A faucet aerator is a small fitting that screws into the end of most bathroom and kitchen faucets. The outside is a hollow metal cylinder with one threaded end that matches the threads inside the faucet spout. Inside sit a tiny screen, a rubber washer, a mixer disc, and sometimes a flow restrictor. The aerator […]
A prefabricated shower pan made of acrylic, ABS, or fiberglass simplifies the bathroom: installers set it on a mortar bed, connect the drain, and finish the walls, and homeowners get a seamless floor that is easier to clean than grout. The trade-off is that plastic is not an inherently strong material. It needs support from
Lukewarm water makes showers miserable and leaves dishes, clothes, and counters only partly clean. When a faucet runs tepid for more than a few seconds, something in the heating chain has slipped: the thermostat setting, the condition inside the tank, or a worn component. Before calling a plumber, work through a short diagnostic sequence that
Home plumbing systems use different pipe materials for different jobs: freshwater supply, waste drainage, irrigation, and gas lines for appliances. The age of the system usually dictates what is installed, with older homes dominated by cast iron and galvanized iron while newer construction relies almost exclusively on plastic pipes of various types. Some plastics, including
An anti-siphon faucet, usually an outdoor spigot or sill cock with a built-in vacuum breaker, stops dirty water from being drawn backward into the fresh water supply. Without that protection, a garden hose lying in a puddle can siphon contaminated water into the pipes that serve your drinking taps. The device inside the faucet admits
PVC drain pipe is the workhorse of modern plumbing. Builders install it for sink drains, tub waste lines, and main stacks because it is light, cheap, and immune to corrosion. The joints between sections are fused with solvent cement, which chemically welds the plastic into a single piece. That permanence is a strength until a
Unblocking a kitchen sink is one of the most common service calls plumbers make, and most of the time a homeowner can handle it with a hand auger, a bucket, and about an hour of work. Kitchen sinks differ from tubs and showers in one important way: they cannot be snaked from above. The strainer
A bathroom sink that drains slowly, or stops draining entirely, usually fails for one of two reasons: a wad of hair wrapped around the pop-up stopper, or a plug of soap scum and toothpaste buildup farther down the pipe. Both respond well to a drain snake, and the whole job takes about 30 minutes with
Toilets are durable fixtures, but sooner or later most homes need one replaced. Cracks in the porcelain, constant clogs, worn internal parts, or an outdated model that flushes 3.5 gallons or more each time are all good reasons to swap the fixture. The project suits a beginner, takes about 45 minutes of hands-on work once
Insulating water supply pipes in exposed areas of a home pays off in cold climates, where pipes against exterior walls or in unheated spaces can freeze, burst, and flood a house. Insulation does not add heat, but it slows heat loss from the water inside the pipe, and on hot water lines it cuts the
