Replace Cast Iron With PVC

Posted on by Tim Carter

Replace Cast Iron with PVC TIPS

Tim the Master Plumber

Before we go any further, you need to know I'm a master plumber as well as a builder.

I got my master's certification back when I was about 29 years old. I've always loved to install plumbing as well as threaded black iron pipe. I cut my teeth doing many a remodeling job where I had to crack into a cast-iron drain stack and plumb in a new branch line for a bathroom or kitchen remodel job.

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I discovered in no time that cast iron drain piping was durable, it was soundproof and it lasted for decades.

What's more, modern cast iron pipe is made differently than the old cast pipe. A hundred years ago they actually had molds they poured the molten iron into to make the pipe. These molds could have places where the side walls of the pipe were thinner than other spots. These thin sections could rust away.

Modern cast-iron pipe is made by spinning the metal and the pipe wall thickness is uniform.

Cast Iron vs PVC

If I were building a new home today, all of my drain lines would be modern cast iron. All my vent lines would be PVC. Watch my plumbing vent line video below to see this complex system of pipes that exists in the walls and ceilings of your home!

Plumbing Vent Video

PVC pipe is noisy. If a person flushes a toilet and the drain stack is not wrapped with sound insulation, you'll hear the water crashing against the sides of the pipe as it goes down the wall.

You'd think there's a waterfall inside your home it's so loud. You never hear this if you use cast iron.

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Lanny's Question

Lanny, who lives in Campbellsville, KY, asked me a great question about old cast iron drain pipe.

"I'm going to renovate my bathroom and my main drain line for the water and sewer is the old black cast iron pipe. Is it against the code to keep the cast iron pipe or do I have to replace it with the PVC pipe?"

My Answer - You Already Know What I'll Say

Well Lanny, since it's impossible for me to memorize all the different plumbing codes across the USA, I can't tell you what the inspectors in your city would require. While there's a model plumbing code baked into the building code, cities and towns can and do modify it to their own local practices.

But here's the bottom line. Cast iron is a wonderful material. If I was building a new home today, and I plan on doing one in the next few years, it will have cast iron drain lines.

Cast iron is quiet. The issue with PVC is that when water cascades down a vertical stack it sloshes around and it's very noisy. Some who hear it think there's an actual leak inside a wall it's so loud.

It can last for hundreds of years. It's the most durable interior drain pipe you can install.

Newer cast iron pipe is made so the wall thickness is uniform. Old true cast iron pipe could suffer from thin-wall syndrome, but that's no longer an issue.

It's also easy to work with if you're creating a new branch line. You can use stainless-steel no-hub clamps to make leak-proof connections in case you want to run PVC into the cast iron.

I vote that you keep the cast iron and add new branches as needed. You can add new cast iron to old as well as blend PVC into the system if you want.

I want to add that my vent system in my new house will be PVC. But any drain line that handles water and waste flow will be cast iron.

How to Glue PVC Pipe Video

PVC Fittings Video

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers who can replace your cast iron pipes.

How to Drill Into Steel Like a Pro

Posted on by Tim Carter

How to Drill Into Steel TIPS

My guess is this summer you’ll be faced with some DIY project where you need to drill into metal. Steel is the most common metal you’ll find around your home and it’s not as hard to drill through as you might think.

Rookie DIYers will usually make a few mistakes that can cause damage to the metal, tools or surrounding finishes, cause frustration, and create a string of bad language that might cause a sailor to blush. You can avoid all of this by just following a few simple steps!

The key is to use the correct bit, drill slow and keep the drill bit COOL. You keep it cool by drilling in a puddle of clean motor oil if you're drilling a horizontal piece of steel. If the steel is vertical, you'll need a helper and an oil can to squirt oil at the base of the drill bit as you operate the drill.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local handymen in your town to drill your piece of steel.

WATCH THIS VIDEO FIRST:

 

Degree of Difficulty: hammer-2-5

Step One: Gather a power drill that has adjustable speeds. A scrap piece of wood to place under the piece of metal being drilled will be very handy. You’ll also need sharp cobalt drill bits (CLICK HERE to ORDER some now) made to drill into metal. These bits are clearly marked for that purpose on the label and frequently contain cobalt in the steel used to make the bit.

DeWALT Cobalt Drills in case

Look at the label of any bits you buy. I've used these COBALT bits and they're fantastic. CLICK THE IMAGE to ORDER THEM NOW.

You’ll need a sharp nail or center punch tool. Metal cutting oil or standard motor oil will also be required. A clamp or two to hold the metal in place while drilling may be necessary. If drilling thin metal, heavy work gloves could prevent a nasty slice or cut. Wear safety glasses and heavy gloves when drilling steel. If a sharp shard of metal gets in your eye, the trip to the ER will cost you huge money. Take the time to WEAR SAFETY GLASSES.

Step Two: If the piece of metal you intend to drill is thin and lightweight, you may want to clamp it securely to the piece of wood. The drilling action can cause the metal to spin rapidly as the drill penetrates the metal. This can happen without warning and cause a nasty cut if you’re not careful.

Step Three: If you’re drilling a large diameter hole, say 3/8-inch or larger, you’ll want to drill smaller pilot holes first in the metal. Start with a 1/8-inch hole and then next use a 1/4-inch bit to enlarge the hole. Finish the hole with a 3/8-inch bit.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local handymen in your town to drill your piece of steel.

Step Four: Drilling into metal, especially metal over 1/4-inch thick, can create lots of heat and friction. Heat can and will damage drill bits. Professionals use oil when drilling steel. The oil lubricates the metal and drill bit as it spins. The oil also acts as a heat sink absorbing much of the heat. Simply squirt oil on the metal before you start to drill and add more oil as you drill.

Use clean motor oil. 10w30 is just fine. It doesn't have to be expensive synthetic oil. The viscosity of the oil helps it to suck up lots of the heat from the steel and drill bit. When drilling vertical steel, you'll probably need a helper using an oil can to squirt the oil on the steel at the base of the bit. Collect the dripping oil with a container or paper towels.

Step Five: When you’ve determined where you want your hole, try to create a small depression in the metal with your nail or a center punch tool. This tiny depression helps center the drill bit so it doesn’t wander as you turn on the drill.

Step Six: When you start to drill, use a low speed and moderate downward pressure on the drill. High speeds cause too much friction and high heat levels. Slow and steady drilling speed is best when drilling metal.

Step Seven: If you notice any smoke, you’re drilling too fast or not using enough oil to lubricate the drilling process. STOP and allow the drill bit to cool. You can squirt some oil on the bit to cool it faster. Then begin to add more oil at the point where the bit is cutting into the steel.

Step Eight: When the drill bit is about to break through the other side of the metal, it can grab onto the metal causing the drill to twist in your hand or cause the metal to spin. Be very aware of this as you are about to break through the metal with the bit. Grasp the drill tightly and pay attention.

Summary: It’s not hard at all to drill through metal. Aluminum is very soft and will drill easily. One-quarter-inch steel plate is a challenge, but you can do it. Try to practice first on smaller pieces of metal. It’s vital you have a variable-speed drill and very sharp drill bits. Let me know how you do! P.S. Here's a FANTASTIC DRILL I own that I use to drill steel.

Bosch drill kit

Here's an 18-volt cordless drill I own that does a fantastic job at drilling steel. CLICK THE IMAGE TO BUY IT NOW.

 

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local handymen in your town to drill your piece of steel.

Column: HT018

Getting a New Hardwood Floor Level

Posted on by Tim Carter
hardwood floor

This is the hardwood floor, with decorative inlay, that was in my own home I built. The installer I hired used a straightedge and shingles to make the hardwood perfect. © 2017 Tim Carter

Getting a New Hardwood Floor Level Tips

DEAR TIM: I'm getting ready to install 3/4-inch-thick tongue and groove golden-oak hardwood flooring. I'm ready to start the job but my wood subfloor seems to have all sorts of high and low spots. I don't know where to start the job. Should I use a leveling compound to smooth the floor? Are there other tricks I can employ to make sure the finished floor is smooth as glass once finished? Gary W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

DEAR GARY: This task is not as challenging as it might seem. You are very lucky that you discovered the flaw in the subflooring before you started the installation of the finished wood. All too often, I have seen professionally installed hardwood floors that have dips, humps and other inconsistencies in them. When I see these imperfections on the finished high-gloss surface, I know a rookie must have installed the actual flooring.

