For a homeowner plumbing projects can be filled with problems. With home centers having products on the shelf that dont meet building code or even the bad information on the internet you can get headed out the wrong direction right at the start of the project. Here are my tips for starting a successful plumbing project.

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[00:00:34] Eric Goranson: And with today's technology, with the water flow, you need to have something good. My favorite brand as it gets out to toilets, and they do not pay me a dime for this, is Toto. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is Around the House.

[00:01:12] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's a minor repair. Maybe it's a big one. And we'll be tackling that today. Now, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house, online. com and you can find everything there from the national radio show to the podcast, of course, our around the house, Northwest television show, which is a weekly one hour television show.

[00:01:54] Eric Goranson: And we're there to help you 24, 7, give us a call, leave a message. If I'm not in the [00:02:00] studio and I'll give you a call back today, we're talking about plumbing one on one. And these are just my general tips for you tackling that plumbing project. Okay. And the first one here is a really big one because the problem is that when you walk into a home improvement store, one of the big box retailers out there, there are plenty of pieces inside that building in the plumbing department.

[00:02:43] Eric Goranson: So the first thing I want you to understand before you tackle that project is understanding your local building code and following it. Because these projects that you go tackle, you want to understand what that code is. And if you have to ask someone in your local area, if you asked to have [00:03:00] to ask a building official, if you need to jump on the website.

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: And then you might have to do it a second time or a third time. And that's going to be something that gets really expensive, especially when they want to have a plumber come in and do it at the end of an inspection period. So the last thing I want to see you do is do it for what you think is right. But not knowing this is where that research really starts to pay off.

[00:04:01] Eric Goranson: Now, they are not all the same, but to the DIY or shark bite fitting is one of those that can be really problematic. And I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage using these fittings and using these fittings as designed and correctly installed. As an example, I saw a licensed plumber.

[00:04:38] Eric Goranson: But I think these could be the next class action lawsuit down the road that we see a failed products. But that's my opinion. Now, the thing is this licensed plumber installed this fitting correctly on CPVC pipe. And it said it was for CPVC pipe, it passed plumbing inspection, so the code allowed it, everything else.

[00:05:20] Eric Goranson: So really I try to tell people, if you're going to use these here on a project, they're great for temporary fittings. I have some in my toolbox for capping off a broken line for doing something quick, just to get water service back in, to mock something else. That's what it's really designed for. One, they're super expensive fittings.

[00:06:09] Eric Goranson: This was not a frozen pipe and the pipe basically just burst and that stuff happens, that stuff gets micro cracks in it, and maybe it's because it sat out in the sun, maybe it got dropped along the way and all of a sudden when that stuff lets go, it is brittle like glass. And when that stuff breaks, you got a hot mess.

[00:06:53] Eric Goranson: That is the right way to do it. And there's a reason why good licensed plumbers out there don't use shark bite [00:07:00] fittings, because they've got the skills in something. This is a good life skill to have. If you have copper pipes in your house. Get a torch, spend 30 or 40 bucks, which is really the price of a handful of those fittings, learn how to do it, learn how to do it correctly.

[00:07:31] Eric Goranson: So just learn how to, how to do that. And you're going to be better off and have a cleaner connection. And then it's just a beautiful job. It's just a skill that you've done. So this is not a bad thing to do. And then as you're going and changing over, great example, if you're in this project and you're, you're repairing something to get in and do it.

[00:08:13] Eric Goranson: Get rid of as much of that as you can. And then as you go through the project, if you're doing another remodel someplace and you get access into it, then change that stuff out. You don't have to go through and do a full replumb. But if you've got those issues and maybe it's that, maybe it's that shower that you're like, wow, I've got galvanized pipe in my house.

[00:08:52] Eric Goranson: And if you're going to that, then it's not that hard to get over into, into packs and go from there. And then you've got a nice, durable [00:09:00] connection. That's going to last and later you can come back. And when you want to replace farther back from that, you can get in there, take that connection apart and continue on.

[00:09:29] Eric Goranson: And that's stuff that you got to tackle. Those homes that were built in the sixties and even seventies with galvanized pipe in it. If you still have it in the house, you're going to be fighting it. So it's a great thing to do. Get as much out of as you can tackle that project, make your repair, but just use the correct fittings when you do it.

[00:10:10] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show the next generation of home improvement, thanks for joining us today Hey, if you want to get ahold of us, head over to around the house online. com. And if you've got a home improvement question, you want to make a comment, you can message me there at the website around the house online.

