Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Dantheman]

Found the leak. Looks like it's right at the end of "bell" where the ribbed section was slip-fit onto the straight pipe. An identical connection on the hot side looks great.

[Dantheman]

If the flex hose lasted 15 years, why overthink it? Replace the flex hose.

I'm particularly concerned about question #2 and whether I now need to replace the whole water heater.

The corrosion around the shut off valve above the leak, while not dripping or damp, also has me concerned that maybe I need to replace the shut off valve.

Looking at my visible pipes I think the problem is isolated to this connection and I don't have a systemic pinhole problem.

[Mustonen]

Just replace it. It’ll probably end up being cheaper and faster than successfully “fixing it”, especially after all your efforts to plug it are unsuccessful and you end up replacing it anyways. I dunno what’s on the other end of that valve, but they make assemblies that look more or less just like that for $30 or so, including the valve. It’ll take an hour if you have the tools and know-how to sweat or crimp the other end there, and 45+ minutes of that will be spent going to the hardware store.

[Cisco Kid]

Looks like that "Corrosion" is exterior from the weeping and could be cleaned off. The connection at the bottom end of the feed line is the first thing I'd suspect. Undo it, clean and retape if called for and it and see if that works.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Those water lines are flex for a reason. In seismic area they can be code. All plumbing sucks and it's just a bunch of $.50 Chinese parts preventing failure at anytime. If my HWH was located somewhere that a leak would cause significant damage, I'd have a licensed and insured plumber replace it every 15 years. If is was in the garage or an unfinished mechanical area with a drain, I'd roll the dice.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Installing some LVP, pretty straight forward, nailed the layout which is unusual.. Recalling this tool I saw in yurp (which is only available in yurp) and thinking how much easier installing engineered flooring would be if we could get them here.

[Foggy_Goggles]

^^^just watched a video. Seems kinda gimicky. Takes a few steps to switch between table and chop modes. Also, ripping floppy cock LVP is a bit of a bitch of a regular table saw. As a one time purchase for a homo, maybe. But then is you are penny pinching and don't have a table and mitre saw, you can get it done with a cordless skilly.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

They're made for flooring installers, and the one I finger fucked in Finland seemed pretty straightforward. I liked it.

[adrenalated]

I guess I can kinda see it if you need really portable or want to save money/space, but I feel like buying two separate saws is more versatile in the long run.

[Foggy_Goggles]

They're made for flooring installers, and the one I finger fucked in Finland seemed pretty straightforward. I liked it.

This is 'merica. Our contractors need oversized tools. We drive oversized pickups and send oversized invoices. If you wanna load up some weenie communist tools in your Euro Wagen, have at it.

[Supermoon]

Don't even really need a chop saw for the LVP I've used. Just score it and snap. Jigsaw was probably the most useful tool for me.

[old goat]

Power tools. We don't need no stinking power tools.


Floor Scrapers, Gustave Caillebotte

[JimmyCarter]

They're made for flooring installers, and the one I finger fucked in Finland seemed pretty straightforward. I liked it.

Not sure if Finger Fucked in Finland makes a good band name, but should be an album title at least

[dunfree]

Power tools. We don't need no stinking power tools.


Floor Scrapers, Gustave Caillebotte

note the critical equipment at right - cool red wine

[adrenalated]

Don't even really need a chop saw for the LVP I've used. Just score it and snap. Jigsaw was probably the most useful tool for me.

Having just done a full house of LVP I would agree, jigsaw is the only saw that was mandatory. I was happy to have the gamut though.

[Supermoon]

Having just done a full house of LVP I would agree, jigsaw is the only saw that was mandatory. I was happy to have the gamut though.

Yeah. The table saw was nice for long runs of rips. We luckily didn’t end up with weird angles around corners or anything where a miter saw would have been nice.

[RootSkier]

Power tools. We don't need no stinking power tools.


