joys of home ownership

[GeorgeC]

Add your discoveries to this thread. I'll start.

from http://www.amwater.com/kyaw/ensuring-water-quality/waterqualityqa.html#q11

Customers often call to report white particles clogging their shower heads, faucet aerators or floating in the bath tub or water glasses. These particles are often described as resembling eggshell fragments, scale or oatmeal. In many instances our laboratory has determined that these particles are plastic and that the source was limited to the hot water. It was further determined that the source of these particles is the failure of the plastic dip tube located inside the hot water heater in the home.

Guess that's what I've been finding in my aerators...

 

[Geico266]

How old is the water heater?

Have you drained it lately to flush put the sediment out of the bottom?

 

[DeeG]

Noticed that one of the recessed lights in the kitchen was starting to sag on one end this past spring. Started poking around the ceiling and my finger went right through the drywall. Tore out a bunch. of soaked drywall that had some nasty looking black mold on it. Had to wait until all the snow melted before we could get the roof repaired. Now I'm saving up for a new roof and ceiling repair. yay.

 

[Geico266]

Noticed that one of the recessed lights in the kitchen was starting to sag on one end this past spring. Started poking around the ceiling and my finger went right through the drywall. Tore out a bunch. of soaked drywall that had some nasty looking black mold on it. Had to wait until all the snow melted before we could get the roof repaired. Now I'm saving up for a new roof and ceiling repair. yay.

Was there insulation in the recessed areas where the lights were located? It might just be condensation from the uninsulated lights and recessed area. A lot of them are not.

Would be a good time to add insulation to the attic also.

 

[GeorgeC]

How old is the water heater?

Have you drained it lately to flush put the sediment out of the bottom?

I think it's an early 90s model. Doubt the anode rod was ever changed. The whole unit is probably due to be replaced. I usually flush it in the spring, along with cleaning the dryer vents. Last time I flushed it, lots of stuff came out, like coarse sand. Guessing that's the tank degrading...

 

[GeorgeC]

Ugh. I still have nightmares from a similar thing in my old place. Electrician was trying to fish a wire to the bathroom when the whole ceiling fell in. Turned out it was a 70-80 year old galvanized pipe, embedded in concrete, that was slowly leaking over the years.

Noticed that one of the recessed lights in the kitchen was starting to sag on one end this past spring. Started poking around the ceiling and my finger went right through the drywall. Tore out a bunch. of soaked drywall that had some nasty looking black mold on it. Had to wait until all the snow melted before we could get the roof repaired. Now I'm saving up for a new roof and ceiling repair. yay.

 

[Flying_Nun]

There was the time I remodeled the only bathroom in the house which is positioned above the dining room. I had just buttoned everything up and turned on the water only to emerge from the basement to find water dripping from the dining room ceiling. $1,200 worth of Pex and drywall later everything was fine.

 

[Old Geek]

The only good news is that $1200 usually goes a lot further fixing the house than fixing the airplane.

My next honeydo is to change the bearings in the washing machine. Again.

 

[Matthew]

Ugh - noticed cracked grout in a shower stall. Figured it would be as painless enough project. So I started digging out the grout and the whole wall caved in. I tore out all three walls, then called three different insulation contractors because the rotten wall was an exterior wall. All three immediately asked the same question: Was a sheet of visqueen used as a vapor barrier?

They all said the same thing - tear it out, it traps condensation on the back side of the drywall and rots it from the back side.

Demolition is great stress relief, and the repairs went off without a hitch. And the new tile job looked great.

--

Then there were the plumbing issues, but that's for another day.

 

[Geico266]

I think it's an early 90s model. Doubt the anode rod was ever changed. The whole unit is probably due to be replaced. I usually flush it in the spring, along with cleaning the dryer vents. Last time I flushed it, lots of stuff came out, like coarse sand. Guessing that's the tank degrading...

Just replace it. You got your money's worth out of it. Simple 2 hour job you can do yourself.

 

[John Baker]

Houses are like kids and dogs, they take work and you have to look after them. If you do everything right, your dog will look after you, and in your later years, if you did it right (raised them) your kids will also will look after you.

A house is much the same. The first fifteen years, you have to look after it, make the payments and such. If you bought it right, after fifteen years, it will look after you for the the rest of your life. If it wasn't for my house, I never could have retired.

