/r/askaplumber
A place to come if you're having problems with your plumbing.
A place to come if you're having problems with your plumbing.
Please limit posts to discussion questions only. Be civil, polite and courteous. No excessive self-promotion or solicitations.
/r/askaplumber
87,306 Subscribers
I need help replacing a float valve in an old toilet.
It has the markings "1b1 Master mark IV". I see lots of "universal" float valves but they all say 1 in, 2 in, 3 in, or 5 in and I don't know what that means. Amazon refuses to ship me the replacement I have found. What "universal" float valve should I buy to replace it?
06:55 UTC
Plumbers of Reddit, what is this thread size?
I'm struggling to find a connector for this pipe. I tried 1/4" FIP connector, but the connector turned out to be too small. Could it be 3/8" FIP?
06:10 UTC
Leaky bath faucet
What can be done to fix a leaky faucet of this style? Thanks
05:57 UTC
installing moen trim kit on a positemp valve w/fiberglass walls but no plaster ground
Long story short i'm finishing up a project my spouse started. They hired a plumber for the actual install of the positemp valve. The plumber knew we were using a fiberglass shower body but we hadnt picked fixtures yet so we didnt have the trim kit itself on hand. The valve is installed at a proper depth for the trim kit we chose and he put in a stabilizing board for the plumbing lines, however he took the plaster guard off. He couldnt have guessed the depth better.
Spouse then installed the shower surround. Now im trying to finish the shower fixtures, trim and caulking but when i screw the escutcheon plate to the valve, it doesnt feel like it ever pulls tight to create that seal and prevent leaking behind the plate.
I know that one can purchase a replacement plaster ground, but i'm trying to get around having to cut a hole in the drywall behind the shower if at all possble. I, obviously cant make the hole in the shower wall big enough to put the plaster ground in from the front or the wall wont get properly "sandwiched" between the plaster ground and escutcheon plate.
I need ideas to give the fiberglass some more stability and allow the screws to create the proper contact between the escutcheon plate and the shower wall... anyone got an "everybodys so creative" fix that might work?
Can i just take some scraps of 1× (or similar) and use construction adhesive to glue them to the back side of the fiberglass (between the shwer wall and the pipes/valve connections) and then screw the plate down? I think i could get them positioned well enough with the hole thats already there.
05:53 UTC
Water not staying hot with new shower head
The shower head that was on when I moved in to my apartment was great and stayed hot no matter how long I was in there. Usually I’d even have to turn down the hot because it was too much. I had a bad cold one time and read hot shower steam can help so I sat in the shower for over an hour and never had any issues with the temperature becoming cold.
I wanted a detachable shower head so I recently switched them out and now my water is not staying hot. I frequently have to keep turning the cold off until it’s just the knob for hot running and it’s not staying hot and this is happening within 30 minutes.
Did I do something wrong when installing it or is there maybe an issue with my hot water heater?
I hope this makes sense! I’m a young female and have no dad or men in my life that can help me and my apartment maintenance people are kinda useless.
05:11 UTC
Water heater failure?
2010 A.O Smith lowboy 40 gal electric. Hard water. Thinking the lower element gasket failed.
04:36 UTC
Peerless Boiler
I have this Peerless boiler in a large family house. It is tied in to heat the whole house as well as act as the hot water heater. The house heats perfectly well. The boiler fires up on all cylinders. However, the hot water only works for like two minutes in all showers and sinks. Originally, it worked well enough to always have hot water everywhere. Any thoughts? We have drained all the pipes to get rid of any air.
04:23 UTC
Bathtub faucet leaking
Last time this happened it was the cartilage. But I don't know if it's the same case.
The faucet in the bathtub leaks.
I took off the cover and tried to screw the screw tighter to make sure it was that:
No success.
I pushed in this metal thing more deep, and it solved the problem
So I'm doubting it's the cartilage, since if I push that metal thing the water drip problem is solved. What can it be? This handle itself is faulty since it is connected with that metal thing? Where can I buy the same kind? What's it's name?
04:02 UTC
Radiators not heating up space
Radiators not heating up space
I am renting a 1600 sq fr space in Manhattan with a 500 square foot basement. The previous renter who was the landlord use to own a florist shop that had an open concept.
I currently have a personal training gym here as well as three massage rooms.
The owner said that the radiators would heat up the space when he was here.
I’m finding that these radiators do not even heat up my rooms that are smaller spaces.
Had multiple hvac techs say just add a heater yo your hvac system and it will act as a supplemental unit up the radiators.
