Association & Literature Sources for Soldering Copper Pipe
You can get some awesome information on working with copper pipe or tubing from the Copper Development Association. They have great technical publications that help you understand exactly how to solder copper and the necessary steps to follow to get perfect joints every time.
There are numerous books that deal with plumbing. Each one usually has a section that deals with soldering copper piping. One in particular is the Plumber's Handbook by Howard Massey. It is published by the Craftsman Publishing Company. You can also find excellent material if you search the archives of Fine Homebuilding magazine or the Journal of Light Construction. Both publications have indexes that will help you locate articles. There is a good chance your local library may have each year's edition in bound copies. You will be delighted with what you can find. Don't hesitate to visit your local bookstore as well. Most stores are highly automated and can offer you a computer printout of books in print dealing with plumbing and soldering.
Click here to watch a video on how to solder copper pipes.
OK, it's time to get to work. Hey, no coffee! It might make you jittery. We have four options available to us to remove the old grout. Two require hand tools, while the other two require the use of power tools. I'll describe each method and you be the judge.
Hammer and Chisel (Really an Old Screwdriver)
Option one works. I've used it for many years. It takes time, but it is effective. You simply chisel out the old grout. You must use a thin chisel, such as an old flathead screwdriver. The trick is to tap lightly and to hold the screwdriver at a 45 degree angle to the grout. If you pound straight ahead, you will chip tiles.
The other important step in this process is to chip "away from" grout that is in place. I know that you can not do this initially when you first start to chisel. However, once you have a half inch or so removed, you need to chisel towards the place you just removed grout from. This technique puts less stress on the tile than if you were to chisel towards existing in-place grout. You will never get all of the grout from between the tiles. You are simply trying to expose the sides of the tile or the unglazed portion. If you try to chisel too deeply you will chip the tile. NEVER drive the chisel down in between two tiles! This will crack tiles. Occasionally, you will have to gently scrape little bits of grout from the edges of tile. Take your time.
The Scraper / Digger Raptor Claw!
If you visit a ceramic tile store, you should find a hand tool that some people use to remove grout. It is simply a single piece of curved steel to which a singular thin carbide tooth is attached. You drag this tooth across the grout and sort of plow out the grout. It is tough to do and you run the risk of scraping a tile if not extremely careful. I have never liked using this tool to remove grout. It is, however, a very effective tool for scoring and cutting cement backer board for tile. Be careful if you choose this method!
Power Grinder - Dremel Tool
If you own or can borrow a Dremel®, this may be your best bet. These tools are variable speed hand held grinders. You can purchase up to 72 different tips to do just about any job. They have an attachment designed for grout removal. Once attached to the rotary tool, it keeps the tool at the proper angle and the cutting bit centered between the tiles. If you don't like the sound of a dentist's drill, this may not be for you!
RotoZip® - Another Power Option
Drywall hangers use a neat tool to cut out drywall around electric boxes and any other opening. These are basically a mutation of the Dremel Tool. The RotoZip uses special drill bits that are shaped so the side of the bit cuts. The RotoZip and Porter Cable companies make bits that fit this tool which will cut ceramic tile. If this bit cuts tile, it will easily handle grout. The RotoZip tool, in my opinion is much harder to control for grout removal than the Dremel Tool. However, it beats chiseling the grout by hand. Be careful and just go slow till you get the hang of it. There is a grout removal attachment for the RotoZip tools.
No matter which way you go, be sure to lay an old blanket or drop cloth in the tub/shower area. Grout chips, if stepped on, will easily scratch a tub or shower surface. Periodically, remove the blanket and vacuum or brush the chips from the tub area. The time will be well spent.
How many 10 year old or older bathrooms do you know of that have pristine white ceramic tile grout? Does it look like the day it was installed? I can only think of two. Both of these bathrooms are used by people with no children. The rest of the house is also immaculate. Of course, I'm envious. I wish my life was so orderly to allow me ample time to keep everything so clean.
