The cast iron porcelain coated laundry sink on the service porch had sagged in the front over the years, leaving it out of level with a sliver shaped gap of about one inch maximum between it and the surrounding tile. It still served well but it looked bad.
There are some adjustable stand-off bolts behind the sink, near it’s base, so my plan was to jack up the front of the old behemoth, then adjust the two bolts and nuts to make the sink level again.
After accessing the situation and deciding what tools were needed, I went to the garage and brought in a hydraulic automotive floor jack, a can of WD40, a pair of vise-grip pliers and a small crescent wrench, along with a big flashlight and an old pillow for lying on the floor under the sink.
First I loosened the nut on the drain’s tailpiece, then sprayed the WD on the bolts/nuts to penetrate the rust. Next I measured the height difference between the floor jack and the bottom of the sink, then went out to the patio to locate a piece of 2X4 of about that size.
I set up the jack and the 2X, then slowly jacked up the front of the sink until it was once again flush with the surrounding tile. So far, so good. Or so I thought.
Upon closer inspection I noticed that the drain’s tail piece had not slid up in the trap as I’d anticipated but had instead held fast, tearing a gash in the soft brass trap.
“OK”, says I, “it hadn’t been flowing very well so it was probably corroded and needed replacing anyway.”
“Later for that problem. Right now I want to adjust the stand-off bolts/nuts.”
So, lying under the sink, I get hold of the more accessible of the two bolts with the vise-grips and manage to break the nut free with the crescent wrench, turning it very gradually until it’s snug against the stop.
Then I go after the other one, needing first to find a way to hold the flashlight’s beam on it. After some struggle in that tight space, success is achieved and I drag my body out from under, back into a standing posture.
After returning the floor jack and other tools to the garage, I pick up the sink trap and the tail piece, then drive to the plumbing supply place, about fifteen minutes away.
When it’s my turn I hand them over to the parts person and ask for an identical set, including washers and seals. I’m soon headed back with a bag of new parts.
Lo and behold, the new tail piece nut refuses to thread onto the old drain. Back to the plumbing supply place where a different parts person determines that I was given the wrong seal for the tail piece, thus obstructing the proper fit.
Returning home, I fit the new tail piece to the drain successfully but then find that the new trap won’t line up correctly with the lateral galvanized drain pipe and it’s elbow, both of which stick out of the wall under the sink.
Lying under the sink again, I determine that re-leveling it has changed the fit of those pieces and the I must now remove the galvanized pipe and have a new one made up, about 1/2″ shorter.
Fortunately I have a big pipe wrench so I bring it in from the garage and try it out on the pipe. The pipe is only accessible from one side which means that, in this case, I have to lift the pipe wrench. I give it a mighty pull but nothing happens.
I consider my options and decide to try the hydraulic floor jack on this problem. I retrieve the jack from the garage and begin the long process of jacking the pipe wrench, little by little, up and around, moving the pipe only about five degrees for each complete jacking operation, before taking a new bite on the pipe with the wrench and beginning again. After more than a half hour, the pipe has become free enough to turn with only the wrench.
So, after putting the jack back in the garage and cleaning up, I drive back to the plumbing supply place, to see what can be done about cutting and re-threading the old pipe or buying a new one.
Turns out the old one can’t be cut where it needs to be but they do have a new one on hand which is the correct length. What a nice surprise.
Unfortunately the old brass elbow is fused to the old pipe and can’t be saved. In addition, they don’t sell that elbow separately so I have to buy another trap setup which includes the elbow. Not a problem but it does mean that I’ll be making yet another trip to the plumbing supply, to return the other trap.
So I’m finally able to put the whole business together successfully and get the sink back in operation. Including driving time, it has taken about eight, nine hours over two days to get it done and I still have another trip to the plumbing supply house, to return the first trap. That’s the fourth trip if your counting.
Got a plumbing repair nightmare to share?
…[Message truncated]
Edited 7/12/2009 3:30 am by Hudson Valley Carpenter
Replies
Ha ha sounds par for the course when it comes to plumbing around here. Early last spring the wife tells me all her surplus cosmetics and beauty stuff she keeps under the sink is soaked and rotted out I go for an inspection. What appeared to be a simple 1 hour project of replacing the rotted out elbow turned into a major 12 hour project involving a rotted out cabinet floor, undoing the sink from the vanity, new supply lines, new waste lines and a new cabinet bottom. No wonder plumbers gey paid so much.