AsktheBuilder Podcast

CLICK this image and listen to the first call on the podcast. I talked to Jill about how to repair wood kitchen flooring, and possibly installing an inlay border as an option. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local hardwood installers.

Flat Floors Are a Must

There are wood subfloors that are very hardwood-friendly. This means the subfloors themselves are flat and smooth.

Flat and smooth doesn't mean that the floor is level. A floor doesn't have to be perfectly level to look superb covered with hardwood strips.

Wood floor systems framed with engineered wood I joists, or those made from floor trusses, often are extremely flat or in the same plane. I've worked with both types of joists and they're a dream because they produce such a flat floor.

Crowns Equal Royal Pain

Those wood floors framed with traditional solid-wood joists are the ones that can cause problems. Each joist may be slightly different in height and, to compound problems, each joist can have a different degree of crown.

The crown in a wood floor joist refers to the amount of upward curvature that exists in the framing member as you look down the length of the top edge. If the rough carpenters and lumber suppliers are very selective about the floor joists they use, a traditional wood joist system can be as perfect as a wood I-joist or floor truss system.

But this is a RARITY. What's more, modern framing lumber has been hybridized so it grows faster. To me it seems modern lumber has more crown to it than lumber I used forty years ago.

The best joists are ones with vertical grain. A vertical-grain joist is one cut from the center of the tree. It would have the small dark round center of the tree in it and the growth bands radiate out on each side until you get each end of the joist. A flat-grained joist is one that's cut from, or near the edge of the tree. 

If you’re interested in learning more about cost estimates for hardwood flooring I have an article here.

Get Floor Ready

To get your wood subfloor ready, the first thing to do is to make sure the wood sheathing that is on top of the joists is securely fastened. I highly recommend installing coarse-threaded screws in addition to the nails that might already be in place. Be sure to do this in high foot-traffic areas of the room. The use of screws will prevent floor squeaks that are caused by nails that are not driven completely or that work themselves loose because of lumber shrinkage. Use screws that penetrate at least one and one quarter inch into the wood joist.

After the subflooring is screwed tightly to the joists, vacuum the floor to remove all dust and debris. Use a six-foot long straight edge and a level to find the highest spot on the floor. Although you might want the floor to end up in the same plane, it may not be a realistic goal. Your existing floor may be severely crowned. If this is the case, the hardwood floor may need a giant wedge of shims or leveling compound that extends to one or more walls in the room. This degree of correction may not be needed to get the visual goal you desire.

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Filling Low Spots

I always use regular roofing shingles to fill in any dips or depressions in wood or concrete subfloors. The overall floor may not end up in the same plane, but if you have just one gentle hump that extends over 10 or 12 feet, the naked eye can rarely detect this imperfection. Dips or depressions in a subfloor are immediately identified using the six-foot long straightedge. Place it at the highest spot in the floor and slowly swing it around in a 360 degree circle. The low spots will be readily visible under the straightedge.

You can see all imperfections best in a darkened room. Use a flashlight held parallel with the floor and aim the beam at the straightedge. Believe me, you'll see gaps beneath the straightedge.

Use a marking crayon to outline the hollow spots and mark how deep they are.

Use as many asphalt shingles as necessary to fill the low spots. They do not have to be nailed down as the many nails used to hold the flooring in place will pass through the shingles as they are driven into the wood subfloor. You can tack the shingles in place if you desire so they do not move around as you work on the floor.

Floor Leveling Compound

The use of a floor leveling compound can achieve the same goal, however it requires a bit of skill to apply the compound evenly. Also, if you mix some leveling compounds wrong by adding too much water, there is a possibility they can break down over time and turn to powder. These compounds work great if you follow the instructions. 

Always mix a TEST batch and see how it works. This is a cheap insurance policy. You want to make sure it flows and looks superb.

You want to know how THIN you can get the self-leveling compound. Some are not recommended for thin hollow spots. READ the label to find out the limitations of the compound you decide to use.

This will not happen with shingles, which is exactly why they are my weapon of choice when confronted with this task. But shingles can be hard to work with and they don't fill the entire hollow spot. There's pros and cons with each method.

This is a great name-brand self-leveling floor compound. You just mix it with water and pour. CLICK THE IMAGE NOW TO ORDER IT.

Tongue Depression

If you fail to fill the depressions under a hardwood floor, the hardwood can flex when you walk over it. Over time, this can cause squeaks as the hardwood slides up and down the nail shafts of the nails used to install the hardwood. The subfloor doesn't have to be absolutely in the same plane to prevent squeaks, but voids of 1/8 inch or more can cause problems.

In thinner hardwood, the actual interlocking tongues can crack off if the hollow spot is too big. This is a massive problem and is why you must have the floor FLAT.

Installing hardwood flooring perpendicular to the direction of the floor joists is also critical. Finished flooring that runs parallel to the joist direction will often telegraph the slightest defects in the subflooring.

Be sure to install tar paper over both wood and concrete subfloors to minimize moisture infiltration to the underside of hardwood flooring. Tar paper is an excellent vapor retarder.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local hardwood installers.

Column 486

Tankless Water Heaters

Posted on by Tim Carter

Tankless Water Heater TIPS

DEAR TIM: I need to install a water heater in my home. I've seen tankless water heaters in stores that sound as if they are a miracle product. Do they really deliver an endless supply of hot water? Do you save money using one? Are they a wise investment? Are they expensive to install? Wesley W., Silverdale, WA

DEAR WESLEY: The tankless water heaters you speak of seem to be the rage right now. The marketing campaigns of these companies seem to stimulate the same nerve endings that tingle when the hot water in a shower turns to cold. But you need to look under the skin of these appliances, between the lines of the brochures and do some simple mathematics before you make a decision to buy one.

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Require HUGE Fuel Lines

The tankless water heaters come in many different sizes. These heaters have a voracious appetite for natural gas, often two or three times the amount of a standard residential water heater. If you need one to supply an entire family with hot water, look for one that has an input of no less than 165,000 Btu.

Shop long enough and you may find a model with a burner that consumes an astonishing 230,000 Btu of gas per hour.

IMPORTANT TIP: Each time you turn on a faucet for hot water, a tankless heater begins to burn fuel. It doesn't shut off until you turn off the faucet.

See the potential problem?

Even with an enormous gas burner, the tankless water heaters have limitations. Pay attention to flow rates. This number tells you how much water a tankless heater can deliver at a given temperature rise. The flow rate in your home is a function of how many fixtures are demanding hot water.

As more hot water faucets are turned on at the same time, more water flows through the heater. When this happens water may exit the heater before it gets to the desired temperature. To add insult to injury, incoming cold water temperatures in many cities vary month to month.

Cold Water & The Four Seasons

If you live in a cold climate as I do, the temperature of the water can vary drastically from summer to winter. I live in the Midwest and it is common for the incoming cold water temperature to be 40F or so in the middle of winter.

Water at this temperature pushes a tankless water heater to its limit in a typical residential setting. A typical tankless heater with a 165,000 Btu burner can raise the water temperature to 110F and deliver 3.8 gallons per minute of this heated water indefinitely.

High-Flow Shower Heads

But is this flow rate and temperature satisfactory? 110F hot water is 8 degrees below the temperature that most adults feel pain (the average shower temperature for most adults is anywhere between 115 - 120F). A code-approved typical shower faucet will deliver 2.5 gallons of water per minute.

A typical kitchen sink faucet will discharge 2.0 gallons of water per minute. Do the math and you can see that these two common fixtures have exceeded the capacity of the tankless heater.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers who can install water heaters.

Expensive Heaters!

The cost issue is even more dramatic. The tankless heaters are expensive. A large whole house model typically costs $1,000.00. A traditional storage tank water heater that has a super-fast recovery time costs less than $500.00. Add a secondary accessory anode rod to this heater at a cost of $125.00 and you can have a traditional water heater that may last 15 - 20 years.

Your Current Hot Water Bill

How much do you spend heating hot water each day?

It's fairly easy to calculate if you heat with natural gas or propane.

Look at your natural gas bills for the months of June, July and August. Normally your furnace never operates during this time period.

Most people have electric clothes dryers. You may not have a gas cooktop.

If so, what you see on your gas bill during these months is what you spend to heat water.

You'll probably discover it's about $1 or $1.50 per day at the most.

This was discussed in Tim's November 19, 2017 AsktheBuilder Newsletter.

