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I was getting rid of several layers of old walls in my basement and found where the cast iron soil stack goes into the floor. I dug a bit with my fingers and noticed the dirt was a bit damp and there seemed to be some holes in the pipe where it to takes a horizontal turn to go under some concrete. The bad news is on top of the concrete is asbestos tile currently covered up by some carpet. I put the dirt back and tried to forget what I saw. How hosed am I? I found the holes in the Y in the picture below, below what is visible in this picture. Ignore the cast iron pipe in the foreground, it seems to be abandoned and totally packed with construction debris. But it might explain why the town says the sewer line exits my house in two places and meets up again somewhere in the lawn... 
mcgreenvegtables fucked around with this message at 22:23 on Mar 16, 2021 |
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Mar 16, 2021 22:19
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I am trying to figure out what the status is of my water softener, and whether it's possible to get it working. My wife lived in this house before we met, and she said she's never used it, so it has been sitting lonely in the basement for at least the past 4 years. I recently began looking at it, and I think that it may have been technically "running" all this time, with no salt in the brine tank, and who knows what settings on the control unit. How bad is this? Here's what I have been able to figure out about it. It is a single-tank system. The resin tank is 9 inches in diameter, and 48 inches in height. The control unit is a Fleck 5600 Econominder.
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Mar 16, 2021 22:40
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Does the brine tank have any water in it?
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Mar 16, 2021 22:42
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Motronic posted:Does the brine tank have any water in it? Yeah, here's a picture. Overall the water level is a bit under half "full". Also, I didn't realize there was that crystallized looking stuff on the surface of the water before.  
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Mar 16, 2021 22:52
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That looks about right. Go get yourself some bags of salt and let 'er rip. If it really wasn't running for a year or more all the water would have evaporated out of the brine thank. So it's most likely futilely trying to regen the softener just as it's been programmed to do. You can pick up some test strips (https://www.amazon.com/Water-Hardness-Test-Strips-Dishwasher/dp/B07BRFNNKF) to do a before and after and potentially recalibrate the thing if necessary.
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Mar 16, 2021 23:08
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mcgreenvegtables posted:I was getting rid of several layers of old walls in my basement and found where the cast iron soil stack goes into the floor. I dug a bit with my fingers and noticed the dirt was a bit damp and there seemed to be some holes in the pipe where it to takes a horizontal turn to go under some concrete. The bad news is on top of the concrete is asbestos tile currently covered up by some carpet. I put the dirt back and tried to forget what I saw. How hosed am I? I am suddenly craving Park's breakfast sausage. That looks like a gnarly job. You will have to deal with it, sooner or later, before your basement becomes flooded with Category 3 poo poo-water. That smell will travel all over the house and linger for days. If you can determine where your soil line exits, and if it isn't critical that the exit point from the basement be below the floor (as in: you have a toilet somewhere in the basement, sitting on the slab) then you may consider abandoning that mess in place and re-routing through an adjacent wall. You can tie back in to the line further downstream.
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Mar 17, 2021 02:10
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brugroffil posted:Anyone with experience in treating sulfur and iron reducing bacteria in well water? Every place I look or company I ask has a different solution. I've only done a little bit of (municipal) well engineering related to sulfur and iron-reducing bacteria, but usually when it was encountered, we had to start a maintenance program of <x often> shocking of the well, and it will likely have to be maintained for the life of the well. About 50% of the time the clients just chose to eventually drill a new well and abandon the problematic one, but of course these are large production wells.
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Mar 18, 2021 00:20
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PainterofCrap posted:I am suddenly craving Park's breakfast sausage. What a post/name combo here. Just awe-inspiring. Am I allowed to  heh shitpost in the plumbing thread? 
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Mar 18, 2021 03:08
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SourKraut posted:Out of curiosity, what pH are they considering to be acidic? Because the normal pH range allowed for municipal systems is perfectly fine with copper. Hardness is probably the greater concern, but a lot of the plumbers where I live (Phoenix) have switched to recommending PEX, but it seems like it's mostly because it's a faster install and cheaper relative to copper. San Diego for reference, buy they didn't specify a pH range at all, just 'the local water.' We did end up going with PEX for the cost anyways, though through a different contractor. We were talking through a GC so they may not have known the exact water details beyond their plumber recommending PEX.