I hear ya ted. I once was forced to do an entire bathroom remodel due to a similar, seemingly small, leak.
I've done a couple of total bathroom rip and remodels that started out with a request to "see if you can fix the loose tile (or vinyl) next to the tub/shower stall/toilet.
Yep, they're like rip tides, those little loose tiles by the shower door. Once you get pulled under, you're a goner.
I pulled up some old loose linoleum next to a shower door in my parent's home and found wet wood. When I poked at it, the tool went right through. Further investigation led to a total demo and remodel. HA!
Fools and carpenters rush in, where wisemen and plumbers fear to tread.
"Sure, I'll have a look at that for you".
Hi all,
I am trying to build a handyman service on the side. I don't have as much experience as you all, and enjoy listening and learning from your stories. I do enjoy helping people who are in trouble.
However an aquaintence of mine, is a missionary to Gahna. His brother owns the local hardware. I have done a couple things for Mike the missionary when he is in town. When he is here Mike and his wife rent a 1964 model mobile home to stay in while they rent out their nicer home permanently. '64 model, no shutoffs at all. All polybutuleyn piping.
So Mike has my number and calls at 7:30 am on a saturday, and says Chris I have had to shut my water off. Wife dropped a shampoo bottle and broke the faucet "thingy". His words, no lie. I said what faucet thingy Mike? He said well it broke the knob off. I mumbled sleepily, and said well let me come out and take a look. Sure enough she had. I took out the cartridge and retreived the broken peice, a nice clean break in teh threaded end of the cartridge.
Now Mike is neurotic and slightly hard to deal with until you get him convinced that the way your telling him is the way it has to be done. I said Mike you need a new cartridge. He said well in Africa we have to 'afro engineer' (no offense intended) things. I thought to myself I bet you do.
He asked can we crazy glue it back together????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said , trying to be nice, no Mike I don't think that is going to work. He said can we at least try it? At this point I thought to myself Mike it is your dime. So I said well ok, sure we can try it. He hands me the tube of crazy glue and I carefully glue the thread back onto the cartridge. I let it dry. I insert it and try not to turn it too hard.
I send him out to turn on the water. The cartridge lasts about a minute, then shoots across the tub. Now as a professional I am prepared for this and have closed the shower curtain. I shout "Mike turn the water off"!!!!
Head to the hardware, no new cartridge, design changed. We get a whole new trailer faucet. My next obstacle is convincing Mike that we can't change the faucet by taking it off the front that I have to go in the adjacent room and cut a hole in the wall. I said I can make you a permanent access panel for the future, but whatever we have to get in that wall.
This is where the pre '70's trailer helps me out a bit. No drywall just paneling on 2x3's. I tell Mike what I am going to do (remove the sheet of paneling) and he says "uhh I don't know"! I said Mike when I remove that paneling, barring any problems like adhesive on the paneling, you will have a new faucet in 20 minutes. He said ok, I am going to trust you.
Took off the paneling he had a new faucet in, ok, 25 minutes. Left the paneling off for a couple days to let the area dry from a previous leak. Came back and reattached the paneling, and trim. Mike elected to not have an access panel made.
In all I made 50 bucks, time about 2 hours. Not counting the reattachment of paneling. How much would you guys have charged? Just curiuos. In this area and with my experience I try to charge 25 an hour for almost anything.
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Webby
Edited 7/12/2009 11:50 am ET by webby
Edited 7/12/2009 11:55 am ET by webby
Edited 7/12/2009 11:55 am ET by webby
Edited 7/12/2009 12:00 pm ET by webby
Good story Webby,
To be very honest, you're going to get a lot of those kinds of jobs as long as you work cheap and get involved in the client's life history. And you'll go broke instead of earning a fair living.
The least expensive plumbers around here charge $80 for a basic service call, one hour maximum, portal to portal, including parts runs. $100 would be a better average minimum. Emergencies like you described are premium prices, $150 or more for that first hour.
Those are the legitimate guys. Others go out on "free" service calls then tell the client that it'll cost $$$ to repair the sink drain.
So you're doing right by your clients when you take care of the problem while making enough money to get ahead financially and enjoy your work. Keep telling yourself that you're not in business when you're working for wages alone. There has to be a nice profit on top of that hourly rate.
What a laugh.