True Cost to Operate

But the cost issue does not end there. The tankless heater manufacturers often claim all sorts of energy savings when you switch to their products. My calculations show just the opposite. Let's use one of my summer gas bills for a comparison.

That month the cost of natural gas in my city was 53.4 cents for each 100 cubic feet of gas consumed. My family used 2,400 cubic feet of gas during that month.

Most of it went to my traditional storage tank water heater, some went to our gas range that was used each day to cook and the remainder went to our gas clothes dryer. I estimate that it cost me approximately 37 cents per day to provide hot water for my family of five and we rarely run out of hot water.

I also timed our hot water usage. On average, hot water runs in our home approximately 90 minutes each day. Fifty minutes of that usage is showers, the rest being cooking and cleaning.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you turn on a hot-water faucet in your home with a tankless heater, the heater immediately starts to work. It doesn't shut off until you turn off the hot water.

If I had a large 165,000 Btu tankless heater at my home, it would have consumed 248 cubic feet of gas each day. Each hour the tankless heater is operating, it burns 165,000 Btu's of natural gas. If it operates ninety minutes, then it will burn 247.5 Btus. There are 1000 Btus per cubic foot of gas.

Each day I'd burn 247.5 cubic feet of gas. Multiply the 53.4 cents by 2.475 and you come up with the cost of gas per day using a tankless heater.

Doing the math, I arrive at a cost of $1.32 per day using a whole house tankless heater. Unless I am mistaken, it would cost 3.5 times more money to use this heater in my home.

Some Don't Care About Money

There's no doubt in my mind that a tankless water heater works in some warm climates and for certain people who have low or moderate demands for hot water. But there is no way a tankless water heater could keep up with my family, especially my son. In fact, if I had a tankless heater, he alone would bankrupt me as he would stay in the soothing shower all day long.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from plumbers in your city or town to install a tankless water heater.

Column 451

Author's Notes:

These additional comments, in-depth analysis and visitor feedback are constantly growing. I get emails each month from people who bought tankless water heaters and are left somewhat disappointed when they finally see what happens. Wait until you read the email from George McCammon that follows my comments.

In the twenty-plus years I have been writing my syndicated newspaper column and publishing my work and tales here on AsktheBuilder.com, only one other column has created as much controversy as this one - the one on the Barrier EIFS Nightmare. Wow! The following background information and subsequent fallout after the tankless water heater column appeared in papers across the nation will help you sort through this very complicated topic.

I was flooded with email from people who did not believe the column. Some of it was from people who have tankless water heaters and other mail was from people who were thinking of buying these appliances. I also heard from many people who know very little about how water heaters work. It is astonishing how much misinformation is out there. I also received mail from people who verified my facts with their own experiments. Several of the emails are below. Here are some facts you should know before you go any further:

It takes the same amount of energy input to heat water no matter what type of device you use. Ask any thermodynamic engineer and she/he will tell you that you must expend one Btu of energy to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. This simply means that a tankless heater and a traditional storage tank heater must each burn the same amount of energy to heat the water in your home. But, each heater has a different efficiency rating. The tankless heaters are more efficient, but not as efficient as you might think. See below for more on efficiencies.

The burner on a traditional storage tank water heater does NOT burn 24 hours a day. Do not confuse a water heater with a pot of water heating on a stove. If you turn the stove off, the water in the pot cools. In a traditional storage tank water heater, the high-performance foam insulation keeps the water hot for many hours before the heater needs to turn back on to raise the temperature.

Numbers do not lie. Look at your own utility bill for last June, July and August. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you typically do not use any gas during those months for heating your home. The usage in these three months gives you a very good idea what you spend each month to heat water. Granted, some gas goes for cooking and clothes drying if gas fuels those appliances. Subtract about 20 percent from you gas bill if you do use gas to dry clothes and cook food so you get an even more accurate feel for the daily cost to heat and store water in your home.

Also, you will spend more money to heat water in the winter as the incoming water is colder and needs more energy to raise the temperature of the water. But this is also true of the tankless heaters, so it is a wash with respect to cost.

Some people who have tankless heaters have reported to me that their utility costs stayed the same because they used more hot water. Why? Since there was now an unlimited supply of hot water they stayed in the shower longer. Not only did they use more gas, but they also used more water than they would normally. While researching the column, I didn't see any warnings on the tankless heater literature about this possibility.

Click here to view a scanned copy of my July 2002 utility bill. Many people thought I had a crack pipe in my hand while I wrote the column. Remember, subtract the $6.29 customer service charge. That has nothing to do with the actual cost of the gas. Everyone would pay that fee no matter if they had a water heater as I do or a tankless heater. You are just interested in the actual usage and cost of the gas. The usage says 24 CCF of natural gas. CCF stands for *hundreds of cubic feet*. This means my family of two adults, and three kids used 2400 cubic feet of gas in July, 2002.

Your cost of gas compared to mine means nothing! In other words, if I pay more or less it does not matter. You are simply concerned with how much gas will you use with a tankless heater vs. a traditional tank heater. Every person needs to compute their own usage and cost. Do not rely on numbers printed in a brochure. Those are average or blended costs.

You NEVER experience savings until you pass the break even point. In other words, if you pay $400.00 more for a tankless heater and think you are *saving* money the instant it turns on, you are crazy. You first must get back the extra money you spent plus the interest on that money. Once you get all of that back, then you can talk to me or others about saving money. It could take you years and years to achieve the break even point.

Tankless heaters have governor gas valves. This means that the amount of gas burned is a function of the rate of flow. If you just turn on your vanity hot water valve a little bit, then the gas valve supplies the needed gas to heat that smaller flow of water.

Tankless heaters come in various sizes. Many are rated for just one fixture. This means, you get an unlimited amount of hot water if just one fixture is asking for water. This is great if you are single or have no kids. But always pay attention to the flow rate! See how much hot water can flow through the heater before it is overloaded.

Some people remove flow restrictors. It is a common practice. The low flow shower heads can be turned into a high flow fixture in about 3 minutes. My house already had high flow shower heads. Some fixtures / sinks have huge flow rates. My laundry sink where I fill buckets of water to wash cars, windows, etc. has a standard valve on it. If I open just the hot water valve alone to full flow, it consumes an astonishing 4.2 gallons of water a minute. That single faucet could overload a high capacity tankless heater on a cold winter day. If you have a large whirlpool tub, place a 5 gallon bucket in the tub and turn on just the hot water for one minute. See how much water is in the bucket 60 seconds later. These tubs often have high flow valves.

Read this most interesting email I received on March 5, 2003 - three weeks after the column was published - from a gentleman in Boston:

"Dear Tim,

I have appreciated your newsletter and website for some time. I was intrigued by your remarks on the topic of tankless water heaters, because a month ago I had a new hot water boiler installed, including a tankless heater. To be honest, I had a hard time accepting the calculation you provided showing that a tankless heater would use 3.5 times more gas than your present water heater. So I decided to do an experiment.

As it happens, I have a 165,000 Btu input system, and I live in Boston, where my cold water comes in at 41 F at this time of year. I turned down the thermostat, so that the boiler's output could be directed entirely to hot water. I turned on my shower and adjusted the water temperature to 120 F using my instant-read kitchen thermometer (and I should add that is definitely hotter than what I would use for a shower!). I turned on the hot water faucet at the same time. Then I went downstairs and watched the usage indicated on my gas meter for ten minutes, which came to 16 cubic feet. This would translate to 144 cf over the course of 90 minutes. This looks to be about 2.1 times the rate you describe for your water heater. If I were doing the measurement in July, when your home data was measured, it would be lower because the incoming water would be warmer.

Still, I confess that this surprised me. I do wonder about a house (like mine) where hot water usage is not uniform during the day. Hot water usage in my house is basically after 6 PM and before 8 AM; the other ten hours a day, my water heater was keeping the water at temperature. I've noticed that my hot water is 5-10 degrees hotter now than it was when I had a water heater, so I could adjust the mixer valve and reduce gas consumption further.

I may try this again in the spring; if the results are significantly different, I'll let you know.

Best wishes,"

Tom Fisher - Boston, MA

# # #

"Dear Tim:

I read you article about tankless water heaters on the Internet, which I found most enlightening and informative. Like many people my wife had read all the hype about how tankless water heaters were much more energy efficient and good for the environment. So I set out to find the "right" tankless water heater for our house.

