Hey Mr. Plumber Man! - Redchief, is that you? Or DV?

mysweetpeasWil&Wes wrote: Okay is it Ed that's a plumber?? I need help...because I'm like Brianne, I'm the man in the house now..hahaha! No j/k. Anyway, we just moved into a new house last December and our tubs and toilets all get clogged really fast. And all the time!! I can't stand it. You would think we were big poopers or something...but I'm always getting the plunger out or throwing all my money away on Drano! Any suggestions?? DH has sorta left it up to me since I'm staying home. He just does his thing and leaves the stinky work to me...LOL!

I have really long hair, so it's somewhat my fault in the shower...so I bought one of those plastic hair catcher things, but it's not working. The tub is filthy all the time because the water sits in there for too long and leaves a nasty film all over the place!! YUCK!! I've never had this problem at our first house.

Josie83 replied: I don't think either of them ar eplumbers! Have you tried just putting your hand in the plug and pulling all of the hair out? That's what I have to do with oursbecause my hair's really long and thick so it clogs it up

I can't help you with the toilet! I hope someone else can xx

DVFlyer replied: If it's a brand new house you may have a problem with construction debris or concrete build up in the main drain line.

If it's not a new house, I would suggest you get a plumber out there to snake all the drains. It may be a bit costly upfront, but will save you in the long run in case of big overflows ruining carpets, drywall, cabinets, tile etc.

Good luck.

aspenblue1 replied: I agree with DV if its an old house you may need to auger (SP??) out the main drain. We live in a 100 year old house and have to do our main drain about 2 times a year because of the roots and clay pipes under the house.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Oh I'm embarassed if neither of you are plumbers...I swear I thought one of you said you were...maybe my imagination, or one of you was joking at one time! Anyhow, our last house was older than this one and we didn't have this problem. This house is three years old. Do you think it has something to do with the type of toilets and drains they put in?...we've been noticing that the previous owners, who got to pick out everything new, picked the cheapest of everything!! They built a sauna downstairs, but yet were chincy on everything else!! I literally have to clean the toilets every other day because they get the ring really fast!

What do you guys think about a "How To" forum??...we could call it the "Martha Stewart" forum!! Not how to feed your baby or anything like that because we already have that, but how to unclog drains, how to fix a zipper, how to get wine out of pants...just a suggestion?? I love everyone's help!

gr33n3y3z replied: My hubby is the plumber

redchief replied:
I'm a NJ state licensed master plumber

redchief replied:
I need a little help here before I can go about diagnosing your problems. This is really difficult because I can't see what's happening there.

First for the general plumbing health of your house... How old is the house and is it much older than the one you were in before? Have you ever looked at the pipes in the house? Can you tell what they are made of?

Next, the toilet. How old is the toilet? Can you tell me how much water it uses per flush?

Now the tub. While hair can be a problem, often it is hair, mixed with soap scum that make the drains sluggish. There is a little trick to opening these drains but much of whether it will be successful depends on the general age and condition of the drain system. Try this: Take the overflow plate off of your bathtub (the metal cover under the tub spout; it usually has two screws holding it in place). Remove the strainer from the tub drain (the metal piece with the holes in the bottom; usually held in by a screw). Wet a wash cloth or rag and stuff it into the overflow hole. Get a plunger (a flat one, not the one with the ball on it for toilets). Put plunger over drain opening and fill tup with an inch or so of water. While holding the rag in place in the overflow hole, plunge away (this may take more than one person to do effectively). If my suspicions are correct, you'll get hair and slimy black gunk back through the opening. Let the water drain and repeat until the water doesn't come back black and icky.

Finally, don't waste your money on Drano and other drain openers. They're made of lye and can actually exacerbate a soap scum issue.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Well ya sorta lost me...but it doesn't take much to do that!! YAY, I was right though about your occupation! Anyhow, thanks for the advice...I will try that...I may have DH read this first because it sounds like a nasty job that I don't want to do myself!

As far as the age of our current house: 2001. Pipes: I have no idea what kind. Toilets: I assume are the same, 2001, they are very cheap IMO, small tanks, plastic covers, always need a double flush even with #1. How much water it uses: don't know this either!!! How does one figure all this out?? As for my first house, it was built in 1912! But I imagine the plumbing was updated in the 70s or so. Everything there actually worked a lot better!!

redchief replied:
Actually you told me everything I needed to know... now let's see if we can help you out here!

Your toilets are going to be 1.6 GPF (gallon per flush) and how well they work depends a lot on what brand they are. One thing you can do though is this... Lift the toilet tank lid and check the water level. If the level is below the line on the inside of the tank (usually says "Water Line" or something similar) you'll need to adjust the water level. How to do that depends on the type of fill valve is in there and I'll need you to describe the valve if you can't find how to adjust it.

If the water level is at or above the water line mark, it may be that you'll have to hold the flush lever down on the toilet to get more water to go down when you flush it with a "heavy load."

Also; if you're using cake type drop in bowl cleaners (the kind that you just drop into the toilet tank)... STOP! These will interfere with the operation of low flush toilets; not to mention void the warranty.

gr33n3y3z replied: take a pic of it and post it

amymom replied: great advice. Thanks for the plumbing lesson. Very helpful for me too!!

Kaitlin'smom replied:
so then what can we use???

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Come to TX, please Ed!! I need a plumber to run a gas line in my kitchen.

redchief replied:
Chemicals rarely work. The only ones that will are concentrated sulfuric acid. You don't want that around the house. Best investment you can make is a good set of plungers... a flat one for the tubs and sinks and one with a ball for the toilet.

redchief replied:
Eww.. it's hot in Texas. lol

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
We were told never to use these types of cleaners. They eat away the pipes. We were informed to use bleach and boiling, boiling HOT water. Ed is that right? It sure does work in our shower when it is clogged.

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
That it is!

redchief replied:
If you have plastic drain piping, that could cause sagging of the pipes between the hangars... especially close to the fixture where you dump. Plungers

luvbug00 replied: Sorry to but in Redcheif what was your quotie thing from?? I'm obsessing!

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Just wanted to say THANK YOU Ed!!! I will work on this over the weekend and let you know how it goes. I would take a picture, but my camera always makes the pics too big and I'm not sure how to resize. I'll keep you posted...THANKS!