Home Improvement/Repair Questions

[knight1fox3]

That's what feeds my ice machine in the freezer. The only minor issue I've had was with sudden low flow. I simple closed the valve and reopened it. There must have been a mineral blockage. 

I've had it installed for about 8 years. 

yeah they work pretty well, another option is to use those shark bite fittings, but then you have to cut the pipe

Thanks for the feedback.  I think I'm going to forego the saddle type and go with this kit instead:

Go with the shark bite fittings. Little expensive, but well worth it. Just make sure the fitting is pushed on straight so you don't ruin the gasket.

Thanks for the info.

Why not get one of these?? Just unscrew old single valve, apply a little Teflon tape and screw on new double valve. Easy piesy

Problem is there's no good location at the moment that has an existing valve (i.e. I'm not tapping in by my kitchen sink).  But a good suggestion I will keep in mind.

I dunno, those saddle valves seem like a leak waiting to happen.  The pipe is under 40+ psi of pressure and all that's holding the water back is a little bit of rubber, which tends to dry out over time.
Shark bites, saddle valves. . . where's you guys' man cards?  Cut the pipe, slap in a valve/fitting and solder it in.

Exactly my thought on the leak.  And why in certain states plumbers aren't even allowed to use them.  Though @matt267 PE seems to have had good luck.

The only soldering equipment I have is in my "geek" tackle box for electrical circuits during my undergrad lab days.  I've also been told that copper soldering can be thought of as an art.  I'd rather not "experiment" with something like this and try to go a different route.  Shark bite components seem to be getting good reviews.

 

[matt267 PE]

Though @matt267 PE seems to have had good luck.

I hope I don't spring a leak now.

 

[P-E]

Thanks for the feedback.  I think I'm going to forego the saddle type and go with this kit instead:



Thanks for the info.

Problem is there's no good location at the moment that has an existing valve (i.e. I'm not tapping in by my kitchen sink).  But a good suggestion I will keep in mind.

Exactly my thought on the leak.  And why in certain states plumbers aren't even allowed to use them.  Though @matt267 PE seems to have had good luck.

The only soldering equipment I have is in my "geek" tackle box for electrical circuits during my undergrad lab days.  I've also been told that copper soldering can be thought of as an art.  I'd rather not "experiment" with something like this and try to go a different route.  Shark bite components seem to be getting good reviews.

Seems like a lot of effort for no keg/tap provisions. 

 

[knight1fox3]

Seems like a lot of effort for no keg/tap provisions. 

You say that like it hasn't already been installed.  Priorities.  Beer > Water/Ice :thumbs:

 

[matt267 PE]

I ran out of beer. I've been drinking Cognac instead.

 

[jeb6294]

All the manly men in Alaska prefer shark bites to soldering :dunno:  

I didn't think anyone used copper in Alaska? I was watching "Alaskan Bush People" and all of their plumbing was outside and they used PVC for everything. Aren't they typical of everyone who lives in Alaska?

 

[matt267 PE]

Aren't they typical of everyone who lives in Alaska?

opcorn:

 

[knight1fox3]

Here's how it turned out (before & after).  Much more comfortable with this vs. the saddle valve.  I'm sure it's not quite up to @mudpuppy's expectations, but still looks nice.   So if I add "novice plumber" to my LinkedIn profile, will anyone endorse me? :dunno:   LOL

 

[Ship Wreck PE]

Here's how it turned out (before & after).  Much more comfortable with this vs. the saddle valve.  I'm sure it's not quite up to @mudpuppy's expectations, but still looks nice. [emoji14]  So if I add "novice plumber" to my LinkedIn profile, will anyone endorse me? :dunno:   LOL/monthly_2016_06/5755946ee7cb7_ValveInstall.png.958a82faf0209b71fa53e592595e2fa8.png

I notice a lot of your low voltage cables are pretty close to your hot water lines?

 

[knight1fox3]

I notice a lot of your low voltage cables are pretty close to your hot water lines?

I think it's the angle I took the photo because they are isolated.  I believe the previous owner was an electrician.  Most of the wiring is fairly neat and organized aside from those particular grouping of comm. cables.

 

[willsee]

Anyone know anything about basement leakage?

Our window wells fill up with water from the ground and that water leaks into our basement (unfinished).  I dug around in one of the wells and there doesn't appear to be a drain (1962 house).  I've had two companies come out so far with two different proposals.

Company #1 - said they will install two new window wells, dig out the earth and install pea gravel for drainage and install a drain.  Tie the drains together and run out to the yard somewhere.  With the window wells so deep already I'd have to imagine they would need to trench 5' to 6' deep just to get a proper slope for drainage so in my non-plumbing/water head i wouldn't think that would work very well.  No warranty on the work as well.

