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Real Life Plumbing Advice for People Who Don't Want To Call A Plumber

How to replace washer style stems and seats

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With the new technology in faucet construction, you be might be wondering “why a video on old washer style faucets?” Because their are still millions of these in service today, not to mention these are still readily available.

In the New York City area you can walk into any local hardware store and purchase them.

By now you realize that I do a fair amount of my demonstrations on fairly new products which makes the video move along smoothly. In real life your going to be faced with handles that won’t come off, seats that refuse to come out and bib screws that are frozen in place.

Back in the day, we would go through the motions to get the job done, in todays world it’s more cost effective to replace the fitting. If you check out the video, I walk you through the motions on exactly how to replace the stems and seats in a laundry sink faucet.

In addition to the video, I want to point out some tips to be aware of:

a.when replacing the seat, some guys like to wrap a little teflon around the threads before installing it. I don’t always do this but in an older faucet, it’s good insurance.

b.before you install the new stem, make sure it’s in the fully open position, if you don’t you will damage it and render it useless.

c.Always have some waterproof silicone lubricant available (not the caulking) it’s specifically for lubricating faucet parts. It’s available at any big box store or plumbing supply house.

I fully take apart and lubricate the stems and also place a fair amount inside the handle before putting it back onto the stem. This will insure you can remove it in the future. One more important tip is to make sure you have the correct replacement stems (i.e. hot, cold ,left, right etc.).

If you’re not sure , check out my video titled “How to identify hot from cold water stems.”

If you follow the the steps I’ve laid out in the video your repair should be fairly routine, if you get stuck you can always drop me a line at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

How to unclog your toilet with a plunger!

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As you can see in this video, I stuffed so much paper in the bowl that I had to muscle-up to get it to go down.

Now on the surface you might be thinking “it can’t be that difficult to plunge a toilet?” Think again!

I can’t tell you how many times throughout my career I was called in for what seemed to be a routine clog only to end up having to use my toilet auger (another video) or worse yet, having to remove the bowl (another video) to find out what was causing the problem.

I’m getting ahead of myself so let’s just concentrate on the art of the plunger for this article. Plungers come in several shapes and sizes: tall ones , short ones, big and little alike. Heck they even make power plungers that you can pump up!

Generally when plunging a sink wether it be a kitchen, bathroom, laundry sink or even a bathtub I like to use a softer rubber plunger with a flat bottom. You can generally find these in the big box stores, they’re red in color and are just what I would call your good old basic plunger.

A different story when it comes to clearing a toilet, as you can see in this video I like to use a plunger that has a flexible male end on it so I can insert it into the opening of the bowl. This allows me to get a good tight seal around the base of the bowl so I can get maximum power while pumping away.

This plunger is also constructed of a harder rubber which in my opinion is the best choice for clearing toilet bowls. These are also available in the box stores as well as plumbing supply houses.

Look you’re going to be faced clogged toilet or sink sooner or later and in a pinch, a good old plunger can save the day. Now although you can use the plunger featured in the video for sinks as well, I own both styles because I feel the softer flat bottom version works better on sinks and bathtubs.

In the video I mention a way that you can prevent the bowl from overflowing if all of a sudden you see the water rising in the bowl.

Simply stay clam and remove the toilet tank cover, reach inside the tank and push the flapper down. You just prevented the tank from emptying into the bowl thus preventing a mess.

Hey my wife and kids do this when they see the water in the bowl start to rise.

If you still have questions about this or any of my videos, shoot me an an e-mail to info@bobsplumbingvideos.com.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

Toilet tank to bowl installation (table top demo)

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I wanted to do this video on my bench top to give you an idea of what the view looks like from behind. Now, I just finished installing a new flush valve inside the tank and as you can see I have my flush valve gasket in place as well as my brand new brass tank bolts.

I buy my tank bolt kits from a company that sells only to professional plumbers so you would expect all the components to be brass. I couldn’t believe when I was shooting this video, they supplied me with galvanized steel wing nuts, go figure!

Guys, for the record, if this happens to you please go find some 5/16″ brass wing nuts or just plain old 5/16″ brass nuts. If you mix the two different metals together in a damp environment I guarantee that in less than 6 months those galvanized nuts will corrode and they will not come off.

Once you set the tank onto the bowl, start with your brass back up washers followed by the brass wing or conventional nuts and start to tighten in an alternating fashion until the tank comes to rest on top of the bowl.

You’ll want to place either a two foot or torpedo level across the tank while you’re doing this to make sure the tank sits level. Once in place, you can connect the water supply tube to the fill valve and emergency water shut-off valve and turn the water on.

Flush away, check for leaks and you’re done. Not too difficult!

If you’re unclear about any steps in this video I invite you to e-mail me at info@bobsplumbingvideos.com, I’d love to hear from you.

HAPPY PLUMBING!

How To Install Stainless Steel Washing Machine Hoses

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Man if I had a buck for every time a rubber washing machine hose burst and flooded a home, I’d be in a pretty good spot. Ladies and Gentleman your washing machine hoses are under constant water pressure even when you’re not washing clothes. Learn how to install stainless steel washing machine hoses by watching the video below. A. you should shut off the water in between washing cycles and B. after three to five years these hoses should be upgraded to the stainless steel braided version. They usually will pop in the middle of the night when water usage is down and water pressure is at it’s highest. Don’t let it happen to you!

Faucet and Toilet Connecting Options

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Truthfully when I started working with my father as a kid in none of these options were available. We connected faucets and toilets with 1/2″ brass pipe which was reduced to 3/8″ pipe or 1/4″ threaded brass tailpieces depending on what you were hooking up. When the chrome plated basin supply tubes came onto the scene it made life so much easier and they looked pretty good too. Now we have many of options and with the exception of the p.e.x. connector (don’t like them) connecting faucets and toilets is a breeze.