It took some time to do the homework, but I eventually decided on a whole house natural gas unit that delivered 175.000 BTU and flow rate of 6 gallons per minute. Yes, we finally got rid of that ugly, inefficient tank water heater and replaced it with our brand new small-profile tankless water heater. Of course, the initial cost was a bit of a shock; cost of the unit ($1025) plus the cost of installation ($1100) came to an initial investment of $2100. Oh, but it would all be worth it; think of the all the money we would save on natural gas and let's not forget the environment!

One problem is that our average natural gas usage (in cubic feet) has actually increased by 40% compared to the same three months from last year. Perhaps I need more data, but it appears that at best we are at a break-even point with regard to natural gas usage.

Another problem is that the "on demand" only applies to the natural gas and not the hot water. This means that we are now letting the water run longer in order to get "hot" water. Compared to our ugly old tank water heater we must wait up to 60 seconds or longer in some instances to finally get "hot" water.

Since the kitchen takes the longest for "hot" water to arrive, my wife has taken to heating a large pot of water on our gas range to overcome this issue (perhaps a contributor to the increase in natural gas usage). Based on this data, I have come to realize that we will never make up the additional cost for the tankless water heater from energy savings! The bottom line is that we spent $2100 dollars for a tankless water heater that doesn't conserve energy, takes at least 1 minute to deliver hot water, and that has the same warranty as a conventional water heater. Forget about making up the cost in energy savings ... you can purchase 3 conventional water heaters at $700 each that combined will last for a least up to 30 years. Just taking into consideration the debt in initial cost for a tankless water heater compared with a conventional water heater, your energy savings would have amounted to $1400 before there is any payback. Assuming that a tankless water heater lasts for 12 years, that's $120 per year or $10 per month. Even if that were achievable, it may be time to replace that tankless water heater. The replacement costs should be less since the initial installation has be done, so assume $1200 for tankless heater number 2. (This time it's probably only $1400 which for some people may be possible (I don't see how)) cost for the tankless water heater from energy savings!

Still looking the bright side, we tell ourselves that the tankless water will last twice as long as a conventional water heater (20 years versus 10 years), so we can at least count that as a savings! Wrong again; although the literature talks about 20 years, the actual warranty is only for 12 years. Upon further investigation, I find that there are several conventional water heater that also have 12 year warranties."

George McCammon

Author's Note: You can easily *double* the life of a traditional storage tank water heater by installing a second anode rod.

###

"Tim,

I have a tankless water heater, a Bosch Aquastar 250 SX. I have had it for about a year. I talked my husband into one based on the projected energy savings.

I did not know about your article previous to today- it sure could have saved us some money.You are so right. Not only have we spent more on the initial costs of the heater and the installation (about $2000), but we have found that since it's installation we have not saved anything,it has consistently cost us more in natural gas.

The manufacturer acted like I was crazy when I called to report these facts. They so much as told me I was the only customer they had spoken to that had such an experience. I am now 'stuck' with this tankless energy monster as I also installed a water softener and no longer have space for a regular tank style water heater. I also do not think the store I purchased it from will take it back after almost a year.

Maybe between your article and my actual experience someone else will not make the same mistakes. For the month of August, our usage was up 9ccf from last year. I hate to see what it will be when we start using the central heat!"

Stacy V.
Weatherford, OK

# # #

This is from Dean Hardister. He's a professional engineer:

"Last year we returned home after a college football game to learn that a Pex pipe above our water heater had ruptured. It was necessary to remove the water heater in order to dry out everything since the water pressure had blown a hole in the drywall. I decided to replace the existing water heater with a new one and considered going the tankless route.

The first red flag was that the plumber said I would need a larger gas line. The second red flag was that he proceeded to try to convince me that it was not economically sound due to the heater cost and the cost of the installation. When I did the research, I went back with a conventional gas water heater.

It was interesting that the plumber advised against the tankless heater. There are some honest ones still out there."

# # #

More on this story in the March 10, 2009 AsktheBuilder News and Tips.

Load Bearing Wall Identification

Posted on by Tim Carter
Load Bearing Wall

This load bearing wall separates my family room from my breakfast room. You would be shocked to discover the enormous loads concentrated in this wall, even with the doorway and large opening. © 2018 Tim Carter

"All walls tend to look the same. A cleverly placed bearing wall can be as dangerous as a stealth bomber. Remove one without adequate re-support and all sorts of things may drop down on you."

Load Bearing Wall ID TIPS

DEAR TIM: I need to know how to tell if a wall is load bearing. I would like to knock down a short wall between my kitchen and dining room that is just four feet long.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no electrical or plumbing lines in the wall. There is a phone line in this short wall. The wall does run perpendicular to the floor joists above and below the wall. What are my options? Do you think this is a load bearing wall? Tim G., Rochester, NY

DEAR TIM: Bearing walls have a mystic aura all their own. Plaster, drywall and wood paneling finishes that are applied to all interior and exterior walls act as a very effective camouflage in the average residential home.

All walls tend to look the same. A cleverly placed bearing wall can be as dangerous as a stealth bomber. Remove one without adequate re-support and all sorts of things may drop down on you.


CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from structural engineers about your load-bearing wall dilemma.

Related Links

How to Modify a Load Bearing Wall

Cut a Load Bearing Wall Stud - Yes, It Can Be Done!

What is a Load-Bearing Wall?

A bearing wall is a wall that has loads (weight) bearing down on it from above. It is a structural element within a house or home. Floor, ceiling, and roof loads from above are common loads that bear down on a bearing wall.

They typically are carrying and transferring a load from one point to another. In a properly designed home, the loads eventually get transmitted to a foundation, a thickened part of a slab and/or a concrete footer that supports a column or post.

exterior load bearing wall

This is a large storage shed under construction. The wall you see will be load bearing and each roof rafter will sit directly on top of each wall stud. ©2018 Tim Carter

Knowing this, you can work up from these elements in the average home and locate many structural elements and bearing walls. But beware, some loads are very well hidden and not all bearing walls are found in the middle of a structure.

Are Exterior Walls Bearing Walls?

The exterior walls on houses that support the roof are primary bearing walls. Not all exterior walls are bearing walls though. There are many houses where just the front and back walls are bearing walls.

My home is different. Because I have a hip roof that slopes towards each exterior wall, each of those walls is carrying some roof weight. To make it even more complicated, the second floor of my home has a smaller footprint than the first floor.

Can an Interior Wall Support a Roof?

Some first-floor interior walls are actually supporting the main roof of my home. This innocent looking wall in the photo below with two openings in it is a bearing wall that supports 20 percent of the roof and 33 percent of the second and third floor loads!

This wall separates my family room from my breakfast room. You would be shocked to discover the enormous loads concentrated in this wall, even with the doorway and large opening. © 2018 Tim Carter

Do Bearing Walls Run Perpendicular to Floor and Ceiling Joists?

Yes, interior walls that run perpendicular to the run of the floor joists above and below are almost always load-bearing walls. But there are many a wall such as this in a home that are not bearing any weight whatsoever.

Load Bearing Wall

This is a load-bearing wall. Note how the floor joists above are passing over the wall at a 90-degree angle. You can see where the floor joists overlap one another on top of the wall. This is a CLEAR SIGN the wall is load bearing. Copyright 2018 Tim Carter

It's important to realize if you discover a wall or a beam directly below this wall or parallel with the wall within a short distance, then the suspect wall may be a bearing wall. Bearing walls are not always stacked one on top of another. This is why detection and identification is an exact science.

Free & Fast Bids

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from structural engineers about your load-bearing wall dilemma.

Another key point is don't assume your short wall is free of electrical or plumbing lines. It is not uncommon for cables, wires, and pipes to run horizontally from an adjacent wall to another wall as they run from one location to another.

Trust me, as you begin to strip the drywall or plaster from this wall you could quickly run into a plumbing vent pipe or an electrical wire. I have on occasion discovered abandoned gas lines, heating ducts, return air ducts and even clothes chute pipes in very innocent looking walls. The absence of utility lines and pipes below a wall does not mean they are not present above.

Are Columns in Load Bearing Walls?

Yes, columns that support wood or steel i-beams can be hidden in a load-bearing wall.

The wall itself may not be a bearing wall but it is hiding a crucial support member. Several years ago, I built a light commercial building that has a four-inch steel column buried in an unsuspecting interior wall.

From all outward appearances each and every interior wall in this building appears to be non-load bearing because the roof structure is all modern trusses. But this particular truss roof was different. It had a giant girder truss that was accepting loads from other trusses. This special truss needed extra support mid-span!