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Mar 18, 2021 05:49
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SourKraut posted:I've only done a little bit of (municipal) well engineering related to sulfur and iron-reducing bacteria, but usually when it was encountered, we had to start a maintenance program of <x often> shocking of the well, and it will likely have to be maintained for the life of the well. About 50% of the time the clients just chose to eventually drill a new well and abandon the problematic one, but of course these are large production wells. Thanks! I've been mainly suggested AIO3 or a chlorination system with carbon filter. We did shock the well recently for total coliform but everything I read is in line with it coming back within a year. Getting the chlorine out fully was a multi day pain in the rear end I'd rather not have to do semi regularly if possible.
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Mar 19, 2021 02:05
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brugroffil posted:Thanks! I've been mainly suggested AIO3 or a chlorination system with carbon filter. Honestly, if you don't mind the upkeep and can pipe the drain to somewhere nearby, a whole-house RO would probably be the other way to go.
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Mar 19, 2021 05:46
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I've got a minor issue I've been wanting to fix for a while now. I'm in a townhouse and the water heater was replaced by yours truly about 2 years ago. The original water heater was sitting on a square pan, that had a hole in one corner on the bottom of it for water to run into a drain pipe (1/2"?) I stupidly ripped out the pan and didn't realize the pan was connected to the hole directly, so I made a bigger headache for myself. I put in the new pan and like a typical trashy DIYer, pointed the spout to the hole. I think in order for this to be fixed (is it even worth fixing I don't know..) is to get the same style pan or another square pan that doesn't have any holes in it, then drill a hole slightly smaller than the drain hole. We're on a slab (as you can see the rebar..) so nothing I can do about that drain pipe. I can't seem to find any pans like this though, they all have a 1" hole pre-drilled into it. 
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Mar 19, 2021 17:29
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PainterofCrap posted:I am suddenly craving Park's breakfast sausage. Nice idea. There is another sewer stack that goes into the ground downstream of the asbestos I might be able to have this tied into. But I want to redo this whole area of the basement anyway so it might be better to just pay up for the floor tile remediation than have the whole project defined by a shitwall.
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Mar 20, 2021 00:20
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Bank posted:I've got a minor issue I've been wanting to fix for a while now. I'm in a townhouse and the water heater was replaced by yours truly about 2 years ago. The original water heater was sitting on a square pan, that had a hole in one corner on the bottom of it for water to run into a drain pipe (1/2"?) I would wander around the aisle of sorrow at lowes (the one with all the misc plumbing fittings that everyone's always staring blankly at) and see if you can rig something up to connect those two. If you think about it, it doesn't really need to hold pressure, just direct the water into the proper place. I mean a plastic elbow and some epoxy would drain the water just fine there. Do you even know if that drain works for any significant amount of water? If you pour a gallon of water in it, does it all drain?
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Mar 20, 2021 01:03
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Hi plumbing thread. I want to share my adventure and get some thoughts. We moved into the house exactly 7 days ago. On friday I come home from work and discover zero water pressure. Well pump runs, amps says it's moving water, but I got no water.  Oh, there it is, in the crawlspace. I spent half my day today digging up the water line and tracing the bubbling freezing water. Until it heads back out under the footing and towards the well. The previous owner unfortunately built a porch directly next to the well casing. So then I disassemble the porch. And discover the ground is still frozen.  I've got frost blanket down and if it's thawed will dig it out tomorrow. I'm thinking a bad seal on the pitless? So what better opportunity to unfuck the water tank.  Removed the metal tank that said "Installd 2005". Also added a check valve before the tank.  The shut off crumbled to dust.  One trip to the hardware store, $150, and I have all new stainless poo poo. Once I know it doesn't leak I'll coat it all in No-Drip. Is a seal on the pitless something I can do myself, or am I into expensive Well Driller land?
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Mar 21, 2021 01:31
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Yooper posted:Hi plumbing thread. I want to share my adventure and get some thoughts. It will likely require pulling the pump. Unless you have a pump hoist or a crane, you'll probably want to hire someone. How deep is the well? E: unless your well is hosed, its not expensive well driller territory. Just call a plumbing company that also does well pump service. They'll probably have to have some sort of license for it. Here in Ontario, they would need a class 4 license which covers pump installation/repairs etc.. There'll probably be something similar where you are. wesleywillis fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Mar 21, 2021 |
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Mar 21, 2021 02:01
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wesleywillis posted:It will likely require pulling the pump. Unless you have a pump hoist or a crane, you'll probably want to hire someone. 300 feet. It's leaking outside the casing, inside looks fine. So if I dig down to it I should only have the PE->barbed fitting -> pitless 1" NPT?
