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You guys know the annoying TPMS in cars? Well I wanted to trick mine by putting a sensor in some glued up 3" PVC with a threaded plug on one end and a valve stem to pressurize it. It's leaking somewhere and then I thought: can the 3" threaded plug handle 35PSI? Thanks!

I recently had a two year old Watts ball valve fail in my house. The darn thing just about split in two. I went to a giant hardware store that used to be good, and asked the guy if they sold Apollo ball valves still. "Yup, come with me," he said. I thought perhaps they'd be locked up or...

Hi, we live in an old house and once every winter I forget to turn on a fan under the dishwasher and it freezes. It's the inlet side that freezes, but I'm wondering if it's more likely to be the pump or the solenoid valve that freezes first? (It's awful tight under there, or I'd try to figure...

Hi, I'm thinking of installing a mini split in my mom's kitchen which has low ceilings. All of the installation manuals I've looked at imply that you cannot install one in a room with a 7 foot ceiling. Is this true or just not ideal? And does the wall unit really need to be 6 inches under the...

My mother's house has a 6 inch drain pipe coming out of the basement. A couple years ago I covered the outlet with 1/4" hardware cloth to keep rodents out of it. (In summer it's usually dry.) I looked at it today, and the hardware cloth was partially blocked by roots. I guess a grating is the...

I had a cinch clamp tool problem and had a few leaky joints. If I take the cinch clamp off, can I put a new clamp on the exact same piece of PEX or do I have to cut the PEX (so as to have a fresh end) and add in a coupling? Thank you!

Hi, my mom lives in an old house, and one of the tubs has a drum trap that slows down maybe every 6 months. A long time ago I took the top off and cleaned the trap for real but it still slowed 6 months later, so now I just plunge it. The thing is, when I plunge it this nasty black gunk comes out...

Hi, is there such a thing as a high quality valve with PEX barbs? I installed a Watts PEX valve a few years ago and wasn't too happy with it. Am I better off going with adaptors and a threaded ball valve? (BTW at the moment this is for a shutoff for a frost free hose bib so it's not like it's...

Hi, I have a temporary fernco patch on a vertical 4" cast iron drain. Gonna replace the whole drain after Thanksgiving. Anyway, the CI has the letters on the back of it, right up near a wall! I tried to sneak a grinder in there to take the letters down, but it's still leaking, even after I...

Hi. I'm burying a water line between buildings. I'm hoping to use polyethylene, and was told to surround it with sand by a plumber. (Yes, I'm going below the frost line.) Can I sleeve it in schedule 40 PVC *instead* of using the sand? Thanks, DD

Hi. We have a Crane low-flow toilet that recently started clogging all of a sudden. I think it's about 5 to 10 years old. We hadn't had any problems with it until maybe 2 weeks ago. It clogs a lot now. After snaking it with an auger, I poured about 15 gallons of water down it, so I don't...

We live in an old house and I've been noticing that it's hard to keep a bathroom sink and toilet looking clean. I think this yellowish slime is sort of growing up out of the drains. In the sink it just kind of covers the chrome flange, while in the toilet it is really nasty and starts covering...

Maybe I'm wrong, but a lot of frost free hose bibs seem to be of questionable quality. Last year I replaced one with one I got at the local plumbing supply house. I couldn't see the joint so I tightened it pretty hard. Attached is a photo. I'm usually pretty careful and almost never break...

I think the trap on my mom's house's main drain line is clogged. It's a 4" J(?) trap just before the drain exits the house. I got the top off, but now I'm not sure what to clean the trap with! My 1/4" snake seems too small and my 3/8" drum snake seems too rigid to make the bend. BTW this trap...

Hi. My mom has a rough old house, and she didn't have enough heat on the first floor, so I added 3 new radiators by running 3/4 pex on the ceiling. Now the problem is I realized there is probably a lot of air in that pex up high, since it keeps coming down to the rad and then back up and down to...

Hi. Can anybody tell me the approximate life left in an early 1980's vintage Weil-Mclain residential steam boiler? Do these things typically last 30 years? 40? BTW I think the town water used to feed it is slightly acid but not too bad. I'm wondering if it's worth selling our old steam boiler...

Hi, I want to install some pex for baseboard heat in my house. The pex would have to be exposed in some of the rooms. (No attic or basement.) We don't really care that much about the look, but I'm worried about UV exposure. Is there some sleeve or something I can use to protect the pex? (I think...

My mom rents out the house next door and it needs a new toilet. It's a weird rough-in and the new standard toilet would be maybe 3" from the wall. Do I need to put some wood between the tank and the wall or is it okay to leave it free standing? Thanks!

I replaced a leaking steam vent on a radiator and the brand new one also leaks steam. (BTW this is a one pipe system.) Did I buy the wrong replacement or was it defective or ? Thanks!

Hi, I want to install a 2nd radiator in my mom's kitchen, and I was hoping to run some pex under the floor, in the crawlspace. I just realized though, that if I use that pex-aluminum-pex stuff the aluminum part would probably burst/tear if it froze. (I'm hoping it will never freeze, and of...