Should I Hire a Structural Engineer?

Yes, the best advice is to hire a structural engineer to identify load-bearing walls.

Structural engineers are trained to do this. CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from structural engineers about your load-bearing wall dilemma. 

If you don't hire a structural engineer, you can create a problem that could cost you THOUSANDS of dollars to repair. Often you can get the advice you need for several hundred dollars. To keep the fee to the absolute minimum, remove the drywall or plaster from the wall before the engineer arrives. The fee you will pay will be very small compared to cost to repair structural damage that may result from a hasty demolition party.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from structural engineers about your load-bearing wall dilemma.

Column 397

Whitewashing Brick

Posted on by Tim Carter
whitewash brick

This is one side of the addition I built and whitewashed. The faded look and exposed brick were done on purpose to match the 70-year-old whitewash look on the remainder of the house. I would bet you dinner at the finest restaurant in Cincinnati, OH, that you could not tell a difference between my whitewash and the 70-year-old stuff. We nailed it! This was the lead story in the January 17, 2017 AsktheBuilder Newsletter. © 2017 Tim Carter

"Real whitewash made with lime doesn't have to be recoated. It can last 70, or more, years and still look good. Thinned paint will fail in a few years."

Whitewash Brick TIPS

LISTEN to the third call in the above podcast. I talk about whitewash!

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local painters who can apply REAL WHITEWASH to your home.

DEAR TIM: I have a brick cape cod home built about 50 years ago that is a little worse for wear. Some time ago, a previous owner added a room that is covered with wood siding.

I think painting the brick would give a more uniform look, but I've been told I can whitewash brick. What is the best product to use? Some websites I see say that whitewash is diluted paint.

Is that true? Is a primer necessary if I decide to paint? Does anyone even whitewash before or is that just something that Tom Sawyer did in the classic book Huckleberry Finn? Terri W., Decatur, GA

Is Thinned Paint #FAKE Whitewash?

DEAR TERRI: Those websites plying paint as whitewash are bogus in my opinion. They're hijacking a time-tested coating process that's far superior to paint.

The advice on the other websites is wrong if they say to use paint. High-quality paints are formulated to grab tenaciously to masonry surfaces. But be aware that once you apply paint or any other film to brick, you begin a vicious cycle of periodic maintenance and cost.

EasyCare Paint

This is a typical can of paint. Read the label and see how little water you can add to it. Add more and you dilute the glue too much. Copyright 2017 Tim Carter

You'd NEVER catch me painting any brick I own. I'm going to do what painters did hundreds of years ago. I'm going to put on traditional time-tested whitewash!

Does Added Water Ruin Paint?

Adding water to paint so you can use it as a thin whitewash ruins the paint.

The biggest problem I have with paint is that when it dries, it creates a film on whatever it's covering. This film can, and will, peel off eventually. It also chips and flakes.

The glue in the paint is RUINED when you thin the paint with water. The advice you see on the cable TV shows and other websites would NEVER EVER be approved by the chemists at the paint companies who make the paint.

High-quality house paint that does stand up longer than cheap paint can be very expensive. Even a small house might take hundreds and hundreds of dollars of paint.

Your desire to make your home look better and do it with little future maintenance is possible if you consider a coating that has almost been forgotten. Whitewash!

CLICK this podcast player and listen to the THIRD CALL where I talk about whitewashing. Copyright 2020 Tim Carter

Related Links

Whitewash Recipes and Pigments

DIY Whitewash an Interior Brick Fireplace

Why Does Whitewash  Work?

Real whitewash made with lime and salt works because it is nothing more than a thin coating of hard rock. Rock is durable and the whitewash crystals interlock with the whitewashed surface like Velcro®.

I had the joy of applying whitewash to a large brick room addition I built years ago for a client. This inexpensive but durable coating looks as good today as the day it was applied.

A little-known fact about whitewash is that it can actually be tinted a light color if you don't like the brilliant traditional white color. You can tint the whitewash any color you desire. I had to tint the slurry I applied different shades of gray to match the dirty whitewash on the existing home. We did such a good job that no one knew the giant room addition was new!

Whitewash, since it doesn't produce a thick film like paint, can last 20 or 30 years with no maintenance.

What is a Secret Whitewash Brick Recipe?

There are many different recipes for a whitewash but the basic ingredients are the same. The most basic formula is simply a combination of hydrated masonry lime and regular table salt. The whitewash I used was made by mixing:

  • 50 pounds of hydrated lime
  • 10 pounds of table salt
  • Water

The consistency of the mix should resemble pancake batter.

whitewash brick

This is great hydrated lime. It's label for use on farms, but believe me, it's GREAT to use for brick, stone mortars, and whitewash. CLICK THE PHOTO OF THE BAG NOW TO HAVE THIS DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME IN DAYS.

Morton Table Salt

Here's a giant bag of salt. You may need two or three depending on how much whitewash you mix up. CLICK THE PHOTO OF THE BAG NOW TO HAVE THIS DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME IN DAYS.

Can you Tint Whitewash?

You can tint whitewash any color using dry pigments. These are the same pigments used in paint.

If you don't tint the whitewash, when it dries it's a brilliant white. It's as white as the freshest snow you've seen or as white as puffy gorgeous clouds on a summer day.

The best tints to use are the pigments used to tint brick mortar. These pigments are a fine powder that blend easily with the hydrated lime. They're available in just about any color you might imagine.

 

Whitewash Pigment

Here are just a few of the many pigments available. You can blend different pigments to get different shades that you don't see here! CLICK THE IMAGE TO BUY ANY WHITEWASH PIGMENT YOU WANT.

If you want to tint or colorize the whitewash, it's easy. Simply purchase powdered pigments that are mixed with the whitewash.

BLENDING TIP: Always mix the hydrated lime, salt, and any pigments together DRY until the powder is a uniform color. Don't cut corners.

Mix it in a wide wheelbarrow or some other container where the material doesn't get stuck in a corner. A five-gallon bucket is the WORST thing to use to mix the materials.

How Much Water Do You Add to Whitewash?

Add water to the blended mix a little at a time. I'd NEVER mix a 50-pound bag of lime at one time. Start with a small test batch and keep very close track of how much water you add. Mix until it's the consistency of creamy latex paint or a nice batch of pancake batter.

Only mix as much whitewash as you can apply in one hour! Try to work in the shade, not in direct sun on a blazing hot day.

A sunny day with a breeze is the WORST time to apply the whitewash. An overcast day with no wind would be my choice if I was allowed to wave a magic wand!

Be aware that the color of the whitewash, while it is mixed, is totally different when it dries. It usually dries darker than what you see it look like wet. Always do a test to see what it dries like.

IMPORTANT TIP: I suggest you mix a test batch, apply it to a piece of cement board underlayment and allow it to dry for a week to make sure you like the color. Carefully keep track of the ratios of pigment, lime and salt to get consistent color results with each batch.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local painters who can apply REAL WHITEWASH to your home.

How to Whitewash Brick?

how to whitewash brick

Maggie's daughter is applying the thick real whitewash. Don't use paint as the wanna-bes do. Paint is for losers. Copyright 2020 Tim Carter

Whitewash is applied to brick with a brush or a roller but brushes seem to work best. One of the interesting qualities of this material is that you can make your home look like a gracious English cottage.

It's a thick mixture and only one coat is necessary.

The application is like the German smear, but I simply applied it with a thick-napped paint roller.

It's very, very easy to apply.

This is achieved by varying the thickness of the whitewash. The areas where the whitewash is applied lightly will allow some of the brick color to show through. If you desire an authentic old look, you actually wash off some of the whitewash several hours after application or the next day to expose brick or parts of brick in random areas.

What is a Secret Super-Strong Whitewash?

A super-strong whitewash is one made with hydrated lime. Paint is not whitewashing and don't use it for that purpose.

The lime in the whitewash is the actual glue that bonds to the brick and the wood on your addition. If you want extra holding power you can actually mix white Portland cement to the whitewash. Yes, Portland cement comes in a pure white color. You can find it readily doing an online search.  

If you decide to use white Portland cement, you substitute only ten percent of the lime quantity you're using. Sounds confusing, right?

Say you're mixing up a batch using my recipe above. It calls for 50 pounds of hydrated lime. You'd get five pounds of white cement and blend it with 45 pounds of the hydrated lime to get to the 50 pounds total.

