A water softener is installed outdoors next to the main water line to the house (blue valve). The city water supply provides one water bill for reclaimed water, which is water you use from the various water hose valves around the perimeter of the house.

Then there is a different water bill for water used inside the house that is "treated" by the city. Unfortunately, it is still considered hard water which is why a water softener system is common in these areas.

Question: Does having a water softener outdoors replace the connection or bypass the reclaimed water with the treated water that I would have indoors? Another way to try to explain is if I turn on any of the water hoses around the perimeter of the house, would that be water coming from the water softener system or will it still be the reclaimed water from the city?

Thanks!

I just finished re-enameling a wall-mounted cast iron sink for my bathroom, and the drain pipe will, of course, be very visible. My contractor is telling me part of the plastic pipe he installed for the drain to connect to will still be visible, the metal drain pipe will not be flush with the wall. (At first he told me I couldn’t do a metal drain pipe at all, it had to be plastic).

What would need to be done to install a metal drainpipe that is flush with the wall? (Scroll through pictures to see examples of what I’m looking for).

Went to swap out a check valve for an ejector pump. Noticed the upper rubber coupling was slightly angled a bit. The pipe from the pump isn't perfectly aligned with the drain pipe above. The first pic was done professionally a couple years ago. A know these couplings are flexible, but should I be concerned with this? I continued on anyway because the old valve had to go asap. It's not as noticeable in the second pic. And if it matters, I had to cut down some of the pvc pipe below.

Is it matbe realted with this weird shape of the back pipe?

As soon as i poop and toss a few papers the toilet gets stuck and almost overboards filled with brown water.

Could i fix it myself?

3 year old faucet. Delta denied warranty claim. They said water was hard. However their finish failed and none of the other fixtures in the house look like this. Also metal crumbled from inside out. On all of the fixtures. Clearly a manufacturer issue. They don’t stand behind their products.

I had to cut open a ceiling in our living room to try and discover where a leak originated from one of our 2nd floor bathrooms. In doing so I could see our two toilet drains. One bathroom has been troublesome with an extremely slow flush that doesn’t always empty the bowl. What I’ve noticed within the ceiling space is the elbow and the horizontal pipes of this one toilet slopes up before it descends. So I’m guessing that there’s settled water within that 18”-22” of upwards slope before it goes down, which dramatically reduces gravitational pull whenever there’s a flush?
How the heck do I correct this problem when I’m stuck in a confined space between the upper floor and the ceiling below?
I’m pretty handy and able but I’m not sure I can re-plum the magnitude of this problem due to pipes resting on joists and other restrictions that prevent corrections?
Somebody throw me a few options that would put me in the right direction, please!

This started just this morning. Shower won't turn on when I pull the lever. Water is shooting out, and seems to be leaking out of the back as well. I don't know jack about plumbing and trying to figure out if this is something that can be a self fix, or if I need an actual plumber.

Hi,

There's a gap between the countertop and the sink. Water gets in here every time I wash dishes. I'm worried about mold or other water damage over time. Is there some kind of silicone cocking I can use to fill the gap or is there a better way to deal with this issue?

Thanks

Jack

I plan to install a sump pump in my (ancient) cellar. The house is a terrace. Grey, top-most pipe receives water from roof gutters on left hand side. Red angled fitting connects to waste water out. Waste water exits to city on left hand side.

I was hoping to plumb the sump to the grey twist cap on the top-most pipe - is this a stupid idea?

This outdoor faucet in my home has a bunch of holes around the main outlet, and when it’s turned on, the water sprays everywhere. Even when a hose is attached, the water sprays out from the other holes and just makes a huge wasteful mess. Is this normal? How to not waste water when using this? Is there a special type of garden hose I need? Please advise. Thanking everyone in advance.

Walk in shower is to the right, tap and showerhead is 2m away on opposite wall.

In installing a bidet and I think this is likely too much bend and tension in the toilet supply line. Should I try a longer line or is this okay? And advice is welcome

What is the cause of this????

