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I don't know what plumbers in here think, but irrespective of the hive mind I haven't read many bad things about shark bite fittings. The stories I have read are usually from people that sweat pipe for a living. Still curious why you want to do PEX though. If you already have copper, don't need to run much of it, aren't scared of sweating pipe (or using shark bite fittings) you might as well just finish it off with copper? Otherwise as long as you have 18" by the water heater your plan sounds good. I think it's code because it's so close to the vent which constantly goes through heat cycles. Edit: heh, listen to the plumbers, I'm just an amateur DIY homeowner. Just for anecdotal sake, both my heaters are gas and have shark bite fittings. First one has lasted 7 years now and second is going on 3. 
Bank fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Sep 4, 2021 |
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Sep 4, 2021 00:50
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I'm not adverse to using copper piping; but, I am moving the water heater about 3 ft or so away from its current location. So I'll need to do a run from the current location to the new one which would end up being approximately 8ft of new line for both hot and cold since I'll need to route along the wall nicely. PEX would at least let me do any fittings with crimps and its flexible leaving me room for error. Copper would have to have sweated connections or sharkbites. The way I see it, if the PEX has a leak I'll have the tools and most likely extra lines/crimps to fix it easily without breaking a torch out or getting another sharkbite fitting. I'll probably end up pricing out the difference and making a financial choice. Either way means new tools.
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Sep 4, 2021 01:19
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Definitely use the flexible, corrugated copper (they also come in stainless) connectors not the stainless-mesh-covered rubber hoses. The rubber hoses have a tendency to break down on the hot outlet and leak/burst. They're against code for water heaters in some areas.
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Sep 4, 2021 02:04
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SpartanIvy posted:
I think it needs replacing. My air gauge isn’t reading any air coming from the tank, and I pushed down the valve stem and no air came out. Seems dead to me! I’ll put a new tank on and see how it goes. The water heater (and associated paraphernalia) was replaced in 2017 so maybe I just got a bum expansion tank. Thanks again for the tip!
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Sep 5, 2021 20:06
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TheWevel posted:I think it needs replacing. My air gauge isn’t reading any air coming from the tank, and I pushed down the valve stem and no air came out. Seems dead to me! I’ll put a new tank on and see how it goes. The water heater (and associated paraphernalia) was replaced in 2017 so maybe I just got a bum expansion tank. Yeah, the bladders in those things go bad. They do need to be topped up on occasion though so if you've got an air pump it may be worth trying. There should be a plate on it that tells you how much air to put in it for which PSI of water. If you start filling it with air and hear bubbles it's a dead giveaway that it's time for a new one.
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Sep 5, 2021 22:05
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TheWevel posted:I think it needs replacing. My air gauge isn’t reading any air coming from the tank, and I pushed down the valve stem and no air came out. Seems dead to me! I’ll put a new tank on and see how it goes. The water heater (and associated paraphernalia) was replaced in 2017 so maybe I just got a bum expansion tank. Also, make sure it's at least NSF-61 certified and ideally NSF-372 also. Watts has a good unit that meets the criteria. Others do too, but most also sell non-NSF units for non-potable applications.
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Sep 8, 2021 08:28
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Don’t ask why I have this loving thing in my house (previous owner’s made a lot of weird decisions) but: Is the expectation that I shut off my entire house water supply to disconnect this thing? Or is one of these bits a valve in some way? The goal is to disconnect it, cap the supplies and drain inside the wall, and make it look like it never happened. e: And also paint because god drat
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Sep 8, 2021 16:55
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With paint like that, you'll never know if you've missed or not. Less cleaning!
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Sep 8, 2021 17:11
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Well there’s a matching Steelers switch plate on the wall so I’m sure the joke can go further than that
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Sep 8, 2021 17:15
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Even if there's a shutoff built in, you're planning on removing it all, so you'd remove the shutoff with it.
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Sep 8, 2021 17:21
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True enough. I was just hoping to get it off the wall and then assess whatever nightmare I find behind it without being immediately committed because the house has no water.  e: Ah! Found it. 
