General Plumbing: Expert Guides and Resources

If you have to make plumbing repairs around your home, it helps to understand your drain-waste-vent system (DWV). The fat pipes in your house make up the DWV, carrying wastewater to a city sewer line or your private sewer treatment facility (called a septic tank and field). The drainpipes collect the water from sinks, showers, tubs, and appliances.

Sweating a copper water line is relatively easy. Knowing how to sweat copper pipe allows a do-it-yourselfer to install pipe yourself. A properly sweated joint will last for years (in many cases decades). Sweating copper pipe isn’t difficult, but it takes practice. Mastering a perfectly sweated copper joint takes a bit of practice.

Ceramic disk faucets are durable, but need repairing if they develop leaks or water flow problems. To fix a ceramic disk faucet, you can get new seals and replacement parts. Disassemble the faucet and take the old parts with you when you go shopping for replacement parts so you can get exactly what you need. Equipment needed: Allen wrench, screwdriver, groove-joint pliers, an old toothbrush, and a replacement cartridge, if needed.

Knowing how to fix a leaky faucet will save money, and it’s easy. To fix a leaky rotary ball faucet (or rotating ball faucet) you usually just tighten the cap or cap-adjusting ring. Tightening the cap works because most leaks in rotary ball faucets occur around the handle or spout. If that doesn’t stop the leak, buy a repair kit and replace the faucet’s internal parts.

Cartridge faucets are the easiest kind of faucet to repair. It only takes about an hour to fix a leaky cartridge filter faucet. Leaky faucets waste water, so fix them as soon as possible. Gather your materials: Screwdriver, hex wrench, groove-joint pliers, silicone grease, needle-nose pliers, replacement cartridge and replacement O-ring for your brand of faucet.

To tackle a do-it-yourself plumbing project, you need to know how to recognize different types of pipes. Recognizing the different types of pipes within your house is vital to knowing the right repair technique. The most common pipes used today are copper, PVC, or ABS. However, when dealing with older homes, you might encounter a number of other piping material.

After you attach a faucet to the sink, you can attach the water supply lines that will eventually be connected to the shut-off valves on the main water supply pipes. Regardless of what your supply line is made of, it probably uses a coupling nut to secure it to the faucet tailpiece. Simply screw the coupling nut onto the tailpiece until it’s snug and then give it a couple of final snugs with groove-joint pliers.

Don’t lull yourself into believing that you’ll never need a plumber. Even if you are skilled at home repairs, you may need to call on a professional from time to time for plumbing emergencies. In addition to relying on your local plumber for occasional emergencies, the following situations are best left to professionals: Low water pressure throughout the house: Several factors can cause this problem: obstructions (rust or debris) in the water lines, which can start at the meter and run all the way to the faucet aerators; low water pressure from the city supply or a well; or even poor supply-line design.

After the water passes through the three city-installed valves, it comes to what is known as the main shutoff valve in your home. This is the valve that you need to be able to locate in an emergency. Find it before an emergency occurs so, when you're in a pinch, you know where it is. This valve is usually in the basement or on an outside wall in a utility area of the house.