Well here it goes. My brother is finishing his basement. Asks me to install vanity shower and toilet. Go to HD get all the stuff. The roughed out stub for the shower is in a place no stock shower pan will fit. Send bro out for a small jackhammer to knock a hole in the slab and relocate drain for the shower base.1/2 hour later I am happliy blasting crete out. stopped to clean out the hole I see a chuck of copper pipe right beside the ABS drain. I thought it was a left over so I go to pick it out. would not move. clean around it some more. Body shutters blue air flys. I hit the main 3/4 copper line into the house. (why did some idiot run the main right beside the DVW).
The flooring guys are just finishing up and the main curb shut off is out side under 6 feet of snow.I see in my mind my sister in law about to kill me.
Very carefully I look at the pipe 5-6 good hits with the jackhammer. some dents some scrapes and not a leak. Ask bro to go buy epoxy and fiberglass cloth. I carefully sand the area about 6 inches long. then apply epoxy and wrap fiberglass and wet it out. Hit it with the hair dryer to kick off the epoxy. So far so good.Relocated the drain. Then had to relocate the copper hot and cold supply also.The repair has set and all is OK. Mix cement and refill the hole in the slab and put a board over the copper line.Run to HD to get a shower drain and return some other stuff. The hottie behind the counter is laughing at me and bro. She said you guys were in 6 times today.Go back install shower, set toilet, hook up sink open beer. SIL asked why I was swearing earlier? Bro gives me the look! I say "oh just hit my finger with a hammer". If she only knew how close to a major disaster and filling the basement with water, I would be singing high notes.
Shakin' my head and laughing at that story.
I bet you'll tip toe around that spot in the floor, every time you're over there. HA!
friend of mine put a new countertop on,was resetting the old cast iron sink with the hootie ring, while trying to get it in the hole ,dropped it and clipped off both the hot and cold pipes, water shooting everywhere for almost 10 minutes while he got the main valve shut down.
when he's telling me this storie,i'm about to wet my pants i'm laughing so hard,he had alot of animation and french words to go with it.
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
1st secret to plumbing is to never shut the car off,it's a waste of time,cause you will need to go for parts approx every 3 minutes...........................
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
1st secret to plumbing is to never shut the car off...
Man, ain't that the truth.
plumbing...
par for the course is end up back at the water main because ya tried to clean the areator....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
See you've done some.
yup...
never fails.....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Yeah, I did a little bit of plumbing at Mom's in FLA and I'm sure I was the first person in about 20 years to shut off the main.It was one of those cast bodies set in the lawn and a window in it for the meter reader. Was all grown over but for that 2x3" window and took a LOT to get it to turn the gate valve
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
no multiple of gazillions of fire ants???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Didn't see a one.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
you lucked out....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I've been intimate with the buggers before!A picture mizshredder would enjoy - I was standing at the curb early AM in subdivision - Gainesville - getting ready for the job.Felt a stab of pain on my calf and slapped at it, felt three more and got my eyes focused on the problem by then. Took me all of thirty seconds to strip off my pants and shoes right in the street so I could wipe them off me before they crawl as high as the nether regions, slapping, jumping, and howling to entertain the rest of the crew and the neighbor walking her dogs.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I can see that on in my mind's eye....
don't see it as a bit funny...
been there....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
The house we are working on now has been added onto about a dozen times in it's history, so structurally it was like a house of cards. We be taking out the middle to open up a room. it's obvious most of the work done was done by DIYs over timeDown under, the plumbing was similar. Not much of a crawl space. There was a concrete cellar cell about 6x6x6 feet for the plumber. The waste line had been added to so many times for added bathrooms that it lterally turned a full 360° on the way to the street in that little cell room, so there were places to add wyes for the added lines.Funny thing - when ever I asked a plumber or electrician to do something down in that hole, they gave me the ole fish-eye.I finally got down there last week myself and saw why. If anyone ever gave any thought to drainage, it had long ago failed to operate. Leaks in the crete walls let silt in, so there was about 14" of slime and water and silt in the bottom. The original stop/drain for the whole house system supply line was only about 8" off the floor, a good 6" down in the mud. over the years, every time somebody went in to work there and found it muddy they added a board or piece of cardboard, or an old shutter to stand on.I dug it all out! Every 2" of silt had another archeological find to pull out. Of course, and trash and debris created by previous workers was dropped into the mud and left to rest there, so there were hunks of wire and pipe and old valves too.It was like digging out a cesspool. The kid working with my was hauling the buckets out on a rope to dump and complaining of the smell. I offered him a chance to get a real good whiff of it right in the hole with me and he declined, and shut up his whining most of the day.I have a sump pit created now, but plan to add a daylight drain next week, since power outages and surges make electric pumps less than ideal for keeping a hole dry here.Plumber and I came up with a plan for the waste line to make it more of a Christmas tree than a cyclone model to save space too.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Plumber and I came up with a plan for the waste line to make it more of a Christmas tree than a cyclone model to save space too.