-John

 

[Keith Lane]

I replaced my dip tube a couple of years ago, and it cost less than $10. It starts disintegrating up the side of the tube, and all those little particles are the result. The tube is where the cold water enters the heater, and it makes the cold water enter at the bottom of the heater near the element/burner. As you use the hot water, cold water is forced in at the bottom and pushes the hotter water out of the top. When the dip tube starts to fail, the cold water enters at a much higher point in the tank, and "dilutes" the hot water, and really clobbers the efficiency of the unit. If you turn off the water to the house, and bleed off any pressure, you remove the cold water inlet pipe, and you should see the end of the dip tube. Stick your pinky finger in there and try to work the tube out. Be careful not to break it because the end will just fall into the heater and you'll have to flush it out forever. The new tube (I got mine at ACE Hardware) is longer than necessary, so hold it up to the outside of the heater and cut it off about 4-6 inches from the bottom. screw on the cold line, turn on the water and then hook a garden hose to the spigot at the bottom of the heater, run it outside, or to the tub and let 'er rip, flushing out all the crap that has been living in the bottom of the heater.

 

[Matthew]

I thought there were issues in dip tubes of just one or two brands. I remember this from about 10-12yrs ago, though.

 

[Skylane81E]

Snaking drains in the middle of the night was my most recent joy, unless you want you count crawling around in the rafters of the garage today changing light bulbs.

Or finding a stream of water coming from the water heater to the floor drain because the tank sprung a leak. Replacing it myself saved some serious coin.

 

[DeeG]

Was there insulation in the recessed areas where the lights were located? It might just be condensation from the uninsulated lights and recessed area. A lot of them are not.

Would be a good time to add insulation to the attic also.

Its a manufactured home, so no attic to speak of. Not condensation, a full blown leak. You could see where the water was coming down. After I pulled a bunch of dry wall out, every time it rained, it would dripdripdripdripdripdrip. All of the bended metal parts (that go on corners of drywall) were rusted and falling apart. Screw/nail head were rusted. It was ugly.

Part of the new roof process will be yanking out a bunch of plywood and replacing the insulation with something better and eliminating the skylight in the kitchen. i have a feeling, that since the leak point is about 20' from where the leak revealed itself, there's gonna be a bunch of rotten plywood up there. It had been leaking for a year or two.

 

[Silvaire]

I've got the story

We started to smell something peculiar and a week later, as I was drinking a cup of tea on the deck I noticed a small dark spot on the stucco. A few days later I noticed a couple and then several. They were small, I couldn't tell WTF they were so continued in bliss.

Well, one day I came home after work and the entire front of the house was covered with these things - which turned out to be Sewer Flys AKA Drain Flys.

Turns out the plastic drain pipe from the kitchen sink had busted off at the elbow and two of the supports under the crawl space have snapped so everything we packed down the garbage disposal for the past two weeks has landed on the normally dry ground under our house and turned it into a fracking sewer.

So...DIY guy like me puts on a Tyvek suit and goes down there through the hatch in the closet and OMG this is like a scene out of an Indiana Jones movie. Flies, spider webs and creeping, crawling things. A LOT of creeping, crawling things. I slither my way under ducts and beams to the scene and it's just plain frackin' freaky. I'll take ice on my wings over this.

Ended up calling a plumber - so much for DIY

 

[AuntPeggy]

On the other hand...
We pulled off the 70's era paneling from the living room wall and found some bumps in the plaster wall underneath. After some sanding to level the bumps we found that they were electrical boxes with wires in. The ends were taped and when tested, they were live. We restored two electrical boxes and added a switch with dimmer and now we have the coolest retro sconces!

 

[steingar]

I suck at his stuff so hard I can't even replace my stupid garbage disposer.

My house did try to eat a roofing inspector once. I was so proud.

 

[DeeG]

So...DIY guy like me puts on a Tyvek suit .......

