I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the bathrooms are horrible. From water coming from spouts to water from showerhead. I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and there are times when you have to flush twice. The house is a one level ranch with a full basement. The hot water heater is in the basement. Any ideas or help on what i can do to increase water pressure would be a great help thanks.
what kind of pipes do you have? copper ? plastic? look for a pressure regulator valve near where the line enters the home.
if your on city water call them for help
City water?
Does the service have a pressure regulator (PRV)?
Low flow at the outside hose bibbs too?
Do neighbors have similar problems?
Is interior supply piping galvanized iron?
City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the sewage. i did not notice a PVR ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke they dont have the same issue.
City Water . the pipes are PVC and galvanized iron going back into the sewage. i did not notice a PVR ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke they dont have the same issue.
doubtful with home built in 1969...........
ouside in the morning ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
More than likely you have horrible calcium buildup in your 1/2 in water supply lines. You will have to cut out and 'patch' one of these lines to see just how much damage has been done by the years of buildup.
The toilet drain is a completely different problem. Have a plumber pull the toilet and examine the problem.
the pipe coming into the house is copper
ouside in the morning ... and from the 2 neighbors i spoke
the pipe coming into the house is copper
Is it just the bathrooms that have low pressure?
Seems to me that this is either really weird or a major clue. If it really is only the bathrooms I would look for a common source of the problem, such as the bathrooms being on the same branch of your plumbing.
I doubt that low water pressure is the the cause of the toilet problem, unless you are flushing the toilets before they fill up because it's taking them so long to fill because of the low water pressure. Read that carefully..I think it makes sense!
A "sluggish toilet" is > I just bought a house built in 1969. The water pressure in the
Do you mean "flow" or "pressure". They are not interchangable terms.
Since you only mention the bathrooms, I presume the kitchen, laundry and hose bibs don't have those problems, right?
From water coming from spouts to water from
You may have adequate pressure but just have crudded up aerator screens on the sink spouts and limed up showerheads.
Learn how to check water pressures (you'll need a gauge.) and how to clean cruddy water passages if need be.
I also notice the water from the toilets dump slowly and
By "dump" I presume you mean that water doesen't flow from the toiket tank into the bowl rapidly, and that if you dump a bucket of water into the bowl quickly it will "flush" stuff down the drain ok. "Slow" dumping toilets have nothing to do with water pressure or the supply flow rate as long as the toilet tank is fully refilled before you commence the flush.
Chances are you're just encountering toilets with internal water passages which haven't been cleaned since they were installed 35 years ago. Learn how to do that or hire a plumber.
The house is a one level
The suggestions from others on this thread are all valid things to check.
Jeff
on the toilet try flushing with a bucket of water...
if it flushes good post back here and I have a quick easy solution
on showerheads are they spray wand type with hose?
not only can the spray head crud up but the hoses can detoriate on the inside causing really low flow.........
please supply us with more info
The water exiting the bowl is slow and sometimes not enough "pull" to drain the water out of the bowl. there is not a hose on the shower heads ... i was going to replace the showerheads anyways so ill do it a little sooner like in the morning....
What kind of toilet? Tank? Flushometer?
try the bucket flush a couple times, if it flushes fine then you have sediment clogging the interior passages of the toilet VERY easy to fix:)
I suspect you have extremely hard water thats clogging everything........
no biggie.
I've got low flow in my 1965 built home. Had a plumber look at it and he claims that all the pipe should be replaced... total of $4000 for everything from the meter back. It's a 2 bathroom house, and everything is Galvanized iron.
I'm planning on doing everything myself, except for using a backhoe to connect to the municipal supply...he quoted just that at $2000.
If the distance to the street is significant, look up firms that replace the service without trenching. They can pull a steel cable theu old galv and winch new tube behind the old.
Do the service first, then maybe the most accessible part of the Cold feed inside the house. You may be surprised to find that this has cured most of the problem.
One last caveat: A house built in '65 may very well have receptacles and switch boxes grounded to the nearest cold water pipe *inside* walls. If you abandon the old galv piping, these devices will no longer be grounded and it may be difficult to even run new grounds to them.
The obvious places are recepts which are 3-prong, but there could be things like the metal switch cover over the bath sink or near the kitchen sink, etc. All of these become potentially live.
On another issue, if the new service is non-metallic, you will lose the grounding means for the electric service. Your local inspector can advise what steps will be acceptable in your city to fix that.
Jim
His idea is right and so is the price from my experience. Get him to do the main and that may at least help the problem. Then consider PEX for the replacement tubing.
so is life.
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