I've seen a few strange add-ons to drains but nothing of that magnitude.
I'm impressed that you're doing all that for the client and the house, considering that it's a pretty thankless job. Sounds like an excellent solution.
"I'm impressed that you're doing all that"I am too!;)One reason I can get good plumbers and sparkies to work with me is they know when I call for them to get it done, it will be ready for them.There were parts of my brain I had to turn off to get myself to work in there tho. But it was cool and out of the heat of the day
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
A few rules i follow: 1 , never start a repair to plumbing on a friday afternoon unless you want to work all weekend
2, no matter how long you allow for the job it will get longer
3, dont take any shortcuts or you will end up going back and having to do it the right way for free
4 everything costs more than the customer estimated so be prepared to listen to them howel
Not long ago i went to swap out old 2 handle kitchen faucet for new single lever pull out style
everything natch was corroded including shutoffs( whats a shut off for )
drain a piece of junk , had to totally replace once i touched it after removing all #### under sink ( standard situation )
floor boards rotten due to leakage from tap & drain ( replaced )
removed tap by demolishing it due to corrosion
Discovered that all that was holding old tap up was the formica on the counter top due to the water eating all the particle board away from the formica around the taps
made up a piece of board to compensate for the lost beaver barf
customer was all happy with end result & i am getting to build her a new kitchen in the near future
Last rule of plumbing never put any of your tools away until you have completely finished the plumbing job and completely tested it or the plumbing gods will get you
Learned all the above rules due to on the job training over 35 years !
the formica on the counter top due to the water eating all the particle board away from the formica around the taps
made up a piece of board to compensate for the lost beaver barf
customer was all happy with end result
Did that once and was embarassed as all get out at doing it but the guy liked it.
Rental that had a bees nest of years and years accumulation of plumber's putty on the drain. Wasn't leaking and didn't want to touch it. Was afraid vibration might cause a leak.
I'm still ashamed of what I did.
be oh gawd what a memory and I'd almost forgotten.
Edited 7/12/2009 2:23 am ET by rez
Excellent rules for plumbing repairs. They should be printed up and taped inside the cabinet door under the sink.
One of my thoughts when beginning this thread was that I might hear a couple of stories about worse conditions than I've yet encountered. Yours fits perfectly. Congratulations on perservering and gaining the respect of your client.
I hope that new kitchen job pans out, though I've heard similar stories from more than a few people when they knew they'd gotten away cheap.
Here's one of my stories - told it before, but it belongeth here.I was renting a mobile home in CO where we saw temps get 30-50 below zero almost every winter. The trailer had been underskirted and insulated. The water supply came from a 4' deep well and had a gate valve at top of that. The whole thing was wrapped and had heat tape.But as luck would have it, the whole side of the gate valve cracked from hard freeze. I cam home from a long day and saw water running from under and making a skating type glacier off on one side as it froze quickly.The other shutoff was 4' down that well reached normally by a long tool the owner of the trailer park had. Went to visit him and get it, but the thing would not fit down there with the mobile home perched over the hole and only about 16" of clearance above to tweak a 5' rod with T-handle into the hole.So I got the fitting needed. ( fortunately I had a key to the small town hardware store) While doing that, I aimed my torpedo kero heater into the crawlspace, all 180,000BTUs.Got myself bundled in lots of clothes and the necessary tools.Then I went in and got wet, changing out that fitting with full force of water on a 3/4" line spraying me all over. I actually made sure I re-wrapped things with insulation and checked the heat tape before exiting. I was having a hard time walking back around the trailer to the front door because my pants were froze stiff by then. I managed to get my clothes off and curl myself around the wood stove a while before taking a hot shower.It takes an extreme circumstance to get me and plumbing together, like IMERC and paint. I don't know if this is the event that triggered me to be that way or not.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Here's one of my stories - told it before, but it belongeth here.
