Plumber for a day

[Smart Red]

DH and DS spent the greater part of today doing plumbing. It is time. We did all the plumbing ourselves when we built this house (starting) in 1977 and this is the first time we've had to replace any of the fixtures. A pretty good run of luck -- or quality products -- that couldn't last forever.

My tub/shower was leaking into the basement. After calling the Moen help line and being told, "There IS no plan B" when the faucet cartridge was stuck, the guys decided to replace the whole tub/shower system. I picked up a new faucet yesterday. Of course, the fittings HAD to be different! Which means all the fittings we had needed to be changed. I was the gopher, as usual. While I went for the needed parts they attacked DH's bathroom faucet.

It seems that it started leaking a bit 2-4 years ago so DH turned off the water and used a kitchen bowl with water from the tub spout. They fixed the problem with a new faucet. Of course, there was one missing part -- a water inlet pipe.

I came home with the needed parts and fast-food lunch. Then I was off again for the water pipe and to get some galvanized pipe cut and rethreaded to fit the new tub faucet. By the time I returned, the guys had replaced a faucet with corrosion in the half bath. Finally, they had everything they needed to finish the first job and all three new faucets were in place and working properly.

I'm happy with the work!

 

[sumi]

Some things are just easier to have in good working condition! Our rental house has a plumbing issue. Whenever we let the bath water run out at normal speed it seeps up through the adjacent garage's floor! We've spoken to our landlord about that and the numerous other things that needs fixing and doing here, so hopefully he will get it sorted. There are renting as apposed to owning the problems!

 

[Smart Red]

Sounds like some sort of drain issue. If the pipe is broken under a garage floor it could be difficult to repair.

 

[sumi]

Hmm, they are going to have to lift that floor... rather them than me, is all I'm saying! That garage is so flimsy already. They are talking about renovating this house so they can sell it. They are going to have to throw some serious money at this first. There are so many things that needs attention! I think the only part of this house that doesn't need at least some work is the floors!

 

[Smart Red]

DH and DS spent the greater part of today doing plumbing. It is time. We did all the plumbing ourselves when we built this house (starting) in 1977 and this is the first time we've had to replace any of the fixtures.

Some things are just easier to have in good working condition! Our rental house has a plumbing issue. There are renting as apposed to owning the problems!

As landlords (albet very small ones) we realize things have to be in working order. We've found that the earlier problems are reported to us, the cheaper the repairs end up being. Still, I wonder why we can go nearly 40 years with no plumbing problems and our rentals are constantly needing water work.

 

[sumi]

The people who lived in this house before us told the landlord there are plumbing problems, but he chose not to do anything about it. He's going to end up paying dearly for his tardiness now. We have a permanent puddle in the garage at the moment I can see floors getting taken out so pipes can get accessed... $$$$$

Hmmm, that is odd... But it's a thing we also noticed when we rented out a house awhile back. Problems with the electricity, problems with the water pipes, but when we moved in there later the house was fine?

 

[mynameisjohnny]

It's a good attitude to always check the house before renting or buying (or moving). Basically we want our house to be comfortable for us to live and that should be all settled down before moving in.

 

[ritadesai23]

Some things are just easier to have in good working condition! Our rental house has a plumbing issue. Whenever we let the bath water run out at normal speed it seeps up through the adjacent garage's floor! We've spoken to our landlord about that and the numerous other things that needs fixing and doing here, so hopefully he will get it sorted. There are renting as apposed to owning the problems!

you may need to call some good plumbing Downtown Houston to Katy for your ease and ask your landlord to pay for it if he is getting lazy to call any plumbing services. I have been to this issue and at least I found them reliable and good enough. They also give you a claim card and a receipt from which it will become easy for you in showing the real price to your landlord.

 

[Smart Red]

More plumbing -- more gofering. Tenant called about a leak from tub into basement. We got there to see hole in floor beside toilet as well as leaky tub fixture. Tore out old vinyl inlaid and top 3/4 plywood. Fixed hole in floor beside the toilet. Actually the wood around the toilet wasn't damp, rotted, or weak, but tore that out to fix the nearby hole. Replaced 3/4 plywood over sub-floor with screws. Then used drywall patching plaster to fill in indentations and level the flooring.

Once that was dry we installed new vinyl, reset the toilet, and hooked up the sink again. The tiny (not much bigger than 4 x 5 floor with tub along the side) bathroom needed a new heat-duct defuser to replace the rusted one, new rubber base glued to the wall with adhesive, and a bead of silicone along the bottom of the tub and along the back splash/wall of the vanity.

All that before we got to the reason for our visit. . . a leaky tub faucet mixer. The unit was built in 1954 and still had original faucets in the kitchen and bathtub. We had replaced the wall hung basin with a vanity and countertop sink a year ago. So it was certainly time for a new tub faucet.

Of course, old plumbing makes for more difficult hook ups to modern fixtures. We cut the soldered copper tubing off in the basement and ran Pex tubing instead. Have to LOVE those new-type fittings called SharkBites! They make repairs so much easier than in past years. I remember pounding oakum and leading, cutting and threading iron pipe, cleaning copper for flux and solder, and even flaring copper tubing for compression fittings. With SharkBites, you just cut Pex to size and slide into SharkBite fitting until it hits bottom. Voila! A leak proof joint!

I still want to go back and replace the cast iron clean-outs under the tubs in all four apartments with PVC traps. Those dratted old clean-outs need the copper clean-out plug replaced every year or so while new PVC trap should be easier to clean and not require constant repair. Unlucky for us, there are no unions near by to get the first 2 inch pipe off. We will either need to break the clean out or cut a 2 inch pipe before we can start redoing the trap properly. Still, the apartment plumbing is back in working order and the tenants are happy.

The next apartment has much the same problem with the floor. Not because of a leak, but because one set of tenants didn't know how to use the shower curtain we provided. They left it outside of the tub so water got under the toilet and under the vinyl flooring.

Right now, the flooring under the toilet needs replacing which means another new floor afterwards. We will probably replace that old wall sink with a cabinet, basin, and new faucet while we're there. It has been a while since we've had any work to do at this set of apartments so it is certainly time. Unfortunately, due to early Alzheimer's, DH isn't able to do the work anymore and we must rely on DS to get things done. Promised to get the next bathroom started in two weeks. Praying it goes faster and easier. It should, since the tub is okay.

 

[Marie Reis]

Wow.