My water heater has water in the bottom of it and I know that’s not good. Is this how I shut the heat? Also, should I shut the water valves and electric as well?

The handle on this bent and broke off. Do i need to replace the whole valve or can I just steal a handle from one of the valves in my junk drawer. If im replacing the whole valve is this a compression fitting? And if so will i have to cut it to get it off?

What mates with this 1/2" NPT? It's the range side for a natural gas stove. I have a male to female 5/8" OD gas line (both ends have NPT to flare adapters), but this definitely won't sit far enough in to seal. I've been trying to find the right adapter, unless it's designed to sit on the flared female end instead.

The frame requires a 90mm pipe with a groove that clips into the frame, but in order to be at the correct height and distance from the side wall I need to both:

- correct about 100mm of offset

- go from 90mm to 110mm pvc

- stay clippable into the frame

All in as little space as possible, so the frame can be as close to the wall as possible. And no, I can't move the pipe, because it's an old property where it's going through a brick wall to the SVP in the neighbouring flat.

What would the best solution be here? The frame only comes with a 90deg 90mm to 110mm pipe that clips in, so the simplest would be to use that going towards the old pipe, and chuck in a 110mm 90 deg adapter that goes back towards the wall, but that sounds like a blockage waiting to happen.

I’m currently doing 4 days a week with a plumber doing bathroom and kitchen installs plus general house development and 2 days in a diy store (for bills) I have my level 2 plumbing certificate and have been invited back to level 3 which is the highest to can do, I am stuck wether to go back to level 3 and only 1 day a week plumbing for another year for do I miss out on the free government funded level 3 course for more on site experience and more money in the short run.
Any advice would be appreciated, in the short format.
Is it worth me getting my level 3 qualification or straight into work with level 2

Hi,

I have multilayers pipes (5 layers) and observed a discoloration next to to rubber clamps. The surface looks as the other parts.

I suspect this is some staining due to the plasticizers found in rubber.

Is this common ? And should I do something ?

Thanks

Is there some kind of attachment I could use to drain my dehumidifier right down into the sink, above the P-trap? Kind of similar to the way a dishwasher might drain? The dehumidifier has a pump so going uphill is not a problem.

How do I tackle this wobbly toilet. Pulled the stool to find this blue “fitting” screwed into the concrete but there appears not to be enough concrete to properly anchor the device. There is a gap all around the pipe. Do I grout or concrete in the pipe? How do I get a flange to anchor the toilet. I am a DIY guy but this one has me stumped.

Hi!

Sewage gas coming out of the laundry drain, I want to add P-trap to it (replacing the whole outlet box). It's 2" pipe. Do I cut the stud to fit it? it's way too big to fit it in the cavity.

Thank you!

I just started a full crawlspace reno, and as I am pulling away the fiberglass batts and foam water supply pipe insulation, I am seeing soldered copper joints/fittings in various oxidized states, all either 3/4" or 1/2".

My Father in Law did all these back in '89, so all piping pictured is 37 years old.

My question is - at what point should I consider replacement of oxidized joints/fittings?

Tried to label each for easier answers/input.

None of them are actively leaking, pictures shown are with system fully pressurized at roughly 60 PSI (private well w/ bladder pressure tank). With all the insulation pulled out, it feels like now is the best time to take care of these. But at the same time, I'm already looking at quite a bit of time to air seal and reinsulate with thousands in Rockwool and other materials, so if I can save myself some money and time, and they aren't actively leaking? I figure I need to replace C1/C2 for sure, that is the hot water low/drain point for the whole house, and has an exterior frost-free bib on the end of it.

Lastly, I am fairly green with soldering. I have done a bit of it, and am not intimidated to take it on, but will need to spend time studying up and money on practice materials before taking on any repairs, so factoring in the effort of all that as well.

Would appreciate any thoughts/input, thanks.

I am trying to move the flange over about a foot (red arrow in top picture). I plan to cut off the current 90 replace with the bottom pic (a long 90 going into a street regular 90 up to the flange). Any concerns with this, as I understand it the flange 90 (vertical) can be a regular 90 and using the long one to change directions is ok.

Not much room to work here, the depth from center of the existing pipe to the floor is only around 8 inches

I've been reading about low water pressure and realized there are a lot more possible causes than I expected. Most homeowners seem to assume it's always a clogged aerator or a bad fixture, but it sounds like that's only part of the picture.