I was renting a mobile home in CO where we saw temps get 30-50 below zero...
Definitely a classic plumbing repair story.
I've got a couple stories, but one specifically that made me so angry with my father (now deceased), that for once he actually knew he had been "frugal" one too many time.About 20 years ago, a tenant calls with a leak under his bathroom sink. Dad and I go by to check it out and there is a leak off the threads of an old galvanized nipple and angle stop. . .(an American Standard angle stop, which I believe is the sorriest excuse for an angle stop, and thankfully never have to deal with them anymore, but that is another story.) With everything being galvanized, it all makes me a little nervous, such that I strongly suggest to Dad not to touch it and instead we should really call one of Dad's handymen, of which this sort of repair is just their thing. Dad would hear nothing of it. . ."just turn that angle stop a 1/4 turn and that will stop the leak." I just flat out refuse. Our tenant is amused by the conversation. So Dad gets under the sink, grabs the wrench, and to no surprise that angle stop breaks right off. So here we've got a torrid of water coming out of a 2nd floor apartment, and I'm rushing down into the basement to turn off the old gate valves that had not been touched in decades. Probably took a good five minutes before everything is shut off. Now I'm furious, but out of respect to my Dad and the way I was raise, glaring at him is all I could do. It took a few years later for me to get my "voice". . .that's another story.Anyways, one emergency phone call to one of the handymen later, he comes over, was able to extracted the old nipple, put in a new one and a new angle stop. Had to call someone that could dry-out the apartment and the one below it. And Dad never looked so sheepish in all the time I knew him. Unfortunately, there were other plumbing nightmares prior to and after this particular one, but this did take the cake.He has passed on a few years now, and his "frugality" stayed with him to the end. Getting him to make capital improvements was hopeless. "Everything" could be repaired. After he passed away, each one of those apartments had their old galvanized pipes ripped out, new copper from the meter to each unit was installed, along with ball valves galore, 1/4 turn angle stops and anything and everything the plumbers could think of to make maintenance easy for me and minimize emergencies. To this day, I'll sweat copper without hesitation, but I refuse to work on galvanized pipes and I know its because of that experience. Enjoy!
I love the rules that dude posted! They are good.Non-plumbers aren't the only ones with the plumbing nightmare stories.While we may make fewer trips to the parts store, I have a fear in the back of my head every Friday, and it grows as quitting time grows closer.Friday calls that make me nervous:
Backed up sewer, on Friday this could end up being a major yard tear up.
"I need a seal replaced in my faucet", a Friday faucet job can easily mean you are trying to fix something that has to be carbon dated to find it's age.
Leaky toilet, just load up a new toilet before you head out, that way you have a much better chance that the job is simple, if you bring it you usually don't need it, but if you don't bring it, you'll almost always have to go back and get it.
Any calls after 2:30, almost all are jinxed!Anyway we might make it look easy, but it ain't always so.
Good things to remember, thanks.
FYI, in California plumbers are licensed in two categories, new work and repairs. It's often the case that a plumber who begins with repair work will never rough in a new house, and visa versa.
Edited 7/12/2009 12:39 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
I like knowing a bit about plumbing. I hate doing it.couple years ago installed a new surround in a bath. client wanted to keep porcelain cross handles and so the shower valve stayed put. Got the surround on and put the hardware back together... handles barely turn. Take it apart and adjust... no dice. Hunt around several supply stores for cartridges... find ones that fit. Install them and go to put the handles back on. Drop one handle on the side of the tub and break off one of the cross pieces. Call every supply store in 2 cities to find a match as they were discontinued years ago. Find them in a back shelf at a supplier and pay $80 for just the handles. Put a cloth over the tub and installed the handles very carefully.Another time installed a new valve and drain in a 2nd floor bath. Turn water on after installing surround (never made that mistake again). First time I had a soldered connection leak. Sprinted back to basement and shut off. Drained, heated, no good. Tried again, got worse. Finally realized that the valve itself had a crack in it from me being to aggressive w/ the torch I guess. Replaced the valve. Because my confidence was shot I threaded the connections... one leaked. Tightened.... and it held. All was well. Looked down and realized that my torch had fallen over several times earlier that day...and burned holes through my drop cloth. Picked up the dropcloth and surveyed the burn marks on the white carpet. I hate plumbing. Actually, I just really don't like feeling like an idiot.
Actually, I just really don't like feeling like an idiot.