We have a pump house on the property for our well (which is ~700' down). Since we live out int he middle of nowhere, the mice like to take up residence in the pump house. One day I decided it was time to clean house. Bought the Tyvek suit and borrowed one of them mask/breather things from a friend. Taped my orchard boots to suit, taped some heavy duty rubber gloves on as well. Pulled out all the poop and urine soaked insulation, dead mice and misc nasty things. I had 25) 50 gallon heavy duty plastic trash bags full 5 hours later. I brought out the power washer, and ran a bleach/water mix and hosed down the ceiling, walls and pad that the tanks sit on. Left the door open for a day to dry out then placed a boat load of mouse poison in there.

One of the nastiest things I have ever done.

Unlike you I REFUSE to crawl under the house. Not a chance.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

You haven't lived till you have a houseful of relatives staying for the holidays and the septic backs up...

 

[tonycondon]

You haven't lived till you have a houseful of relatives staying for the holidays and the septic backs up...

my in laws were here last summer we noticed the sewer line was starting to back up. it hadn't gotten to a full back up yet. $1200 later i have a clean out installed in the yard so they don't have to dump sewage all over the basement to clean out the line and everything works a lot better.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Mine was the morning of Christmas eve, just starting to snow. Isolated the blockage to the effluent line between the septic tank and the leach field distribution box.

God bless the man who invented the mini-excavator!

 

[mikea]

Add your discoveries to this thread. I'll start.

from http://www.amwater.com/kyaw/ensuring-water-quality/waterqualityqa.html#q11

Guess that's what I've been finding in my aerators...

I thought there were issues in dip tubes of just one or two brands. I remember this from about 10-12yrs ago, though.

I first heard about the dip tube problem on Ron Hazelton's show:
http://www.ronhazelton.com/tips/faulty_water_heater_dip_tube_-_diagnosis_and_replacement

Which BTW, when I bought the house I subscribed to about every DIY home improvement show to be had.

I guess I'm lucky that my water heater is from 1995 or so.

I've been happily saying that the "lifetime" concrete tile roof on my house doesn't leak so it doesn't need attention. I talked to my buddy's guy about the run off from some soffitts and he said it's time to remove the tiles and re-paper the whole thing and a lot of roof sheathing needs to be replaced.

Today is 65 degrees and wet. I went out front and noticed that the concrete UNDER the carport roof is all wet, the shed walls show water streaks, and there's bubbling in the paint on the inside (but still not IN the house.)

Sigh. The good news is I'll have a chance to run all the cables I've been dying to run outside.

 

[Matthew]

Every time we have a hard rain I make the rounds inspecting, especially around the rim joist in the basement.

One in a long while I'll notice something that lets me know it's time to take the caulk gun and go exploring again.

 

[denverpilot]

I suck at his stuff so hard I can't even replace my stupid garbage disposer.

My house did try to eat a roofing inspector once. I was so proud.

Glad to hear someone else hates plumbing. I can do it, but it's usually many hours of cussing, and resoldering and/or whatever.

It's always been worth it to call the plumber. Always.

 

[Gerhardt]

Plumbing doesn't bother me. I kind of enjoy it as long as it's a job I want to do vs a job i HAVE to do. I keep a special toolbox just for plumbing tools and another for supplies...which I stocked after a water line froze and broke one Xmas day several years ago. Now most friends know they can call 24/7 for couplings, elbows, etc.

 

[comanchepilot]

Hot water heaters need:

a. top drains flushed every 60 days or so

b. bottom drains flushed every 6 months or so [depending on water turbidity and mineral content]

c. The anode replaced every 24 months

d. the plastic tube replaced if it has plastic every 36 months -

When your hot water heater gives up the ghost - if you have the ability to go tankless - do it. You do away with ALL of the corrosion and storage issues. The worst is the tank itself failing when you are on vacation - and the water runs and runs and runs for days on end . . . never happened to me - but I know people. . . .

 

[l8evator]

Problem:

Glad to hear someone else hates plumbing. I can do it, but it's usually many hours of cussing, and resoldering and/or whatever.

It's always been worth it to call the plumber. Always.

Answer:
http://www.sharkbiteplumbing.com/

The fittings seem a little expensive the first time you buy them, but after you use them once, they are an amazing value.

Scott

 

[Geico266]

The worst is the tank itself failing when you are on vacation - and the water runs and runs and runs for days on end . . . never happened to me - but I know people. . . .

Good idea to shut the water off to the house and to turn the water heater off if you are going to be gone for more than 3 days. Washing machine hoses can break also.