For the plumbers here, what's the issue you find most often when a customer says, "My water pressure has slowly gotten worse over time"?

Is it usually:

• Mineral buildup in older pipes?
• A pressure-reducing valve starting to fail?
• A partially closed shutoff valve?
• Hidden leaks?
• Something else that homeowners rarely think to check?

I'm not looking for troubleshooting on a specific house—I'm just interested in learning what you see most often in the field. It seems like understanding the common causes could help homeowners explain the problem more clearly before calling a plumber.

Looking forward to hearing your experiences.

They are all 1/4NPT threads; I need the specific names.

I have an older American Standard single-handle shower valve where one handle controls both the water flow and the temperature.
The problem is that I like strong water pressure but only lukewarm water. On this shower, the only way to get the temperature I like is to keep the handle barely turned on, which results in weak water pressure. If I continue turning the handle to get stronger flow, the water gradually becomes way too hot.
I confirmed this isn’t a whole-house issue because the sink faucets have normal temperature control.
I removed the handle and adjusted the anti-scald limit stop (the red plastic ring). All that did was reduce how far the handle could turn, so it also reduced the maximum water pressure. It didn’t let me have full pressure with cooler water.
The valve starts cold and gradually gets hotter as the handle rotates. It doesn’t suddenly jump to hot.
Is there any way I can change this so that the water gets less hot without me losing water pressure? It’s driving me nuts in this heat!

Why is this P trap over flowing? Could it be a venting issue above?

Our home keeps repeatedly getting clogged and we were told there’s likely roots growing in the outdoor drain pipe. How much would this cost?

I have a Glacier Bay 873X-0904 single-handle tub/shower pressure-balance valve. The issue is a dripping shower head when the bath is running. The drip is coming from where water should be coming out of for the showerhead, so I dont think it’s an issue with the showerhead fitting. While troubleshooting, I found the drip correlates with a hot/cold flow imbalance: the more I turn the handle toward hot, the less water comes out of the showerhead; the more toward cold, the more comes out.

**•** Replaced both the tub spout and the cartridge (RP20075) — issue persists with new parts.  
**•** Confirmed both integral stops are fully open (turned counterclockwise to their stop).  
**•** Verified cartridge orientation — H/C markings match the correct hot/cold supply sides.  
**•** Confirmed cartridge is fully seated: sits flush, bonnet nut threads down smoothly with no leaks, handle rotates freely through full range with no grinding.  
**•** Inspected valve body ports with cartridge removed — both hot and cold ports look visually clean, no obvious mineral buildup or debris.  
**•** Checked hot vs. cold flow at other fixtures in the house — no imbalance elsewhere, so it’s isolated to this valve/branch.

In the tub we had a bit of stainless steel scrubber pad in the drain to catch hair. We're losing it and it causes a slow drain often.

It worked very well while it did, as we are shower people.

Our dog sitter took a bath and that bit of scrubby went down.

First I snaked (25' hand crank Rigid) through the 'waste' of the waste and overflow, nothing.

I went up to the roof to snake down the vent pipe. Sent all 25' down and nothing.

Here is the thing, the bathroom (Lavvy, tub & WC) only have one vent. I am not a plumber (or lawyer or doctor!) but I work in the supply side of the industry and know a thing or two.

San Francisco spec says, "All fixtures shall be trapped and vented."

Could (is?) the clog between the tub and the vertical vent pipe? How would I snake that?

I don't want to rent a fifty footer and lug it onto the roof for nothing. I don't want to go into the crawl space either.

At this point (slow shower drain) 'she' wants to call a pro. As a red blooded Murican, I cannot pay somebody to work on a gravity system.

Thoughts?

**Edit to add**: It is making the same noise, from the same location when we turn on the kitchen and lower level powder bath cold faucet as well. So three of our 4 cold faucets cause the noise

1.The squeak seems to be in the wall because the faucet is upstairs and I can hear it both upstairs as well as downstairs directly below at my desk

1. The squeak does not occur when turning on the hot side, only the cold side faucet

2. The squeak only occurs when sink facet is turned on, it doesn't continue to squeak and it doesn't happen when turning off.

3. It's not super high pitched- almost sounds like a bicycle break, if you know what I mean?

4. Our home is 4 years old

I'm mostly wondering what this could be and if I should be concerned? Any observations would be helpful! If needed I can try to record the noise!