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Sep 8, 2021 |
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Sep 8, 2021 17:24
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Depending on how much effort you're planning on putting into removal and repair, you might also just open up the drywall. I would say if you find the studs, you could cut out a piece such that your cut goes down the middle of the stud, so the old drywall is still on top of a stud, and your new drywall can be as well. Or cut so the old drywall is fully on top of a stud, and plan to put in a cheater 2x2 to screw a patch into. If you were planning on opening up the whole wall to cap this off inside the wall, you'll probably have to do that eventually, so might as well do it now and see if there's any other magic hidden behind the wall. But you've probably found the only valve that's there.
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Sep 8, 2021 17:41
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Nah, once I found the concealed shut off, it’s all good. I mean, I will be opening the drywall to close things up and repair this huge plywood block they used to mount the thing, but I can do it all at a leisurely pace this way. 
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Sep 8, 2021 17:46
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Installing a urinal in your Steelers themed game day bathroom in your house is some incredible yinzer energy. I’m in awe.
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Sep 8, 2021 18:09
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Yeah, and we’re not even in PA. These people.
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Sep 8, 2021 18:22
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We need to move our propane tank, which powers our heat, and upgrade its size so we can put in a generator. Does it make sense to buy a tank rather than renting it from the company?
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Sep 8, 2021 19:29
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Arsenic Lupin posted:We need to move our propane tank, which powers our heat, and upgrade its size so we can put in a generator. Does it make sense to buy a tank rather than renting it from the company? That depends entirely on your local propane suppliers. I have one that is great, and it makes no sense for me to buy a tank since they "rent" me one for $1/year. Their prices are fair, so I don't need to comparison shop. If you have lovely suppliers absolutely buy your own tank so you can get it filled by whoever has the lowest price at the time when you need fuel.
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Sep 8, 2021 19:31
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Arsenic Lupin posted:We need to move our propane tank, which powers our heat, and upgrade its size so we can put in a generator. Does it make sense to buy a tank rather than renting it from the company? Statistically yes buy the tank and have someone fill it. I feel like Motronic's experience is an outlier. How do you like your current supplier? How do they compare to the other(s) in your area?
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Sep 9, 2021 01:03
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H110Hawk posted:I feel like Motronic's experience is an outlier. It probably is and I don't know how long it will last. I've had two other good local companies bought out by Suburban and poo poo and they immediately went bad. When I need something more than a fill I'm dealing with one of the owner's sons. As soon as that changes whoever buys them can come get their tank and I'll be buying my own.
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Sep 9, 2021 01:36
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I’m in Iowa and the local coop here rents tanks at a rate that would take me 40 years to break even with buying it. That’s a 500 gallon. I don’t expect I’ll be in this house that long. No clue where Motronic is at but that experience isn’t entirely unique.
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Sep 9, 2021 01:58
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You can run the numbers, but by default, I'd never recommend renting the tank if you can afford to buy one. There's many secret ways the propane companies can rip you off (like topping it off when rates are highest), and buying almost always comes out ahead after 5-10 years if you shop around aggressively and fill in the early Summer. No offense to Motronic's buddies, but propane companies tend to be some of the scummiest companies around. They aren't going to lose money or break even on renting you a tank.
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Sep 10, 2021 02:11
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B-Nasty posted:No offense to Motronic's buddies, but propane companies tend to be some of the scummiest companies around. They aren't going to lose money or break even on renting you a tank. Not a bit of offense taken. I don't even allow them to auto deliver because I've been hosed by that too many times in the past (by other providers). If their rate sucks I'll run the tank out and replace it with someone else's or my own. It's wise to be very very cautious about that entire industry. Motronic fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Sep 10, 2021 |
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Sep 10, 2021 02:19
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Fuckin thatherton
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Sep 10, 2021 02:30
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So, turns out the well in our new house has iron bacteria. The previous owners had scrubbed all the sinks clean, but I checked the inside of the toilet tank and there was the tell-tale brown biofilm. Is there a reason I should care? The water tastes fine, and not only did the well itself test free of e.coli and coliform, but the water from the well goes through a UV purifier before it comes to the house. Are there long-term reasons to try to treat the bacteria?
