All Forum Posts by: Jason S.

That tubular pipe with nuts and washers are junk. I always use sch 40 pvc pipe and fittings. Always prime everything real well and make sure it’s straight and level and get good tight glue joints. Can’t remember the last time I had a leak.

. Caulking is a waste of time in this situation. In order to properly caulk all of the caulk had to be removed and then steamed the area to kill the mold then dried. After it is clean and dry you can recaulk with the proper type of caulk. Caulking over old caulk and mold just traps mold and moisture and creates another problem. If the shower pan isn’t level then no amount of venting will fix your issue. Another thing that most people fail to realize is that tile and grout are porous. Water will get behind your tile and showers are designed for this to happen. That’s why there are weep holes on the fiberglass shower pans like you have. So the water that gets behind the tile can drain out at the bottom. I’m certain yours are caked over with caulk. That’s one issue. Another is when you have no moisture barrier behind your tile. The water goes through the tile and grout and should hit a barrier of some type (redgard, kerdiboard, hydroban etc) when it dosent because there is nothing but green board there (illegal to put in showers now) well the green board soaks up water and never dries out. Eventually the studs get wet and so on until you have a mold problem that won’t go away. These are some things that I deal with often. If you need some help give me a call. deal with this type of issue on a regular basis. I’m located in cypress and if you want to meet at the house I will look at it and give you my take on it. I can tell you if it’s plumbing related or a venting issue. I have the equipment to test the pan with, moisture meters, FLIR camera etc.

I mainly do tear outs of master tubs and convert to showers. Most aren’t rentals but just food for thought.

I’ll do you one better even - I have made my own before using a $40 pentek 20” filter housing and buying the cartridge for $79 from aquios. Wasn’t as pretty but it worked.

The most cost effective option is in my opinion also the best option . I’ve installed over 100 of these in Houston Tx and I know for a fact that they work well to eliminate the problem your having. It’s called Aquios. Now they market it as a water softener but I think that’s misleading and wrong. I refer to it as a water conditioning system because it does not soften the water. It uses a food grade additive called Polyphosphate/siliphos. It keeps the hard water from sticking to and tearing everything up. If you have a hardness of say 388ppm and you install this hoping to have soft water well your test will come back 388ppm. That’s why I don’t refer to it as a softener. It does work however. It will clean up existing scale in the system. There’s no salt to lug around, no backwashing, no electricity. I typically see filter changes 9months to 1 year depending on the usage and how bad the water is. For a fraction of the cost of a softener with the same overall results it can’t be beat. I’m in no way affiliated with aquios and there are others out there I’m sure but I’ve only installed aquios because I have proven favorable results from it. It runs about $450 if your just getting a single unit.

As a plumber I often get a couple of calls a year from people who are first time home buyers and end up needing major repairs done. They all had inspections performed (as I think is a requirement here in Texas) The problem with a home inspection is it will not address some major cost items that could be financially stressing for a first time buyer. I’m speaking strictly for plumbing. You need to have on top of the general inspection a plumber come and inspect this home. He needs to run a camera in the sewer clean-outs and check for bellies and roots and separations. Have him inspect the gas service by doing a pressure test of the house. The water service lines need to be inspected as well and if they are galvanized that would be a deal breaker for me (unless the price is real sweet) I mean this is probably one of your biggest investments if not the biggest. Do you really want to skimp on the inspection process that is your only test drive before getting the keys yourself? Would you buy a car without test driving it? A used car at that? This is coming from the owner of a plumbing company who has seen buyers dreams turn into nightmares behind this stuff. $10k-$12k sewer line replacement 6 months in will kill the “our new home” mood real quick. Personally I’d only buy a flip home if there were no rentals around for 50 miles. I’ve seen the work that most people put into them and it’s just hackery. I say some because I do know a couple that are straight up and honest and do quality flips.

@Michael Plante I’ll let you in on a little secret that will leave you feeling kind of funny on the inside. Dewalt is owned by none other than Black and Decker . . . Now you may have heard of some the following tool makers - Craftsman Stanley Husky Porter Cable Bostich MAC tools Proto Blackhawk. . .sound familiar? Yea Black and Decker owns all those too. . . Oh and Price Pfister faucets (I’m a plumber) . . . and Quickset locks . . . #mindblown

My best advice as a plumber if you want a solid honest guy is walk into any plumbing supply house and talk to the parts counter guys and ask them who’s the best plumber they know. The name they give you will be someone who 1. Does a steady amount of work because he’s in there all the time and known 2. Manages his business well and pays his bills on time translates to does not owe them a huge chunk of money 3. Your getting an unbiased referral from people that talk to the guy probably daily. If you do happen to get a plumber some other way the best thing you can do is go to the local supply house that he would most likely use and drop his name at the counter. They’ll either yeah or neigh on it. They’ll neigh just on the fact that he doesn’t pay his bill on time. Which is all you should need to x him out. You don’t want someone who can’t even pay his parts bill on time because the chance he will give a damn about your property is slim. They also hear disaster stories from people who screw people over and they’ll neigh on that and elaborate as to why. Best of luck. It’s a jungle out here.

Reputable companies aren’t going to post on CL. Every plumber is well aware that people go to craigslist seeking a lower rate. Therefore plumbers stay away from craigslist- unless you absolutely need work. If you need work that bad in today’s market then you are no good at what you do. Period. Too much work out there. Every plumber I know is slammed packed. You’ll find you a plumber on CL though. Your not looking for a quality job backed by a warranty. Your looking for the lowest bidder. You should talk to the three guys who’s house flooded and let them all tell you their CL story. That 11k will start looking real good.

Let me see if I have this right: So it cost more to do plumbing on your project than what you thought it would. So your not happy with the plumbing trade?