What is a toilet fill valve? A toilet fill valve performs the thankless task of refilling a toilet's tank after each flush. They come in a variety of configurations, based on the size, shape, and design of the toilet. A malfunctioning one can make the toilet run continuously or fail to refill the tank with the right amount of water. When they're installed too [...]
PVC pipe is a no-no. This water heater has a 1/2" PVC extension tube on its temperature-pressure relief valve. PVC stands for Polyvinyl chloride, but a more suitable name might be “Pipe Very Cracky”. The piping is brittle and not rated for use inside a home generally, and especially not as an extension tube on a water heater temperature-pressure relief valve. In addition to [...]
Jiminy Cricket! This wide chimney is missing a cricket. No, not the small, noisy insect. A cricket is a small, peaked roof at the up-slope side of your chimney to deflect water and debris around your chimney. Without a cricket snow and debris can easily build up and lead to water penetration around the chimney. Chimneys that are 30” wide or more should have [...]
Duct tape and bailing wire are a short-term fix. Anyone who grew up on a farm knows that much can be done with duct tape and bailing wire, at least to get a job done in the short-term. But repairs made in the short-term are often forgotten and become long-term, permanent, repairs. Here we see duct tape used to repair a gaping hole in [...]