A Perplexing Plumbing Problem...

[glynndah]

Our water was shut off for a few hours this afternoon. The village was doing something with the pipes. When I got back home, the water was back on. After a bunch of to-be-expected sputtering, all the faucets in the house are working except the ones at the kitchen sink. Both taps sputtered and then went totally dry. No sputtering, gurgling or other noise. And no, the water isn't shut off under the sink. Any ideas?

 

[Calvin]

Our water was shut off for a few hours this afternoon. The village was doing something with the pipes. When I got back home, the water was back on. After a bunch of to-be-expected sputtering, all the faucets in the house are working except the ones at the kitchen sink. Both taps sputtered and then went totally dry. No sputtering, gurgling or other noise. And no, the water isn't shut off under the sink. Any ideas?

Yes - if there was significant work done on the pipes upstream (so to speak) of your residence, there is a real possibility that a large piece of scate was knocked loose and is now blocking the supply line (or within the faucet itself) to your sink.... however, it does depend where the hot and cold are mixed.... you should have seperate supply lines to the faucet.... backflushing is normally the first solution to try.....

 

[glynndah]

And how do you "backflush"?

 

[Calvin]

And how do you "backflush"?

well typically a qualified plumber will do it but it basicly is disconnecting the pipe that you suspect is plugged before the area where you suspect the plug to be (i.e. back towards the water supply input) and hooking an adaptor (depends on what type of pipe you are hooking to) to the pipe. Water is then supplied at high pressure to the pipe so that it flows in a reverse direction from what is normal - hopefully this will then flush the blockage out the other end that is open. Sometimes compressed air is used as well. Sometimes it also requires a mechanical "snake" also to be used. And sometimes the pipe has to be replaced - which can be a bitch depending on the routing.

 

[glynndah]

Thanks for the info, but you could have stopped at "qualified plumber." The thought of my husband and a high-pressure tool of any kind sends shudders down my spine, and NOT in a good way.

I'll call the plumber this afternoon.

 

[Calvin]

Thanks for the info, but you could have stopped at "qualified plumber." The thought of my husband and a high-pressure tool of any kind sends shudders down my spine, and NOT in a good way.

I'll call the plumber this afternoon.

lol...of course I would not have known that.... sometimes a garden hose will do the trick.... but he does need to be able to hook it up and open the other end.....

hope he does not have any trouble figuring out other things.....

 

[Straight-8]

The problem with Calvin's analysis is that the scale is unlikely to selectively block only this hot water tap. If it is scale I would have thought it might block this cold or all the hot water in the house but just this hot and this cold...seems pretty remote to me.

My guess is that the scale came in through the cold and is acually right in the tapset - probably blocking only the faucet. Before calling in a plumber I'd shut off the feeders to this tap, remove the tap. Check the water supply at the shut-offs (just turn a little bit on while the tapset is removed). If there is water there then the problem is in the taps so either fix them (should be easy) or, at worst, replace them. Probably still cheaper than a plumber.

 

[Calvin]

The problem with Calvin's analysis is that the scale is unlikely to selectively block only this hot water tap. If it is scale I would have thought it might block this cold or all the hot water in the house but just this hot and this cold...seems pretty remote to me.

My guess is that the scale came in through the cold and is acually right in the tapset - probably blocking only the faucet. Before calling in a plumber I'd shut off the feeders to this tap, remove the tap. Check the water supply at the shut-offs (just turn a little bit on while the tapset is removed). If there is water there then the problem is in the taps so either fix them (should be easy) or, at worst, replace them. Probably still cheaper than a plumber.

and that is why.... in my first post,l I said "however, it does depend where the hot and cold are mixed"....

I have had to deal with this in both my house as well as in my sisters.... obviously I don't have any more information then you.... so I was just suggesting a possibility based on my personal experience....

 

[Straight-8]

and that is why.... in my first post,l I said "however, it does depend where the hot and cold are mixed"....

I have had to deal with this in both my house as well as in my sisters.... obviously I don't have any more information then you.... so I was just suggesting a possibility based on my personal experience....

