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Tomorrow, I'm planning to replace the polybutylene pipes for 3 fixtures. At the moment, the PB emerges from the slab parallel to a steel marker conduit (about 1/2" away), connects to another run of PB via a plastic fitting (whose replacement is the main purpose of tomorrow's project), then the...

Back in 2009, I bought what I believed to be a Champion 4 elongated bowl and tank from Home Depot. The tank was in a sealed box. The bowl had a Champion 4 picture (with barcode) taped to it by an employee, and rang up as a Champion 4 bowl. It sat in my pile of "things to do someday" until today...

I'm installing the new plumbing for the sink and toilet in my bathroom (the old pipes were PB and had to be replaced). Among other things, I bought dark brass-colored valves that connect to 1/2" nipples screwed into Gatorbite fittings attached to the wall. The problem I'm having is that I need...

Well, chalk up one more unforseen "gotcha" I just discovered. I bought a shower+tub valve/spout/showerhead combo from Lowe's (Delta Lewiston 174902-SS) a few months ago. Tonight, while relocating it 3/4" to the left of where I originally mounted it so it will be centered properly with respect to...

For the past few weeks, I've been generally shutting off the house's water valve anytime I'm not actively using something that requires water (ok, that's excess paranoia), and absolutely shutting it off whenever I'm not physically in the house (for at least a few more weeks, something I still...

Ack! My friend's here to help me install it, and I just realized that the drain includes a thick foam ring (for the overflow) and a thin rubber ring (for the drain). Do I still use plumber's putty, or do the rings take its place? The overflow foam goes behind the opening. The bottom drain ring...

Well, the day I've simultaneously dreaded and anticipated has arrived (well, technically... I still have to go to bed and sleep before the big project in the afternoon). I'm stressing out badly, if only because this is one of the few tasks I can't do alone (at least, not without risking damage...

I'm almost ready to do the last part of the carpentry for the tub enclosure to get it ready for the new tub itself later this week. However, I'm feeling like it might be a REALLY good idea to test whether it's watertight before going any further , while I can still get at it and make changes...

From the moment the plumber's putty is applied to the drain, the drain gets screwed in, and the tub's flanges are fastened to the boards surrounding it... how much time has to elapse before the tub can be safely filled with water? Also, if a skirt-free tub with 3 flanges (for alcove) and one...

Right now, I have two drains in front of me... one is going into the new tub, and one is getting returned. I need help deciding which one to keep. One is a traditional lever-type drain that cost ~$25. The other is a cable drain that cost ~$80. Both solve the one problem I care about: being...

My new bathtub doesn't have a front skirt... it has a downward-curving lip. The examples I've seen all seem to involve building the skirt wall first, then lifting the tub over it and lowering it on the other side. Is there any particular reason why I couldn't install the new tub without the...

Is there any qualitative difference in long-term reliability and general likelihood of good outcomes by inexperienced users between Sharkbite and removable-type Gatorbite fittings? I've read lots of bad things about their non-removable fittings, but most of the comments about their (new?)...

Is there any standard (code, tradition, or otherwise) regarding how far a roughed-in pipe for a tub filling spout should be above the top surface of the tub? Likewise, other than the constraints imposed by the mixing valve itself (8-18" from the valve down to the elbow below), is there any...

I'm looking at the installation guide for my new bathtub (Laurel Mountain Whirlpools 42x72 acrylic soaking tub from Lowe's), and trying to figure out which part of the tub is supposed to sit on the actual floor. Beneath the tub's acrylic bottom is an OSB panel. That panel is sitting on two...

I was originally planning to re-do my old PB plumbing with PEX, following more or less the same topology (3/4" supply, with 1/2" teed off for toilet, sink, and final run to the shower). Part of the reason was because they don't sell PEX manifolds at Lowe's & Home Depot, and part of the reason...

Another newbie question that none of the plumbing books in my pile seem to really address... my shower valve/mixer is a Delta multichoice rough-in body. It has four male 1/2" brass fittings. To connect it to the PEX hot & cold water, and to the copper pipes for the tub spout and shower head, I...

Can PEX be used for the vertical run of a shower stack (between the mixer and bolted-down fitting), or does it expand/contract too much to ever safely use it for any distance that's not long enough to loop? Likewise, for 1/2" PEX, what diameter should the loop be for a ~10-foot run? If the...

My bathroom's PB plumbing has a fairly straightforward topology. The hot and cold pipes are hanging from the concrete-block exterior wall (well, it's exterior, but it's in direct contact with the neighbor's identical wall... think "two exterior walls built side by side with a sheet of tyvek...

I'm stuck. I can't find a tool that can actually work with the drain on my bathtub. The problem is that it has a post in the middle that's about 3/8" longer than the cavity inside the dumbbell wrenches I've bought so far from Home Depot, Lowes and Harbor Freight. I can't cut it off, because it...

I'm going to be replacing my bathtub next weekend. The old bathtub is a 72x42 cultured marble tub. The new bathtub is the same size, but acrylic. Since I'm not going to really know the full scope of the job ahead of me until I get the old tub out (at which point I'll be without a bathtub until...