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?