Quite right, you did point out the 'mixing' issue. I think you were definitely on the right track. The problem may well prove to be bigger than I suggest. But I'd just try this first.

 

[glynndah]

The "taps" being the handles and not the faucet, correct?

 

[Straight-8]

The "taps" being the handles and not the faucet, correct?

Well, the taps being the valves and seats located underneath the handles. The faucet being the spigot, spout or whatever. By the 'tapset' I meant the taps & faucet unit. Generally a tube/pipe will run from each tap to join at the base of the faucet (where the hot & cold mix as Calvin says). My guess is that it will be there or in the faucet spout that you will find the obstruction. Sometimes it is just the screen at the end of the faucet that is clogged.

I guess it would be smart to take that off first to check since that is the easiest fix possible - DOH!

 

[glynndah]

Update:

I called the plumber who came out about an hour later. After I explained the problem, the guy said, "Well, that's quite a puzzle." An hour or two later, he concluded that the water line is fine, it's getting to the faucet but no further. He thinks it needs a new cartridge (maybe). He'll be back tomorrow to try again. Meanwhile I'm supposed to find the paperwork for the faucet and the receipt. Of course, I spent the first weeks of summer vacation culling the outdated paperwork from the file cabinet. Ah, well. Life goes on.

 

[glynndah]

updated update:

No plumber's call the next day as he'd said. Obviously, "I'll call you" means the same thing in plumber talk as it does for certain guys!

Friday:

Phone call #1: Me: I'mm calling about my plumbing problem and that no one called or came by. Plumber lady: Bubba took that call on Wednesday and he had an emergency sewage call and was gone all day. (No hope for revenge there. Emergency + sewage + 95 degrees trumps anything I could have thought up.) I'll look up your problem and call you back.

Phone call #2: This is Floyd. I'll be out in an hour to work on your faucet.
Me: Don't forget to bring the "cartridge" which Bubba said I needed.
Floyd: Uh... Okay.

Phone call #3: Bubba's boss: We don't handle cartridges or your faucets. Bubba didn't say that. Me: Whatever. Just get me running water.

Phone call #4: Floyd: How do you get to your house? Me: (Standard country directions-Through town, past the Hucks, over the tracks, 3rd house on right: That'll get you just about anyplace in rural America!)

Phone call #5: Floyd: This is Floyd, the plumber. How do you get to your house again? Me: Same directions plus look for green car by front porch. Floyd: Oh, I must be in your driveway.

Floyd fixes the problem which is, of course, NOT the problem Bubba was working on. Wow, running water in the kitchen! I feel so "cutting edge"!
Floyd leaves. Bill on counter but no amount. As I'm putting things back under the sink, I notice a heavy metal thing shaped like a small cored apple and wonder how long it's been under the sink. Ask hubby: That's part of the faucet mechanism. Floyd forgot to put it back on.

Phone call #6?

 

[ordkwi]

I'm guessing that it was only a dirty screen (where the water flows from) filled with debris.....he probably unscrewed it, cleaned it, replaced it and charged you too much????

 

[Bert Notorius]

You have water that comes right into your house in pipes? What a great idea.

 

[NippleMuncher]

I'm guessing that it was only a dirty screen (where the water flows from) filled with debris.....he probably unscrewed it, cleaned it, replaced it and charged you too much????

This was my first impression as well. 9 times out of 10, debris (rust, scale, etc ) will get knocked loose within the lines whenever any work is done to them. This is a particular problem with iron pipes. The reason that only the kitchen was affected was probably because the kitchen was the first faucet to be run after the repair work, thus flushing the debris to the kitchen faucet and not the rest of the house, at least not in enough quantity to clog up any of the other fixtures.

Remove the aerator - that little screen in the tip of the spout, and clean it. Do this at all faucets. Remove shower heads and run water through the shower plumbing before reinstalling the head to flush out any debris. If you've got a tub with a shower, merely running water through the tub spout will suffice.

This procedure may need to be repeated over the next few days or week as more debris finds its way to the end point, but it should clear pretty quickly.