[00:10:43] Eric Goranson: So listen through this and you'll be able to catch that number one more time. Then you can save it in your phone or you can just head over to around the house online. com. We've been talking about my tips to make a great plumbing project. And some of those just really great places where [00:11:00] you can get tripped up or cause unintended consequences.

[00:11:34] Eric Goranson: We're going to talk about two here, which is pex A and pex B. Now, if you think of pex A, that is the expansion pex. And what I mean by that is it takes an expansion tool. And what there is, as you can tell by looking at it, there's a, when it's installed, there's a little like white opaque collar around the outside.

[00:12:14] Eric Goranson: If you get a kink in it, that kink will push itself back out and basically self repair itself, which is a solid thing. Pex B, which actually uses a crimp ring around the outside of it. It does not. So if you kink it, you need to get a repair in there or get a different piece of pipe because that stuff doesn't do that.

[00:12:59] Eric Goranson: So the [00:13:00] fitting can go in there the other way, you're sliding a smaller fitting inside the pipe. So every time that you do an elbow, a connection, you're now reducing that half inch pipe. Down to something much, much smaller. So when you're designing out using a PEX product with a PEX B now you go, Hey, I can buy a crimp ring tool for inexpensive, depending on which one you get.

[00:13:42] Eric Goranson: So what you would normally say is, Hey, I'm running half inch out here to do this tub shower. You need to be running at least three quarters, depending on the length. You might need one inch to get that out there. So these are things you need to know those calculations. So you can make sure that of course have the right flow to it, [00:14:00] because if you do And now all of a sudden you've got this really big problem with flow.

[00:14:24] Eric Goranson: That basically has a 500 PSI burst strength. So it takes a lot. To bust that open. And then if you get a freeze many times, as long as it's not in a plastic fitting or something like that, if you've got a freeze in the pipe, in most cases that will return back and not be an issue, so it will stretch. But that memory lets that come back once it thaws out.

[00:15:04] Eric Goranson: But the new stuff coming out right now is solid. I have no problem with it. And if you do this stuff correctly, it will really hold up. And so think about doing that using the right materials. But if you're doing repairs, PEX B is fine. There's no problem with that product. I just think that PEX A is a better system all around.

[00:15:40] Eric Goranson: Now, venting in your drain waste vent system is key. And really when it comes to letting water drain out of a toilet, bathtub, sink, whatever that's coming out of, you need to understand how the airflow works because That air is just as important as [00:16:00] creating that slope and everything else for that water to go out into your sewer system, out to the street or into your septic tank or whatever you're doing, wherever that water is going, having that venting system is as important as everything else.

[00:16:31] Eric Goranson: And it's dropping down to the middle of the floor. There's no vent that you can see. And it's in the middle of the floor of the cabinet. That's probably an S trap, or you should take a look at it. And you have a venting problem that needs to be done and repaired correctly. And that is something that, uh, you need to do right, and it's something that you really need to understand how that venting works.

[00:17:10] Eric Goranson: And that is something that you don't want to have. That can be a health hazard that can be bad for you. That is stuff that you do not need in your house. That is unhealthy. So really it's about doing the vent correctly. Now there are air admittance valves, which are these kind of cheater vents that you see out there, but you need to do the research before you even say, Oh, I'm just going to use a cheater event in this because.

[00:17:51] Eric Goranson: So again, we're gonna go back to rule number one on that. Make sure that you understand your local building code of where you can use those and where you can't. [00:18:00] And then there's sizing, make sure you get the right size. Where's it located? How high it is. There's a lot of little details here. And when in doubt with this type of thing, bring in your licensed and bonded plumber, because they understand it.

[00:18:38] Eric Goranson: And of course, take a look at our almost 400 videos that we have over on our YouTube playlist, and you can find all that information over at AroundTheHouseOnline. com. We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere.

[00:19:12] Eric Goranson: to the Around the House show. This is your next generation of home improvement. Thanks for joining me today. We have got the smartest audience at home improvement out there. And I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Eric G. Well, if you missed last week's episode, this is something you might want to go check back on the podcast player or wherever you're listening to the show, because we dove into a deep dive on affordable housing and what we can do to make sure that people really understand.

[00:20:07] Eric Goranson: We can really help people get into homes and build that American dream out there. So take a look at that and you can find us on any podcast player out there. If there's one that you can't find us on, let me know and send me a message over to around the house, online. com. And I'll make sure because there's new podcast players all the time out there, but just look for the around the house show.

