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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

here's a gem for ya: Tub in house I bought a couple years back is leaking down into dining room.

But tub does not have trap door of any kind to look under tub, It's all just tiled in as if it was meant to be there forever and never leak.

Do I just bust up the tile and figure out what's leaking?

Probably have to be like your mom and come in through the bottom.

Seriously though, might consider cutting a small hole in the ceiling below. If it's badly water damaged, you might have to do taht anyway.
 
here's a gem for ya: Tub in house I bought a couple years back is leaking down into dining room.

But tub does not have trap door of any kind to look under tub, It's all just tiled in as if it was meant to be there forever and never leak.

Do I just bust up the tile and figure out what's leaking?

Probably have to be like your mom and come in through the bottom.

Seriously though, might consider cutting a small hole in the ceiling below. If it's badly water damaged, you might have to do taht anyway.

Also look above at Leebs issues with her tub. You could have a leaking valve without the good sealing job leebs did.

Depending on how soft the drywall in the ceiling is, DDD makes a good point. If it doesn't need to come out, stain hiding paint (Killz) or similar will hide the water stain.
 
Similarly I had a leak about a year ago from my kids’ bathroom that put a nice moisture spot on the ceiling below. Turned out the joint on the drain pipe had developed a leak so I had to cut it out the joint and replace it. But that was diagnosed by going through the ceiling below, not from the bathroom above.
 
Similarly I had a leak about a year ago from my kids’ bathroom that put a nice moisture spot on the ceiling below. Turned out the joint on the drain pipe had developed a leak so I had to cut it out the joint and replace it. But that was diagnosed by going through the ceiling below, not from the bathroom above.


Going through tile walls should be last resort. They are difficult to impossible to patch and not look patched. Drywall is usually easy to patch and have the patch be invisible.
 
Going through tile walls should be last resort. They are difficult to impossible to patch and not look patched. Drywall is usually easy to patch and have the patch be invisible.

Thanks all for the good advice. I even chuckled at the mom joke, because those are the best.

I sort of hate the tile in the bathroom, it's this ugly tan color. Who even uses brown/tan tile? And I want a giant shower and not that silly soaking tub, so I might just whack away at the tile to figure it out and basically get the giant shower and additional closet I'v always wanted.
 
Thanks all for the good advice. I even chuckled at the mom joke, because those are the best.

I sort of hate the tile in the bathroom, it's this ugly tan color. Who even uses brown/tan tile? And I want a giant shower and not that silly soaking tub, so I might just whack away at the tile to figure it out and basically get the giant shower and additional closet I'v always wanted.

Well that is a different conversation.

Be careful when you get to the tile backer board (green board, cement board etc.) Unless your revised arrangement requires redoing that. Regular drywall does not last long in showers.
 
Yet another water issue in my downstairs bathroom, while the plumbing debris is still on the floor from the last issue. Today I notice water dripping from the switch box. Great. So in doing a little investigating I go two floors up into the attic to discover that the condensation line from the AC is dripping. And obviously seeping through the wall to get down there.

So the way I understand AC, normally when that condensation line backs up the condensation routes into a water pan to drain elsewhere. If that backup fails and the pan fills up, a switch turns off the unit.

In my case, it appears that first line never diverted into the water pan. The line that connects into my plumbing was never actually attached to the drain line, it was just directed into it and sort of duct taped together. Now, something is causing a backup in that drain line and instead of backing up into the pan, it just seeps up around the duct tape and thus into my walls.

This ac unit was installed 18 months ago. Idk what their labor warranty was but this seems like a faulty install. I’m going to try to make that case to the ac folks when they come out. In the meantime my upstairs will slowly come to a boil as I’m shutting that unit off. No more fucking water fails for a while please house.
 
Yet another water issue in my downstairs bathroom, while the plumbing debris is still on the floor from the last issue. Today I notice water dripping from the switch box. Great. So in doing a little investigating I go two floors up into the attic to discover that the condensation line from the AC is dripping. And obviously seeping through the wall to get down there.