Grout is Really a Sponge
Do you know why it is hard to keep grout clean? It is because the material naturally absorbs water. Grout is basically cement with additives. If you look at grout under a microscope, the surface would look very rough and irregular. There are many places for small dirt particles, soap, mold and mildew to lodge. Bristles from scrub brushes and tooth brushes are much too coarse to get into these very tiny places.
What's more, certain cleaning techniques can actually create more problems down the road. For example, many people choose to use chlorine bleach products to clean ceramic tile grout. Chlorine bleach is a fantastic sanitizer. It can rapidly kill bacteria. It is also a very strong oxidizer. It will readily remove color from objects. However, it is a poor cleaner. It doesn't readily break apart dirt molecules.
One thing chlorine bleach does do, on a microscopic level, is to actually etch the surface of ceramic tile grout. This makes the grout even more porous! The chlorine bleach contains free floating chloride ions. These combine with free floating hydrogen ions that regularly appear in water. These two ions combine to form hydrochloric acid. The acid eats away at the grout! Want an alternative? I have found a non-toxic bleach called oxygen bleach. This is a powder that mixes with water. There are no harmful fumes as you experience with chlorine bleach.
The only drawback is that oxygen bleach does not work as fast as chlorine bleach. You may have to reapply it every 15 minutes or so over a period of hours. This is a small price to pay for using a product that is non-toxic. Remember, if you have a septic tank you can not use chlorine bleach. The chlorine will kill the beneficial bacteria in the tank that eats the waste. oxygen bleach is a good thing thing for septic tanks. The oxygen helps the bacteria multiply!
Starting Over
Often ceramic tile grout becomes so dingy that it must be replaced. Or, the grout crumbles because of poor initial installation. In either case, your only option to create a sparkling white grout is to get rid of the 'old' and bring in the new! However, it isn't as easy as it sounds.
You can't easily bond new grout over the old grout. Attempts to do this often end up as miserable failures. One of the things that causes grout to bond to tile is its ability to grab onto the sides of a piece of tile. When these spaces are filled with old grout, the new grout just barely holds onto the surface of the old grout, not the tile.
The only real solution is to take out the old grout. This is a challenge, as you must not harm the ceramic tile in the process. Chipped or scratched tile can not be easily replaced or even repaired. The grout removal process is slow, laborious and tedious. It should be attempted only by those with the greatest patience and persistence.
Over the Hump
If you possess the right stuff to get the old grout out, you are over 95 percent done with the job....seriously! Installing ceramic tile grout is really not that difficult. During the past six months, I have given seminars at home shows across the nation. One of the talks concerns installing and grouting ceramic tile. I do my seminars somewhat differently. I don't do the work - the people from the audience come on stage and do it! It is fun and the volunteers really do great, especially with grouting.
The process is so simple that I am convinced you will get professional, or close to professional, results if you do two things: 1. Follow my directions closely. 2. Muster up as much hand-eye coordination as you have. Don't worry, it doesn't take too much!
More Grout Information
Would you like more information about grouts and ceramic tile? Check out the web site of the Tile Council of North America and the publications they have available. For example, one of their publications - Handbook for Ceramic Tile Installation - is the bible for installing ceramic tile on just about any substrate. This booklet also contains information about different grouts.
"WOW, that's all I can say! I purchased your product last week to clean the grout on my 800 sq. ft. of tile, and it looks as clean as the day we moved in eight years ago. I must admit, I was a little skeptical when I ordered the Stain Solver, but after having used it, I know I will always have some on hand and look forward to cleaning my wood deck this spring. This is by far one of the best products I have purchased in many, many years. Thanks Tim!"
- Ed, Macomb, Michigan
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 grout. You will be amazed at the results!