[00:20:50] Eric Goranson: And that is something that you should pay attention to as well on this is that building code is changing all the time. Now, every couple of years, major [00:21:00] changes to the plumbing code And it's something that you can really take a look at online and see what is going on each state, city, county, depending on when my state here, it's a state of Oregon that really runs things here and same with the state of Washington.

[00:21:31] Eric Goranson: So you're following those rules correctly. Now, here's the next one. And I think this is one of the most important ones here. And this is knowing when you're over your head, knowing when you like, ah, I think I know what I'm doing. But I'm questioning what I know what I'm doing. And this might be where you need to spend the money and get a pro to come in and tackle the project for you.

[00:22:14] Eric Goranson: There are so many things that you get in there and it's, wow, this is once you get the wall opened up and you're like, this is much more complex. Then I thought I was getting into, or you're in there and you're like, I don't feel comfortable. These pipe fittings are so close to the wall right here. Even if I put a flame protector in there and I'm going to sweat that copper, I don't feel like I can get a good job here with this.

[00:22:55] Eric Goranson: That's just how it works out there these days. So you're going to have a few hundred bucks [00:23:00] or if it's a bigger project, thousands of bucks to do it. But if you're over your head, no one to say no, no one to bring in that pro. And if you do it right, you don't want to, here's the thing, I don't want to see you unless you have to bring in that pro on the after hours stuff on the Saturday afternoon or holiday pay or whatever else.

[00:23:38] Eric Goranson: If you are supplying the parts for this, you're in charge of making sure that the right parts are there and that they don't typically warranty the parts in many cases. If you're buying them, so let them bring the parts, let them handle it. Let them use what they think for that. It's different. If you've got your own toilet, if you're going to buy your own toilet or your shower valve or that kind of stuff, I get that.

[00:24:17] Eric Goranson: A lot of these review places like Yelp and the bitter business bureau and stuff. These guys are making money on reviews and many of these people like the better business bureau. I don't trust as a resource because you can actually, and you've heard me say this before, if you're a regular listener, but I'm just going to say it for all the new people out there catching the show.

[00:24:54] Eric Goranson: So it's my opinion that that is not a good solid place. Check with your local licensing board. If [00:25:00] you are looking for a plumber and get ahold of your state plumbing licensing board, talk to them, see if they've had any lawsuits, take a look online. Many states and cities and counties and municipalities have licensing and they have a place for you to take a look at all that.

[00:25:37] Eric Goranson: There's store brand toilets out there. I do not. I go out and buy toilets. I buy a good one. Because a good one's going to save you money in the long run. If you look at being able to get repair parts down the road and having something that's going to perform those store brand toilets are just low quality bottom of the builder, basic toilets.

[00:26:20] Eric Goranson: They make more toilets than American Standard and Kohler combined. These guys, you won't find them in the home centers typically. But they make beautiful stuff. And when you're talking toilets, you want that toilet to be able to, if it's a one gallon flush, he want this to work correctly. You want to be able to hit the flush button and have everything go away.

[00:27:01] Eric Goranson: And so what happens is you have a toilet that is easier to keep clean. Now, if you go spend a bunch of money, they have toilets now that are completely 100 percent self cleaning. They missed under the seat. They keep things clean. And other than maybe a quick wipe down or the cloth to get the dust off the top, there's not much that's needed to clean these toilets.

[00:27:46] Eric Goranson: They would do a test at the trade shows where they had one hooked up and they would flush down a bucket of golf balls. With a single flush. So that was crazy how well that stuff worked. And so that is how they [00:28:00] would do that. And so what's cool with this is that they make those nice and big. So you have no flow restrictions.

[00:28:29] Eric Goranson: And all of a sudden you've got this area that doesn't want to let things flow by it quickly and smoothly. And so that's where you get the bad design, the production flaws with it. And you just get a great looking toilet if you buy something nicer. So take a look at the total ones out there, go around the house and be right back.

[00:29:18] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement, I'm Eric G thanks for joining me today. And again, if you want to find out more information, if you're catching us on the talk media network out on the radio, thanks for joining us. You can get more information about us over to round the house online.

[00:29:52] Eric Goranson: You can check that out over at around the house, online. com or your favorite podcast player. And we have usually up there on [00:30:00] Apple and those a few hundred of those, but we do have a subscription network. Where you can get back there for less than a price of a cup of coffee and go uh, back and listen to all our rowback episodes where we tackle a lot of different projects and have some amazing guests on over the years.