Gotcha. Start out confident, pass through feeling foolish, end up a blithering id-jut. That's plumbing repairs in a nut shell...or nut house.
:-)
it also teaches ya new vocabulary...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Now that you mention it, I'm beginning to see some parallels between plumbing repairs and my golf game.
:-)
Edited 7/12/2009 7:59 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
both that colorful???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
The humor in golf is more ironic, that I actually do it to relax and recreate.
:-)
so stay at home and do the same thing with the plumbing...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Last week I grabbed a pipe wrench and went to the basement to remove a 6-8 ft section of galvanized 2" pipeIt was a horizontal run.It connected to an elbow in a 2" (vertical) pipe and it had served as drain pipe to a bar sink we had removed and we are eliminating.I Put my wrench on the pipe and it just fell to the floorIt had completely rusted through where it threaded to the elbow BUT IT LOOKED JUST FINE VISUALLYI told my story to my buddy who's a licensed plumberHe said "it happens all the time"He said "All that old galvanized in your house is rusted out the same way and you just don't know it".Not very comforting to hear that.
"All that old galvanized in your house is rusted out the same way and you just don't know it".
Not necessarily. It depends on a couple of things; water chemistry and avoiding direct connections to copper. There's quite a bit of 55 yr old galvy in this house, still working fine.
The water in L.A. is hard as nails which apparently helps. And all the galvy connections to copper have brass fittings joining them. That stops corrosion by electrolysis (learned that from an old time plumber).
Edited 7/12/2009 8:10 pm by Hudson Valley Carpenter
I'll add one more to your list of rules:5. The building maintenance guy will not know what he is talking about, so don't trust him when he says he shut off the water.I was working alone on a Friday afternoon, replacing a kitchen sink faucet in a vacant 3rd floor condo. I got the old faucet out but found out that one angle stop was also leaking, so I got a new one, 1/2" compression type.I found the building maintenance man and he located the water supply pipe for that unit down below in the parking structure. I shut it off and went back upstairs. Just to be sure that the water to the unit was off, I tried the bathroom faucet as I came back in.
What the maintenance guy did not know was that there were separate water supplies for the kitchen and bathroom of that unit.As soon as I disconnected the compression nut on the angle stop, it shot across the room and the water stream nearly drowned me. I stopped the flow with my hand and then considered what to do next. All alone, no cell phone, no neighbors around, The floor was wet anyway, so I had no choice but to try to install the new angle stop with full water pressure. More flooding ensued and fortunately the old nut did match the threads of the new angle stop and the old ferrule sealed well to the new valve. I was just climbing out from under the sink, speculating on how much damage there would be to the new hardwood flooring and wondering why there was not more puddling from all that water in the kitchen when the owner of the downstairs unit burst in, shouting "What are you doing? There's water pouring out of my kitchen light fixtures!".I spent the next few hours drying everything down below and finished the faucet install the next day.BruceT
Given how most of my projects go, yours sounded rather smooth.
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Given how most of my projects go, yours sounded rather smooth.
It reads smoother than it went but yea, among the many mysteries encountered while doing plumbing repairs, it wasn't too bad. Just a lot more time and trips to the PS than I'd imagined.
In my own home, I had the tiniest, almost insignificant leak in a bathtub drain.
So I took out the access panel, and removed the drain and overflow, as well as the strainer and plug. Those items were badly corroded, and got damaged in the removal process.
Went to the supply house and got an 1-1/2" assembly. It was too big for the trap.
Went back and got the 1-1/4". It was too small. The galv. pipe under the floor in my master bath is 1-3/8".
Can't add an adapter at the inlet of the trap -- makes it the wrong height. Can't replace the trap without ripping out flooring.
So I spent hours making the worlds thickest packing out of teflon rope, and testing it for leaks. Then doing it again, and testing again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Shower drain leak...My brother and his sweet thang rented a basement apartment. The landlord lived on the main floor. They reported to him that his shower/tub drain above their bathroom was leaking. He said, hmm that's funny - a contractor fixed that for me 6-7 years ago, but go ahead and get it done.There was no plumber in town other than that same GC old timer, so they asked me to have a look at it. The ceiling was suspended drop-in 2x2s so getting to it was easy. What I found was that he had placed a cookie pan up there under the drip, and then a 3# coffee can directly under it. It had finally filled up with water and was running over.I emptied it for free, and told them to call a real plumber
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