Some Hopefully Helpful Plumbing Tips

[Hostile]

Every now and then I get asked for some repair tips because of my business. Plumbers are ultra expensive and many of the plumbing repairs in your house can be done without you calling one. I thought I'd share a few tips with you in the hope that it may save some of you some wallet stuffing.

First of all let me talk about garbage disposals. The simplest appliance in your house is also the simplest to fix. It is even simple to replace if you have to.

Okay, so lets say your disposal is clogged up. On the bottom of the disposal there is an allen bolt right in the middle. In the picture below it is in the raised portion right in the center.



Place a 1/4" allen wrench in that bolt and spin it all the way around in both directions. If it will not spin one of two things is wrong. There is something jamming the blades to the sides of the disposal or the disposal is shot.

If it is jammed, you will need a flashlight to look into the disposal around the edges and something with a sharp point to pry whatever is stuck out from between and then something to grab that foreign object and get it out of the disposal.

Hardest ting I ever had to remove from a disposal...aquarium rocks. They are small and wedge perfectly in the sides. Don't clean your aquarium on the disposal side of your kitchen sink.

Once it spins push that red reset button.

That's it. It takes 15 seconds as long as nothing is jammed and a plumber will charge you a minimum of $65.00 to do that. If there is a jam he's going to add 25 to 50 bucks.

If you need to replace the disposal it is easy to do as well. There is only one pipe connected to it and it is cinched in place by 2 screws. Remove the screws then take a hammer and slightly tap the mounting ring attached to the drain. It takes no more than 10 minutes for a complete amateur to remove an old, bad disposal. Tap right to left to take it off.

Place the new disposal in place to the drain and tap the mounting ring to cinch it on the drain. Get it good and tight. Tap left to right to put it on the drain. Attach the drain with the two new screws and plug it in.

You should be able to change a disposal in 25 minutes max and that is if you have never done it before. Cost to change the disposal from a plumber will likely be $150 on top of the cost of the disposal and he can do it in 10 minutes or less if he already has the new disposal. If you have to change one out, 1/3 horsepower is more than enough.

If you have questions, please ask.



EDIT...I forgot one thing. Here's a great tip for your disposals. Get an ice tray. I recommend one that is a different color from your normal ones if you still use ice trays. Fill it with vinegar. Red or white, it doesn't matter. Put it in the freezer. This is why I say pick a different tray color. You wouldn't want vinegar ice in your Coke. Turn on the cold water and turn on your disposal. Throw 3 vinegar ice cubes in it and let the blades chew it up. The ice will sharpen the blades and clean the disposal. The vinegar will disinfect it and deodorize it.

[Hostile]

A word about plungers. These are worthless.



If you have one throw it away and get one of the black ones with the extra bell like this.




Here's a great tip for plunging any drain. Tip the plunger sideways and get as much water in the bell as you can. Plunging it with water pushes harder than just air.

If you are plunging a kitchen sink seal one side of the sink with a drain and hold it in place. Plunge the other side several times. If you do not seal the other side of the sink, when you push down on the plunger the dirty water and gunk clogging your sink will come out of that drain and make a wonderful mess for you.

The more tight you can get that drain the harder the plunger will push the clog.

If you are plunging a bathroom sink place a rag over the drain hole in the side of the sink. Same principle as the other drain, you will spray gunk all over if that drain is not plugged off.

In a bathtub use a rag to cover the overflow drain and plunge as mentioned before.

Plunging a toilet just do it slower because that stuff is nasty.

[CowboyDan]

Great tips, thanks! Keep them coming!

[DMOB]

Cool, thanks for sharing.

[Hostile]

Okay, so the plunger did not work. What next?

In the sinks the next thing to do would be to get a bucket and a channel lock pliers. Put the bucket under the trap pipe under the sink. The ooks like this.



Take that trap off and dump the residue inside it into the bucket. Wash it out real good outside if need be.

Here is a really cheap tool that is handy for clearing clogs.




You can find those for under 10 bucks at almost any hardware store. The way it works takes 2 people though. One to hold the hose and one to turn on the water. Attach that device to the garden hose and push that device as far as you can into the drain.

The middle of that device is a balloon and the water fills it up and it seals all around the sides of the drain. Once that seals the water jets out of the front of that nozzle through 2 small holes. It acts like a water jet to completely unclog and clean your drain. Wonderful, simple little device actually.

It even works in toilets. Oh yeah, when working in or around the toilet always wear disposable rubber gloves.

[Hostile]

Okay, so lets say the plunger did not work in your toilet and you do not have the hose balloon or another person to help you. A closet auger is not that expensive a tool to have in your shed.




These are fairly simply to use. Wear rubber gloves. Nasty stuff on the ends of these.

Unhook the auger line and pull it through the handle. That auger end will be resting up against the orange part that is curved and the handle with the auger will be about 3 to 4 feet above where it is shown in this picture.

Place the auger end in the drain of the toilet and start augering. You turn the auger clockwise.

Here is what a toilet drain looks like.




Do you see that area in the water at the bottom of the arrow where it says water seal? That represents the hole you see as the drain in your toilet. 95% of clogs in your toilet are from that point to where the trapway drops down. The other 5% are usually in that bend by the word Weir.

So you rarely need to auger very far at all to clear these clogs.

A plumber will charge you up to 100 bucks for this. The tool will cost you maybe 25 bucks and it can be used dozens of times.

Store it in a shed away from your house. Nasty stuff.

[Hostile]

Bath tub drains are much harder, but not impossible. 95% of the time hair is what is clogging your tub drain. Many of you might have seen the commercials for this tool.



