I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.

zouriel wrote:
I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.

what kind of pipes do you have? copper ? plastic? look for a pressure
regulator valve near where the line enters the home.

if your on city water call them for help

zouriel wrote:

I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.


City water?

Does the service have a pressure regulator (PRV)?

Low flow at the outside hose bibbs too?

Do neighbors have similar problems?

Is interior supply piping galvanized iron?

City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the
sewage. i did not notice a PVR ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
they dont have the same issue.

City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the
sewage. i did not notice a PVR ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
they dont have the same issue.

Is interior supply piping galvanized iron?

doubtful with home built in 1969...........

zouriel wrote:
City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the
sewage. i did not notice a PVR on the inside of the house ill mess with the ouside in the morning ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
they dont have the same issue.

More than likely you have horrible calcium buildup in your 1/2 in
water supply lines.
You will have to cut out and 'patch' one of these lines to see just
how much damage has been done by the years of buildup.

The toilet drain is a completely different problem. Have a plumber
pull the toilet and examine the problem.



On 9 Dec 2006 15:58:42 -0800, "zouriel" wrote:

I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.

the pipe coming into the house is copper

zouriel wrote:
zouriel wrote:
City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the
sewage. i did not notice a PVR on the inside of the house ill mess with the ouside in the morning ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
they dont have the same issue.



the pipe coming into the house is copper

Is it just the bathrooms that have low pressure?

Seems to me that this is either really weird or a major clue. If it
really is only the bathrooms I would look for a common source of the
problem, such as the bathrooms being on the same branch of your
plumbing.

I doubt that low water pressure is the the cause of the toilet
problem, unless you are flushing the toilets before they fill up
because it's taking them so long to fill because of the low water
pressure. Read that carefully..I think it makes sense!

A "sluggish toilet" is one that won't flush because the water is
entering the bowl too slowly, usually caused by mineral deposits
clogging the holes under the rim. Even with low water pressure to the
tank, the tank would fill up (eventually) and all that water would be
there to flush the toilet, regardless of the pressure at the inlet to
the tank.

zouriel wrote:
I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.

zouriel wrote:
I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible.

Do you mean "flow" or "pressure". They are not interchangable terms.

Since you only mention the bathrooms, I presume the kitchen, laundry and
hose bibs don't have those problems, right?

From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead.

You may have adequate pressure but just have crudded up aerator screens
on the sink spouts and limed up showerheads.

Learn how to check water pressures (you'll need a gauge.) and how to
clean cruddy water passages if need be.

I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
there are times when you have to flush twice.

By "dump" I presume you mean that water doesen't flow from the toiket
tank into the bowl rapidly, and that if you dump a bucket of water into
the bowl quickly it will "flush" stuff down the drain ok. "Slow" dumping
toilets have nothing to do with water pressure or the supply flow rate
as long as the toilet tank is fully refilled before you commence the flush.

Chances are you're just encountering toilets with internal water
passages which haven't been cleaned since they were installed 35 years
ago. Learn how to do that or hire a plumber.

The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.


The suggestions from others on this thread are all valid things to check.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

on the toilet try flushing with a bucket of water...

if it flushes good post back here and I have a quick easy solution

on showerheads are they spray wand type with hose?

not only can the spray head crud up but the hoses can detoriate on the
inside causing really low flow.........

please supply us with more info

wrote:
on the toilet try flushing with a bucket of water...

if it flushes good post back here and I have a quick easy solution

on showerheads are they spray wand type with hose?

not only can the spray head crud up but the hoses can detoriate on the
inside causing really low flow.........

please supply us with more info

The water exiting the bowl is slow and sometimes not enough "pull" to
drain the water out of the bowl. there is not a hose on the shower
heads ... i was going to replace the showerheads anyways so ill do it a
little sooner like in the morning....

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 00:03:40 GMT, Speedy Jim wrote:

zouriel wrote:

I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from
showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and

What kind of toilet? Tank? Flushometer?

there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level
ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement.
Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be
a great help thanks.


City water?

Does the service have a pressure regulator (PRV)?

Low flow at the outside hose bibbs too?

Do neighbors have similar problems?

Is interior supply piping galvanized iron?

The water exiting the bowl is slow and sometimes not enough "pull" to
drain the water out of the bowl. there is not a hose on the shower
heads ... i was going to replace the showerheads anyways so ill do it a
little sooner like in the morning....

try the bucket flush a couple times, if it flushes fine then you have
sediment clogging the interior passages of the toilet VERY easy to
fix

I suspect you have extremely hard water thats clogging
everything........

no biggie.

I've got low flow in my 1965 built home. Had a plumber look at it and
he claims that all the pipe should be replaced... total of $4000 for
everything from the meter back. It's a 2 bathroom house, and
everything is Galvanized iron.

I'm planning on doing everything myself, except for using a backhoe to
connect to the municipal supply...he quoted just that at $2000.

wrote:

I've got low flow in my 1965 built home. Had a plumber look at it and
he claims that all the pipe should be replaced... total of $4000 for
everything from the meter back. It's a 2 bathroom house, and
everything is Galvanized iron.

I'm planning on doing everything myself, except for using a backhoe to
connect to the municipal supply...he quoted just that at $2000.


If the distance to the street is significant,
look up firms that replace the service without trenching.
They can pull a steel cable theu old galv and winch
new tube behind the old.

Do the service first, then maybe the most accessible
part of the Cold feed inside the house. You may be
surprised to find that this has cured most of the problem.

One last caveat:
A house built in '65 may very well have receptacles and
switch boxes grounded to the nearest cold water pipe
*inside* walls. If you abandon the old galv piping,
these devices will no longer be grounded and it may be
difficult to even run new grounds to them.

The obvious places are recepts which are 3-prong,
but there could be things like the metal switch cover
over the bath sink or near the kitchen sink, etc.
All of these become potentially live.

On another issue, if the new service is non-metallic,
you will lose the grounding means for the electric service.
Your local inspector can advise what steps will be
acceptable in your city to fix that.

Jim

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've got low flow in my 1965 built home. Had a plumber look at it and
he claims that all the pipe should be replaced... total of $4000 for
everything from the meter back. It's a 2 bathroom house, and
everything is Galvanized iron.

I'm planning on doing everything myself, except for using a backhoe to
connect to the municipal supply...he quoted just that at $2000.

His idea is right and so is the price from my experience. Get him to do the
main and that may at least help the problem. Then consider PEX for the
replacement tubing.

so is life.