Plumbing
Hints and Tips
General
hints on blocked pipes, faulty faucets, taps, drains, and more. Sweating Copper;
an article extolling the virtues and advice on using the magic metal.
Subject:
Re: slow draining sinks --
If your sink drains are chronically slow and you live in an older
house, the problem may be an accumulation of sludge in the lines. No
amount of plunging and chemicals is going to fix this. What's needed is
to climb up onto the roof of your house with a metal snake (preferably
one with a business end looking a bit like a ballpeen hammer) and ram
that snake down each of the drain lines, entering through the vent
stacks, with a fair amount of force. It may require 50 or 100 motions
for each stack. A licensed plumber will charge you about US$250 or, you
can venture it yourself. You should also snake out any drain clean-outs
you can find at ground level. -- Mark Gilman 28 Feb 2004
Subject:
Tips on pipes. If
you have a split pipe, instead of draining down the whole system you
can buy 'pipe freeze', (I know this product is available in the UK but
not sure about anywhere else), It comes with a jacket that you wrap
around the pipe and you spray something very cold into it and it
freezes the pipe for about 30-40 mins. Saving time and money. -- Kevin
Rockell
Kevin @ No Worries Plumbing.......UK 6 May 2003
Make sure you turn the water off at source before
attempting to clear a blocked tap by taking it apart. Adam Le Gresley,
Blocked
sinks. If you are trying to unblock a blocked sink, cover up the
overflow holes with a damp cloth. This helps build up the pressure. --
Janet Adamson, Washington DC.
Toilets.
If your toilet ball float is leaking and filling with water here is a
useful trick I learnt to tide you over until you can get a new one.
Take off the float (by unscrewing it), empty it, then screw it back on
and wrap it in a plastic bag. -- Anon.
When
threading pipes it is sometimes difficult to get started. You can make
it easier by cutting slots in the end and then cutting off the end
later -- Richard Heffer. Camberley UK
Toilets.
If you think that your toilet might be leaking slightly, check to see
if the problem is not due to condensation before calling out a plumber.
If you have condensation problems they can be solved by improved
ventilation when bathing or showering. -- Y Chan, NYC
A
clever way of checking to see if your cistern is leaking is to put in
some food coloring.
Remember
to use PTFE tape when fixing a leak or making
joints. The tape should be wrapped around the
thread of the pipe. Clockwise when viewed from the end of the
pipe is the correct way to put it on -- Robin Gill Southall
England
If you
are installing tanks and fitting pipes to them be sure to cover the
ends of the pipes with tape to stop pieces of plastic and swarf from
dropping down them, the bits and pieces will block taps later on and
cause all kinds of problems. Talking from experience -- Richard
Heffer. Camberley UK
Showers.
If the water pressure is very poor in your shower it may be due to
lime-scale build up. Always clean your shower heads every three months.
If the scale is too bad it may be an idea to get either a new hose, or
a new shower head. -- Scott Edmunds
If
your water pipes sometimes make a loud "hammering noise" after the
toilet has been flushed or sink, etc. Ask at the hardware store for
something for "waterhammer".
It's a fitting or somesuch thing which is easily installed in the line.
A common problem and not very expensive. - - Anon
Ref
'hammering water pipes'. This is caused by a pressure build up of water
in the pipes. The simplest solution is to turn down your water pressure
at the stop-cock -- Alan Brighton
Repairs
to low pressure water pipes can be carried out while the water is held
back by stuffing bread up the pipe. It should remain in place
long enough for a repair to be made -- Handy Andy.
(Andy Hand-Davis Hedge End, Southampton England)
Frozen
Pipes. I find that the best way to melt the ice in frozen pipes is to
put hot water bottles over them. I hear that using a hair-dryer is good
as well. -- Jon Simpson
Subject:
Noisy pipes If your water pipes sometimes make a loud "hammering noise"
after the toilet has been flushed or sink, etc. Ask at the hardware
store for something for "waterhammer".
It's a fitting or somesuch thing which is easily installed in the line.
A common problem and not very expensive. - - Anon
Split
Pipes. If your water pipe has split, a temporary fix you can do whilst
waiting for a qualified plumber is to wrap torn strips of fabric very
tightly around the break. Keep a large saucepan or bucket underneath
the join to catch any drips. -- Harry James.
Taps.
If you are removing nice tap fittings (such as gold ones) for
maintenance reasons, use a thick cloth to protect it from the jaws of
the wrench, otherwise you'll get a load of scratches on them.
-- Geoff New
When
taking a tap apart, always keep the plug in, to prevent anything useful
falling down the plug hole. - Larry Brown, LA.
Links:
http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/
~~~|H-n-T|~~~
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