Company #2 - said they would install an exterior drain around the house below the frost line and take that to daylight.  Then install an interior drain inside and take the window well drains to those put in brand new sump pump and discharge out.  He said the exterior drain is good for getting the water away from the house and the interior for taking care of whatever might end up in the house.  I'm leary of busting up the basement and doing that if I haven't seen water from anywhere except the windows but I can tell that there has been water in the past from stains on the walls.  I told him about Company #1 plan and he laughed and said he didn't understand how that would work (similar to the reasons I assumed it wouldn't work).  Full warranty on work for life.

Our plan is to finish some of the basement in a couple of years (after this work is done and I give it a year or two to make sure it worked) so I like Option #2 from a future standpoint to just take care of everything but it also comes at a price.  My parents dealt with a leaky basement for years and it was miserable throughout my childhood.

So I ended up installing a trench drain on the side of the house where we had the most problems and burying the sump discharge and downspouts in separate pipe away from the house.

While we haven't had any rain since then, but my sump pump hasn't run since it was installed (it would run every 2 hours or so) so fingers crossed that this took care of it. 

 

[Dleg]

I didn't think anyone used copper in Alaska? I was watching "Alaskan Bush People" and all of their plumbing was outside and they used PVC for everything. Aren't they typical of everyone who lives in Alaska?

 

Most of the systems I work on use copper indoors.  It seems like a lot of people are going to PEX for plumbing and even the hydronic heating systems, though. Outdoors is almost exclusively HDPE and PEX (inside insulated arctic piping).  I've seen a lot of leaking copper hydronic systems, due to deterioration of the glycol.  I've only ever seen PVC indoors inside a couple of water treatment plants.  PVC doesn't do as well as HDPE and PEX under freezing conditions.

 

[knight1fox3]

 

Most of the systems I work on use copper indoors.  It seems like a lot of people are going to PEX for plumbing and even the hydronic heating systems, though. Outdoors is almost exclusively HDPE and PEX (inside insulated arctic piping).  I've seen a lot of leaking copper hydronic systems, due to deterioration of the glycol.  I've only ever seen PVC indoors inside a couple of water treatment plants.  PVC doesn't do as well as HDPE and PEX under freezing conditions.

A lot of the "kits" I saw at the hardware store used PEX tubing.  But with it's smaller size, it still seemed rather rigid and difficult to route.  So I'm going the braided stainless steel route.  Though I've only been able to find a maximum continuous length of 20 FT.

 

[MA_PE]

braided steel for what? I thought you had it all done. 

 

[Road Guy]

I am looking for some good tool storage ideas (yeah baby!) without spending a grand for a large took cabinet?

That's what I really need / want, but in liu of spending $800 bucks I was thinking about making a bunch of shelves that would fit small toolboxes or totes that I could label "English sockets" Allen wrenches, drill bits, etc, etc, etc,

I spend more time looking for a tool than it does to do the actual project!

 

[Supe]

If you've got wall space, peg board is your friend.

That said, nothing beats a tool box for layout/convenience when it comes to small hand tools.  Home Depot has some house brand tool boxes that are good bang for the buck for someone who isn't using them daily in a professional capacity.  I'm going to buy their largest one, which is the top and bottom 56" model to consolidate some of my other stuff (a Waterloo machinist cabinet, and a Harbor Freight one).  

 

[Road Guy]

Peg board is already full, I could fill a large one that runs for around $800 at Home Depot / Lowes, I went and looked at the ones at Harbor Freight and they didn't have a  huge selection.

Seems like they either have something that would be too small for $400 or just a tad too  large for $800 +

 

[Supe]

Check out the Craftsman boxes at Sears as well.  They have some "tweener" sizes.  Keep in mind, you can add an extension box to most of them.  

Husky makes three boxes from 41" to 66" wide for under $600, including model [FONT= 'Helvetica Neue']76812A24[/FONT] which is on sale for $200 off.  I'm between that one and model #  [FONT= 'Helvetica Neue']HOTC5218B1QES which is narrower but taller.[/FONT]

 

[knight1fox3]

braided steel for what? I thought you had it all done. 

So my primary concern was how to tap into my existing copper lines.  I'm always skeptical of "fixing something that isn't broke".  Asking around I found the saddle valve that I really wasn't a fan of based on feedback/reviews I read.  So I went with the brass SharkBite union.  Though not very difficult to install, it put my leaking concerns at rest.  The next step of the project is to now run the actual ice-maker water line up through the basement to the fridge.  The PVC that was provided seemed very cheap and rigid.  So I'm going to run braided stainless steel for that to provide easier routing.

 

[MA_PE]

I'd use copper tubing.  there's really no need for braided steel.