Plumbing repairs
There's nothing about a house that gives me more anxiety than plumbing.
A leak — particularly when you are away — can destroy your house.
Water under pressure is aggressive, and wants out, and will go everywhere if it
has a chance.
There are numerous, smaller plumbing projects suitable for handling by the
homeowner, as in replacing existing things, and then there are projects which
call for a professional, as in changing things or installing new runs.
Here we concentrate on what you can do yourself.
Before you proceed, some basic "rules":
Always have the contact number for a plumber at the ready, in case anything
goes wrong.
- Get familiar with the plumbing in your home, especially where shut-off
valves are. Faucets and toilets should have a local shut-off valve beneath them;
but beware that, because they are very seldom used, they may be almost
impossible to turn, or don't totally stop the flow of water, or may leak
somewhat. This is where you need to know where your master water shut-off is.
An older home may have water shut-off valves in unexpected places. In moving
into a 30 year old home, I noticed a plywood panel on the garage wall, which is
shared with the house. Unscrewing that, I found a modern lever-type shut off
valve which someone retrofitted, to turn off water to the laundry room.
Toilets
Toilets are heavily used, and contain moving parts, meaning there is more
likelihoold of things going wrong in toilets than other plumbing fixtures.
A slow-filling toilet
A toilet which takes a considerable amount of time to refill its tank may be
considered a problem, but it can actually be a good thing.
Water which moves slowly has little intertia, and if its flow is suddenly
stopped (tank is now filled), there can't be serious water-hammer.
That's a situation which is good for your pipes.
The slow filling may be annoying, but it's not harmful, and can usually be
ignored.
A toilet which in the past filled reasonlby quickly, but is now slow, is
commonly caused by water line particles getting stuck around the fill valve
stopper area. If you can open that up, you can usually flush out the debris.
If the debris is rust particles, time usually takes care of them, as they
eventually disintegrate.
Fixing a FluidMaster toilet fill valve
Perhaps the most popular toilet fill valve you find in tanks is the FluidMaster
brand. This is a plastic device consisting of a tube which connects to the
bottom of the tank (water inlet) and has a cylindrical float near its top, and a
circular cap at the top.
These can last 20 years or more, and replacements can be found at home centers.
However: The ones at home centers are "consumer" type, as exemplified by the
model 400A (about $11). The consumer version has a black cap.
There is also the Pro series, as in the Pro45. For some reason, these are sold
to plumbers, not the public; but you as a civilian can purchase them online from
Amazon or eBay. The pro versions have colored caps: red or blue.
What's the difference? The Pro versions typically exhibit more features and/or
better performance; and there are no instructions on or inside the box.
I had a plumber replace my old FluidMaster with a new one, which left me with a
Pro45. This model promises to eliminate water-hammer, and I was delighted with
the change, as this one operated quietly and was hardly noticeable when it
stopped the flow.
These are relatively easy to replace, as assisted by numerous YouTube videos.
One recommendation is that, while replacing this fill valve, also replace the
tubing from the wall valve to the toilet, if it is decades old.
(Old tubing is rigid copper, while modern technology is flexible, commonly
encased in stainless steel braid.
Your toilet may endlessly be "filling". If that water is overflowing into the
overflow pipe, then you have a fill valve problem (rather than a flapper problem).
But, do you really need to replace the fill valve?
Almost everything of which the FluidMaster is constructed is solid and very
long-lasting. The one part that is not is the piece which stops the flow,
located under the top cap.
There, a rubber disc is the key element.
Replacements are readily available online (Amazon, eBay).
If your fill valve is relatively new, you don't necessarily even have to replace
that rubber disk. But it is healthy to have a replacement at the ready.
So, what's the trick to getting that cap off?
No, you don't pry it off. There are instructions and videos online.
Basically, you first turn off the water supply to the toilet, then you grasp the
base of the fill valve with one hand and simultaneously push the float up as far
as it will go, with that same hand, then with the other hand turn the cap
assembly counter-clockwise 1/8 of a turn, where upon the cap assembly will come
right off. You can now inspect for debris or wear, and assess what may need to
be replace. If there are particles in there, you can clean all that stuff out,
put the cap back on, and (slowly) open the supply valve and see if that fixed it.
You may have to force the debris out with water pressure, which you do with the
cap off, putting a cup over the top of that exposed water source as you slowly
open the water supply valve for a few moments, to hopefully get the debris
propelled out, then replace the cap.
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