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Mar 21, 2021 02:04
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I'll say that the knowledge and tools that cost a bit are worth it, vs losing your pump down the well casing. What a pain in the rear end. Is it all galvanized pipe? I'm in The South so it's just pvc
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Mar 21, 2021 02:07
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Yooper posted:300 feet. It's leaking outside the casing, inside looks fine. So if I dig down to it I should only have the PE->barbed fitting -> pitless 1" NPT? Water wells aren't my thing TBH. I do know some "stuff" about them, but I only drill test wells. Digging up around the casing is definitely something you can do to help expedite the repair work, but if it is the pitless, then that should be left to a pro. See my edit on the previous post.
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Mar 21, 2021 02:08
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angryrobots posted:I'll say that the knowledge and tools that cost a bit are worth it, vs losing your pump down the well casing. Yup. It was galvanized from the brass PE to the PVC. Except for a 2 inch stub of black pipe that corroded the gently caress out of the ball valve. Not terribly uncommon in this area for the age of construction. (1983). wesleywillis posted:Water wells aren't my thing TBH. I do know some "stuff" about them, but I only drill test wells. Cool. If the frost is gone I'll dig it up and see how it looks. If all else I save myself a few bucks and can let the well dudes handle it. Frost might still be down 30 inches, so I'm not sure how well my insulation/tarp setup is going to work. Thanks folks, we'll see what tomorrow brings.
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Mar 21, 2021 02:14
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Hand digging (assuming its not too frozen) will definitely save time and money. Though it will be a big pain. They'd otherwise have to get a locator out there to mark the line to dig with power equipment which would probably cost a couple hundred more bucks, but they might have to dig by hand within a certain distance anyway. Around here its hand dig if you're less than a metre from the paint marks. So they may have hand dug anyway, but they charge by the hour. Dig with caution, even with a shovel. Turn off the breaker for your well pump. Even a shovel can cut through a power line.
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Mar 21, 2021 02:21
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wesleywillis posted:Hand digging (assuming its not too frozen) will definitely save time and money. Though it will be a big pain. They'd otherwise have to get a locator out there to mark the line to dig with power equipment which would probably cost a couple hundred more bucks, but they might have to dig by hand within a certain distance anyway. Around here its hand dig if you're less than a metre from the paint marks. So they may have hand dug anyway, but they charge by the hour. Breaker is off, so all good there. It's about a 6 foot run from the crawlspace footing to the well casing. So I've got a very good idea where power-pipe is. I'm not terribly excited to dig ~60 inches into frost sopping wet ground, but it's either that or pay someone else to do it. Though if it's froze tomorrow I'll have to let a pro do it on Monday.
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Mar 21, 2021 02:25
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Holy poo poo the insulation that they put an unintended vapor barrier over really rusted the hell out of that.
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Mar 21, 2021 02:57
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Motronic posted:Holy poo poo the insulation that they put an unintended vapor barrier over really rusted the hell out of that. I've used conforming no-drip pipe wrap at work and have never seen pipes look like that. Is it because they used the black pipe foam and tried to duct tape it tight? It took two jumbo pipe wrenches and a wooden mallet to loosen the unions, was impressively corroded.
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Mar 21, 2021 12:17
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Yooper posted:Is it because they used the black pipe foam and tried to duct tape it tight? Yeah, that's what I meant by "unintended vapor barrier". Nothing wrong with pipe wrap.....but like just about everything else, install it as per the instructions. There are usually REALLY good reasons why you're supposed to use something in a specific way.
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Mar 21, 2021 16:20
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Motronic posted:Yeah, that's what I meant by "unintended vapor barrier". Nothing wrong with pipe wrap.....but like just about everything else, install it as per the instructions. There are usually REALLY good reasons why you're supposed to use something in a specific way. For the most part all of the plumbing has been pretty decent. The electrical in the whole house is really nice, the builder was a master electrician. Well update! I dug down outside the house where there is no frost and located the 3 wire electrical. It's at 72", the pipe is probably a foot down from that. Too far for this dude to tackle with a spade. I'm going to get the local well people and let them handle this.
