The plumber knows he forgot something. He just can’t remember what. When plumbing a new house, plumbers must pressure-test the waste pipes to ensure that the system doesn't leak. Leaks might allow waste water or sewer gas to enter the house. So, when the drain piping is complete, the plumber inserts a test plug and fills the drain system with water all the [...]
Basement floor drains are supposed to *remove* basement water, not bring it in. One of the reasons that home inspectors run so much water during an inspection is to reveal problems like this one. The basement floor drain is connected to the main sewer line, which doesn’t drain fast enough. As a result, some water backs up into the basement. While this might [...]
Temperature and pressure relief (TPR) valves are critically important safety devices. When one fails or is improperly installed in a way that prevents it from doing its job, a traditional tank-style water heater can behave like a bomb (or a rocket). Here, a flush kit for a tankless water heater is installed upside down, placing a shut off valve between the hot water [...]
Is this a new type of leaf screen? This gutter may be very effective at separating leaves from the water off the roof, but only at the expense of water running down the side of the house and causing damage. This pattern of deterioration is certainly unusual - I would suspect that it may be corrosion from some type of de-icer chemical/pellets or [...]
A trombone comes to mind... Or maybe miniature golf. Drainpipes under a sink should be simple: a small U-shaped bend called a “trap” holds a plug of water to prevent sewer gas from rising out of the drain. This plug of water should never be more than 4” deep and the remaining drainpipes should be as short and direct as possible. The drain [...]
Your dryer vent - it's full of hot air. Your dryer tumbles your clothes with lots of hot air, which is then vented out through a duct to a vent outside the home. When the vent does not have good clearance, airflow is restricted which can have several results: your dryer may take longer to dry your clothes resulting in higher energy usage and [...]
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 [...]