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Sep 11, 2021 01:40
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Any one have any experience with upflow/masticating toilets? I'm having my basement french drained and finished, and I'd like to add a bathroom down there. I'd like to avoid coring and putting a sump in the floor for the toilet, but I've seen those platform toilets or the rear exit w/ pump boxes. I'd like to have a simple sink/toilet/shower combo down there and I think I can manage that. The plumbing and drain stack is right there, so connecting is easy, but I'm curious how well those toilets work.
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Sep 12, 2021 14:20
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Motronic posted:Yeah, the bladders in those things go bad. They do need to be topped up on occasion though so if you've got an air pump it may be worth trying. There should be a plate on it that tells you how much air to put in it for which PSI of water. I finally got around to taking care of this last week. The expansion tank was 100% filled with water so the bladder had definitely failed. I replaced it with a larger 4 gallon unit and my water pressure issues are over! I went with the larger tank because I grabbed the wrong one at the store and didn't feel like returning it. It doesn't seem like there's any issue going larger.
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Sep 13, 2021 21:31
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TheWevel posted:It doesn't seem like there's any issue going larger. The beauty of any "surge"-type system that incorporates air/bladder is that you can never go too big; you definitely get into diminishing returns, but it doesn't hurt the system. Can obviously undersize and have problems of course.
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Sep 14, 2021 03:32
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I need to replace all the ancient iron gas pipe under my house(it's original on a 100yo house). How bad can that get, money-wise?
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Sep 14, 2021 09:02
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Any one have any experience with upflow/masticating toilets? I'm having my basement french drained and finished, and I'd like to add a bathroom down there. I'd like to avoid coring and putting a sump in the floor for the toilet, but I've seen those platform toilets or the rear exit w/ pump boxes. I'd like to have a simple sink/toilet/shower combo down there and I think I can manage that. The plumbing and drain stack is right there, so connecting is easy, but I'm curious how well those toilets work. You can use a system like this https://www.saniflodealer.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwkIGKBhCxARIsAINMioLqHYN1Djqx865pD863de_d1lJ3xcfGjGBQbxI5TVKLZapyvlfT07caAsbhEALw_wcB The upside is that you do not need to dig into concrete. You also don't need to pay above listed prices if you buy different brand from Amazon or whatever. They work perfectly fine in the home environment. Those pumps service entire bathroom, shower, sink and toilet. I've installed several. The only issue is they do not like when you flush anything other that tissue down the toilet, so don't put it in the rental property where you expect tenants to follow the rules.
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Sep 14, 2021 13:34
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Nitrox posted:You can use a system like this That's exactly what I was thinking. I see it has a drain on both sides, but I could have the shower-> sink -> pump on one side and plumb them together? I'd just have to put the shower on a platform so I can fit a p-trap under it, right?
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Sep 14, 2021 14:41
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Jerk McJerkface posted:That's exactly what I was thinking. I see it has a drain on both sides, but I could have the shower-> sink -> pump on one side and plumb them together? I'd just have to put the shower on a platform so I can fit a p-trap under it, right?
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Sep 14, 2021 21:45
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Jaxyon posted:I need to replace all the ancient iron gas pipe under my house(it's original on a 100yo house). How bad can that get, money-wise? What sort of access do you have to it? Why do you need to replace it?
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Sep 14, 2021 23:14
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My gas pipes are 70 year old black pipe hung in my crawl space and aside from a little dust on them they're basically good as new. If your house has buried gas lines under a slab I'd be real concerned though.