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Mar 21, 2021 16:51
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Hey, plumbing thread. I've got a problem that is opaque to me, but hopefully simple for you all. I'd appreciate any advice! My grandparents say they've had really loud rattling in their pipes the last few days, roughly since a guy from the gas company came and replaced their gas meter and checked their water heater or a day before when the washing machine was replaced. The rattling only happens when you turn off the hot water quickly, doing it slowly or turning off cold water is quiet. Does this point to anything specific and obvious? Easy fix or call a professional? Google suggests it's water hammer, but it mostly sounds like it's referring to both cold & hot and I don't know if it's a different thing or solution if it's only happening with the hot water. Canine Conspiracy fucked around with this message at 22:31 on Mar 22, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2021 21:11
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Could be that there is still air in the pipes from the meter being changed. Opening up the faucets to let them run can help, but it will work itself out. Takes longer on washers usually.
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Mar 22, 2021 21:57
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Motronic posted:Could be that there is still air in the pipes from the meter being changed. Opening up the faucets to let them run can help, but it will work itself out. Takes longer on washers usually. Changing the gas meter wouldn't put air into the water pipes. My money's on this has been happening for ages, but they're super aware of it because "things changed". Or the old washing machine had water hammer arrestors, but they were removed wheni t was replaced.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:37
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devicenull posted:Changing the gas meter wouldn't put air into the water pipes. I read right over "gas" and was thinking water meter. You're right - ignore that advice.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:42
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Could he have removed a pipe hanger or something along the way so that the water hammer on a hot water pipe now shakes it enough to hit something?
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Mar 22, 2021 22:44
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SpartanIvy posted:Could he have removed a pipe hanger or something along the way so that the water hammer on a hot water pipe now shakes it enough to hit something? I mean sure, but now that I've been told and re-read that it's the GAS meter......I don't see why anything internal would even be touched.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:45
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Motronic posted:I mean sure, but now that I've been told and re-read that it's the GAS meter......I don't see why anything internal would even be touched. Maybe to get a better view of the water heater or something? Who knows what they could have touched or moved. It's realistically probably just that the new washing machine hammers harder than the old one. Put some arrestors on it and it'll probably stop.
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Mar 22, 2021 23:00
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The goon mentioned that they "checked" the water heater. They may have just given it a quick look, or did they do other things to it? Like drain, or........ Other water heater checking things? Not a plumber so I don't know what might be included in "checking" that poo poo.
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Mar 22, 2021 23:23
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wesleywillis posted:The goon mentioned that they "checked" the water heater. Yeah, presumably a gas water heater to make sure it still lit properly or if it's old enough to re-light the standing pilot.
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Mar 22, 2021 23:28
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Motronic posted:Yeah, presumably a gas water heater to make sure it still lit properly or if it's old enough to re-light the standing pilot. Hah, "old enough". My water heater installed in 2018 still needs the pilot re-lit if the gas goes off.
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Mar 22, 2021 23:52
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We just moved to a new house in SF and the shower is ... underwhelming. The owner put in this one and we'd like to replace it with something better - it's mounted too low and the spray is very underwhelming. Like, I know CA has a flow restriction and i've contemplated buying showerheads out of the back of a van, but this is something else. Given that we're renting, what should we be looking at for a showerhead to replace this (preferably with a detachable handle) that will have better spray so we actually feel clean?
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Mar 23, 2021 04:18
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luminalflux posted:We just moved to a new house in SF and the shower is ... underwhelming. The owner put in this one and we'd like to replace it with something better - it's mounted too low and the spray is very underwhelming. Like, I know CA has a flow restriction and i've contemplated buying showerheads out of the back of a van, but this is something else. I've turned low flow shower heads in to high flow, just by taking the piece off that threads on to the outlet pipe for the shower and either drilling out the part that water flows through, or removing the little metal washer that has a tiny rear end hole in it. Your results may vary. Something awful forums, HCH, Jefferey from YOSPOS and I, the user wesley willis, do not endorse breaking the law in any way, shape or form. Always follow federal, state, and local water use regulations.
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Mar 23, 2021 11:27
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wesleywillis posted:I've turned low flow shower heads in to high flow, just by taking the piece off that threads on to the outlet pipe for the shower and either drilling out the part that water flows through, or removing the little metal washer that has a tiny rear end hole in it. I want to feel like I'm drowning when I shower. Don't kink shame.
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Mar 23, 2021 17:24
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Success! Excavator dug down 7 feet to get to the pitless adapter. There we found the hose had popped off the pipe stub (!) that was threaded into the brass pitless. Since the ground was frozen above the line insulation all of the water was flowing into the crawlspace... The picture doesn't do it justice, it's deep.  Instead of a barbing fitting there was that with a single hose clamp. The pipe stub had corroded where it met the plastic and the corrosion just sloughed off.
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Mar 23, 2021 17:52
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