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golly alison, i would hope that at 11 yrs of age you’re smarter than sylvan and will UNDERSTAND that plumbers don’t really rip the lungs out of their customers. mr. sylvan is a little over protective of his hard earned liscense, which is a direct result of all the new trends in our industry. the really big guys like home depot are really making the professional plumber, who does actually play a major part in “preserving the health of this nation” by installing and maintaining sanitary water and sewer systems in all of our homes. we are the people who make sure that chemicals in your lawn, or even blue stuff in your toilet tank can not get into your drinking water. other nasty things we protect you from are raw sewage(also known as e- coli bacteria) getting into your drinking water. we understand and protect you from evil things such as lead, asbestos, mercury, carbon monoxide poisoning, and fire hazzards from propane and natural gas. the industry trend now is to do it yourself. honestly the home depot types sell to the general public, plumbing material at cheaper prices than plumbers pay for them. they have convinced the general public that they can do all of their plumbing repairs themselves as well as a plumber, and though relatively rare, dangerous situations do arise as a direct resut of lack of training. i personally have had customers either create very unsanitary living conditions in their home or blame me of being a crook after giving them a price on a fixture that for me to sell it with enough markup to stay in buisness, i will be 50% higher than home depot. this makes me look foolish in my customers eyes, but a professional plumber has always been paid more for what he knows, than what he installs. very unsanitary plumbing is installed every day by people not qualified to do the work, and the same people who are only trying to save a few bucks are honestly putting themselves at risk. plumbers are called every day to fix homeowners mistakes. though we do a professional, safe job, the homeowner hates us because they know what we have paid for our material and think we are ripping them off. we have sons and daughters just like you and must be paid a living wage to make sure they can still go to college, or are at least raised in a good home. another interesting industry trend is the fact that people your age are taught that they should work with their minds and not their hands. being a plumber is VERY uncool now days and it is very hard for us to find and hire quality young people to join our trade. plumbers perform as important a part in our country as farmers but neither of us get any respect. how many kids in your school actually WANT to be a plumber? i’d bet none. these are just some thoughts off the top of my head, if you have any specific questions on this subject, e-mail me at jspotz@uswest.net i will gladly help any youngster with any interest in this trade, good luck on your report. jack
i wouldn’t rely on cauctic chemicals either but…there is a muratic acid replacement that isn’t hateful and still works well. it is called “ultra safe” muratic acid replacement. hardware stores in CO. all have it but that may be because its made here. i live in a very hard water area and it is all that works. pour it in the overflow tube of your toilet, the whole gallon, slowly, and go to bed. in the morning it may be soft enough to dislodge with a paper clip if you work hard but these holes are around 1/8 inch round. i use a very small screwdriver with the tip cut off then sharpen the chaft like a chisel, then i bend it at almost 90 degrees. the handle gives you leverage. i just twist it through. hope i helped. jack
darn old local plumber, if the leak is between the floor and the base it seems the water is WAAAAY away from where it should be, going down the drain. how does it get there? the caulking may be bad there but that is not the cause, just the result
go on down in your basement and listen to the thing and see if thats it. if it is what brand and model is it?
well Laurie, heres how I’d start if you called me. Most contractor grade faucets are a little lower in quality than I like to install and one leaking in a three year old home is no surprise if thats the problem. I would pull off the handle(s) and all trim and open up the valves and have a real good look in there. it could be as simple as a packing or someone has bumped the shower head and it’s arm is cracked. good luck, jack
Bids are free Mrs. Parker. you go ahead and call the plumber, H.J. is most likely right but havent you gotten lucky before? Its worth a try if you want the shower.
Steve, you may not believe this but it works almost all of the time. When your drain is filling up, it irritates you a little don’t it? let it get an inch or so high and go ahead and vent a little frustration on it! Stomp on that sucker! Seriously, stomp the center of that drain HARD, the water will be splashed away, but when it hits the middle again, nail it one more time. The resulting water hammer will shoot that waxy, shampooey, greasey mess into the next larger pipe. When mine got bad I’d wear my beach shoes for traction and padding and I’d really give ‘er hell! You’ll be surprised! jack (p.s. anyone else in the house will always wonder what makes you make sooo much noise in the shower. tell me if it works, it should be fixed right away.)
do you still have the old lid. there are numbers stamped on the inside that are real helpfull. any plumbing shop who deals in am. std. or home depot for all i know can access parts from a co. called tapco. they have whats left of am. stds old parts. if you were my customer i’d talk you into a new toilet, theyr’e not that darn expensive! stay away from made in mexico though!
Karen, is is possible that the chain on your flapper is too tight and allowing a small amount of water through? I didnt think so but worth a check, try this. If you lift up the flapper, theres a brass or plasitc “seat” that the flapper seals against. run your finger around the sealing edge with the flapper up and make sure it is smooth, no bumps etc.that could let water through, and remove your flapper and inspect that it is flat and supple. Somehow the leak is there 999% of the time. To see where the water is going, after the toilet has been left alone for a while, sprinkle some comet around in the bowl above the water and you’ll see the water coming down.
most “valve usage” type leaks when a valve that has normally been ignored then one day begins to get constant use are caused by the packing on the valve handle itself. lets try this first to see if the leak might be outside the wall’ first get a handtowel and dry the whole shut off valve under your toilet real good. now wait a minute and wrap your hand around that valve then look in your hand for water. if you see ANY tighten that nut behind the handle and you should fix it. the water could easily follow the valve body into the wall instead of dripping off the handle. hope this helps, jack
i hate to suggest this but it sounds like you forgot to turn the water back on after you finished the repair. or is maybe your float stuck?