So the way I understand AC, normally when that condensation line backs up the condensation routes into a water pan to drain elsewhere. If that backup fails and the pan fills up, a switch turns off the unit.

In my case, it appears that first line never diverted into the water pan. The line that connects into my plumbing was never actually attached to the drain line, it was just directed into it and sort of duct taped together. Now, something is causing a backup in that drain line and instead of backing up into the pan, it just seeps up around the duct tape and thus into my walls.

This ac unit was installed 18 months ago. Idk what their labor warranty was but this seems like a faulty install. I’m going to try to make that case to the ac folks when they come out. In the meantime my upstairs will slowly come to a boil as I’m shutting that unit off. No more fucking water fails for a while please house.

The ol' downstairs mixup

 
Ac guys saying that’s the way the lines supposed to be run (directed into, not actually attached to the drain line. So idk. Guess it’s a plumbing situation
 
Those A/C drain lines are prone to clogging. Cleaning them is supposed to be part of semi-annual maintenance. That cleaning is often not done and your situation is the result.
 
Anyone swap out an electric dryer? Ours gave out after about 14 years (I swapped out the heating element a couple of times) but today, a power surge or something electrical happened, then a burnt smell. We got a replacement dryer and I thought that the electric cords were interchangable, so I used the old one. Wired it per their instructions, checked the breaker was back on, and.... a whole lot of nothing...

any suggestions on what else to try?
 
Anyone swap out an electric dryer? Ours gave out after about 14 years (I swapped out the heating element a couple of times) but today, a power surge or something electrical happened, then a burnt smell. We got a replacement dryer and I thought that the electric cords were interchangable, so I used the old one. Wired it per their instructions, checked the breaker was back on, and.... a whole lot of nothing...

any suggestions on what else to try?

If you have a multimeter, unplug the dryer and check to see if you have continuity from where you wired the cord to the prongs.
 
If you have a multimeter, unplug the dryer and check to see if you have continuity from where you wired the cord to the prongs.

It turned out that I didn't completely reset the breaker... I was hoping it was going to be simple. Didn't want to pay an electrician $$$$ to come fix something simple.
 
It turned out that I didn't completely reset the breaker... I was hoping it was going to be simple. Didn't want to pay an electrician $$$$ to come fix something simple.

Glad you found it. Simplest two things to fix in electrically operated equipment: plug it in (all the way) and turn it on (All switches).
 
I finally got around to removing the back deck from our home this weekend (in advance of putting a new one on) and in doing so found that the condensation line from our A/C currently drains to a spot just outside our crawlspace, under our deck. (This is shown in the first pic.). The same thing happens with the drainage from the dehumidifier; shown in the 2nd pic.

Could I just run pvc out into the yard (or at least out from under the deck) so there isn't a puddle of water by my foundation basically all summer long?

It never fails that one project turns into 3-4 projects by the end.
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You should be OK extending the pipes. Just make sure you have them going down hill with sufficient slope. These all work strictly by gravity.

The first one looks like it will be a major PIA to get a good clean end to work from. You may need to splice inside your crawl space and redo the seal through the wall.

To add to the project, you might want to consider running the pipes underground and terminating in a rock/gravel filled covered sump. That would eliminate the pipes as a tripping and mowing hazard. Check local building codes and HOA rules (if applicable).
 
i live in courtyard building that has substantial basement space -- one of the basements has been converted to a fitness room, but sits right below a residential unit

we're looking at mitigating the sound as it has been bothering the resident just above

anybody have any soundproofing solutions they love? cost is a concern, so hoping to sound proof a ~400 sf concrete box for $1,500 or less
 
Gotta love having a 1.5 year old dishwasher die. Started tripping the breaker every now and then, now it trips it for every run and can't make it through a cycle.

Took apart what I could but it's not readily apparent what the issue is. Going to need multiple hours of service work plus parts - probably 50% of the cost of a new one. Bite the bullet and replace it or go for the repair... Hate these decisions.
 
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