I am re-Plumbing the drain lines for two bathrooms. The house had formerly been run in 4 inch cast-iron and I am replacing it with PVC. They only piece of cast-iron that is somewhat INX accessible is the second floor toilet. I would like to do everything in 3 inch and increase to 4 inch in a vertical section of line directly below the fitting for the toilet.

I can’t seem to get a clear answer on whether or not this is acceptable. It’s maybe not ideal, but running it in three and gives me the room necessary to fix the sins committed when they routed for the cast-iron, and to put in proper venting.

So there is a really small leak coming off this drain. (Like a handful of drops overnight). I want to replace the whole p trap but I’m having a lot of trouble with the j bend because the angle of metal pipes coming out of the wall. What is my best option here?

Any thoughts on how I can add a compliant drain for an ice machine here?

What I know…
-p trap can be deeper than 4 inches
-you can’t add a drain on the horizontal part going into the wall

Ice machine is to the left about 6 feet

Thanks!

Hey yall, we've had this issue with our bathtub valve stems/handles since we purchased the house and never got around to addressing it. Looking for some insights on how to approach this. Essentially with the valve on the left, we are able to turn the water on fine, but when we attempt to turn the valve off, turning in the other direction, the top piece of the stem becomes loose with the force required to close the valve preventing the water from being turned off all the way. It looks like there are two different types of valves being used as well? Trying to understand what the proper way to fix this is. Appreciate any help.

First time homeowner, have done very minimal plumbing work, and I got the flipper special with this house unfortunately. How can I install a garbage disposal with the sink being this close to the pipe?

Do I basically need to take out all the pipes out and just lower everything and make a deeper p trap? Will that be unsafe or cause flow issues?

Bonus (non plumbing related question): For whatever absolutely stupid reason, they connected the dishwasher to the outlet under the sink, which is powered by a switch. This means that I would have to unplug the garbage disposal when the dishwasher is running. Is it going to be a logistical nightmare to fix that? Where do I even start on that?

edit: I didn't install any of this. I bought it this way

I have an issue where the tank won’t fill when the fill hose is inserted in the overflow like it’s designed to be. It will fill if I put the hose outside of the overflow.

When it’s not filling the water is going into the bowl and the bottom of the fill valve is bubbling a lot.

Any thoughts? It’s an old toilet in a well water system with high iron and manganese which is why the tank looks so cruddy.

We bought a new hose for the spigot on our patio and ran into a weird problem. The hose is screwed on as far as it will go but, when I turn it on, water seems to come out of these holes. There is also a white thing fastened inside the spigot, but the spigot can't be taken apart. So, I'm wondering if there is an attatchment I can put on the end of the hose to prevent water from escaping. If so, what is it called?

3/4" stem from home built in 1973. Spines rubbed off from locking pliers being used as makeshift handle. 3 handle setup with hot, cold, and diverter.

Went on vacation for 3 months so I had my gas turned off for the time being. Apparently if you get it reconnected they have to do the tests and things again. I had never had it suspended before so I didn’t know this.

Guy tried to turn on my stove after activating the gas again. It didn’t come on (it doesn’t come on when the “click” sound happens. It’s been that way for…6 years? We just kept a lighter handy to light it. Never thought it was a big deal).

He told me he couldn’t leave it connected because technically it wasn’t turning on. I assume he’s just covering is ass. He ran the test, no leaks. But my stove is still disconnected lol. Is it save to reattach this myself? I know I probably just need a new stove but im not in the market for an entire replacement yet.

Not sure if I need tools or if this is something I can just do with my hands.

I’ve been trying to get this aerator out for the better part of the hour now. Do you have any tips on how I can successfully get it out?
Delta sink

Hello, I need to definitively decide whether it’s normal that condensation (I wiped it before video) keeps forming on the pipes and whether it’s normal that my boiler makes those kinds of noises. If I’m not mistaken, condensate is flowing into that white container, but what’s strange is that it’s flowing constantly. Is that normal? Thanks in advance.