Five pounds is ten percent of fifty pounds. You should have paid attention in your grade school math class. 😉

Build a Test Wall

I've done quite a few phone consult calls over the years for people just like you who really want this gorgeous whitewash on their new homes. CLICK HERE if you want to schedule a phone consult.

My advice in all past calls is simple. You need to build a small brick wall, say 4-feet tall and perhaps 12 feet long. It would take a good bricklayer about a half-day to do this. Be sure the wall is braced so it will not blow over or tip as you apply pressure to it.

This wall becomes your palette and playground. You'll mix up small batches of whitewash and test them on this wall. Be sure to use the exact same brick on this test wall with the same mortar that will be used on your home.

You don't want to experiment with your technique on your real home. You use the test wall to PERFECT your technique or that of the painter you hire.

How Can I Wash Off Mistakes?

If you do a test and the next day you know you HATE the result, use a pressure washer to remove your mistake. This gives you more wall to use for future testing. But only remove the whitewash if you truly hate the look.

Keep exact records of each batch and consider videotaping the application process of how each test was done. This may seem extreme, but it's not.

You'll soon discover the whitewash does not have to be thick to get an amazing result. Try applying it with a roller. Try different brushes. The look will be different with both. Just play around and see what you like!

How Long Do I Wait to See The Final Color?

Be sure you allow the whitewash to dry for a few days to see the final color.

If my whitewash technique does not interest you, then visit a paint store. Virtually every paint manufacturer makes exterior paint formulated for brick and wood. Look for ones that have a blend of urethane and acrylic resin. These are very sticky and will bond well to the brick and wood. At the very least purchase a 100 percent acrylic resin paint. Read the label and use the specific primer suggested for unpainted brick or wood.

But remember, you will be scraping off some of this paint in years to come. You'll never scrape off whitewash!

How Do You Maintain Whitewash?

There's no maintenance for whitewash brick. The whitewash is a thin coat of rock on the brick.

If it gets dirty, just wash it off using certified organic Stain Solver oxygen bleach and some liquid Dawn dishwashing soap.

Whitewash doesn't need to be sealed and it doesn't need to be re-applied. The house you see in the photo above was built in the 1920s. The original coat of whitewash is still on the house and looks superb.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local painters who can apply REAL WHITEWASH to your home.

Column 366

Install a New Front Door and Save Money

Posted on by Tim Carter
fiberglass front door

A gorgeous front door like this can be installed in one day. This is a Therma-Tru fiberglass door at my own home! I was so excited I took the photo before I painted the trim. You just need to know secret master carpenter ninja tricks. © 2017 Tim Carter

Install a New Front Door TIPS

DEAR TIM: My front door is in bad shape, and my wife wants a new one. We visited a showroom and I see that I can purchase a new front door that's already prehung in the frame. It seems that all I have to do is just nail it in place and I'm good to go. Do you feel I can install a new front door myself? Surely it's not as simple as just nailing it in place. What tips can you share to help me get this done and save lots of money? Gary B., Portland, OR

DEAR GARY: Installing a new front door is an ambitious project, especially if you've never installed a door before. That's not to say you can't do it. I just want to manage your expectations. There are many steps required to ensure the door works properly, seals tightly to save energy, and that absolutely no water leaks into your home. Water leaks at exterior doors can cause serious structural damage over time.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local carpenters who can install your new front door.

Great DIY Install Videos

It's impossible in this short column to give you all the knowledge I've attained about door installation over the years. Click here to see my video series of how to install a new front door. The money you save by not hiring a contractor can be used to purchase a nicer door.

Pre-Hung Best Way

Let's talk about what can go wrong so you know the pitfalls in this project. For starters, you can make a mistake and purchase the wrong door. If your home is less than 50 years old, you should be able to purchase a pre-hung door that fits very nicely in your existing opening.

But to make sure that you don't goof up, you need to check measurements before you get out your credit card.

Ninja Measurement Tricks

In my opinion, the easiest thing to do is to remove the interior trim that surrounds the door. You can do this with a razor knife, a wide putty knife and a flat pry bar. Always start at the bottom of the door where the trim meets the door jamb at the floor.

Be sure to cut a very fine line with the razor knife where the trim touches the wall surface. This ensures any caulk between the trim and the wall surface doesn't cause the drywall paper to tear off the wall as you pull the trim away from the wall.

How to Install a New Front DoorOnce the trim is removed, you can see the entire door frame. Use a flashlight if necessary to see where the bottom of the door frame and the threshold assembly touch your concrete slab or the wood subfloor.

Unit Dimensions

Your job is to obtain the outer width and height dimensions of your existing door frame assembly. These are commonly referred to as unit dimensions. It's critical that your new door match these dimensions as closely as possible.

You also want to determine the thickness or width of the door jamb. It's usually either 4 and 9/16ths or 6 and 9/16ths. This is the actual thickness of the wall if you measure the width of the wall studs plus the thickness of the interior drywall and exterior wall sheathing.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local carpenters who can install your new front door.

Supplies & Tools

Once you have the new door, you need to make sure you have all the other supplies you need. Don't start to tear out your existing door unless you have everything on site. You'll need (click following links to my preferred products):

Read Instructions

The next step, before you start to remove your old door, is to read all the written instructions that come with the new door. Check to make sure all the dimensions are correct. Check to make sure the new door swings the same way as the old door.

Be sure you have all the supplies the written instructions call for. You don't want to remove your old door and find out that you're missing some critical materials.

IMPORTANT TIP: The biggest mistake most rookie installers make is installing a new door without a proper flashing under the door. Many feel that a bead of caulk will stop water infiltration. It will not. You need a flashing to keep your house waterproof.

Best Flashing Kit

I always install a wonderful plastic pre-formed flashing pan under my doors. They come in various sizes to accommodate all doors. It takes just minutes to install this critical component.

Jamsill flashing pan

I've used this JamSill flashing pan for years. It's fantastic. Best part: EASY to install! CLICK THE IMAGE NOW TO ORDER ONE.

Once the new door is in the opening, you want to secure it with the wood shims and the rust-proof fasteners. As you do this, you're constantly checking to make sure the door frame is not twisted, that it's plumb, and the door threshold is level.

If your door doesn't have glass sidelights, you want to make sure you install a very long screw behind the top door hinge so the door frame is securely fastened to the rough framing. This prevents door droop.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local carpenters who can install your new front door.

Column 985

Sewer Odors in Bathroom

Posted on by Tim Carter

pedestal sink

Sewer Odor in Bathroom TIPS

DEAR TIM: We recently have begun to notice a sewer odor from only one of the three bathrooms in our house. It might be the toilet, but it's hard to tell. The smell is not constant and sometimes it's very strong. Everything in the house drains fine, including the toilet with the odor.

Where can the odor be coming from? I have put a bacterial additive in the toilet but this does not seem to help. Is this serious? What can I do to fix the problem? Karen B., Watseka, IL

DEAR KAREN: The odor can be coming from numerous places. Often the source of the problem is simple, but on rare occasions, the problem can be a serious plumbing flaw that is hidden behind a wall. I've found more often than not that the problem can be solved in just a few moments with a quart of water.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers to STOP sewer gas odor.

sink p trap

Check the Traps for Water

See if all of the plumbing fixtures have water in the traps. Many people do not realize the purpose of the P shaped traps in the drain lines beneath sinks, tub, and showers. Lots of people think they are there to catch rings and earrings from traveling down to sewers and septic tanks. They do this but they also keep sewer gas and vermin from traveling up and into your home. The standing water in a trap is an excellent barricade against sewer gas.

Plumbing fixtures or floor drains that get little use can lose this effective water seal. The water in the trap simply evaporates and/or it can be sucked from the trap by a clogged vent pipe or a poorly designed or installed plumbing system.

Where Should I Check for Sewer Odor?

Pour a quart of water in every sink, tub, and shower in your home. See if the odor goes away.

You can be fooled when you look into a drain and see the reflection of water. Even though you see water, sewer gas can be passing over this small amount of water left at the very bottom of a trap. Tubs and showers in guest bathrooms frequently are the culprit. Often people will use a toilet or sink in a bathroom but the tub and shower go unused for months at a time.

Pour a quart of water in the sink and tub drains. This is plenty of water to fill the trap and provide the full water seal. If this is the problem, the odor should go away in a very short amount of time. If the odor is still present, then it is time to look at other possibilities.

Is Biofilm the Cause of the Sewer Odor?