Floor Scrapers, Gustave Caillebotte

One of the worst jobs ever. Imagine how fucking sore you'd be. All. The. Fucking. Time.

[Dantheman]

One of the worst jobs ever. Imagine how fucking sore you'd be. All. The. Fucking. Time.

Imagine going back in time and telling those guys that these days people sometimes pay extra for a "distressed" finish.

[Thaleia]

Planning on repainting a bedroom. Was at the store looking at paint chips and brochures and noticed some brands have a 'one coat, no primer' option. Can I assume this is gimmicky? Especially if I'll be spackling a bunch of spots?

[adrenalated]

Planning on repainting a bedroom. Was at the store looking at paint chips and brochures and noticed some brands have a 'one coat, no primer' option. Can I assume this is gimmicky? Especially if I'll be spackling a bunch of spots?

Yeah you'll still need to do at least 2 coats with those products IME.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Always do two coats.

[dan_pdx]

Eye-rolling followup to all this. We had a couple of siding contractors come take a look and due to lack of time / appetite to fuck with it myself, hired one of them to pull off the window trim and have a look around. They found everything looked good underneath; sheathing was solid, no visible water damage. Not clear where the water was coming from. So they rebuilt the window casing and flashed it properly and then the siding apprentice said "Oh, there's some weep holes down here on the bottom of the window frame." He blew it out with a compressor and a bunch of crap came out the top.

So...not 100% certain, but 95% likelihood that was the whole problem. Hell, I'd have paid them the same amount if they hadn't done the work, just come here and told me to blow out the weep holes. Now I have to paint that exterior wall (they tore off one piece of siding and proactively caulked a bunch of nail holes and I don't have that paint anymore).

Too bad it cost me a gravel bike to find this out, maybe this will help some members of the collective in the future: minor leaks around a window frame? Check for clogged weep holes.

Thanks RootSkier, here are exterior photos of the window in question...no obvious issues (obvious to me, anyway) with the flashing or the caulk. White caulk is the new stuff. What's the over/under on a roof issue?



Attachment 407750

Attachment 407751

[Thaleia]

Yeah you'll still need to do at least 2 coats with those products IME.

Always do two coats.

Thanks.

[sirbumpsalot]

Eye-rolling followup to all this. We had a couple of siding contractors come take a look and due to lack of time / appetite to fuck with it myself, hired one of them to pull off the window trim and have a look around. They found everything looked good underneath; sheathing was solid, no visible water damage. Not clear where the water was coming from. So they rebuilt the window casing and flashed it properly and then the siding apprentice said "Oh, there's some weep holes down here on the bottom of the window frame." He blew it out with a compressor and a bunch of crap came out the top.

So...not 100% certain, but 95% likelihood that was the whole problem. Hell, I'd have paid them the same amount if they hadn't done the work, just come here and told me to blow out the weep holes. Now I have to paint that exterior wall (they tore off one piece of siding and proactively caulked a bunch of nail holes and I don't have that paint anymore).

Too bad it cost me a gravel bike to find this out, maybe this will help some members of the collective in the future: minor leaks around a window frame? Check for clogged weep holes.

Good find and advice. I had a similar problem on my sliding glass doors when I found weep holes via YouTube and blew the crud out.

[Touring_Sedan]

I'm particularly concerned about question #2 and whether I now need to replace the whole water heater.

The corrosion around the shut off valve above the leak, while not dripping or damp, also has me concerned that maybe I need to replace the shut off valve.

Looking at my visible pipes I think the problem is isolated to this connection and I don't have a systemic pinhole problem.

If the tank is in good shape, I'd just replace the pipe and possibly the valve. Spend a bit more on the valve, you'll be happy you didn't skimp on that one when you need it. I'd definitely us a flexible line, especially with the couple of small quakes we've had over the past few years. Make sure the tank is strapped to a stud too. Show your wife where the water main shutoff is, and put one of these on the floor next to the heater. It's saved us a couple of times.