KABOOM! CRASH! You know the sound of your water supply lines rattling and clanging. Just moments before you were running water and turned off a valve. Or, perhaps your washing machine, dishwasher or icemaker just cycled off. Any quick closing valve coupled with fast moving water in a plumbing supply line can create the noise we call water hammer.
In reality, the loud noise is actually an explosion of energy within the piping system. Liquids can't be compressed. As water travels through pipes, it contains energy. If you stop this water quickly, the energy has to be absorbed somewhere. In most cases, the pipes vibrate from the reactive force and weight of the shock waves within the water. In extreme cases, pipes can burst, joints can develop leaks, and valves and meters can be damaged.
Pressure and Velocity
Water hammer is directly related to the velocity of water traveling through a pipe. Velocity of water travel is directly related to the pressure that is pushing the water. Low pressure systems simply do not develop water hammer problems. The low pressure - or energy - of the water just can't get the velocity high enough to create a sizable shock wave.
However, if you have high pressure you can still avoid water hammer. This can be done by slowing the velocity of the water flow towards the valve by upsizing the supply piping. If a fixture draws six gallons of water per minute through a 1/2 inch diameter pipe, the water will have to rush towards the fixture at a velocity of 8.6 feet per second to satisfy this demand.
If you upsize the pipe to 3/4 inch to feed the fixture, the same six gallon per minute flow rate can be achieved with a velocity of only 3.9 feet per second! This is a huge drop in speed. As you can see, the chances of water hammer with a 3/4 inch supply pipe are greatly reduced.
Pressure Reducing Valves
Pressure reducing valves can help to reduce water hammer in many instances. But they can also be the source of noise in certain cases. They must be sized properly. If your house piping is sized correctly - most residential houses should have 3/4 inch piping feeding all the main branches - then you should install a 1/2 inch size water pressure reducing valve.
If you install a 3/4 inch valve on a 3/4 inch line, the valve will not always function as designed. This can result in poor pressure control and excessive valve noise. ALWAYS READ the installation instructions to make sure you are putting the right valve in place.
Expansion Tanks
Water hammer used to be controlled by installing vertical risers near the offending fixtures. These are simply vertical pipes that are part of the supply piping setup. Basically they are a "chimney" pipe right next to the supply pipe. When originally installed, these pipes trap air in the riser pipe. The air works as a cushion for the shock wave created when the water flow is stopped abruptly. The problem, however, is that the darn riser pipes - over time - can become waterlogged. In other words, the air in the riser can actually be dissolved in the water. When this happens, you lose the ability to dampen the shock wave.
The better solution is to install an expansion tank. These devices look something like the propane cylinders for your barbecue grill. Inside the tank at its midpoint is a rubber bladder. The air on the one side of the bladder acts as the cushion for the water hammer shock wave. The reason this works is because you can compress air.
Quality expansion tanks will work for many years before they ever leak or develop burst bladders. Even when they fail, it is easy to replace one. They can be removed from a plumbing system as easy as you change a light bulb.
You would be surprised at how much air volume is required to absorb the water hammer shock wave. The simple 18-inch-high risers most plumbers have installed in the past just don't get it.
For example, if your piping system is sized at 3/4 inch and you have a water velocity in the pipes of five feet per second, a pressure of just 60 PSI, and a total pipe length of 50 feet, you need an air chamber that has a volume of 60 cubic inches.
Dual Solutions
You might be able to increase flow to fixtures AND solve water hammer by simply installing 3/4 inch pipe in as many locations as possible in your house. All too often, I see 1/2 inch supply piping in people's houses. The 3/4 inch pipe will reduce friction and slow velocity. Try this first before you do anything else. Make sure you install ball valves at each fixture branch for convenience.
The feeling is unmistakable. Your body tells you that you are on a stiff trampoline but your eyes tell you that you are not. The wood floor you are walking across is bouncing. Has this ever happened to you? It has happened to me when I walk across the floor systems of many a new home. The floor joist systems are built to code, however they have considerable bounce to them. If you have ever lived in an older home, the feeling is quite unsettling.
