plumbing

Not Timey Whimey

Posted by Orvan Taurus on December 18, 2025
Posted in: house, plumbing. Leave a comment

But the upstairs bathroom’s sink faucet setup was quite wibbly-wobbly indeed. And I’d have tightened it up, were there anything left to tighten. That the drain plug assembly was broken beyond DIY repair for… too long… and this is yet another bit of plumbing in the place that lacks cutoff valves[1].. it was “Call the plumber” time. As I write this (about 9 AM on the 17th) the plumber is due “any time now.”

So, hopefully later today I will wake up to find the upstairs bathroom with a new faucet assembly, including the drain plug lever setup, and proper modern cutoff valves. Then I can start putting things back. To make thing easier, I pulled the drawers from the cabinetry, and removed almost all the various things from under the sink (leaving a few bits that looked like they might belong there but were not in the right place) and also the stuff (save the soap & soap dish) from atop the sink. The above and below went into different boxes, of course. I am not about to let the toothbrush and the toilet brush get together!

UPDATE: Woke up at 2:30 PM or so. Plumber long gone, of course. New assembly in place but was told to not use until evening – let the bonding agents used dry/set. The drain plug setup is “new hotness” without any lever linkage, but “push down to seal, push down again to unseal.”

Put a few things back, but holding off some stuff to be the over-faucet shelf setup won’t be in the way of new single-control faucet setup (the old faucet setup had the classic turning HOT and COLD valves.) Though it might be a Good Idea to just simplify what is on the sink and eliminate the shelf setup. It’s one of those annoying things that had a coating that looked like stainless steel, but it was just a coating, so now it’s rather rusted.

[1] The water lines for the clothes washer and the kitchen sink were updated with modern cutoff valves when each was worked on. The downstairs restroom had cutoff valves installed when it was worked on. This will either be the last or second to last place that needs cutoffs either installed or modernized. I really hope to not have to deal with the tub/shower stuff for… well, at all, really.

Luxury Shower

Posted by Orvan Taurus on November 2, 2025
Posted in: house, lighting, plumbing.

Well maybe not super luxury. No gold fixtures and nubile attendants and…. that sort of fantasy stuff.

Years ago, I went through a number of low-end (Chinesium) LED light-up shower heads. They were cheap. Not inexpensive, just cheap. That’s why I went through them ‘at speed’. Part of the reason for them was that I often showered before work, at night, and if the power went out… a water-powered light would not be affected. Outages are infrequent, but not unheard of. Interestingly, I don’t recall a night-time outage in all the time I’ve been in the area. But there’s always that first time.

Eventually I splurged on a “closeout” at Bed Bath & Beyond (before they went woke/broke and throwing out the MyPillow guy and his products for his saying something mildly positive about Trump… that was almost exactly the same mildly positive thing he said about Obama a few years earlier… I shed no tears at their problems after that, even if they were supposedly unrelated). It still cost a bundle, but it lasted a good many years. But for some time the various colors stopped being various (blue for cold, green for warm, red for hot, blinking red for TOO HOT) and defaulted to blue. And then the noise… and even the blue faded. Nothing lasts forever.

And so I went looking… nothing super-cheap seemed to have survived, which is good. But also nothing really stupid expensive unless REALLY stupid – and curiously, of lesser function. There were many “random” color changers… I suppose that might appeal to some, but I want information about temperature without getting frozen or scorched to find out. And in the (surprisingly low) mid-range there were things that did that. No blinking red for TOO HOT, but the center of the head had a display… to tell you the exact temperature of the water, even beyond the simple color indication.

I have found that blue is indeed cold. Too cold. Green is warm… or tolerable to warm. And red is hot… and going JUST into the red, to say 104 or 105 F (rather than the high of green at about 102 F) is really, really nice. And the pressure seems better – which might be design, or might be newness and lack of years of scale build up. Whatever it all is or was, I can see that maybe this was at least a year overdue.

One thing that impressed me was that the maker included not just the shower-head, but a mounting bracket and hose, AND some teflon tape. There was enough “extra” of things that I didn’t need to add or change, that I’ve re-packed the box and am keeping it for/as spares.

That Sinking, er, Crashing Feeling

Posted by Orvan Taurus on April 5, 2025
Posted in: house, plumbing.

