Why do your plumbing fixtures stink? I have an idea. It might be sewer gases coming in to your home. Every plumbing fixture needs to be equipped with a trap, which is basically a dip in a pipe that water fills up. This water sitting in the trap is what prevents sewer gases from coming in to your home.
Read MoreFloodSafe® washing machine connectors are special hoses with a mechanism that will completely shut off the flow of water if the hose bursts. In last week's blog post about washing machine connectors, I mentioned that I'm not a big fan.
Read MoreBurst washing machine hoses have to be one of the most common causes of catastrophic water damage in homes. On a project difficulty scale of one to five, replacing your washing machine hoses falls somewhere between zero and one.
Read MoreHave you ever heard a banging noise coming from your water pipes when the water is turned off quickly? It usually sounds like the pipes are banging on something inside the walls... and that's exactly what's happening.
Read MoreA common plumbing defect found in many older houses is an "S" trap. An "S" trap is named so because it looks like an "S" on its side - it basically consists of a normal trap, and then another trap installed right up against it in an upside-down fashion, as shown below.
Read MoreDo you ever get annoyed with how long it takes to get hot water at your kitchen sink? I've considered a few different options to get hot water at my kitchen sink faster, such as installing a re-circulating pump or a point-of-use water heater.
Read MoreWhat's the best temperature to set your water heater to? There's no single great answer. The American Society of Sanitary Engineering Scald Awareness Task Group recently released a white paper on this topic, which essentially says that there is no perfect temperature to set you water heater to.
Read MoreIf you're planning to sell your home and you have a whirlpool tub, take the time to clean the system out, especially if you never use it. If a bunch of black gunk comes out of the jets when the home inspector tests the system in front of the buyers, they're really going to be grossed out with your bathroom.
Read MoreI find the same installation defects on water softeners over and over again. The installation instructions for water softeners are pretty much the same for all the different manufacturers, so the information I'm giving here should apply to just about any water softener.
Read MoreMany years ago, I learned about a bath tub leak that I never caught during my home inspection. The seller didn't have any children and didn't take baths, so they never knew about the problem with the bath tub drain. I did my standard inspection of the bath tub, which included filling the tub up with about four inches of water and then letting it drain. I didn't find any leaks and never reported a problem.
Read MoreI take a photo of the leak with a bunch of soapy bubbles coming out of it, I mark the exact location of the leak with orange tape, and I write “Gas Leak” on it. So why is it so difficult for the GAS COMPANY to find these leaks?
Read MoreIf you have an old clawfoot bath tub with a standard faucet that’s located inside the bath tub, such as the one pictured at right, you have a potential cross connection. If you live in Minneapolis or Bloomington, this is also a required repair.
Read MoreGas water heaters are a lot like decks, in the sense that most handymen feel qualified to install one. Thanks to these handymen, I find more installation defects on these two items than just about any other component in the home, and today I'm going to share my list of the most common gas water heater installation defects.
Read MoreToday I'll go over the items that I look for on gas connectors while doing home inspections. I'll cover the most common installation defects, and I'll go over the differences between new and old connectors.
Read MoreToday I'll share the most common locations for gas leaks, and I'll share my home inspection techniques for finding gas leaks in old Minneapolis and Saint Paul homes.
Read MoreOne of the most common defects that I find in old Minneapolis and Saint Paul houses is missing cleanout plugs in floor drains - especially during Truth In Sale of Housing Evaluations. Missing cleanout plugs can allow hazardous sewer gas in to the home, and often indicate a clogged floor drain.
Read MoreOne of the most common places that I find plumbing leaks during home inspections is at the showers. Steel showers always leak, glass doors frequently leak, and tiled shower floors leak if they're installed wrong. Any time I inspect a home, I do my best to find these leaks. Today I'll share a few of my methods.
Read MoreHow to correct an improper air gap on a toilet ballcock. Includes photos and a video.
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