Springy Floors Hurt Tile
Wood floor systems with a bounce are fine if you decide to carpet. Sheet vinyl products can also tolerate substantial movement. Hardwood flooring will also fair well on a somewhat bouncy floor. Ceramic tile, on the other hand, will suffer drastically if a wood floor system is too bouncy. Tiles will crack, grout will crumble, and floor tile will sometimes actually detach. The reason is simple. Ceramic flooring materials are rigid. As such, they require a rigid base to stay in one piece. Wood floor systems can meet the necessary rigidity requirements. However, certain guidelines must be followed.
I Beams - Height is Everything
Steel I beams have certain strength or load bearing characteristics. Wood floor joists are no different. Their strength is a function of the thickness of the joist, its height, the type of wood and the distance between supports. Many people realize some of these factors, however, not everybody recognizes that all of them come into play. The species of wood is very important. For example, a 2x10 floor joist made from southern yellow pine is significantly stronger than a similar sized joist made from spruce-pine-fir.
Subflooring is Critical
The flooring material installed on top of the floor joists is also important. If you are using plywood, this material also can flex. Thicker plywood is almost always more rigid than thinner plywood. The number of plys or layers in the sheet is also important. Many people do not realize that plywood of the same thickness can have a different number of plys. More plys is almost always stronger.
Tile floors need additional support other than a thick single piece of plywood. Three quarter inch tongue and groove plywood, believe it or not, will not suffice! An additional layer of 1/2 inch plywood or 1/2 inch cement board is usually required.
As for installing this extra material, you just don't lay it down and bang it in with a bunch of nails. It is vitally important that the seams of both materials are staggered from that of the plywood subfloor. This offset should be a minimum of two inches. Edges of the materials are most secure when screwed.
If you use cement board as an underlayment, it is necessary to spread wet thinset on the plywood subfloor! This thinset will fill any void spots that may exist between the two layers. These void spots often are caused by floor joists that are crowned differently.
Existing Floors
What do you do if you have an existing floor that is bouncy? This is a tough call. There is no miracle fix, I can assure you of that. Adding additional beams under the floor in the basement or crawl space is the easiest. This solution immediately stiffens the floor because you significantly decrease the span of the joists. If it is possible to do this, always make it your first choice.
Another solution is much more extensive and not always successful. You can install a "stress skin" on the underside of the troubled floor joists. A stress skin is a layer of plywood that is glued and screwed to the bottom of the floor joists while they are temporarily jacked up. The plywood, once the glue is dried, acts to stiffen the floor joists.
This solution must be engineered. In other words, you must hire a structural engineer to develop a plan as to how to install the 'skin'. Remember, this solution is not always worth the effort.
Wood floor joist systems will work with ceramic tile. I have used ceramic and slate extensively in my own new home. I only have one cracked floor tile in my entire house. This tile crack, I feel, occurred as a result of lumber shrinkage.
Read my "Floor Joists Materials-Span Table" article for the allowable span limits for your wood floors by two to three feet and you will be blessed with stiff wood floors. Or, use as tall a joist as you can afford.
These tables state that the given floor joists will not deflect more than 1/360th of the span as long as they are spaced no greater than 16 inches on center and the load will not exceed 40 pounds per square foot (PSF) live loading plus 10 PSF dead load. Span is defined as the greatest distance along the bottom of the joist between supporting beams or columns. If there is any doubt in your mind, contact a structural engineer.
If you are planning a house or a room addition, be sure to consult with a structural engineer. Have him or her specify the actual floor joist size. In addition, ask the engineer to verify that the wood joist delivered to the jobsite is, in fact, the correct material. Look on the side of the joist for the grade and species stamp!
Layout of a tile job is the key to a pro looking job. You need to be sure that you don't end up with tiny pieces at a threshold or along a wall. These always look bad. Rooms are sometimes not square. This means that if you start with a full tile along a wall, you may end up cutting tile or adding slivers of tile.