Believe it or not, that stupid thing works and is less than 5 bucks.

Push that down your tub drain and twist it around a few times. Now pull it out. Prepare to be grossed out.

Remember your rubber gloves.

These do work in sinks but not toilets. They are not nearly as effective in sinks as tubs though.

[StanleySpadowski]

You forgot the most basic tip of all......wear a well-fitting pair of pants and a belt.....



Picture not included due to decency.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by StanleySpadowski

You forgot the most basic tip of all......wear a well-fitting pair of pants and a belt.....



Picture not included due to decency.

He is right. Plumber butt crack is indecent and unpleasant.

[Hostile]

Okay, I've covered clogs about as much as we should. Lets move on to other common issues that are easy to solve.

First let's talk about a toilet that does not flush all the way. Or takes 3 flushes to get everything down.

Chances are this toilet is either very old, or you live in a place that has very hard calcium in your water.

Under the rim of the toilet there are dozens of little holes called jets. If you hold a mirror under the rim you will see them.

Here's how a toilet actually works. I am putting the diagram I posted above back.




You see water in 2 different areas in this picture. The bowl and the tank. Notice the level of the water in the bowl. Once it rises the water will fall down the back of the drain. This is a flush.

So when you flush the toilet what you do is open the drain in the bottom of the tank and the water fills that area called the inlet and it encircles that rim. The water from the tank raises the water level in the bowl and pushes the water over that trapway and down the drain.

If the holes in the rim of the toilet don't let the water through well enough then it does not flush well. If you hold the mirror below that rim and see the jets they should be free of white calcium deposits and obstructions. If those holes are the least bit occluded or blocked, you have an ineffective toilet flush. The water doesn't hit the bowl hard and fast enough to push the water in the bowl and its contents over the trapway.

You know those chlorine tablets that you put in the tank to keep the bowl clean? They often contribute to clogging those jets. So if your toilet is not flushing well, you need to clean those jets out.

The thorough way to do it is scrubbing and cleaning them completely out. This is also time consuming and unpleasant. I recommend you regularly put some CLR in the tank of your toilet.




This stuff eats away calcium that clogs those jets. Pour some in the bowl and use your toilet brush to scrub up underneath the rim as well as pouring some in the tank.

With every flush it will clean those jets a little more each time. If you keep those jets clog free that toilet can last 100 years.

If the jets are too clogged to unclog, you may need a new toilet. I hope not.

[ethiostar]

Thanks for the tips.

[KJJ]

Originally Posted by Hostile

Plunging a toilet just do it slower because that stuff is nasty.

A buddy of mine struggled for 2 days trying to unclog his toilet and couldn't do it. He had no idea what was clogging it so he had to call a plumber.

I asked him if he found out what the problem was and he said he's not exactly sure but heard the plumber mention something about a log bass.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by KJJ

A buddy of mine struggled for 2 days trying to unclog his toilet and couldn't do it. He had no idea what was clogging it so he had to call a plumber.

I asked him if he found out what the problem was and he said he's not exactly sure but heard the plumber mention something about a log bass.

That is slang for a very hard turd. Most likely someone was extremely constipated and finally went. It was basically hard as a log.

[KJJ]

Originally Posted by Hostile

That is slang for a very hard turd. Most likely someone was extremely constipated and finally went. It was basically hard as a log.

As soon as I heard the word "log" I knew what it was and suggested either he or someone in his family add more fiber to their diet.

[Hostile]

Okay, thought I'd tackle a new one.

Every now and then when someone is taking a shower there is way too much water still coming out of the spout. Waste of water.

Most showers that are also in tubs have 3 handles. Hot and Cold water and a center handle called a Diverter.

The Diverter is exactly that, a device that diverts water one way or the other. Almost all of them have a screw assembly in the middle of them that force the valve open, or closed.

Here is what a common diverter valve looks like.



On the right do you see the white plastic washer? That is what is causing your water to flow down the spout so much while taking a shower.

It is about 15 cents. The whole valve is under 12 bucks.

The trick is to get to that piece.

The first step is to take off the handle. Really old handles will be almost welded on and could break off the tip. If this happens the whole valve needs to be replaced.

Once the handle is off you should see a white plastic thread piece that is covering the shaft of that valve. There is often a silver piece called an escutcheon threaded onto that piece.

It will look like some variation of this.



Remove that piece and now you see the exposed diverter valve. Back on the valve picture from left going right you see a threaded nut screwing into the valve housing. This is called a Packing nut. If you ever see water coming out of the middle of one of these valves all you have to do is tighten that packing nut and it should shut it off.

The valve assembly where that packing nut screws into has a place for a wrench or a socket. You see this area right before a second set of threads. If you cannot get a wrench on that area you will need a plumbing socket. They look like this.



That whole set is about 10 bucks.

Place that socket on the valve and remove the valve from the wall. Really not hard at all.

Once the valve is removed put the handle back on the shaft of the valve and turn it. It will begin to extend out the back of the valve. Take it all the way out. Slide the new plastic washer on and put the shaft back in all the way until it is flush like the picture above shows.

Now use the socket and put the valve back in and then re-assemble your handle.

The whole process if you have the parts should only take you about a half hour as an amateur. If you have to buy the tools and the valve both you still are going to pay less than 30 bucks.

A plumber will charge you at least 75 bucks to do this and you can't keep his tools.

If you have the tools or don't need them and only need to replace that washer. It'll cost you a quarter and the gas money for your trip to the store.