Anybody know anything about plumbing?
 

I'm usually pretty handy, but I think I just fücked myself.

A few of years ago, I replaced the shower valves (separate hot and cold); easy peasy. Recently one of them started to leak and I decided to fix it tonight. Once I took them out, I saw that the washers didn't look too good, so I decided to replace them. Also, I saw that there was a fair amount of hard-water build up, so I soaked them in CLR. After soaking for an hour or so, I rinsed them off, put the new washers and put them back in.

Trouble is, once I turned the water main back on, no water would come out of the shower from either hot or cold (other faucets in the house worked - problem is isolated to the shower). Okay,: trouble-shooting time. I tried the following to isolate the problem, bit none of these solved the problem:

• Swapped the valves (hot-to-cold / cold-to-hot)
• Tried installing the valves both when completely open and completely closed
• Took out the new washers
• Turned the water main on very briefly to confirm that water was getting to the faucets

Whatever I tried, I could not get water to come out at all. I even took the shower head off to make sure I didn't introduce a blockage there; I got a VERY low (trickle) flow, even with the valves completely open.

The only other thing I can think to try is to buy new valves and if that doesn't work, call a plumber (even though I rent, since I introduced the problem, I can't have the landlord pay for the plumber).

Any suggestions before I try the above?

You did everything I could think of.

Dude, you're fvcked.

I have a plummer friend who works at DL, I'll shoot him an email. He works the night shift, so it may take a while.

Ok, so this is what he said:

I don't know if that is much help (as he said to do some of what I told him you already did), but if it is a build up of crap right before the valve due to old galvanized pipes, you could try taking the valves off and flush the loose particles out. (I like his paper towel centers trick. But if you flush the pipe, you might want to try something like a piece of hose to keep the water from going inside the wall so it doesn't cause damage). Crap could be built up in the valves so taking them off and flushing them out from outlet to inlet or just replacing them might work.

I also rent, and do a lot of work around the house. The landlord is very nice to me and gives me a great deal on the rent because he knows I take care of his house. If it is something costly that needs fixing, then I do the work and he pays for the parts. But if it's something over my skill level, then I let him take care of it.

In my opinion, this is the cause of old pipeing, not something you did. Your landlord should understand that if you tried to fix the valve for him, but it turns out to need repipeing, that he will need to call a plummer to have such a major job done by a professional. And he should appreciate that you tried to help.

Thanks for the help RStar. I did the flush thing already, and that didn't help. Since I live in a condo, I think that if it comes down to repiping, it is the responsibility of the Association. I will try new valves and if that doesn't solve the problem, I will call the landlord.

Unfortunately if it's on your side of the meter, it's the responsibility of whoever owns the condo.

That is usually correct, anything in the walls belong to the owner of the condo.

Good luck!

When the upstairs unit's water main broke (in the foundation in our bedroom), the association took care of it.

When I read the title of this tread, and then saw who the author was, I was hesitant to click on it....

Don't be silly, Kevy never has problems with HIS plumbing! :D

Tried the new valves last night and that didn't make a difference. I suspect that there is a blockage in the pipe that goes up to the nozzle. I just don't know how to clear it: can you snake a small copper pipe?

Wait, it's copper? That's a bit different. Copper doesn't corrode the way galvanized pipes do, so you don't have these blockages normally.

Was there any work done on the plumbing to your building? This can cause something to get in the pipes to clog them, but it's rare to cause a complete blockage this way. Plus, it would affect all of your plumbing a little, unless it's one big piece that just landed at the shower. Very strange.

This sounds a bit more like the work of a professional.

If you completely remove the valves, do you get any water flow?

I'll be Kevy (NSFW).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0t2YVRHAZY

I misspoke: they are galvanized. I deleted too much of your message, but I suspect there is a blockage between the valves and the head.

Yes, full flow.

Link didn't work for me :(

I getting concerned about how long it's been since Kevy has had a shower.

One of the few perks from renting is not doing any of the trickier home repairs. Have you learned your lesson, then? ;)

Since buying our own place we've jumped at the chances to do stuff ourselves...often with not-so-great results. These days I'm much more likely to pay someone who knows what they're doing.

Hope your landlord does well by you.

And then, there's copper. It costs money. It costs money because it saves money.