Chalk a center line each direction in the room. The lines, at the center where they intersect, must be square! Do a 3-4-5 triangle to verify for square. From the center where the two lines cross, measure three feet down one line. Then measure four feet down the other line. Using your tape measure, connect the two dots at the ends of these two lines. If you get exactly five feet the two center lines are square!
Now, take some tiles from a box and begin to lay them out with the proper spacing between them until you get to a wall(s). See what you end up with. Hopefully it will be approximately half a tile. Do the same where the tile will meet another floor. If you can start with a full tile at this location it sometimes looks much better. Remember, this other floor must be square to the tile layout! Adjust your lines until you are satisfied with your layout.
Glue - Thinset - Mastic
The adhesive that you choose depends on several things. If you use a plywood subfloor, an organic or epoxy adhesive is recommended. If you are setting your tile on cementitious board or concrete, a cement based thinset works well. The thickness of the adhesive is a function of the type of tile you are using. Tiles often have different bottom surfaces. Some are smooth, some have lines and some have lugs. If you put on too little adhesive, void spaces will be present under the tile. This can cause tiles to crack under concentrated loads. Too much adhesive will cause the grout lines to fill up with adhesive. This is a mess! The tile manufacturer will always tell you how much adhesive and which type trowel to use.
Cutting Tiles
There are several ways to cut tiles. Many glazed tiles can be scored with a tile cutter and snapped successfully. However, it is tough to do this along an edge if you are trying to just take off 1/2 inch. You can also use a diamond wet or dry saw. The wet saws, with a good blade, make smooth cuts. You can also buy a rod saw made from carborundum that fits in a standard hacksaw. This works fine but is slow going. Finally, a nipper tool will "bite" off chunks of tile for weird cuts.
Grouting
Grouting is difficult. You must work in small areas not allowing the grout you just applied to get too hard. When striking the joints use a grout sponge with rounded edges. Squeeze as much water as possible from the sponge. Too much water weakens the grout! It will crack and powder. Often you may have to rinse the sponge five or six times just to do a one foot by two foot area! Practice in a closet if you have never done this before. A poor grout job will show!
Cement board is readily available. Just about any ceramic tile supplier stocks this commodity. It is often 1/2 inch thick and comes in pieces three feet wide by either four, five or six feet long. Be sure to get a set of installation instructions from your supplier! Don't listen to him/her if they say to just put it down with galvanized roofing nails. There is more to it than that!
There are just a few companies that make cement backerboard for ceramic tile installations. Basically, all of the products are the same. The board comes in different sizes and often two thicknesses. One half inch thick material is used for wall tile installations. One quarter inch thickness is often used for countertops. The cement board is held together by a layer of fiberglass mesh on each outer surface. USG Corporation's product has small Styrofoam balls in it to reduce weight. Their product also has two sides to it. The rougher side is for thinset applications. The smooth side is for organic mastics.
You can find these cement boards in home centers and ceramic tile outlet stores. Be sure to obtain written installation instructions for the product you choose. They all differ slightly from one another.
Georgia Pacific Corp. Their product is called ToughRock®.
United States Gypsum Company USG Their product is called Durock.
Fin Pan, Inc. Their product is called Util-A-Crete.
American Gypsum
CertainTeed
James Hardie Building Products Their product is called HardieBacker™ Cement Board.
The biggest mistake, that is commonly made when installing any of the tile backer boards, is allowing them to come into contact with the flat ledge of the tub or shower pan. This is a HUGE mistake. In the event the caulk seal between the bottom row of tile and the tub/shower fails, water can get behind the tile. If the backer board is touching this ledge, it will readily soak up this water like a sponge. In fact, because of capillary attraction, the water can actually begin to climb UP the backer board. Given enough water, the situation can become critical. The backer board becomes soaked, it transfers this moisture to the wood framing members, and BINGO, wood rot begins. It can be a serious problem.
