A few months ago I had a sink installed in my basement. The pipe for
the hot water only goes about 6-8 feet to the pipe coming out of the
hot water heater. After this sink was installed the hot water pressure

at only one faucet, a bathtub on the 2nd floor, was low. All other
faucets are fine. The plumber said the new sink can draw water away
from the rest of the home and lower the pressure at other faucets. If
this is true why would it only affect one faucet? I had the faucet
replaced (due to other reasons) and now the hot is fine.


By now you are wondering about the subject of this post and that I said

there are 2 faucets, yet I've only been talking about one. The other
faucet is the hot of our washing machine, which is also on the 2nd
floor. Since my wife does the laundry I never noticed this until last
night. The hot water pressure is about 1/3 of what it used to be. We
had one of those on/off valves put on and my wife said since that the
pressure has dropped, but it was still low (although not as low) since
the sink in the basement was installed. Is there any reason for any
concern at all and what can be done about it? Is it worth it for me to

call another plumber and pay the $70 service charge just for him to
look at it?


Thanks!!


Eddie G

Check for debris in the valves, hoses, and at the filter screens where
the hoses attach to the machine. Tom

"The plumber said the new sink can draw water away
from the rest of the home and lower the pressure at other faucets. If
this is true why would it only affect one faucet? "

Could only happen while both faucets are running. If you are running only
one, the entire pressure should be available to supply it.

Probably is debris in the valves. To flush, first turn off the water in the
house and remove the valve stems from the two slow faucets. Next inspect
the stem and hole for debris. Put a bucket in front and turn the house
water on hard for a few seconds until some water has flowed out of the front
of the valves (where the stems have been removed) Reassemble and turn the
water back on. (the bucket is so you can inspect the water to see if you
got anything as well as keep the water off the floor).

In addition to the valve stems, check the screen in the aerator first as it
is much easier.

If you have galvinized pipes, it is common to dislodge rust when you do any
pipe repairs. If so, I bet the slow faucet is the very first one you tried
after the repair and it had a pulse of rusty water for the first few
seconds. If the pipes are copper, a sloppy plumber can leave solder
splashes inside a pipe after sweating it.

Probably is debris in the valves. To flush, first turn off the water in
the
house and remove the valve stems from the two slow faucets. Next inspect
the stem and hole for debris. Put a bucket in front and turn the house
water on hard for a few seconds until some water has flowed out of the
front
of the valves (where the stems have been removed) Reassemble and turn the
water back on. (the bucket is so you can inspect the water to see if you
got anything as well as keep the water off the floor).

Do this as a two man job with walkie-talkies. You're releasing unrestricted
water flow by doing this and unless you're damned careful you'll end up
making a huge mess. A person standing in front of the opened valve stem can
do a much better job of 'realigning' the bucket to catch the sudden outflow.
That and grab handy towels to keep the spillage from ruining somthing else.

It certainly sounds like something got into the lines. Probably just old
crud having worked loose or sloppy soldering.

I'm not sure what order is best for clearing lines, furthest from supply or
closest first?

"wkearney99" wrote in message
...
Probably is debris in the valves. To flush, first turn off the water in
the
house and remove the valve stems from the two slow faucets. Next inspect
the stem and hole for debris. Put a bucket in front and turn the house
water on hard for a few seconds until some water has flowed out of the
front
of the valves (where the stems have been removed) Reassemble and turn
the
water back on. (the bucket is so you can inspect the water to see if you
got anything as well as keep the water off the floor).

Do this as a two man job with walkie-talkies. You're releasing
unrestricted
water flow by doing this and unless you're damned careful you'll end up
making a huge mess. A person standing in front of the opened valve stem
can
do a much better job of 'realigning' the bucket to catch the sudden
outflow.
That and grab handy towels to keep the spillage from ruining somthing
else.

It certainly sounds like something got into the lines. Probably just old
crud having worked loose or sloppy soldering.

I'm not sure what order is best for clearing lines, furthest from supply
or
closest first?


Frankly, it was bad form for the plumber not to flush the lines after
opening them up. It should be SOP. Another balck mark for the stupid
answer about the new sink drawing water away from the old ones. Overall
grade C-

Are you talking about losing Pressure ( volume) when you are only using the
new basement sink. That would be an important factor. If that is the only
time your losing pressure that would be because you are putting more demand
on the system. The system was not designed for an additional sink. ( If I
recall you are only adding two fixture units, not a big deal) There is no
way a fixture new or old would effect you pressure when off. Just so you
know your talking about Volume loss not pressure.



"Eddie G" wrote in message
oups.com...


A few months ago I had a sink installed in my basement. The pipe for
the hot water only goes about 6-8 feet to the pipe coming out of the
hot water heater. After this sink was installed the hot water pressure

at only one faucet, a bathtub on the 2nd floor, was low. All other
faucets are fine. The plumber said the new sink can draw water away
from the rest of the home and lower the pressure at other faucets. If
this is true why would it only affect one faucet? I had the faucet
replaced (due to other reasons) and now the hot is fine.


By now you are wondering about the subject of this post and that I said

there are 2 faucets, yet I've only been talking about one. The other
faucet is the hot of our washing machine, which is also on the 2nd
floor. Since my wife does the laundry I never noticed this until last
night. The hot water pressure is about 1/3 of what it used to be. We
had one of those on/off valves put on and my wife said since that the
pressure has dropped, but it was still low (although not as low) since
the sink in the basement was installed. Is there any reason for any
concern at all and what can be done about it? Is it worth it for me to

call another plumber and pay the $70 service charge just for him to
look at it?


Thanks!!


Eddie G