[00:30:34] Eric Goranson: And this is another good one here that I want you to really consider. Anytime you're building in plumbing, use the best stuff you can afford. Now I'm talking about, maybe it's that tub shower valve or the shower valve that's going in there with the body sprays, anything that you're permanently mounting in a wall.

[00:31:15] Eric Goranson: And here's what happens. And this is because we've talked about this in previous episodes. So bear with me, if you've heard this before from me, but what happens is, is home centers and big box retailers that want to have a product in there, they'll go to company X and say, Hey, I need the shower valve that you're selling for 300 bucks.

[00:31:54] Eric Goranson: So you're seeing some of that where you have the same model numbers, but if you go buy one at your [00:32:00] local plumbing retailer, go to your home center, you'll notice the boxes are different and that's so they can keep track of what's going away. So you'll notice that the retail packaging for the home centers might be different.

[00:32:28] Eric Goranson: Now, when you're doing this, I am always worried about online retailers. Now there are certain ones out there that are good. But anytime that you're jumping on an online retailer and buying a built in plumbing fixture, you are taking life into your own hands. Cause here's what I could do. I could walk down to my local home Depot store and buy a Kohler faucet right off the shelf.

[00:33:15] Eric Goranson: They knocked it off. It's like coach purses or anything else out there you're seeing. But the problem is that the repair parts, when you go to fix it down the road, because it's made out of probably inferior parts. All of a sudden you figured out that the repair parts don't fit and now you have to replace the whole thing So be really careful with on ramp online retailers because I know talking to my friends in the plumbing industry How many times they have people coming in going?

[00:34:12] Eric Goranson: And make sure that you now you're replacing pieces. You don't want to have to do I want you to be able to get replacement parts for it and be able to do that And that's one of the problems that you see with some of these off brands out there the no name ones or or you jump on Amazon or one of those and buy them the cheap sets.

[00:34:48] Eric Goranson: Be, be wary because now all of a sudden you've got a product in there that you probably will have to replace sooner than later. And the other thing I want you to talk about here too, before we get [00:35:00] into The next one is making sure that you have your water quality under control before you take on that new bathroom or kitchen or whatever else, because water quality is key.

[00:35:28] Eric Goranson: Is test your water, see what you got and get a fixed and design that system around it. Do you have a lot of chlorine in it? Do you have a lot of heavy metals in it? Is hard water destroying your water heater, your washing machine, your dishwasher, your ice maker on your fridge? Is it destroying all that stuff?

[00:36:10] Eric Goranson: It can really reduce the life. And that causes other maintenance issues like your water heater. If you've got a hard water, you should probably, if you haven't been doing it, you probably next time you replace it, do it, but really go through once a year, turn the water heater off, flush it out, make sure you get all the scale buildup out of the inside of it and make sure that you do that maintenance on it and get that cleaned out and then make sure that you're running your, your scale remover out of your washing machine, your dishwasher.

[00:36:55] Eric Goranson: And then of course, on top of that, you've got that buildup and that will at a point, especially like [00:37:00] with the currigs and some of those out there, there's a point that thing just shuts down and you'll never get it back to working again. And once it stops moving water, it's done. You're tossing it away because it's too expensive to fix.

[00:37:28] Eric Goranson: Typically. And make sure that your well water is good. You can have problems in well water for instance Like radon and things like that could be really damaging to you And that can be really tough because when you're standing in the shower full of steam You could be breathing in radon So just double check on that to make sure that your water quality is exactly where you want it to be So pay attention to that guys It's something super important and that is the first thing I would be doing when I move into a house You Is checking that online and there's a lot of places you can do [00:38:00] And take a look at my friends over at king water filtration They do have a thing over on their website over there where they will Ask your zip code and you could put your zip code in and see what your water Has from that so just go over to king water filtration.

[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: If you've got a good tubing cutter, you've got good parts, good pieces, good saw, and then make sure that you follow the directions on any of the pieces you're using. If you're gluing pipe together, make sure that you're using a primer and the pipe glue cement and doing that correctly. And if you're going to use the primer in one, all in one, just make sure you're doing that.

[00:39:13] Eric Goranson: com and you can find us more information there, including our phone number, which is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. That number again is 8 3 3 2 3 9 4 1 4 4. I'm Eric G and you've been listening to around the house.