About a week ago I was dealing with various issues of cleaning in the downstairs (ground floor) restroom. At one point I must have more than bumped or put too much pressure on the sink. This is a thing that ‘hangs’ on a sturdy wall-bracket that is hidden by the sink itself. Presumably this has worked just fine for decades. Until then. It fell… it came off of the bracket and fell, crashed, to the floor. The porcelain was fine. The flexible water supply lines were fine. The new PVC(?) drain was NOT FINE. It shattered. It replaced the metal drain line that had been there. This change happened when the new faucet setup was installed.

Since the drain was out of commission, I didn’t see any point in re-setting the sink and potentially giving the impression that all was well. I did turn the new cutoff valves OFF to avoid any potential further issue.

This happened, of course, on a weekend night when things were closed. Monday the plumber was called. And as things worked out, they wouldn’t be able to get to things until Tuesday morning. That morning $HOUSEMATE had something he had to be out of the house for, so I got to be ready for the plumber until he returned. He got back before the plumber showed up, so I could get some sleep. Things were dealt with in the early afternoon. I am fairly sure I slept right through it all, or close enough.

As soon as the sink was back in place and in service (bolts in the wall had been added so it was more than just the bracket that the lip of the sink rested on supporting things) I measured the distance from floor to bottom of the sink. Then I ordered an under-sink support to provide additional support and security. It arrived a couple days later and was quickly put into place. Hopefully that will be the last of the plumbing issues for a while.

Mind, there are some other things involving plumbing that I would like to have taken care of, but none are pressing. And I really want to deal with finance issues before those, so that I know things can be afforded without making the financial situation worse.

Re-Re-Quieting the Pipes

Posted by Orvan Taurus on February 14, 2025
Posted in: house, plumbing, Uncategorized.

In April of 2021, I installed a pair of water hammer arrestors on the washing machine. They worked and the plumbing was nicely silent… for a few years. Then things got BANGingly loud again, so just over a year ago, a new set of arrestors was put into place – after the cutoff valves were dealt with. The banging decreased, but was still there. I put up with that for… too long.

The first set, the 2021 set, were Sioux Chief brand. The 2024 set were… something else. I suspect the first set was after researching “best” and finding that brand a few times and the second was more whatever was inexpensive on Amazon just then. The newest, third, set is Sioux Chief again, once I recalled the brand.

I spent a bit of time Wednesday morning swapping out the supposedly working cheap set and putting in the new Sioux Chief arrestors. The washer was run after that – and once again the plumbing is properly silent. Or at least only makes sounds one expects of properly working plumbing. No banging pipes. Not even a “quiet” banging.

I will say, the new cutoff valves made things a lot easier than the first couple times. It was still annoying to deal with it all, but not nearly as annoying as it had been earlier. Hopefully I won’t need to do this again for some time. Though I suppose I should clear things once or twice a year just to exercise the valves so they remain properly functional.

Plumbing Issue/Question

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 31, 2025
Posted in: house, plumbing, question.

Some years back, I replaced the ancient (by MY standards) kitchen faucet setup with a seemingly nice tall piece to readily deal with filling tall items, a unitary control for temperature and flow, and a spray hose. Alas, it was likely made of “finest Chinesium” and the diverter for the spray hose went screwy years ago. At first it was simply that the spray hose didn’t work the first try, but working the control helped. Then it was that the main flow would cut out.. again working the control helped. And then the spray hose was only a trickle no matter what. Of late, the main flow – even without attempting to use the spray hose – cuts out even right off. Working the control gets things right. But as this has been a progression of failure, it seems likely things will only worsen.

A couple things. First, I HATE working on plumbing. I can do it, but I do NOT like it. Second, which might be part of the first, the old cutoff valves only partly worked. The old cold water cutoff worked. The old hot water cutoff… leaked in any but the FULL ON position. This made the last work Rather Annoying Indeed. Especially as the “short job” took a few days and it was so much “fun” turning on the hot water (and soaking towels) for things that NEEDED hot water.. like showers. The good news is that the old cutoff valves have been replaced and the new ones (which I exercise about once a week to keep them in operating condition) work fine.

The “new hotness” is a setup with a hose integrated into the main flow, so no diverter is needed. Neat. But.. I have NO experience with such So I have questions:

  1. Is the integrated spray-hose setup as much a Good Idea as it initially seems, or is there some glaring drawback that is not obvious to the inexperienced?
  2. What make(s) should be considered?
  3. What make(s) should be avoided?

And any other advice is appreciated. I really do NOT wish to do this again if it can be avoided. This is, however, in the realm of “No, not paying someone else to do this ‘simple’ (famous last word, I know) thing.”