What can I do to get these radiators to work well? I’ve already purged the water from them multiple time.
You might say the radiator cover is keeping the heat within the cover the it’s barely hot.
Water shows it’s at 190 degrees, which is what it should be. Purged one radiator and air came out. No plumbers know what to do and I’m at a loss.
03:41 UTC
Brand new water heater kettling
Hey guys,
As the title says, I have a brand new water heater that is cracking and gurgling.
A couple months back, we noticed that the old water heater in our apartment was kettling and we called maintenance to check up on it. They drained it per the usual and told us to call again if it still gurgles and they’ll replace it.
Sure enough, that night it gurgled quite a bit, so after a few days, we called back and they replaced it.
Pretty immediately, the new one was gurgling as well, which I don’t really understand. If it’s mineral buildup that causes the kettling, how would a new unit be doing that?
General info: electric heater, no copper pipes attached to wood (I know that can cause some cracking noise)
01:51 UTC
Kids clogged the toilet again. There was so much water I had to drill holes in the downstairs ceiling to drain it all. My question is - what are the best toilets that will limit clogging?
This was bad luck because it was a two-fer. 1) our crappy crappers clogged. and 2) the mechanism in the tank kept running.
I fixed that last part, but I want to bite the bullet and replace the worse toilet on the face of the planet.
01:14 UTC
I'm redoing my entire water supply system, I think I have everything figured out except how to hook up the new pressure tank.
Old plumbing was full of sediment and scale, and was also polybutylene, every plumber i talked to said i should just replace it. I've run all new lines, done a pressure test, got a softener, pre filter and reverse osmosis, but I can't figure out the pressure tank.
The supply coming from my well is galvanized pipe. It's somewhat corroded (especially near the fittings) and i known i won't be able to unthread the old fittings and reuse the same threads on the pipe without them crumbling apart. Every video I've watched their supply is black poly pipe and they just use barbed fittings with hose clamps, but I don't know if I can just slide the poly pipe over the galvanized and hose clamp it without a barbed fitting and have it not leak.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
01:10 UTC
Extend Pull Out Kitchen Faucet
This is Kohler pullout faucet/spray. Need to extend the hose by another 3’.
Ideally, I am looking to add a 3’ hose line (daisy chain) but can’t really find that fits my needs.
Any inputs please on what I should be looking for at the hardware store or even online?
00:25 UTC
How can I get this hose of?
I have this flexible hose that goes from my boiler unit to my boiling water tap (Franke/Floww). This hose varies the hot water.
It's leaking at the 'seam' on the male side, where the arrow is pointing. I already have the replacement hose but I can't for the life of me disconnect this thing.
I tried pushing the black right ans pulling the hose because I think it's one of those quick release, push/pull type joints. But it just won't budge. Tried adding WD-40 and some de scaling stuff we had standing but to no avail.
Any tips on how to get this bad-bou loose?
23:20 UTC
Widespread tee line replacement
Hi all, hoping to get some advice on replacing a tee line on a new faucet. We just had our vanity replaced along with two faucets we provided. It looks like one of the faucet boxes had been opened and the line was switched with a smaller one. The faucet with the black line has very little pressure even with hot and cold opened fully. Opening both handles does not provide any more pressure than just opening one. Looking closely at the underside of the hot and cold handles on each sink it looks like parts of the handles are different as well. To replace the tee line should I be able to just take the handle off and attach the new line there? Do I need to replace everything including the line into the faucet? Trying to figure out what I can do to get this fixed, my wife is pretty gutted. The installer also had a lot of issues and I don't want him to come back, even though this looks like it really wasn't on him. I've replaced faucets before but never a widespread. Appreciate any help here.
22:58 UTC
How to remove shower handle?
How to remove shower handle?
Hi all! I’m replacing my shower fixtures but I can’t figure out how to remove this Delta shower handle. The screws disconnect the plate, but you can’t slide it over the handle.
22:31 UTC
$8500 for sewer belly
Got quoted $2,500 for a new toilet and to replace components of another toilet. When they took the toilet off they found roots. Sent a camera guy in, root damage was extensive and they found a sewer belly. Another $8,500 to replace the pipes where the toilet is and fix 6’ of sewer line. Thoughts and opinions are welcome.
22:26 UTC
Washer and spring replacement
A post reminded me of a question I wanted to ask. Most faucets and shower cartridges I come across use the bonnet washer and spring arrangement. Is there a tool or a hack to help align and insert those slippery buggers? It's always a fumblerooskie for me, especially way up inside a shower cartridge body.
22:19 UTC