The Home Improvement Thread

[PaperBagger'14]

What would the purpose of having 4 clean outs pits plus a drain in my basement mechanical room be? The sanitary drain makes sense, then I’m assuming one is for the back flow valve, the other 3 clean out pits though? They’re all circular and 8” diameter ish. The inside of all of them are gravel filled with orange spray paint.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

What would the purpose of having 4 clean outs pits plus a drain in my basement mechanical room be? The sanitary drain makes sense, then I’m assuming one is for the back flow valve, the other 3 clean out pits though? They’re all circular and 8” diameter ish. The inside of all of them are gravel filled with orange spray paint.

Sound like rough ins for future plumbing / bathrooms.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Brendone

Sound like rough ins for future plumbing / bathrooms.

That would make sense, there’s 2 in line with the sanitary drain so one for future bathroom and one for the back flow.

The other 2 are about 5’ away around the other side of the furnace and about 2’ apart. They are square to the foundation as well. Maybe they gave options for a different bathroom location?

[Hemi-Cuda]

So our kitchen sink faucet suddenly has low hot water pressure. Cold isn't affected, no other tap has any pressure issues, and there are no obvious kinks in the lines or issues with the shutoff valve. Any ideas what to look for before I start taking everything apart?

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So our kitchen sink faucet suddenly has low hot water pressure. Cold isn't affected, no other tap has any pressure issues, and there are no obvious kinks in the lines or issues with the shutoff valve. Any ideas what to look for before I start taking everything apart?

First thing I would look for is a new tap, it can be very time consuming searching for specific parts if they can even be found.
May get lucky and find some debris from a failed rubber washer.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

First thing I would look for is a new tap, it can be very time consuming searching for specific parts if they can even be found.
May get lucky and find some debris from a failed rubber washer.

That's not necessarily true, depends no the brand. Moen and others will send you free parts for life. I think you can also just swap them at Home Depot and the like if they have the part as well. If it's a junk brand I'd just replace it.


Dollars to o-rings you've got some rotten rubber or gasket plugging the hot. That, or detritus from the hot water tank. Removing the cartridge usually isn't too difficult, I'd start there. Get some plumbers grease so you can lube it before re-insertion.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

That's not necessarily true, depends no the brand. Moen and others will send you free parts for life. I think you can also just swap them at Home Depot and the like if they have the part as well. If it's a junk brand I'd just replace it.


Dollars to o-rings you've got some rotten rubber or gasket plugging the hot. That, or detritus from the hot water tank. Removing the cartridge usually isn't too difficult, I'd start there. Get some plumbers grease so you can lube it before re-insertion.

I think this is true for moen kitchen taps, but I'm not sure if the cartridges are free? someone told me years ago moen was best and I've never bothered with anything other than moen for kitchens. I'm not aware of many other kitchen tap brands that have cartridges?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I think this is true for moen kitchen taps, but I'm not sure if the cartridges are free? someone told me years ago moen was best and I've never bothered with anything other than moen for kitchens. I'm not aware of many other kitchen tap brands that have cartridges?

Home Depot gave me a free cartridge when I went in. I just showed them it and they gave me a new one from some big bin of Moen parts they have.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Home Depot gave me a free cartridge when I went in. I just showed them it and they gave me a new one from some big bin of Moen parts they have.

In the future, a free cartridge for a chance to see if replacing the whole tap is avoidable, sounds excellent.

[Huntingwhale]

Looking to get our kitchen cupboards re-painted. Did the bathroom ones myself this past week, let's just say I'm no expert and wife has agreed to get the kitchen ones professionally done instead. I'm familiar with Jeco from past experience, but not too familiar with any other companies. Any other good recommendations?

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Edit: wrong thread

[Caged Great]

I am needing to install stairs in my garage after an "accident" with a sledgehammer.

I am wanting wrought iron railings and something more than builder grade stairs. Any recommendations?

[Caged Great]

If you need tile work done, the fine people at Vladi Enterprises did some exceptional work and were very efficient with the job I was having done.

They completed a massive tile job in only 5 1/2 days and it looks perfect. I was expecting it to take another 3-4 days or possibly more.

Very thrilled with the work they did.

[Hemi-Cuda]

So as a side bonus from all the rain we've gotten this year, I've discovered that our basement bedroom is flooding now. During heavy rains the window well fills up, and if we don't bucket it out water will start leaking through the window. But the worst part is that even if the window well doesn't overflow, water is coming up from beneath the floor boards along that exterior wall. I've also spotted mold forming along the floorboard joints and the lower drywall. I've already got a claim into the insurance company, but I have no idea what comes next or what kind of mitigation I should do in the mean time. Anyone else suffered through something like this?

[Fuzz]

Is there a way to make wherever the water is coming from go somewhere else before it gets to the window? Or is it ground water coming up?


Do you have downspouts draining into the weeping tile? Mine had that when I moved in, and occasionally caused water to pour through a foundation crack. Fixing that reduced the issue. Last fall I used the Sikkens foundation crack filler kit, and it's been dry throguh this wet year. I assume your walls are finished, but I wouldn't be surprised if you have a leaky crack.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Is there a way to make wherever the water is coming from go somewhere else before it gets to the window? Or is it ground water coming up?


Do you have downspouts draining into the weeping tile? Mine had that when I moved in, and occasionally caused water to pour through a foundation crack. Fixing that reduced the issue. Last fall I used the Sikkens foundation crack filler kit, and it's been dry throguh this wet year. I assume your walls are finished, but I wouldn't be surprised if you have a leaky crack.

We were without downspouts for the last couple of months due to getting the siding replaced and the contractors screwing up and throwing the old ones away instead of re-installing them. So that's fixed now and the downspouts point well away from that window, but now the neighbors are getting their siding done and they have no downspouts, so all the water from their roof is coming straight down to that area. Not much I can do about that, and of course they're getting stucco done which is taking forever with all this #### weather