The inside surface of the bathroom sink, tub, and shower drains can also be a huge source of odors. Kitchen sinks frequently have similar odor problems. Almost all sinks have a piece of pipe called a tailpiece that extends from the bottom of the sink into the top of the p trap. This pipe is constantly exposed to the air in your bathroom.

All of the bacteria, dirt, grime, mold, etc. pass through this pipe on its way to the sewer or septic system. But often some is left behind. Over time a thick layer of slime starts to collect on the inside surface of this vertical pipe. Mold and bacteria can begin to grow and some produce noxious odors.

What is Biofilm?

This slime is a biofilm. Mold grows FAST in this slime. When you run water, the water touches the ripe mold and it EJECTS spores into the air. The explosion of the spore into the air is caused by a foul gas the mold creates. That's the source of the odor in many cases - the tiny amount of propellent used by the mold to send a spore out into the air in your house!

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers to STOP sewer gas odor.

What Makes it Hard to Clean the Pipes?

Because of the fixed metal parts at the bottom of sink and tub drains, it is virtually impossible to completely clean these pipes while they are in place. Often you can take apart the drain assembly and clean the inside of this pipe in a jiffy. Pay attention to the rubber washers and gaskets as you take them apart. If the drain is old, these parts often need to be replaced with new ones to make sure the drain is leak free once you re-assemble it.

Oxygen Bleach

Stain Solver is MADE in the USA with USA ingredients that are food-grade quality. CLICK THE IMAGE to order some NOW.

What is the Best Pipe Cleaner?

I clean out the pipe under my shower strainer using a bottle brush and Stain Solver certified organic oxygen bleach. I mix two tablespoons of Stain Solver with one quart of HOT tap water and stir until dissolved.

How Do You Clean the Pipe?

I pour this solution into the shower drain and use a bottle brush to scrub the side walls of the pipe above the water in the trap below.  After rinsing the sidewalls of the pipe with clear water, pour any remaining Stain Solver solution into the drain so it can clean the sidewalls of the pipes that form the p-trap under the shower.

What is the Best Brush to Use?

You can also use the Stain Solver and the bottle brush to clean the sidewalls of the tailpiece pipe that leaves the bottom of vanity sinks.

You'll just have to take out the stopper so you can get the bottle brush down the hole in the bottom of the sink. It's easy to remove the stopper using an adjustable pliers. Just turn the nut on the back of the tailpiece under the sink.

bottle brushes

These are typical bottle brushes. You want one that has a diameter of at least 1 and 1/4 inches. A 2-inch diameter one is great for shower drains. CLICK on THE IMAGE TO BUY THESE NOW.

Where Else Can I Find Biofilm?

Biofilm can also develop on the inner sides of the overflow passage in a vanity sink. To clean this out, all you do is use a turkey baster to squirt large amounts of Stain Solver solution down the overflow holes.

Squirt some down at first and then walk away from the sink. Come back every 15 minutes for an hour and do a few more generous FAST squirts sending as much solution as possible down the overflow holes.

What About the Toilet Seal?

If after all of this the odor persists, the problem may be a serious plumbing problem. The toilet seal may be broken. A hidden vent pipe may have cracked. A plumbing professional has the tools, equipment and know-how to often quickly diagnose problems like this.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local plumbers to STOP sewer gas odor

OR

CLICK HERE to have me, Tim Carter - founder of AsktheBuilder.com, CALL YOU on the phone to SOLVE your sewer gas problem. I'm a master plumber and do phone consults for homeowners about sewer gas each week.

Column 347

Watch this video to see how Tim SOLVED a problem in minutes!

CLICK here to contact Tim to help solve your problem.

Removing Mildew from Grout

Posted on by Tim Carter
tile mold

Remove Mildew from Grout | This is gross mold growing on shower tile. It's pretty easy to stop this from happening.

Remove Mildew From Grout TIPS

 

DEAR TIM: It is a long, long story but the bottom line is that my ceramic tile shower is a mess. There is mildew everywhere and other really tough stains that are nearly impossible to remove. Is there a way to make the white grout look like new?

It seems that the mildew has penetrated deeply into the grout. What can I remove mildew from grout and restore the shower to its original condition? What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Molly S., Orangeburg, SC

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local cleaning companies that can remove mildew from your grout.

DEAR MOLLY: Six weeks ago a friend of mine had the same problem. One day while we were with our kids at the community swimming pool he said he tried many off-the-shelf cleaners and products at grocery stores to clean his tile shower. He was not satisfied with the results and was ready to tear out the tile and grout and start over.

Does Oxygen Bleach Remove Mildew?

Oxygen Bleach

Stain Solver is MADE in the USA with USA ingredients that are food-grade quality. CLICK THE IMAGE to order some NOW.

Oxygen bleach is one of the best things to use to remove mildew and mold. It's non-toxic, it has no odor, and some are certified organic like STAIN SOLVER.

When I told him how to solve his problem, he couldn't believe it. I gave him some magic powder that I happened to have in my car and he used it. Two weeks ago when I next saw him at the pool, he said his shower looked like new. Ah, another satisfied customer!

While he had some products at his house that would work, most of them, like chlorine bleach, produce toxic odors and can ruin clothes and carpets in bathrooms if you're not careful.

My friend got amazing results because he used a miracle product called Stain Solver that I had discovered while doing research on how to clean and seal a deck of all things!

Non-Toxic & Certified Organic Oxygen Bleach

Stain Solver a certified organic oxygen bleach that has no odor and does an amazing job of safely cleaning mildew, mold and soap scum from tubs and showers.

It also cleans anything that's water washable, including ceramic tile, grout, acrylic tubs, whirlpool tubs, vinyl siding, tough stains from clothes, etc. If it's water washable, Stain Solver will clean it. But that's a story for a different day. Let's worry now about cleaning your shower!

If you want to see all the things that Stain Solver can clean, assuming you have time, go look at all of the Before and After photos sent in by customers. CLICK HERE to see them.

My favorite before and after photo set is one about a baseball cap of all things. You'll not believe your eyes! CLICK HERE to see the cap and read the short story about it.

To restore your ceramic tile shower to near perfect condition, you're going to need several things. Get a new scrub brush that has stiff nylon or plastic bristles, a roll of paper towels, a gallon of white vinegar, some certified organic Stain Solver, some liquid dish soap, and some old clothes.

How Hard is it to Remove Mildew?

It can be hard work to remove mildew from grout if you've allowed it to grow for weeks and months.

There's a very good chance the stains and dirt have taken months to accumulate. It's very likely mold and mildew can be locked into layer after layer of paper-thin hard water deposits.

Don't think you are going to complete this job in 30 minutes or less. The entire process is going to take place over a period of hours and possibly several days if the mildew and mold is out of control. If you do have complete success in just 30 minutes, you're very lucky!

What is the First Step to Remove Mildew?

The first thing to do is to use the scrub brush to remove as much mildew, dirt, soap film etc. as possible from the tile and grout. Mix up a simple solution of Stain Solver using hot tap water.

Mix two tablespoons of Stain Solver powder to one quart of hot tap water. Stir continuously until dissolved. Be sure you stir until all the small powder balls have dissolved, then put the solution into an old spray bottle.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local cleaning companies that can remove mildew from your grout.

What is the Second Step?

Spritz the dry tub, shower, and wall surfaces with the Stain Solver solution. Apply so it runs down the walls. Let the solution sit for about fifteen minutes allowing the powerful oxygen ions to work. The longer you let it soak and work, the less scrubbing you have to do.

Spray on more Stain Solver solution after ten minutes. Grab a stiff scrub brush and squirt a small amount of liquid dish soap on the brush and get it wet. After the fifteen-minute wait period scrub the walls and floor and rinse.

Use enough extra water to get the soap to really foam up as you scrub. This removes dirt, soap scum and mildew at the surface. Rinse all surfaces with clear water.

How Do You Remove Hard Water Deposits?

After this cleaning process, you will probably have some dull stains that won't budge both on the tile and in the grout. These are very likely locked in place by hard water deposits. You'll remove those using some paper towels and white vinegar.

White vinegar is best and you can see dramatic before and after photos of how well vinegar removes hard-water deposits by clicking or tapping here. Scroll to the bottom of the page.

Saturate some paper towels with the vinegar and place them over the hard water stains. Do this on the floor and any vertical surfaces. The wet paper towels will readily cling to vertical surfaces. Vinegar is a very mild acid and it works slowly but efficiently to dissolve the alkaline hard-water deposits.

