hot water pressure dropped in 2 faucets

[Eddie G]

A few months ago I had a sink installed in my basement. The pipe for the hot water only goes about 6-8 feet to the pipe coming out of the hot water heater. After this sink was installed the hot water pressure

at only one faucet, a bathtub on the 2nd floor, was low. All other faucets are fine. The plumber said the new sink can draw water away from the rest of the home and lower the pressure at other faucets. If this is true why would it only affect one faucet? I had the faucet replaced (due to other reasons) and now the hot is fine.

By now you are wondering about the subject of this post and that I said

there are 2 faucets, yet I've only been talking about one. The other faucet is the hot of our washing machine, which is also on the 2nd floor. Since my wife does the laundry I never noticed this until last night. The hot water pressure is about 1/3 of what it used to be. We had one of those on/off valves put on and my wife said since that the pressure has dropped, but it was still low (although not as low) since the sink in the basement was installed. Is there any reason for any concern at all and what can be done about it? Is it worth it for me to

call another plumber and pay the $70 service charge just for him to look at it?

Thanks!!

Eddie G

[tom]

Check for debris in the valves, hoses, and at the filter screens where the hoses attach to the machine. Tom

[wkearney99]

Do this as a two man job with walkie-talkies. You're releasing unrestricted water flow by doing this and unless you're damned careful you'll end up making a huge mess. A person standing in front of the opened valve stem can do a much better job of 'realigning' the bucket to catch the sudden outflow. That and grab handy towels to keep the spillage from ruining somthing else.

It certainly sounds like something got into the lines. Probably just old crud having worked loose or sloppy soldering.

I'm not sure what order is best for clearing lines, furthest from supply or closest first?

[PipeDown]

"The plumber said the new sink can draw water away

Could only happen while both faucets are running. If you are running only one, the entire pressure should be available to supply it.

Probably is debris in the valves. To flush, first turn off the water in the house and remove the valve stems from the two slow faucets. Next inspect the stem and hole for debris. Put a bucket in front and turn the house water on hard for a few seconds until some water has flowed out of the front of the valves (where the stems have been removed) Reassemble and turn the water back on. (the bucket is so you can inspect the water to see if you got anything as well as keep the water off the floor).

In addition to the valve stems, check the screen in the aerator first as it is much easier.

If you have galvinized pipes, it is common to dislodge rust when you do any pipe repairs. If so, I bet the slow faucet is the very first one you tried after the repair and it had a pulse of rusty water for the first few seconds. If the pipes are copper, a sloppy plumber can leave solder splashes inside a pipe after sweating it.

[PipeDown]

Frankly, it was bad form for the plumber not to flush the lines after opening them up. It should be SOP. Another balck mark for the stupid answer about the new sink drawing water away from the old ones. Overall grade C-

[Sacramento Dave]

Are you talking about losing Pressure ( volume) when you are only using the new basement sink. That would be an important factor. If that is the only time your losing pressure that would be because you are putting more demand on the system. The system was not designed for an additional sink. ( If I recall you are only adding two fixture units, not a big deal) There is no way a fixture new or old would effect you pressure when off. Just so you know your talking about Volume loss not pressure.