Home Repair (Full Version)

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Aileen1968 -> Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:23:43 PM)

So I am a new home owner of an approximately 18 year old townhouse. It seems as if my shower handle thingy is broken. So off to Lowes I went and bought a new one and I'm sitting here with the box open along with my home repair book and all I can think of is wtf am I doing? I've located the main water shut off so that's a good thing. Do I actually attempt to do this on my own or should I break down and ask the stb ex for help????? I'd love to be able to do this on my own just because it'd be a cool thing to do, but I don't want to fuck up the plumbing in the wall. Help!!!!
I'm actually just looking for encouragement. How hard is something like this to do? I'm going from one of those old pull out and then turn for the hot and cold type of handles to the new kind where you just turn it on. I'm figuring that I need some type of adaptor or new kind of manifold pipe.
Blah...just rambling.



Aileen1968 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:25:24 PM)

Must drink a beer to tackle plumbing....



PyrotheClown -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:26:33 PM)

haha, don't worry, if I can do it, then you can do it. just take the time to properly study what you're trying to do(not the book, but the actual items you are repairing/replacing) and go from there



OrionTheWolf -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:28:50 PM)

If you let me know what a shower handle thingy is, I could likely answer your questions. I do most of the home repairs around here. Plumbing is not that hard, unless it was not done right to begin with or an old repair by someone that did not know what they were doing.



Aileen1968 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:29:26 PM)

It's the properly studying part that has me nervous.



PyrotheClown -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:31:49 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aileen1968

It's the properly studying part that has me nervous.

well as long as your water is turned off, just take apart what ever that "thingy" is and see what's what on it, as long as you don't cut nothing, every thing should be fine



Aileen1968 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:33:46 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: OrionTheWolf

If you let me know what a shower handle thingy is, I could likely answer your questions. I do most of the home repairs around here. Plumbing is not that hard, unless it was not done right to begin with or an old repair by someone that did not know what they were doing.

Heh. The book refers to it as a rotator knob.




pahunkboy -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:34:39 PM)

A big congrats to the new home!!   I AM HAPPY for you.  :-)

1.  you can never have too many screws, nuts, bolts, nails, staples, and tools.

2.  illustrated books on how to repair can do wonders..as can looking up online.

3. when I first bought this place- I tore into everything.  Big mistake.  Focus on one or two areas at a time.  I had the repairs- I had to insulate- and I wanted to do the landscape. 

Get to know the personality of your house before spending on it.  Every house has its own ebb and flow.   

When some people fret at some repairs- it doesnt make sense. I seen Jenny do wonders with arts and crafts- and she is helpless around the house.  But she is agile and patient.   and has more strength then she knows.

You can do it !!!



Aileen1968 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 2:38:53 PM)

Thanks hunk...
It appears as if I need to get a new cartridge.



MasterG2kTR -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 3:04:09 PM)

First ya gotta know the rules of home repair and maintenance.

1. Every project will always take twice as long as you estimate or twice as long as the packaging tells you.

2. Every project will always require at least three trips to the hardware store.

3. You will always be missing some tool critical to the completion of the project (corollary to number 2).

4. Duct tape is your friend.

5. Double check, triple check, quadruple check, that you have actually turned off the water, gas electric, pertinent to your project.

Ok....seriously, plumbing is easy, but none the less the rules above really do apply. Take your time and you will succeed. Modern plumbing is very easy to deal with. As mentioned by Pyro, study the entire scope of your project before beginning anything. Make sure you have the tools you need. Make sure you have a small tube of pipe sealant, a small container of plumbers putty, and a roll of teflon tape. These will all come in handy for your project now or in the future. None of them spoil or go bad in time. One caveat here, if you have PVC water pipes (supply not drain pipes) it gets to be a lot more tricky to work with.



windchymes -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 3:38:54 PM)

Well, I'm the recent owner of a fixer-upper townhouse myself.  I'm pretty good with a toilet, and I've changed drain traps and washers and put a thingy on the end of my kitchen sink faucet that switches back and forth from a straight flow to a spray.  Yee haw.  My biggest recommendation is that you don't skip on the plumber's putty and plumber's tape.  Water will find the most microscopic, invisible place in the plumbing to leak out of, no matter how tightly you crank on it with the wrench if you don't use one of them.  Oh yeah, invest in some good tools, too. 

The "for Idiots" books are great with explicit instructions that a 4-year-old could follow, and those all-purpose home improvement books for us commoners are pretty good.  That orange one the Home Depot sells has been helpful to me so far.  Just make sure you have all the tools and gadgets and equipment they suggest you need and then follow the instructions step by step.  If it's "just" a handle, it shouldn't be too bad. 

I have a bad diverter valve in my guest bath right now that I haven't had the nerve to get to yet, so let me know how you do and I might be calling you for help :)



Aileen1968 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 3:49:26 PM)

Ok...so I was able to replace everything and turn the handle....but no water came out. Yes, the water is turned on in the house. First thing I checked. The problem seems to be that you had to pull the old handle out and then turn. The new handle just turns. No pulling out. So I'm trying to figure out what I need to do or what I need to change to convert it from the old way to the new way. I haven't been able to find anything through google or the home repair book that addresses this. Anyone have a clue?



marie2 -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 4:05:22 PM)

Oh boy. 

Look, if you can't fix it with a bobby pin, a butter knife, or a nail file, call a fucking man in.



MasterG2kTR -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 4:08:47 PM)

If all you did was to change the handle itself and nothing else, you still need to pull it to make the water flow. If  however you changed the diverter and/or mixer, you might have to take it apart again and make sure that there were no "plugs" left in it which are typically in place for packing and handling purposes so that no foreign matter of any kind can get in until installed.



pahunkboy -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 4:30:49 PM)

A store where you can ask is good too.  I will buy 3 items that look right full well knowing that 2 of them will be returned-

lowes is not automatically the cheapest store.   Mom and pops at times really do have ok prices- + you can find a man.

It would help if you post the make and model of the faucet.

...Man- I personally would not attempt it in my place.   But then the pipes are old here- one wrong sneeze and the whole house will crash.



Level -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 5:23:46 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Aileen1968

Must drink a beer to tackle plumbing....


*cracking up here*

Go back to Lowes, show them the old thingamajig, and ask them for some help, Aileen.



DomMeinCT -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 5:29:14 PM)

(Encouragement part) You can do it!

(Tip part) As you take things apart (plumbing, lighting, whatever) that you plan to put back together, lay the pieces out in the order they were removed.  Makes it a lot easier to help remember how to put it back together later. 



Level -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 5:32:40 PM)

Excellent advice [:D]



impishlilhellcat -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 5:47:58 PM)

I would think this whole conversation was funny, but been there done that when I tried to put up a six foot privacy fence in my backyard.



Level -> RE: Home Repair (8/22/2009 5:52:26 PM)

Yeah, it's a bitch if you're not sure what to do; I helped a lady friend put in a window at her rent house, and it took weeks [:)] I tell you what, though, that sonofabitch will probably withstand a direct nuclear hit.

Did you get your fence up?



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