The vinegar will need to work for hours. Stop back every hour to make sure the towels are still wet with vinegar. Pull away a towel and scrub the deposits.

They may completely wash away. If they do not, pour fresh vinegar on the towels and allow the chemical reaction to continue. Heavy deposits can take up to eight or twelve hours or so to completely melt away. The trick is to keep fresh vinegar on the towels.

Once you have all of the hard water deposits removed, clean the shower again with Stain Solver to remove all traces of vinegar.

How Do You Remove Residual Mildew?

It is now time to attack any residual mildew that has stained the grout. To get the BEST RESULTS, you need to make sure any tile grout is dry. Use a fan to dry the grout in a few hours. The reason you want the grout to be dry is simple.

If it's wet, the fresh Stain Solver solution you'll be applying can't soak into the grout because water is filling up the micro-pores of the grout. It's mission-critical the grout is dry so the micro-cleaning oxygen bubbles from Stain Solver can soak deep into the grout.

Mix up fresh Stain Solver and apply it to the stained grout. You may have to use paper towels just like you did with the vinegar. Saturate as many towels as necessary and put these in contact with the mildew-stained grout.

It can take hours and possibly a few days to bleach out all of the mildew in the grout. Come back every hour or so and pour on more fresh Stain Solver solution to ensure it never evaporates.

Be aware that once you mix the Stain Solver powder with water, it only works for six hours. If you need to clean over a few days, you'll need to mix new solution every cleaning session. That's why you should not mix more than a quart each time.

How Do You STOP Mildew Forever?

To prevent the mildew and mold once you have it clean, it helps to understand mildew. It's an organism that requires food and water to live. Showers and bath areas provide the moisture and you provide the food every time you use soap, shampoo, cream rinse, etc.

The dirt and oils you wash from your skin and hair are food for mildew. Dust that can be floating around your bathroom is food for mildew. If you minimize or eliminate the food and water, you can eliminate the mildew.

The first step in mildew prevention is to squeegee your shower and tub after each use. Wipe down all walls and the floor with the squeegee to get as much water as possible into the drain.

If you have a shower curtain, shake it well before using the squeegee to get water off of it. Leave the shower curtain pulled back or a glass shower door open so the shower area air dries as fast as possible. Leave the bathroom door open as well so the humidity in the room drops as fast as possible.

It's important to clean the shower every two weeks. You need to remove invisible body oils, soap film, etc. from the surfaces so there's no food for the mildew to munch on. Believe me, if you do the above things, your shower will be mildew-free for years to come.

Message from Tim:

Years ago while researching a column about cleaning decks, I discovered the wonders of Oxygen Bleach. It is perhaps the 'greenest' cleaner I know of as it uses oxygen ions to break apart stains, dirt and odor molecules. There are no harsh chemicals, and it works on just about anything that is water washable.

I decided to create my own special blend using ingredients made in the USA. In fact, the raw materials in the active ingredient are food-grade quality registered with the FDA. I call my product Stain Solver. I urge you to use it to help clean your ceramic tile and grout. You will be amazed at the results!

Companion Articles:   Bathroom Mildew Removal, Oxygen Bleach Tile Cleaner,  Ceramic Tile Cleaner Products

Column 284

How To Caulk Baseboards

Posted on by Tim Carter

How to Caulk Baseboard TIPS

 

DEAR TIM: Can you tell me how to caulk baseboards? I thought my new paint job was looking great until all sorts of black lines showed up where there were gaps between the baseboard woodwork and the walls. I don't remember seeing that in other houses, so I must be doing something wrong.

What caulk should I use? How do you get a smooth line, as my caulking always looks smeared? When is the best time to caulk if you are installing new baseboard and trim? Kirsten P., White Plains, NY

DEAR KIRSTEN: You aren't the first person to ask how to caulk. Caulk is one of those under-appreciated building products that people tend to forget about when they do interior-painting projects. But caulk is one of the most-valuable products used by professional painters and those seasoned do-it-yourselfers who know the secrets of the pros.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local painters who can caulk for you.

Applying caulk is a skill that is fairly easy to master. There are many different ways to do it, but I will share with you the method I have used for years that has worked well. The first thing to do is get a caulk that is easy to use and cleans up with water.

Acrylic Caulk tube DAP

I've used DAP caulk for years. It's great. The more expensive a caulk it, generally it performs better. CLICK THE IMAGE TO ORDER IT NOW.

The Best Caulk

I prefer to use caulk that is blend of acrylic and silicone. These are very common caulks you can find at a paint store, hardware store or a home center. Look for a caulk that costs more. These caulks tend to have better ingredients, and they will last longer. Read the labels on the tubes of caulk, and try to find one that says it has the least amount of shrinkage.

Note that the caulks come in different colors. You may want to pick a color that is close to the color you will paint your baseboard. This is a moot point though if your baseboard and walls are radically different colors. In cases like this, white caulk will do fine.

The tools you will need are simple. You need a caulk gun, a putty knife, a razor knife, a tile-grout sponge and a bucket. There are huge differences in caulk guns. My favorite is one that cost about three times what the cheap ones cost.

CLICK HERE to get FREE & FAST BIDS from local painters who can caulk for you.

The Best Caulk Gun

The cheap caulk guns have notches in the ram-rod plunger. The ram rod on mine is smooth. You have to squeeze the handle on my gun about three times to get it to travel the distance you get with one squeeze of a cheap caulk gun. My caulk gun has an 18:1 ratio giving me incredible control.

You may think this is extra work, but the effort gives you amazing control over the amount of caulk that flows from the tube.

Newborn caulk gun only

My caulk gun is just like this one. Once you use a gun like this, you'll throw away the one you have that has the click notches. They're pieces of crap. CLICK THE IMAGE NOW TO ORDER THIS GUN.

Prime the Wood

I prefer to caulk baseboards and trim after they have a coat of primer on them. Caulking bare wood can be problematic as it can be difficult to remove caulk from the wood grain.

It's also easier to see the areas that need caulk if the wood is painted a light color. The gaps show up as the unsightly lines you currently see in your woodwork.

Cut the Perfect Hole

The size and angle of the hole at the end of the caulk tube is mission-critical. If you make it too big, far too much caulk flows from the tube. If the hole is too small, then you work too hard to fill the gaps. I have found that a hole size just over 1/16th inch seems to be perfect.

The angle of the cut should be about 45 degrees. Always cut small amounts off the end of the tube at first. If you think you know where the 1/16-th-inch spot is and feel lucky, go for it. Most rookies make a mistake and the hole ends up too big.

Work Small Amounts

I usually caulk about 24 inches of gap or crack at a time. The trick in to hold the caulk gun at about a 30-degree angle to the crack and squeeze the handle so an even amount of caulk flows from the tube.

caulk gun

This is how you need to hold the caulk gun. Only do a short distance so you can tool the caulk. © 2017 Tim Carter

You want the caulk to be slightly higher than the top of the gap or crack. As the caulk exits the tube, you slide the caulk gun along the gap. If you move too quickly, the gap will not get filled. If you move too slowly, lots of caulk will build up above the cracks.

Release the Pressure

Set the caulk gun down making sure you release the pressure so the caulk stops flowing from the tube.

Use your finger to smooth the caulk. You know you put the perfect amount of caulk on the gap if there is a very small amount of caulk on the tip of your finger as you complete the wiping stroke.

Sponge for Pro Look

Use warm water to finish the caulk joint. Add a little bit of liquid dish soap to the water to help make the water slippery.

Grab the sponge and squeeze all of the water out of it. Immediately wipe it across the caulk joint to feather the edges of the caulk and remove any excess you left behind. Rinse the sponge and repeat. Glide the sponge softly across the caulk so you do not remove any from the gap.

Shrinkage

Large gaps or cracks can be very problematic. You will fill them with caulk and they look superb. But the next day when you go to paint, there is a huge valley where the caulk has shrunk. This happens because the water leaves the caulk and the solid materials are left behind to fill the gap. You can use foam caulking cord to fill the gaps before you caulk to minimize shrinkage.

Allow the caulk to cure and harden before you paint. If you try to paint minutes after caulking, the paint-brush bristles will remove the caulk from the gap.

Use the putty knife to remove excess caulk from places in the woodwork that get filled with excess caulk. You want to do this just after you wipe the caulk with the sponge.

Watch these caulk videos:


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Column 716