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Sep 14, 2021 23:34
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Nitrox posted:What you see on the sides are optional inlets so you can plumb shower, sink and toilet separately. Everything just dumps inside that case and flows to the pump at the end. The output is straight up. If you have the room to raise the floor, you can run conventional plumbing into a 3-in pipe and then just connected to that pump. This way you can use a $90 toilet instead of a $600 toilet. If your conventional plumbing is further than 8 ft from the pump, you need to put a vent in there. And you can just use an air admittance valve, or tie into existing plumbing stack. From the mfg page: https://www.saniflodealer.com/products/saniflo-toilet-with-macerator-series-pump-saniplus?variant=32259315728486  Can I use an AA valve? I thought they were bad?
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Sep 14, 2021 23:53
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devicenull posted:What sort of access do you have to it? Why do you need to replace it? Crawl space and multiple leaks. We've smelled and and neighbors on both sides have smelled and plumber confirmed. Jaxyon fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Sep 15, 2021 |
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Sep 15, 2021 01:34
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Jerk McJerkface posted:From the mfg page:
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Sep 15, 2021 08:11
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I’m trying to replace the cartridge in this: I got it apart and realized that the valve body is just floating in the wall. Not attached to a stud like I think it should be. The only thing keeping the valve body in place was JB Weld slathered between a plastic trim ring behind the wall and the chrome sleeve over the cartridge body.  There’s no fixing this correctly without opening a wall, right? The opposite side of the wall is another fiberglass shower kit in another bathroom.
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Sep 15, 2021 20:16
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Welp, I’m putting in a new cartridge then sealing it up with more JBWeld. Next time it leaks, I guess I’m buying a new shower kit.
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Sep 16, 2021 02:33
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Thanks, plumbing thread! Got the gross bastard off the wall:  It was mounted to this doubled up plywood, six screws attaching it to one stud with variable spacing. I don’t loving know.  The plywood base was liquid nailed to the drywall because ????????????? but I don’t care because it was all getting opened up anyhow.  Sloping drain pipes down from fixtures is for chumps. The only slip in there would let the urinal end go lower, this was it at the top. 😬  Shortly after this pic, I realized the rest had to open up as well. Yeehaw!  Called a plumber out because I don’t like to mess with plumbing that’ll be sealed up behind a wall. Water damage is an insidious bastard. Plus, he has the $500 tool. Old drain capped, new drain being run to where the sink was, and sloped correctly. Old sink water lines removed, new water lines on their way.  New sink water lines. Fortunately, we had hot and cold main lines right there. Fortuitous! And we could use the cold tap that was previously for the piss trough.  A few scraps from opening, and a few new pieces to close it all back in.  Initial mud up to see how much I was going to have to blend.  Textured, painted. The paint is actually a slight rose grey that we have elsewhere in the house, it’s easy on the eyes. Oh, and a new light. The old boob light filled with CFLs was not doing anyone any favors. Also not my best drywall blend job, but I’m going to a) put a sheet of stainless as a giant backsplash in the corner behind the new sink, and b) cover the walls in shelves. It’s a utility closet now, I’m not at all worried about drywall perfection on this one. I’ll be tiling the floor this weekend, but I got antsy and hooked up the sink we’ll be using in there for now. Might replace it at some point, might not. It was gratis from a friend.  In the other corner will be going this absurd spaceship I call the CatShitRoboMax9000. It hooks directly into the drain via a dishwasher tailpiece and cleans itself for like six months at a whack.  All in all a huge success! I guess technically we went from a half bath to something less, but nobody was kidding themselves about the urinal, and in 40 years when I decide to sell the place, I don’t think anyone will lament its Certainly the most amazing part of this is that I went from “how do I turn off the urinal” to “okay, ready for tile” in roughly three days. Didn’t know that was possible. 
Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 06:25 on Sep 16, 2021 |
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Sep 16, 2021 06:23
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My wife is going all in on plant things, and wants either a rain barrel or a RO system, not messed with RO systems for over a decade, I can't imagine they have changed a lot. But I see a lot of them on craigslist/marketplace for <$50 anything I should look for when picking up a used one cheap? As that seems like the best year round setup. Waste water from the AC in the summer and wtvr I can get setup for the winter is the idea.
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Sep 25, 2021 00:29
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