Home Plumbing Job *Total Disaster* W/Pics

[Rand]

So I was doing some easy work at the GF's parents house.

Did some powerwashing. Installed a new Garbage Disposal.
Well they wanted me to replace the second bathroom's faucet.
They rarely use this bathroom (luckily). The cold water wasn't working and it was dripping fast.

Started work on it.. First problem The cold water shut off.. isnt shutting off. Appears it was damaged from heavy mineral deposits.
I turn the whole house water off.. Crank the cold water shutoff in the bathroom back and forth about 5x and it shut off to a slow drip... Not great but ok to continue with the job.

Next issue the retaining nut for the hot water tap under the sink fixture has massive buildup on the threads around it.
Its makes it like UBER locktite. Tried picking the threads for 20min.. Then forcing it off.. no dice.

I noticed the sink is just resting on the cabinet.. so I decide to remove the whole sink and saw off the nut with a hacksaw...

2 min later I gave up and told them "you need a professional.

See Pics below for what I found.
Note House is on slab construction with pipes in walls.


The cold water tap that wasn't working.. maybe it was full of mineral debris eh?

The hot water side that actually worked... but it had a weak flow... wonder why

When I decided to remove the sink from the cabinet to saw off the faucet The drain pipe fell limply to the cabinet floor upon removal... UH-OHH

Yep that's supposed to be attached somewhere inside the wall.. it was just lying there with the water running into the wall. Hopefully it was still holding on by a thread or something so its not all moldy in there.


The In-Wall pic

 

[Doog]

Milwaukee Tool created the Sawzall for a reason....looks like you found it....blast to the foundation...rebuild.

Don't forget your goggles.....

 

[sleddriver]

Ohio, eh? If those top plate holes aren't sealed, I'd imagine there'd be quite a bit of cold attic air inside those inner walls.

Geesh..what a mess. Time to open that wall up and replace some rotted pipe!

 

[spasm3]

Terrible, how old is the home? The faucet does not look that old.

 

[FirstNissan]

Time to back away and recommend that the gf's family call a professional with a lot of liability insurance! That in-wall space is going to be a moldy disaster for sure. I wouldn't touch that space with a 10 foot pole honestly!

 

[dishdude]

Yikes. It's bad when something like that happens at your own house, worse when it's someone else's house and the absolute worst when it's the in laws!

 

[Quest]

ouch!

 

[Plumber]

Should not be too bad. Copper DWV can be cut out and transitioned to PVC...I have seen worse!

 

[expat]

Do they appreciate the magnitude of the problem?

I have seen situations like this where a simple job back-fires on the good Samaritan.

" It was just a dripping tap, but it ended up costing us $xxxx after HE messed with it"

 

[Rand]

No they understand. They aren't shooting the messenger. I'm not sure the actual pipe issue is that major as in ALL the pipes are hopefully not in that condition. The mold issue is probably the worst. I noticed the pipe was slightly loose after I started but I just thought maybe it was a weird unsupported in the wall pipe.

It appears the in-wall pipe might be brass??(which I noticed as I was posting pic on here) but the 18" section between the plastic sink trap and the in wall pipe was galvanized steel?
I will double check with a better flashlight Saturday when I have to work on a couple other minor things.


I am definitely not fixing it. I am an amateur and just thinking about working in that wall has my back hurting. If it was a basement type house I might consider replacing the pipe (not the mold part of job). But working in walls.. uh.. NO.

Previously I have replaced a few well pumps, tanks, and other odds and ends such as the bathroom pipe stubs that goto the shutoff valves.. but this mold nightmare.. not me.

The house has unique plumbing one example: It was converted from well to city water about 15 years ago.

 

[Oldtom]

Sorry about your plumbing disaster. I had a similar situation with a 1970 vintage cheapo townhouse. These houses were slapped together for cheap housing by the lowest bidding subcontractor. The bathtub drain plumbing was a mixture of brass and galvanized fittings. Electrolytic corrosion and very acid water had ruined the fittings and they leaked, yet they were so corroded it was impossible to disassemble them. Space was very limited too. A family member who is a plumber told me about Fernco Fittings. These are pipe fittings made out of tough rubber and secured with hose clamps. You install them just like a radiator hose on your car. I cut out all the old pipe with a sawzall and dremel tool and installed the Fernco fittings. Fernco fittings have since saved me a lot of time on dicey plumbing jobs. No pipe wrench, no torch, no smelly solvents, just a nut driver to tighten and you are done. The rubber is soft enough to seal on a corroded stub of the original pipe. Check them out

 

[Mr Nice]

Yep. Let a professional plumber repair this.

You don't want to be in dog house with the inlaws.

 

[demarpaint]

No good deed goes unpunished. Smart move telling them to call in a pro.

 

[Andrew1972]

Plumbing eventually needs replacing and clearly its time.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Ouch! Been there done that..

 

[Delta]

This is why I hate in-slab plumbing. My grandparents house in Mississippi was that way and it was the old cast iron 4" main drain. The clean-outs were rusted shut and I knew one day it was going to bite me. Sure enough one day the main line backed up. Pulled the toilet closest to the end and went at it with my snake. I'm glad the house we live in now has a basement with the plumbing exposed. Made it easy to rework the harry-homeowner washing machine drain line.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Plumber
Should not be too bad. Copper DWV can be cut out and transitioned to PVC...I have seen worse!


Exactly. I'm definitely not a professional, but I've seen and had to deal with worse!

If you don't want to remove a whole section of paneling, just cut an access hole around the area. You can transition to plastic or my personal favorite.. Fernco fittings. Love shark-bites for the water lines too rather than burn the house down with my less than stellar torch/solder skills.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: Delta
This is why I hate in-slab plumbing.... I'm glad the house we live in now has a basement with the plumbing exposed.
You guys up north do indeed live in a different world! No basements down here. 99%+ houses are slab-on-grade. All plumbing supply & returns are in the slab too. So are the refrigerant lines. Snaking wire ALWAYS means fishing from above...in the attic.

Very different world!

 

[hattaresguy]

This is why well water is a PITA. You need to open up the wall and see whats what, replace water lines with PEX on your way out.