Yeah, but it is the biggest, coolest perk of them all. When a tornado plows through our complex destroying everything I can shrug and say "oh well, it was time to move anyway" and immediately get on with life. If the ice maker in the fridge springs a leak and I don't feel like digging the tools out of the closet I can just email a work request to management and it'll probably be fixed by the time I get home from work the next day. If really loud neighbors move in and it becomse unbearable I can say "**** it, we'll just move."

Far outweighs any theoretical benefit of home ownership.

Rented forever and now owning - I'm with Alex.

Only real upside has been painting the walls the colors we liked. Which having rented almost all my life I had never been able to do, even as a kid in my bedroom.

I wonder if when you soaked the valves in CLR, some of the hard water deposit stuff got flushed up into the pipe that goes to the showerhead. You could pull off the shower head and try sticking a coathanger down the pipe, or if you've got a compressor, you could try blowing it out.

The concept of the landlord obliged to maintain the leasehold property for the tenant, as opposed to the other way around, is a fairly new one, but it certainly has its merits. When something goes wrong at my house, I still call the super, but he never comes. He never, ever comes.

That is one advantageof megacorporate cookie cutter apartment rental (Archstone). When I rented from individuals I hated bothering them with small stuff. Our complex has three full time maintenance staff and so I figure it is my duty to occupy their time. Now the only thing that keeps me from calling in the small stuff is not wanting to have to clean the apartment to my normal "strangers in the house" standard. So I still wait for something big and then pile on the small things.

although it is a PITA to use, we do have another shower in the house. In fact, I think this is the first time it has been used since we moved in 12 years ago (although I do run water in there periodically just to make sure things remain in working order)
When I cleaned the valves, I did it externally from the shower and rinsed them thoroughly before replacing. However, I am suspecting and old gasket or something similar is stuck. Tonight I get to clean that segment of the line out (I think a traditional pipe snake is too big for the segment).

---

I probably do more than required at this place, but the small stuff is easy for me: much easier than a handyman coming in.

There once was a plumber from Leeds
Who was plumbing his maid by the sea
Said the maid, "cease your plumbing
I think someone's coming."
Said the plumber, still plumbing, "'tis me!"

yes. if youre only going from the shower head mounting to the point at which it intersects the control valves in the shower itself, you can. I wouldnt suggest using anything as rigid as a coat hanger however. a sturdy extra long nylon wire tie or something like it (a piece of weed eater line would be dandy), while perhaps not sturdy enough to break any clog it encounters, would likely stop at the point of interruption. while also allowing it to make any turns you might have between A and B.

if you can get the line all the way through to the valving area, you may be able to tie a small knot in the line and by drawing it back through the way it came, clear the clog a bit. its not perfect but it may tell you whats interfering by carrying the debris to you. be careful not to pull too hard if you encounter resistance, as you may end with a broken bit of line in the pipe, making things worse.

if you suspect that the outflow pipe is clogged or collapsed (the pipe from the valves to the showerhead itself) you can somewhat determine this by pouring/injecting a dyed (food coloring or some such..not actual dye) solution of water into the showerhead end and looking to see if it easily flows from the removed valves. if its just a trickle, the clog is likely between point a and b. if it flows readily, your interference is elsewhere, probably between the valves and the incoming water.

Problem finally solved. Found blockage in the pipe right before the the nozzle (I suspect it was a piece of a washer that was broken off of an old valve as well as an old washer from an old nozzle).

Total project ended up requiring one new valve, new washers all around, and new handles (but that was due to me being a little too harsh on them).

Hurray for success!

Yup, glad you got it done! Good for you!

I'm in the midst of my own plumbing right now. Renovating the kitchen, new counter tops, backsplash (real polished marbel), sink, faucet, dishwasher, range, and floors (vinyl wood planking).

Of course when you open old plumbing, you open a can of worms. The shut-off valves were rusted and frozen, so I had to pull them off and replace them, and the pipes leading to them were badly corroded, so those had to be replaced. The valve for the dishwasher leaked as well and needed to be replaced. It was a fun day!

Tomorrow is electrical work including recessed lighting, and extra circuts so I can run my microwave and toaster at the same time.

It's been exausting work, but I'm excited to see it all don.........ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZