Low flow in kitchen, but normal flow in bathroom.
Incidentally (or not), the furnace is on.
If it is a swelling washer, you can test that out by changing the temperature on the water heater. If you have access to it, there should be a dial on the front which may go from Hot to Vacation (or Low). That’s the thermostat dial. If you change it hotter, the flow should be restricted more often since the water’s hotter. That might be a good thing to try to make it happen more often so you can reliably show the super. If you make it hotter, BE CAREFUL when using hot water. It will be hotter than usual.
If that really is the case, the reason it might be intermittent is because the temperature in the water heater is not constant. If you haven’t used it in a while, the water will be at maximum temperature. When you use hot water, cold water is flowing into the tank, lowering the temperature. Does it happen more often after you haven’t used it in a while? Like first thing in the morning or after you get home from work?
Another way to test is to measure the water temperature when it’s restricted versus flowing freely. You may be able to determine at what temperature the problem happens.
filmore, those are good suggestions, but they’re making me think that we aren’t talking about a swelling washer. I say this because usually the water flow is really low first thing in the morning (when I want to rinse the breakfast dishes). Even the cold water that precedes the hot water will be trickly. I’ll shut the faucet off, mutter some profanity, pace back and forth, and say “Why, lord, why!?” while throwing my fists up in the air. Then I’ll try the thing again and suddenly it’s working just fine. Like the low-flow was just a bad dream. Seems to me if it was a swelling washing, the pattern would happen in reverse, right?
When I came home this evening and checked the faucet, the flow was super strong for a good hour or so (I kept checking so I could do the test in the bathroom). Then I randomly checked it and it was “low flow” . That was an hour ago. I just checked it again and it is STILL low-flow. Seems to me if it was a swelling washer, it wouldn’t be this way.
I will turn down the water heater and see what this does, though.
ebay usually has good prices on faucets…
Is the supply line (from shut-off to faucet) metal or plastic?
I can’t imagine why this is sporatic, but you have some crud somewhere that is bouncing around.
If you can live without hot water in the sink for a few hours and have a good back that you’d like to wreck, go to store and get longest supply line (note the size of the valve coupling - it varies) you can find. If clever, get a nipple whch will the outlet fitting on the new line to connect to the existing line.
Route new, long, line into bucket. Does the low-flow still occur? If not, replace faucet. If it does, replace water heater*. If venting is easy, a tankless will fit in a very small space.
If you have the nipple, you can use it to connect the new line to the existing supply line and get hot water back to the sink. Use teflon tape or thread compound to avoid leaks.
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- you could also do the disconnect at the heater, but, if the problem occurs only in the kitchen, it is most likely not the problem.