Now, there is another place where I will certainly save up/pay over time to have someone else deal with the issue – but that needs a full faucet & drain stopper mechanism replacement and, of course, the installation (not even replacement!) of right proper cutoff valves. Yeah, I am just thrilled.

Low Flow

Posted by Orvan Taurus on February 18, 2024
Posted in: plumbing, preparedness, Uncategorized.

Friday morning all seemed well. I took a (for me) late shower and it was as well that I did. When I woke up Friday evening the water pressure seemed low. Uh oh. Went and looked for leaks & wet spots and was relieved to not have a local leak. Then I remembered the time of year and how… impressive… the water lines in this neighborhood of $HOOTERVILLE are[1]. I even asked $HOUSEMATE if there was a water main break or leak. No news…

I went to work, and either was pre-occupied with such, or nothing had been worked out just yet. Place yer bets. But when I got home, there were orange cones for a stretch on one side of the street. I didn’t get close enough to look – partly as I had stuff to do, and partly as about half the cones were at/around My Methylated Neighbors.

I decided I’d best take a quick shower and do a small load of laundry (work clothes) on the ‘Speed Wash’ setting while I could. The shower was lower pressure, but enough (thankfully it was a lighter worknight). While laundry was started, various vessels were filled with water Just In Case. There’s several gallons beyond that, but I’d rather only resort to them (and move them – remember that a gallon of water is about 8.3 lbs) if they are Truly Needed.

All was done, or done enough, by the time the crew(s) appeared and started in on things. So far, no knocks on the door or ring of the bell to inform about a water cutoff. That has happened before.

If I am lucky, I will sleep through things and wake to properly pressurized plumbing. I know, of course, better than to bet that way.

…

And just before retiring to bed, the pressure dropped to zero… or was a whole lot of air and not much water. When I awoke, it was back to (mostly) water and the pressure seemed to be back to normal.

[1] Time of year matters. While it’s not always February or March when things fail, it seems that’s the way to bet.

Re-Quieting the Pipes, But…

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 30, 2024
Posted in: house, plumbing. Tagged: , , .

In April of 2021, I installed a pair of water hammer arrestors on the washing machine. They worked, at least until fairly recently. I was hearing the plumbing go BANG when the washer in use. Crud. Time to replace the arrestors. Well, I did that.

Alas, in the process I discovered the old cut-off valves were long past their lifespan. One had handle that was maybe 45% present, and had I been able to reach it (I wasn’t moving the washer dryer stack, as I could reach what I really needed to) I am unsure if it would have moved or would do what the other did. The other? Full handle, turned just fine. But leaked once turned on again, even fully on. So, left it off and delayed laundry. The other? Well the whole-house cutoff works. Not an ideal solution, but a workable one.

Monday afternoon the plumber was out (again…) and did move the the washer-dryer stack to get at things. Both cutoff valves were replaced, and the hoses from them to the washer (and arrestors). It seems the rubber washer/seal that was supposed to be in them… wasn’t. No idea how that happened.

And now, (finally) laundry can be done. The new water hammer arrestors haven’t quieted things down 100% so I am not exactly impressed, but they have at least made a significant improvement in things. They’ll do for now.

Water, Water, Properly Contained

Posted by Orvan Taurus on January 27, 2024
Posted in: house, plumbing.

The restroom by the laundry… nook… sort of off the back “hall” has had the odd, thankfully fairly small, puddle of water at times after heavy use of the sink. And some water drips even after fairly light use. I’d wondered some about how much splashing there was, and did some minimal investigation to no satisfying conclusion. Early this (past?) week $HOUSEMATE had had enough and called a plumber to look things over.

After a (rescheduled, due to timing conflict) inspection of the setup, it was determined the faucet setup had run through all, or more likely more than all, its life. It was time for a replacement. Also, whoever did the last (or first?) work on it didn’t bother with shut-off valves, which just makes everything that extra annoying. Thus another visit was scheduled, and a replacement faucet setup selected.

Sometime Thursday it was all dealt with. Now there are shut-off valves for the hot and cold water lines to the sink, and a new faucet setup, as well as the drain piping being replaced. I think the old (metal) pipework was at least a P rather than S trap. The result is that the floor is nice and dry – unless something is tracked in. I’ll likely add those cut-offs to my list of things to exercise from time to time to keep them from seizing up and then not performing their intended job.