For questions relating to the water system of a home or other building, including plumbing and fixtures, water heating, water filtering and treatment, and irrigation/sprinkler systems. Questions regarding swimming pools and spas should have the additional tags "pool" or "spa".
2
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3answers
4k views
Why is my hot water baseboard heater not heating?
I have classic cast iron radiators in my house and then one "modern" one pictured below. It was installed in the 80s from what I know. It doesn't seem to produce much heat at all.
It is properly ...
2
votes
1answer
110 views
If I fit a water softener, will I run out of on-demand water via bath/shower-use?
I'm interested in fitting a water-softener (specifically, the Twintec S3, which is a dual-cylinder unit developed in the UK, apparently) to my home. My home is over 3 stories, with a bathroom on the ...
2
votes
1answer
216 views
Is this hole at the corner of the foundation major issue?
I am in the process of purchasing a home. I found the perfect home but of course, I found water stains in the basement walls (mostly close to the floor). I also noticed a small hole at the corner of ...
2
votes
1answer
240 views
Leaky newly installed PVC drainage pipe
I am pretty bad doing handy work. Anyways, I decided to add a water drainage to my concrete flat roof. I had mocked up all the pipes and finally waited for a sunny day to remove it all and glue all ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
How can I clean hard water buildup from pipes?
I've basically confirmed that my overall plumbing problems are down to hard water buildup. My softener has been out of action for about a month or two (waiting on a part), so I have at least that much ...
2
votes
1answer
573 views
Loud vibrating when using hot water!
I recently moved into a new condo with 2 kitchen sinks -- a main one and one embedded in an island. There's a lot going on under the main one -- the cold water is split so that it leads to the faucet ...
2
votes
1answer
57 views
What are my options for installing a water softener on the opposite side of the house from the main water supply?
Background Info
My main water supply on my home is located on the east wall of the home, whereas my garage is located on the west side of the home. There is no water softener loop in the home, and in ...
2
votes
1answer
98 views
Why is my electric water heater making an intermittent groaning noise?
My 8 year old electric water heater started to make a strange rattling noise a couple of weeks ago. The noise happens at random and lasts for only a few minutes. Short bursts of noise about a minute ...
2
votes
0answers
62 views
Where could the air in the water system be coming from?
We live on the top two floors of a small brownstone walkup. To get the heating to work upstairs I need to bleed the baseboard heater almost every other day. All faucets in the house sputter, and the ...
2
votes
0answers
116 views
Why has my water filter made my water less clean?
A few years ago I installed a Whirlpool under sink water filtration system that I purchased from Lowes, as part of a kitchen renovation.
I've just replaced the filter again (following the ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
Water tank will not charge
[Please forgive bad terminology - I'm new to this]
My water tank doesn't seem to take a charge at all. I'm hoping to get some suggestions as to what is happening. I have a bladder tank. If just a ...
1
vote
1answer
142 views
Is it safe to not have a safety cutoff on an immersion heater?
I'm having some serious trouble with the immersion heater in my apartment. I believe the set up is similar to the one described in this answer, however there is no thermostat to turn the immersion ...
1
vote
4answers
113 views
What type of common materials can I use to detect water infiltration/leaks?
I am trying to find the source for a water leak in my car when it rains. The answer here should also be good for hard to find water leaks in a house.
Is there a material I can use which tells me the ...
1
vote
1answer
293 views
A boiler and a hot water tank … what is this configuration? (UK)
I'm a west-coast American living in London. I grew up with baseboard and central forced air heating. I'm currently living in the UK where water radiators are common (if not pretty much the ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
How can I fix this broken connector piece on my Symmons shower Knob?
I was trying to get the knob off so I could potentially increase the amount of hot water getting mixed and it seemed to be coming off nicely but then snapped. By nicely, I mean it was a steady ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
1
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1answer
491 views
“Draining” concrete blocks?
We've recently had exterior waterproofing applied our house. In the process, we removed an old cold room that was underneath our porch. They walled up the entrance to the old cold room, and then ...
