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Plumbing Advice for Homeowners

February 28, 2011

Boy Helping Dad with PlumbingI have read many ways to unclog a drain. I have also tried many ways. However, the one way that has always worked for me is "Rapidly Boiling Water." I just boil several pots of water and pour them down the drain. I have used this in the kitchen sink and bathroom sink as well as a toilet and shower. It has never let me down.

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Note: Take as much liquid out of the sink as possible. Then keep pouring the boiling water until it starts to drain. Keep doing this until it drains normally. It may take several trips. If you still need to plunge - WAIT UNTIL THE WATER COOLS (you don't want to burn yourself with any splash)

By Compltlyme from Sammamish, WA

 
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Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 166 Posts
September 6, 2007

My daughter dropped her diamond down the drain. She called a local plumber who said there would be a service call charge of $55.00 plus a charge to locate the ring. I called my brother in law who does plumbing.

 
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February 27, 2006

If you do any replacement work on your plumbing, double check the job the next day, a week later, a month later to make sure that no leaks develop.

 
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November 9, 2004

Label the parts of the electrical and plumbing systems that lurk in your basement. Identify each fuse or circuit breaker, hot and cold water shutoffs, heating system controls, gas and water meters, and drain clean-out access covers.

 
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December 3, 2003

Toilet tip from Syd deals with a plumbing problem when a plunger won't help. This is one most of us don't think about.

 
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Questions

Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.

September 17, 2019

How much will it cost for a plumber to run a snake down my sewage drain?


Answers


Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts
September 17, 20191 found this helpful
Best Answer

We have places that do it for $49.95. That is all they do.

 
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January 5, 2010

How can I fix a slow shower drain?

By steve from Pa

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Silver Post Medal for All Time! 418 Posts
January 9, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

I used the method that has been posted several times on Thriftyfun for unstopping a toilet. Pour Dawn dish detergent down the drain and let it sit a few minutes.

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Then pour boiling water down drain. Afterwards, I used the plunger and it unstopped the drain immediately. Amazing.

 
June 10, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

Before you try using a drain cleaner try using a baby bottle brush. Get one that has a wire type handle so it can be bent. When you get it in twirl it around and in and out to get hair and debris dislodged. Repeat as need to clean the hair off the baby bottle brush. I then used a plunger while the water was running. Worked for me! Don't use the baby bottle brush again for your baby's bottles.

 
November 21, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

The Dawn/plunger route worked great! Thanks for the tip!

 
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July 28, 2010

I need to get a new washer and dryer. I live in a 40+ year old house and I have been told that the outlet hose for the washers in these old houses are 1 1/2 inches. The new washers use 2 inch hoses. I don't even know where to go to get an answer or what to do. Does anyone have any advice? I sure would appreciate it. Thanks.

By abigailprettycat from Portland, OR

Answers

August 2, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

Go to your local hardware store and tell them that you need an adapter for your washer hose that will fit what you need at your house. Although our house and washer are a lot closer in age than your two, we still had to get an adapter to make it fit right.

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You will also need to be sure and buy plumber's tape to make sure the fittings are tight and secure.

 

Bronze Request Medal for All Time! 59 Requests
August 5, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

You can ask at various stores before making your purchase. A lot of stores will hook them up for you and will even haul away the old ones. Lowe's and Home Depot are a couple of stores that come to mind.

 
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February 26, 2009

I recently had major plumbing work performed in my master bathroom. They had to remove the tiles in my shower to get to the pipes. Upon completion of the work including re-tilng of the shower, there seems to be a lingering strong chemical smell.



We tried to vent out the room for 2 weeks but anytime you shut the doors to the bathroom or bedroom, the chemical smell accumulates. Has anyone experienced this after major plumbing and tile work? Any recommendations on testing the air. We're in our 37th week of pregnancy and are concerned for the baby.
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Hegel from Houston, TX

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February 27, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

Invite the local Plumbing Inspector over for his/her opinion..

 
March 5, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

I'm not sure if this will work, but try setting several bowls of baking soda in the room and close the door to see if that will absorb the smell. Change every couple of days with fresh baking soda. Good Luck

 
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January 1, 2018

My toilet is plugged up and when I flush the toilet water comes out of the bottom of the toilets and in the showers. I'm unemployed and am a mother of a 2yr old boy.

It is starting to smell really bad it's been about a week that it's been plugged.

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Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts
January 2, 20180 found this helpful
Best Answer

You can contact a church or Habitat for Humanity. You are going to rot out your subfloors if you don't take care of this.

 
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Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks
January 6, 2009

Any plumbers or roofing contractors out there? I live in Winnipeg, where the temperature is usually -35 to -45 degrees Celsius for 6 months of the year. This summer I put a new roof on my house. Now I have a big problem! My "stink stack" keeps freezing over! This never happened before. My house was built in 1935 and is a story and a half. It has a Cape Cod style roof (very steep angle), we put ice dam stuff on it and asphalt shingles.



What can I do to stop this freezing problem. Would wrapping the part of the stack that goes through the attic with insulation help? And, if so, what kind of insulation should I use? The roof is too steep to get up there in the winter. We have scraped the snow off from around the stack and removed the ice several times already, but it still freezes over. What can I do to permanently fix this, as I am told it is not good to have this happen!

Answers

By Tomatohanger (Guest Post)
January 9, 20090 found this helpful

I lived in northern MN, in a two story house. In the fall before really cold weather set in we would always climb up on the roof and drop an electric heater element, designed for that job, into the vent. You have to run an electric cord outside to it somehow, of course. The extension cord would keep the heater element in proper position.

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Never a problem with freezing. The element was a very low-wattage gadget and well worth the cost of the power to keep the vent open.

 
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September 2, 2015

So I went to run a bath and only a little water came out. Then it stopped. There is no water to the bath, sink, washing room, and toilet. The kitchen only has cold water. Can anyone help?


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February 26, 2015

We had dirty water from a frozen pipe. I did my undies, some are white, and now they are yellowed from the dirty water. This happened on Saturday. They fixed the pipe, but here it is Wednesday and this happened. When will my water clear up?

By flower51

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