Monthly Archives: January 2012

I have a kitchen sink faucet that when you turn on the cold it works fine. When you turn on the hot, I get an orange color water and sentiment with very little pressure. My neighbor thinks that the water is mixing with ground dirt on the exterior of the house. Maybe I have a water line break or that the city plumbed somethingwrong. I have gone through three faucets in the last year because it keeps clogging.

Posted on January 18, 2012 by visitor| Leave a comment

Hello, if your line has a break on the exterior of the house you would not have any pressure at all in either hot or cold. Plus the water would be a break that would bubble up through the ground, and the city is usually on those pretty quick.

You say you went through 3 faucets, if you had an exterior sentiment mixing with your everyday water you would also have changed out 3 water heaters. So that tells me that the issue is between your water heater and your kitchen faucet. If you had the issue before the water was entering the house you would have also changed out 3 shower faucets as well.

What this tells me is that you have a waterline most likely on the hot side only that is plumbed in piping that is other than copper or CPVC. Check the hot water line coming off your water heater and see if you have black pipe somewhere on the way to the kitchen sink. Black pipe is used for gas lines only, and will rust. What you are most likely experiencing is a pipe rusting out from the inside out. Hope this helps

Sincerely Andy

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Posted in Plumbing

I spoke with 2 basement drainage companies and they both offered different solutions. Mid American Bsmt uses a system above ground and Helitech is installed in the dirt. Do you know which is better? Thanks

Posted on January 9, 2012 by visitor| Leave a comment
I never fully understood the interior solution to waterproofing a basement, because it seems better to waterproof the exterior of the foundation 1st. because if you allow the water to still run inside the block of the foundation only to pump it back out, would it make more sense to waterproof a boat from the outside instead of the inside? But these companies you speak of seem to be successful in the process they are installing. Sometimes because of landscaping and accessibility, excavation of the outside perimeter of the house is not possible.
 
Sometimes a simple investigation into the slope of your yard, and the gutter system on the house can reveal a solution that helps.
 
As for the interior water proofing systems. both are just as effective, and both require an install of a sump pump. I like the system that breaks out 2′ of concrete around your footing, installs the drain pipe and drainage rock. That’s because it seems to me like it would direct the water faster to the drain. Water will always follow the path of least resistance. Both systems require a water proofing of the walls as well to channel the water if it does penetrate the block wall. This can be done with sheets, plastic and or a poly paint.

Hope this helps

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Posted in Basements

My husband wanted to do a Clark Griswald style Christmas display on the house, and did a great job. He also stapled the lights to the shingles, just like Clark. My concern is that the staples may have damaged the shingles…. Thoughts????

Posted on January 3, 2012 by visitor| Leave a comment

That was not good for the shingle. The less penetrations in the roof the better. Even though staples are very small, it does leave a mark that can allow tiny drips of water to go into and freeze, once it freezes it will expand and reduce the life of your shingle. I don’t think you are going to have drywall falling in on you from the weight of the water any time soon.  If you have more that one layer up there like most homes do, that will help. Also the felt paper and sheeting will help with water penetrating. But you may want to poke your head up in your attic every once in a while during a really hard rain and look for evidence of water droplets  just to be safe.

Sincerely, Andy Love

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Posted in Roofing