Need some plumbing advice

So, I bought this house a year ago or so, and I’ve had problems with low water pressure in the kitchen. Only the kitchen. If I turned on one of the taps, there’d be little more than a trickle of water, but if I turned on both, there’d be at least enough pressure to be marginally acceptable for washing dishes, etc. Water pressure everywhere else in the house is just fine.

I finally got around to trying to deal with this after talking to a friend of a friend who is a plumber. He said first thing to do would be to check the aerator, but if that wasn’t gunked up, then the problem was probably that the galvanized pipes in my 65 year old house were probably scaled up.

I checked the aerator, no problem there. So I called and made an appointment with a plumber for him to come out and check the situation. Well, despite this guy being highly recommended, he decided he could just troubleshoot this and give me an estimate during a phone call when I was waiting for him to show up. He quoted me $750 to replace the pipes leading to the kitchen.

Well, that was more than I expected, so I tried to mess around with things myself. I decided to turn off the cold water valve under the kitchen sink, disconnect the hose leading to the fixture, and restart the water so see if the fixture might be the problem. After grunting and groaning a bit, lo and behold, turns out that the cold water valve was just halfway open and the water flow, even through the faucet, is completely fixed!

So I tried the same thing with the hot water line. First I closed the shutoff valve all the way, then opened it up again, and… the problem got worse. Hot water flow went from more or less a trickle to a drip. I’ve tried working the valve a few times, but no love.

A couple things are puzzling me. I’m thinking perhaps that there’s something wrong with the valve, like my closing it got something seated down in there restricting the flow even further. However, it’s a new looking valve - still brassy and clean looking on the outside - so I just have a hard time thinking that the valve is defective.

Also, and I admit this could be my imagination, if I go to my basement, I can see the two galvanized pipes that lead to the kitchen. if I tap on the cold water pipe, it is clearly rings with a deeper, heavier tone than rapping on the hot water pipe, leading me to question if the problem with the flow in the hot water pipe is further back, and the whole fooling with the shutoff valve thing was just cooincidence.

Can anyone provide some advice on how to proceed here?

If you can turn off the hot water at the heater, then you could take the valve apart to inspect it. Of course, it might look newer, but who knows? I always approach shut off valves knowing that if I touch it at all, there is a fair chance I’ll be replacing it. Sometimes they are not of high quality. Then again, 65 years for galvanized is pretty old. It’s hard to replace a valve when the pipe you are attaching it to is falling apart.

If the pipes are exposed in the basement, then $750 was probably too much.

Oh, and if shutting off the hot water means shutting of the cold water supply to the heater, then turn the heater off while you are working.

It does sound like the valves might need to be replaced.

If you do plumbing work yourself, just a word of warning: Expect numerous trips to the hardware store for whatever odd parts you don’t have on hand. You’ll never have the right parts. Look at Plumbers; they show up in a truck full of plumbing parts, and almost always they end up having to go back to the shop or order another part.

If you have somebody else do it, get some other bids. It’s irresponsible to diagnose the problem without visiting, although you may have to pay a nominal fee to have someone come out for analysis.

If you end up at pipe replacement, find a plumber who will use CPVC supply pipes rather than copper. They’re cheaper and install faster, but some plumbers look on them with disdain.

If you have galvanized pipes and low water flow, the last thing you want to do is put a band-aid on the problem by only fixing it where it needs to be fixed right now. Replace all that crap with either copper or CPVC. CPVC is cheaper and quicker, but as mentioned, it has not been around as long and “proven” itself in the market for durability, etc. Most plumbers will tell you if you want to do it right, do it with copper.

If I were doing it myself, I’d use CPVC because it doesn’t require a torch and sweat fittings, and it would be much cheaper and quicker. If you hire a professional plumber, you may have to ask upfront about CPVC first to see if he’ll even do it.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much at all about plumbing. That being said, I had a big problem in my shower area, which amounted to all the pipes in the shower part needing to be replaced. (Luckily, the wall behind the pipes has complete and easy access.) Not knowing the least thing about plumbing (and not being able to afford a plumber), I went to my local home improvement store, stopped by the front of the store to grab a $40+ fix it book, and took it to the plumbing department. “I want to do that,” I said, pointing at the picture in the book. The guy there walked me through the plumbing, explaining everything, and even got all the parts for me to do the job. I used CPVC and it was literally one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. It took Hallboy and I about two hours to completely redo the entire workings of the shower, including installing a brand new one piece faucet dohicky.

I’m not saying that you could redo your entire plumbing, Ravenman, but it wouldn’t hurt to look into it. If I can do it, then I think that just about anyone could do it. (Not to dismiss the talent of plumbers though.)

**Check your local plumbing and building codes first. **

I don’t know about the OP’s location, but CPVC or PEX is not allowed in California, except under some very specific circumstances that make copper impractical - you have to file an exception stating that the soil or water is so acidic that it will cause premature failure of metallic pipe.

