Plumbing, Part 1

I have been remiss in giving home repair tips, so I am going to do a brief series on plumbing repairs you can do at home. First, things a home plumber should not attempt.

Do not re-plumb your air conditioning (central air, window units are not worth repair, just buy a new one). It is illegal. You are working with pipes containing coolants, highly regulated substances, so call a professional. Second, do not work on pipes carrying natural gas. If you make the slightest mistake, you will blow yourself and your house up and, that's no fun at all.

Do not attempt to run all new pipes. You will find that at certain points you must change the diameter of the pipes and knowing when is the job of a contractor. Do it yourself and you might wind up with little more than a trickle in you shower.

However, it is easy to fix a simple drip, and not to hard to fix a broken pipe. Replacing a toilet flapper or a fluid master is easy. Even replacing a toilet is, while a lot of work, not too complicated. Replacing a shower head is simple and repairing or replacing faucets is fairly simple.

The main thing is to look at what you are repairing and think. When you are done, everything should look pretty much the same, so just keep that mental picture in mind.

Often, you will find connections that are threaded, various nuts and screws, and,  quite often, these will not be easy to loosen. Do not start trying to play King Kong and force the issue. Get yourself some WD40, spray the connection thoroughly, then tap it a couple of time, firmly, but not too hard, with a small hammer or even the back of your wrench. Then wait 5 minutes or so. The connection should loosen up. If not, keep trying it. If it just won't give, the threading might be stripped; that would be the fault of whoever worked on it last. If it is, you will have to cut the connection out and the repair becomes more complex. If at that point, you want to call a plumber, that is understandable and fine. But, if you want to keep doing-it-yourself, there are some steps to take, and we will get into that over the next few posts.

I want to say a few words about the tools you should be using and about patience. A good, fairly large pair of channel lock pliers will usually do the trick for most home repairs but a Stillson wrench also called a pipe wrench, gives a better grip on the connection. If the wrench starts slipping on that connection, slow down and be careful. You run the risk of chewing the whole thing up so badly that you will not be able to continue getting the wrench to grip. Do not get in a rush. Also, sometimes, okay, often, you will not have a lot of room to work in. If that is true, you just have to go slow. Sometimes, you sill only move things a fraction of an inch at a time before you have to rest your wrench. Sorry, there is no way around that. Just remember, a plumber would have to go just as slow, and he would be charging you for all of that time.

Next, post, PVC.

Tools

Every home needs a good tool set. Even in apartments there are things, personal belongings that you need to repair occasionally. But, there is no reason to spend a lot of money and certainly no reason to buy things you will likely never use. Start with basics, then if you need something, there is always a Home Depot or Lowes or even Walmart somewhere close by.

First, a hammer, just a simple claw hammer. When you shop for one, pick it up, swing it around a bit (carefully of course) and just get the feel of it. Too heavy or too light is no good. You want as much weight as you can comfortably handle.  Same with length. The right one is the one that feels right to you. Again, a simple claw hammer is all you need to start. You may go your entire life without needing a ball peen or sledge hammer or a mallet.

Screwdrivers are necessary and you can buy a set of them at a low cost. Really, you can generally get by with a standard length flat head and a standard length Phillips head but it is useful to also have a short version of each and a long version of each, for difficult to reach or tight spots. Again a set is inexpensive. Do not buy the cheapest, they will not last, but don't go overboard either. Always handle them before you buy them. The grips vary a bit and you want something comfortable to handle. Using tools you have trouble gripping is not only frustrationg, it can be dangerous. It is easy to loose your grip and damage the item you are working on or, worse still, yourself. For starters, don't bother with rubber grips. They cost more and are only needed for electrical work. Do not ever do electrical work unless you are absolutely positive that you know what you are doing.

A couple of hand saws are good, one rip and one cross cut. Also, a good hacksaw will be needed. Power saws are great but, until you can use a hand saw, and then only if you intend on doing a lot of cutting, don't worry about power. When and if you get one, again, make sure you are comfortable with it. Then make sure it is strong, medium power, but you don't need the most powerful one. Look for bargains, most name brands are fine. With your hacksaw or with your power saw, make sure the blades match what you are cutting. The blade you use for wood is not appropriate for PVC  and that is not appropriate for steel.

I really can't see how you can do without a power drill with an assortment of bits and driver heads. You will have to drill holes and the driver heads will save a lot of wear and tear on your hands and wrists. Again, get a medium powerd one, not the strongest and watch for the exact type, you do not want  to mistakenly buy a hammer drill for wood working.

You will need a set of wrenches, double ended (one end closed, one open) Buy a set, they are cheap enough and don't spend extra for metric wrenches. They may come with the set, and that is fine, but you likely will never use them. Also, get a socket set. Buy a good one, they also are cheap enough and make sure the set has driver heads. A good socket set will save time and energy. Why both sockets and wrenches? Good question. The answer: sometimes you just cannot get the socket in the available opening.

Buy 3 pair of channel lock pliers, a small a medium and a fairly large one. They have many uses and you will be glad to have them. Buy good ones, the cheap ones slip and don't last. Also, if you are a home owner, a medium size pipe wrench. You can save a small fortune by doing simple plumbing reapirs yourself. In a later post, I'll go over some plumbing basics.

You must have a measuring tape and a decent ruler. There is no getting around that. Also, a good utility knife. A good one, with extra blades, is inexpensive. While I think of it, a word about cutting tools. Never, never never, attemp to cut anything with a dull blade. It is dangerous becuase you will end up trying to force the blade and that is when blades slip and body parts get cut. This also applies to chisels. You should get a small decent wood chisel because, here and there, you may have to replace or add a hinge. Do not try to use a screwdriver as a chisel. That is not what it is for, it does not have the strength or the blade and you run the risk of hurting yourself. Also, banging on the end of a screwdriver will break the handle.

Also, make sure you keep some good gloves, safety glasses and dust masks around. Tools and home repairs are safe, if you respect them. If not, you will breathe in toxic dust, get chips in your eyes, splinters in your hand and/ or cuts in a variety of places. I know this because, I have done it all. The guys I grew up working around thought such things kind of wimpy. They are not and a serious cut or an hour spent washing sawdust out of your eye, will convince you that safety does always come first. Which reminds me. Get a good first aid kit, not just for your own safety while you work, but for the benefit of everyone in the household. Good first aid can save a lot of damage to the body.

There. You have a basic tool kit. If you just hate home repairs, fine. At least you can do a few emergency repairs and save more money that you might think. If you like the work, great. You can always add more sophisticated tools as you need them.