 

[Geico266]

You haven't lived till you have a houseful of relatives staying for the holidays and the septic backs up...

my in laws were here last summer we noticed the sewer line was starting to back up. it hadn't gotten to a full back up yet. $1200 later i have a clean out installed in the yard so they don't have to dump sewage all over the basement to clean out the line and everything works a lot better.

Mine was the morning of Christmas eve, just starting to snow. Isolated the blockage to the effluent line between the septic tank and the leach field distribution box.

God bless the man who invented the mini-excavator!

There is a new way to maintain septic systems and avoid costly repairs. Several acreages here have tried these systems and they actually renovated clogged laterals saving them thousands in repairs. It turns your septic system into an aerobic system by pumping air into the tank to aid microbial growth and digestion. The effluent carries oxygen rich water to the laterials which aids in digestion of the material clogging them.

http://www.aero-stream.com/septic-aeration-system.html

Yes, it is experimental.

 

[wsuffa]

When your hot water heater gives up the ghost - if you have the ability to go tankless - do it. You do away with ALL of the corrosion and storage issues. The worst is the tank itself failing when you are on vacation - and the water runs and runs and runs for days on end . . . never happened to me - but I know people. . . .

But for most homes, going tankless will require running a new, larger gas line to the tankless heater location. Most tankless systems consume a LOT more gas during the periods of operation, which requires a larger pipe. It's not much of a problem if your heater is near the meter or the lines run out in the open - if they're behind walls, it's probably much less expensive to just replace the tank.

 

[tonycondon]

There is a new way to maintain septic systems and avoid costly repairs. Several acreages here have tried these systems and they actually renovated clogged laterals saving them thousands in repairs. It turns your septic system into an aerobic system by pumping air into the tank to aid microbial growth and digestion. The effluent carries oxygen rich water to the laterials which aids in digestion of the material clogging them.

http://www.aero-stream.com/septic-aeration-system.html

Yes, it is experimental.

i don't have a septic system. i have a sewer line running from my house to the city sewer line.

interestingly about a week after the plumbers finished installing the clean out i got a letter from the city sewer dept. 3 months earlier they had ran a camera down the main and had seen some partial blockage in my line and sent me a letter to let me know about it. they even included a picture of the blockage which was kind of cool. i hung it up on the fridge.

 

[mikea]

But for most homes, going tankless will require running a new, larger gas line to the tankless heater location. Most tankless systems consume a LOT more gas during the periods of operation, which requires a larger pipe. It's not much of a problem if your heater is near the meter or the lines run out in the open - if they're behind walls, it's probably much less expensive to just replace the tank.

I think it's ALWAYS less expensive to just replace the tank type water heater. The idea is that you get the 2-3x cost back from tankless in lower energy bills and partly for the longer life of the heater.

It just occurred to me that now that natural gas prices are way down a lot of folks arten't going to see the payback they thought.

In my house I'd need two tankless heaters to handle the theoretical load of all three bathroom showers in use at once.

 

[Geico266]

i don't have a septic system. i have a sewer line running from my house to the city sewer line.

interestingly about a week after the plumbers finished installing the clean out i got a letter from the city sewer dept. 3 months earlier they had ran a camera down the main and had seen some partial blockage in my line and sent me a letter to let me know about it. they even included a picture of the blockage which was kind of cool. i hung it up on the fridge.

 

[tonycondon]

OK here you go

 

[Matthew]

Was it pork chops?

 

[tonycondon]

hard to tell.

 

[GeorgeC]

I did some research maybe a year ago and came up with a middle of the road solution, like this kenmore. The kenmores seem to be rebadged ao smith units, but with better warranties.

Tankless seemed like lots of maintenance, and the really high efficiency units did not seem to provide any ROI for residential applications. I haven't read about the hybrid water heaters yet.

I need an expansion tank installed as well, so I'm happy to let the folks who do these installs every day do mine...

 

[Skylane81E]

My toilet exploded this morning. Threw most of the contents of the tank onto the wall and floor. That was a great reason to be late to work.

Water main was filled with air by the crew about a block away, high volume bubbles from the bottom of the tank had sufficient force to lift the tank lid!

 

[Geico266]

hard to tell.

Tree roots.