plumbing


Fill Valve with Ball Float 8
I’ll admit it — I titled this post to attract homeowners who are searching for how to fix a leaky toilet. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could prevent your toilet from leaking in the first place? This article will help you do both! During this year’s Spring Break, our […]

Leaking Toilet? Try the $25 Toilet Tune-Up


26
My initial review of the KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit was positive… except for the part where the unit started to magically flush the toilet all by itself in the middle of the night. I called it the “phantom flush.” If you recall from my review, KOHLER promised to send me […]

Product Update: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit Parts Upgrade




Hydrogen sulfide gas smells like rotten eggs 30
If your hot water smells like rotten eggs, don’t panic. It’s almost certainly something you can fix on your own, and there are a few different ways you can try to fix it. First, to make sure your hot water heater is the source (and that this is the blog post you’re […]

How to Fix Rotten Egg Smell in your Water


3
Remember when you were a little kid, and your mother would take you to the supermarket, and as you approached the glass doors you’d wave your hand at them… causing them to open… with… The Force? It was almost like magic! Sure, deep down you probably knew there was some kind […]

Product Review: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit


New fittings installed in minutes 4
If you’ve read any of my previous plumbing DIY posts, you know I’m a fan of SharkBite slip-fittings. Yes, they’re more expensive than standard copper or CPVC fittings, but their primary benefit is how easy they are to install… and remove for re-use or reconfiguration. Normally, you don’t have to remove plumbing fittings […]

DIY: SharkBite Fittings Make Adding a Check Valve Easy



Insulation tubing around the recirculating pump return line and drain 21
I little over a year ago, I made my very first plumbing-related blog post: a report on how I learned I should flush my water heater to eliminate rust-colored water, and should replace its anode when it’s fully eroded. Since that first post, I’ve enjoyed progressively attempting more complex DIY plumbing […]

How to Replace Your Water Heater


After installing insulating foam. 1
As we wrap up our Holiday vacation here at the Utah house, I’ve been tinkering with some home improvement projects (part of how I relax on vacation really is by fixing stuff). So today, I did two quick, cheap, and simple projects today to reduce the energy use of our […]

Two Cheap and Easy Water Heater Money Saving Tips


Hot water feed to humidifier connected! 5
The climate in Utah is particularly arid, both in the summer and the winter, and so I had my builder install a Lennox whole-house humidifier as part of our HVAC system in the Utah house. It helps keep us feeling comfortable at lower temperatures, meaning we save money on heating. […]

Installing a Water Pressure Gauge and Hot Water Feed to ...



This setting lets your Ecobee run the humidifier during heat, cool, or with the fan only. 12
In my original review of my very first Ecobee Smart Thermostat, I described how I had wired my Ecobee’s equipment interface to my whole-house evaporative humidifier at the Utah house. Because my furnace’s control board had a 24V HUM connector, I used that connector to help activate the humidifier. The […]

How to Wire a Humidifier to an Ecobee Smart Thermostat



No pressure from hot water expansion tank 147
I’ve been on a plumbing DIY kick lately, and after recently replacing a hot water recirculating pump that had been installed incorrectly (upside-down!) by a professional plumber, I’ve been reminded that it’s never a bad idea to periodically test things inside your own house — even if they were installed […]

Testing and Replacing a Hot Water Expansion Tank



19
It’s 10PM. I get a text from our son (whose bedroom is in the basement) saying that he just got out of the shower and the water was barely warm, and now he’s hearing a “hissing” sound coming from the utility room across the hall from his bedroom… where the […]

How To: Repair a Leaking Hot Water Tank Temperature Pressure ...


3
Water was pooling under our “backup” fridge in my garage, and so I figured something must broken with its refrigeration. However, when I pulled the fridge away from the wall to check things out, I discovered that the source of the water wasn’t the fridge… it was the shower faucet […]

Rave: Turns out Moen’s Customer Service is Just as Good ...


InSinkErator SST Instant Hot Water Dispenser 65
An undersink instant hot water dispenser (like my InSinkErator SST) is one of those kitchen luxuries you may not think you need until you get one… after which, you’ll never know what you did without it. But after a few years, I noticed that it was taking longer and longer […]

DIY: Instant Hot Water Heater with Low Flow? Fix it ...



Standard Gas Hot Water Header 38
I’m not proud to admit that this DIY project is something I put off for way too long, and I feel stupid because it’s one of the easiest things you can do to save money every month, while prolonging the life of your gas or electric water heater: flushing the […]

DIY: Flush Your Water Heater and Check/Replace Your Anode