1
vote
2answers
221 views
Is “bronze and silumin” mix actually possible in a ball cock?
In my apartment bathroom there's a thick steel pipe with hot water going from the floor beneath through my bathroom and to the store above. There're two pipes welded into that vertical pipe and a ...
1
vote
1answer
2k views
What can cause foggy/misty/gray water when hot water heater is turned off?
This may be expected behavior but I thought I'd ask anyway...
We recently had gas turned off at our house in preparation for a fumigation this weekend. We have a gas water heater (with a tank) so ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
Could excess water in the boiler cause overflowing radiators?
The water level for my boiler seems to go above the labeled height. We now have a sporadic water leak that is not showing itself. Could it be that the excess water in the boiler is causing this ...
1
vote
1answer
210 views
When should I change / replace my water pipe?
I was wondering when should we change our indoor water pipe? Should we change every 5 years or every 10 years?
This is because recently, I notice that the water quality is not getting that good ...
1
vote
1answer
502 views
How do I prevent water from leaking down my chimney?
When it rains hard, I get a decent amount of water coming in through my chimney. Is this normal? What can I do to minimize this?
It's a relatively new house; it has a guard on top, and the chimney ...
1
vote
2answers
1k views
How do I eliminate stagnant water caused by central A/C draining outside?
So I just moved into a new house in NC that I am renting. The house has central A/C which is great, but because there is no basement so there is no basement drain. So the A/C expels the water into the ...
1
vote
1answer
724 views
Periodic surging sound from plumbing
There is a surging sound coming from the plumbing between the water main and hot water tank in my house. It has a beat, with a period of about 1 second. It sounds sort of like the lines are ...
1
vote
2answers
560 views
What should be cleaned or examined after an air conditioner drain pipe leak?
The other day, we found some water on the floor in our utility room. After some research and investigation, we discovered that the drain pipe from the central air unit was blocked. We were able to use ...
1
vote
2answers
264 views
Installing a switch for a water heater's lower element
I'd like to install a switch for the lower element of my water heater. I haven't even looked inside the water heater yet, but I'm a little confused about what the best way to go about doing this ...
1
vote
1answer
152 views
Would this solution work with my dehumidifier?
I have a shed built with concrete blocks and a metal roof, terrible condensation in it and every time I go in, I see water on the walls and floor as well as drips on the metal roof. The shed is not ...
1
vote
1answer
94 views
How can house hot water pressure be kept stable if more than one hot tap is open?
We have a Vaillant Ecotec combi boiler in the loft. When showering, hot water pressure is fine. But if someone opens any other hot tap in the house, it massively reduces the hot water coming into the ...
1
vote
1answer
211 views
Why does the hot water run cold at less than 'full throttle'?
I'm as environmentally conscious as the next American (probably not very) but here's an example: I like to rinse dishes that I've just washed in a stream of hot water as this works best for drying. I ...
1
vote
1answer
472 views
How do I choose the correct size pump and pressure tank?
I'll have a 3000 gallon water tank (around 8 feet tall) located at the same elevation as my house.
The distance between my house and the tank will be about 90 feet, with the water traveling through a ...
1
vote
2answers
1k views
How can I tell if stains are caused by a ceiling that is drying out, or if there is still a leak?
Historically we've had a leak from our shower in our bathroom which has leaked into the neighbour below's bathroom and kitchen (this has gone though the bathroom wall to the kitchen which is ...
1
vote
2answers
129 views
Can I replace my oil-based water heater with several electric ones?
I was looking at this question, which is somewhat related to mine but didn't give me a good answer: How to evaluate the suitability of an electric tankless water-heater
Basically, my mom's water ...
1
vote
1answer
145 views
Water damage in the kitchen
Today, we went out of the house for about an hour and when we came back the whole kitchen was flooded. Turned out the cold water soft connection for the kitchen sink had somehow disconnected (?).
We ...
1
vote
1answer
1k views
How do I avoid condensation issues with an insulated garage roof?