As a result, CPVC isn’t even sold at places like Home Depot or Lowes - you have to go to a professional plumbing supply house to find it.

For a do-it-yourself repair if you don’t know how to sweat copper, you can get compression fittings that just screw together. They’re breathtakingly expensive compared to sweat-solder fittings, but for a one-off, they are perfectly good.

Actually, that leads in to the next question on my mind. Does it make sense to replace only the pipes leading to the kitchen? Might there be some sort of downside to having galvanized in the whole of the house, except the part leading to the kitchen?

(As a note, I’m pretty sure that redoing the whole house is not feasible at the moment. Aside from the pipes to the kitchen, which are very easily accessed, the stuff upstairs is really a pain – I had to replace a leaky tub drain and I damn near had to tear a hole through a plaster wall to get down there. Plus, DC has a problem with lead service lines, so I’m told that it is now law if one replaces the interior lines, you have to replace the service lines, too, adding another $5,000 to $10,000 bucks to the bill.)

Thank you all for the responses so far. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to get a pro involved soon, but at least I’m being armed with what solutions are reasonable.

Well, let’s just hope you don’t have a lead water main. :eek:

Replacing what you can will certainly improve water flow in the kitchen. Can you work your way back from the kitchen all the way to the water heater? If the pipes are just hanging there for all to see, it’s a pretty easy job. You will need to be concerned with anything that involves mating gavanized steel to copper - there are special “dielectric” fittings for this that will prevent the connection from corroding.

For the bathroom, there are a few clever tricks that can be used to sneak new pipe through the walls - semi-flexible copper tubing can be used, for example, and snaked through the walls much like wire. Or, just give in to reality and bust out whatever walls are in the way. What’s more important to you in the morning? Old plaster or a nice strong hot shower?

Sounds like you really need a plumber experienced in re-plumbing old houses - they’ll be familiar with all the codes, what can or can’t be used (eg: is CPVC or PEX OK?) and probably more importantly, they’ll be familiar with the general architecture and construction methods in the area. You’d be surprised at how many ways there are to put a house together, and there are usually distinct regional styles.

Do you have lead service pipes? Not everyone does and it doesn’t seem to follow any kind of logic as to who does or doesn’t. I didn’t which is great considering the age of my house. Good luck with that, I can tell you who not to use, but I don’t really have anyone to use at this point since my plumber retired to Florida.

Well, I know this isn’t a permanent fix, but I am happy to report that I figured out the problem. It had to be in one of four things, right? The faucet, the cutoff valve, the pipes… or the damn hose connecting the fixture to the valve. It finally hit me to check the hose, and sure enough, there was a little bit of crud in the end connecting to the vavle that, once cleaned out, gave me full pressure for the first time of my living in this place!

While I realize my pipes are eventually going to cause problems, at least I don’t have to deal with them today. Thanks for all your help.

You should remember that copper is now up to four times the price it was about a year ago. You’ll shit your pants, if you see what replacing everything in copper costs now.

Since you’re in DC, see if PEX is accepted by L&I. Uponor/Wirsbo is one of the originators of PEX plumbing, and if I were building a new dwelling, it’s what I would use. Another alternative if you wish to stay copper based but don’t want to solder is the Ridgid ProPress system.

I am a remodeler, but I don’t do plumbing, except for minor stuff. Glad you solved your problem, and I just want to make a quick observation.

The thing about plumbing is, if you screw up, you can cost yourself thousands of bucks to fix it. Compared say, to cutting a piece of 5 dollar baseboard too short.

For example, if you are trying to change a simple shutoff valve, whether it be copper, pvc, or galvanized, the valve may be a little tight, you bear down with the wrench, valve comes off, you install the new one, no leaks, but you might have broken a joint inside a wall 10 or 20 feet away.

Maybe you create a small leak, but a few weeks/months later your drywall/tile falls off, or the pipe breaks and your house is flooded. The ten dollar valve replacement can turn into a multi-thousand repair job.

Not to sound like a dick, but we love these jobs. Not that we rip you off, but water damage jobs are expensive, as we have to replace/repair drywall, flooring, trim, paint, doors etc. I do a lot of insurance work for this type stuff, but if you screw it up yourself, your HO policy may not cover it.

I have seen broken pipe jobs cost $40,000 or more in just mid-level priced homes.

Not to say a savvy DIY type can’t do simple stuff, but in my experience, plumbing screw ups can do the most damage. Just saying that unlike simple carpentry, etc plumbing is unforgiving.

And as always, if you hire a contractor, make sure they are licensed, bonded and insured, get at a minimum 3 bids, and check references.

Ravenman I didn’t tread all the thread but the first thing I’d do is check the everything from the aerator down to the valves. (ie: pull the supply lines to the faucet and check/replace them first since you’ve already checked the screen in the faucet)
If that doesn’t do it then check for pressure at the valves they are the next thing I’d replace. they’re inexpensive and easy to replace. I doub’t the problem extends beyond that.
Good luck ~JB