The best thing to do is to hold all tile backer boards up 1/4 inch from these ledges. Then, before installing the tile, apply a bead of pure silicone caulk between the backer board and the ledge.Tool the joint with your finger so that no caulk projects beyond the front plane of the backer board. Any excess caulk may interfere with the installation of the ceramic tile. It is also a good idea to caulk all seams where the backer board touches another piece of backer board. This means all inside corners and any other horizontal seams as well.
Manufacturer's Instructions
Virtually every manufacturer of tile backer boards has specific installation instructions. These instructions cover nailing patterns and joint taping. These instructions vary depending upon the product you intend to use. Be sure to obtain and follow these instructions.
Vapor Barriers
When installing any of these products, it is a good idea to install a four or six mil plastic vapor barrier on the wood framing members before installing the tile backer boards. This vapor barrier should actually be installed before the tub or shower pan is installed. It should extend from floor to ceiling. This barrier only takes a few minutes to install and will prevent damage to your home. The Tile Council of America requires this vapor barrier in almost all installations. They have an excellent publication outlining ceramic tile installation procedures. It's called Handbook for Ceramic Tile Installation. It is a wonderful publication that will help you obtain the best possible results on your next tile job.
The first thing you have to realize when installing a pressure reducing valve is that these dudes can and do go bad. Replacing a bad valve can be a nightmare if you do not have valves on either side of the pressure valve. These isolation valves allow you to shut off the water easily AND they prevent the water from the house side of the system from draining out. This minimizes the amount of troublesome air that has to be bled from the lines after you install the valve.
Maintaining High Pressure
There may be certain places in your house where you want high pressure. Hoses are a common location. If you install a pressure reducing valve BEFORE the hose bib branches, you will lose your wonderful high pressure.
Take the time necessary to install the extra piping on the high pressure side of your water service line to allow you to keep high pressure at certain fixtures.
Unions at the Valve
Unions are simple threaded compression type fittings that allow you to quickly remove a valve, meter or other fixture from a piping system. They can be purchased where they sweat onto a piping system or they thread onto the pipe. A draw nut at the center of the union draws the two separate pipes together for a leak free joint. They are inexpensive and very easy to install. You will have no trouble with these!
A Pressure Gauge
How will you know what pressure you have after your new valve is installed? The easy way to tell is to purchase a pressure gauge that is permanently attached to the piping system. In actuality, you should have one that is on the high pressure and the low pressure side of the new valve. These simple gauges just thread into a simple tee fitting that you sweat into the water supply piping. You will need to purchase the necessary reducing fittings as many of these gauges have 1/4 or 3/8 inch male threads. The gauges are the only way you will be able to accurately adjust the water pressure.
The Right Pressure
What is the best inside pressure for your house? Well, you will have to determine that for yourself. I happen to prefer water pressure at or near 70 PSI. The model plumbing codes state that 80 PSI or greater is too high. Stay at or below 70 PSI and you will be just fine.
I would not recommend that you drop below 40 or 50 PSI in any instance. You will notice wimpy showers and extended fill times with baths at these lower pressures. Avoid water pressure that hovers at or near 40 PSI. I consider this pressure to be minimal and it actually borders on the nuisance level.
Adjusting Pressure
Pressure valves have a screw on the top of the valve. These allow you to adjust the pressure either higher or lower. You have to follow the valve instructions to see which way to turn the screw for higher or lower pressures. Remember, call a licensed plumber if you are in doubt or are not permitted to alter or extend your water lines. Some states - such as Massachusetts - are VERY restrictive!
Column B192
Expert Advice For Your Home
Subscribe to the FREE Ask the Builder newsletter to receive professional advice for your home. Complete the form below and each week you'll get:
DIY Tips
Tool Reviews
Project Guides
Product Discounts, Giveaways & more.
Unsubscribe at any time. We respect your email privacy.
