, allows for some fine tuning, working fine since.
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Toilets are easy. It's working under sinks that sucks.
My first house was an old Victorian built in 1882.
Most of the plumbing was the old cast iron pipe when I bought it.
Had 2 gas water heaters and they'd trip the pressure valve all the time, even thou I put in a new pressure relief valve on the main line. Was weird because our water pressure in the sinks was near nothing.
Cut a piece of that 1" cast pipe out and you could barely see light thru it, it was so rusted up inside. After I replaced all of it with copper, never had a problem.
Most of the plumbing was the old cast iron pipe when I bought it.
Had 2 gas water heaters and they'd trip the pressure valve all the time, even thou I put in a new pressure relief valve on the main line. Was weird because our water pressure in the sinks was near nothing.
Cut a piece of that 1" cast pipe out and you could barely see light thru it, it was so rusted up inside. After I replaced all of it with copper, never had a problem.
Get a piece of plywood or OSB a couple 2 bys and make a platform so you are at least near level. On sinks if at all possible put the valves, service hoses on fittings on before putting setting the sink. You need to learn how to do some of it blind and work by feel.
In a house I would never use anything but, pex pipe for the supply runs or repairs. PVC for the waste side. It will be there corrosion free long after galvanized and copper is gone. The supply lines won't get build up inside them either.
LOL, think trying to screw those fittings together is bad, try cutting out and replacing 4" 180 returns in a furnace or boiler. Must be cut off perfectly square, beveled just right then perfectly welded. Usually a whole bunch of them crammed together in a nice steel box. I am 6'4 and 300# LOL I was always on the look out for real small welders when a furnace job was coming. An ambidextrous "little person" who was a real good pipe welder would be worth their weight in gold. If they can also mirror weld even more.
In a house I would never use anything but, pex pipe for the supply runs or repairs. PVC for the waste side. It will be there corrosion free long after galvanized and copper is gone. The supply lines won't get build up inside them either.
LOL, think trying to screw those fittings together is bad, try cutting out and replacing 4" 180 returns in a furnace or boiler. Must be cut off perfectly square, beveled just right then perfectly welded. Usually a whole bunch of them crammed together in a nice steel box. I am 6'4 and 300# LOL I was always on the look out for real small welders when a furnace job was coming. An ambidextrous "little person" who was a real good pipe welder would be worth their weight in gold. If they can also mirror weld even more.
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Believe me, it doesn't take this long to clog up iron pipes with the minerals in the water. This happened to my paternal grandparents' house which was around 30 years old. My dad and uncle went in and replaced the cast iron pipes with PVC and that cured the problem.
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#4 Don't bite your fingernails.
The boss was illegitimate.
When all else fails in plumbing dismemberment, reach for the Sawzall. You can buy carbide tipped blades that cut anything but cast iron of concrete.
Two jobs I shy away from are plumbing and exhausts on cars. The latter is due to my youthful experience of living in a state that salts their roads in the winter. Exhausts that would last 30 years in California had a life expectancy of under two years here and clamps and exhaust pipes weren't disassembled, they were cut or broken off for replacement.
When the EPA mandated emission systems (which include exhausts) last longer, manufacturers started using stainless components and exhaust work became well, less exhausting.
Plumbing on the other hand still sucks. PEX and SharkBites do help however!
When the EPA mandated emission systems (which include exhausts) last longer, manufacturers started using stainless components and exhaust work became well, less exhausting.
Plumbing on the other hand still sucks. PEX and SharkBites do help however!
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I read this thread and laughed as a retired pipe fitter.
Then Friday evening my under mount sink came to rest on the disposal. The 1 1/2" PVC nut at the bottom of the J bend didn't hold much of the stress at all.
The hardest part of reattaching it was cleaning off all the old glue & silicone that was supposed to hold it. House is 5 years old, thankfully they now make clamps that were not used when the house was built.
Then Friday evening my under mount sink came to rest on the disposal. The 1 1/2" PVC nut at the bottom of the J bend didn't hold much of the stress at all.
The hardest part of reattaching it was cleaning off all the old glue & silicone that was supposed to hold it. House is 5 years old, thankfully they now make clamps that were not used when the house was built.
jag312
Member
Twenty years ago I remodeled my house in San Jose. Part of the remodeling was a completely new kitchen and laundry room. I did the tile work myself, and the people who saw it said I did a real professional job. Twenty years later I'm doing some remodeling in my house in Minden, Nevada. One of the projects was to replace the wall-to-wall carpeting in the dining room and front living room with porcelain tile. I hate wall-to-wall carpeting, and the tile looks like marble. I managed to finish the dining room and start on the living room, and then I realized that I am not the same man I was twenty years ago. I just don't have the strength and stamina that I once had. I called a tile guy, and he finished the living room in 2 days, and he did a fantastic job. Money well spent. When we do the next room, he will come back to do that job too.