Yesterday it was raining (slight overexaggeration of course) :-) inside my garage... Hood of the car was covered with nasty orange water spots. It's an attached garage. There's no garage "ceiling" ...
1
vote
0answers
26 views
Can poly plastic water storage tank be used to store hot water?
Another set of questions in context of my home-brew solar water heater:
Can poly-plastic water storage tanks, be used to store hot water (140deg F / 60deg C) ?
How can I thermally insulate a 50 ...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
How/where should I put a water dispenser on this counter?
My friend's coffee shop has a hot water dispenser they use for drip coffee and tea. It's already filtered, and accessible to customers.
It would be terribly convenient if we customers could get cold ...
1
vote
0answers
86 views
Can I use a small pond with a water source heat pump? [closed]
I want to use a water source reverse cycle heat pump AC for a 8000m2 aged care facility.
Location has moderate summer (22 deg C max) and cold winter (<0 deg c).
On site pond is only 400m3. I ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
Can I repair water damage under the kitchen sink with a sintra panel? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How can I repair water damage under the kitchen sink?
I found out that our kitchen water connection had somehow loosened up and was leaking water on the floor undernieth ...
1
vote
0answers
48 views
Can I use a water tank and pump to feed a boiler?
As the title suggests I would like to know if I can use a water tank and pump to feed my boiler?
I want to get rid of my electric shower and currently I have large water tank with a pump feeding to ...
1
vote
0answers
294 views
opening water pipe/tap has hissing noise throughout the house [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to eliminate the “whooshing” sound of water running though pipes.
I have a 3 story townhouse. Any time when I open a tap, even very slowly that water is ...
1
vote
1answer
240 views
Noisy Downspout [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How do I stop the noise from my gutters?
I have a very unusual problem with a downspout. It rises 20 ft from an elbow on the ground to a gutter above. It produces a ...
0
votes
3answers
184 views
How can I get my sprinkler / home irrigation system to not ruin my car with water spots? [closed]
I have a sprinkler system (i.e. irrigation system) at home. Occasionally I park my car too close and it gets hit with the water. This causes horrible water spots. I've seen that some do-it-yourself ...
0
votes
1answer
472 views
Why did my hot water stop?
I have a Rinnai RL94 tankless water heater. Today something went wrong and now I have no more hot water.
The machine is not showing any kind of error code like it has in the past when things went ...
0
votes
2answers
476 views
How to tighten/fix ice-maker's drainage tube connector?
On the back of our fridge is a drainage tube (I assume it's for the ice maker; correct me if i'm wrong). Whenever water drains out of it, it leaks. I've identified that the source of the problem is a ...
0
votes
3answers
93 views
How can I build an automated water valve for a coffee maker? [closed]
Our home has a remodeled kitchen and we have yet to install a backsplash. Before we do I was wondering if I couldn't add some functionality.
We currently have a simple coffee maker sitting on our ...
0
votes
3answers
296 views
Why is the water pressure so high from my overhead water tank?
We have recently rented a house and it has normal taps fitte, and a normal
overhead water tank, but the water pressure is very high. The water comes out
with so much pressure, that if I am trying to ...
0
votes
2answers
835 views
What could cause a shower to give warm water for a few seconds, then only cold water?
The house has four bedrooms. The 40 gallon gas water heater is about 60 feet from this
shower. The house is a one story house in flat terrain. I have already changed the mixing faucet for the shower, ...
0
votes
1answer
157 views
What is the name for this round metal drain cover?
Rainwater drains from an acre uphill from us into an underground system that has been in place for 50 years. It works fine, except that the 16-inch round metal cover for the drain has rusted through. ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
how can i fix my bath tub
When I turn the water on to take a bath the water don't run it just drips and takes hours to fill the tub or I have to add pots of water is there a way for this to be fixed or do I have to call a ...
0
votes
2answers
530 views
How do I repair this leaking toilet supply nut?
I've got a leaky toilet that I'm trying to fix (and in the process making worse). The leak seems to be coming from the brass nut on the right of the photo here:
This nut has a washer in it so ...
