"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
10/01/2020 at 13:43 • Filed to: None
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"Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle" (1500sand535)
10/01/2020 at 13:43 • Filed to: None | 0
| 11 |
I know a few people around these parts work in remodeling and more than a few own a home. We have a house that was built in the 1950s. It’s bones are good but a bit dated but we like it. We have just about every intention of staying here over the long term.
For the past year and a half we have been plagued by a random leak from the upstairs bathroom. At first it seemed to be from the caulking between Where the tub and the tile meet - and I laid a nice line of sealant and thought it was taken care of(even patched the spot in our downstairs ceiling). Well about 8 months later it was clear that the ceiling downstairs was experiencing water issues. I then was more diligent about searching out the issue and traced the leak to a certain spot but haven’t nailed down if it’s only when it’s cold water or hot or when it’s the shower or tub faucet; it doesn’t seem to be splashing related but hey I’m not su re. ..
We had a plumber out to look at it and he stated that he only puts in single handle faucets due to code with this plate over the old handle spots(not the greatest looking) but in trying to show him the issue it wouldn’t leak a drop so he wasn’t sure that this would solve the problem. He said to solder in the new handles and faucet would cost $1,700.
On top of a lot of money to possibly not fix something; h ere is the other catch; we aren’t crazy about the bathroom, the tub is chipped, the tile is dated(pink) , and the grout on the floor has seen way better days. It’s the first room we planned on renovating when we moved in. We weren’t planning on doing it until at least next year though. Maybe 18 months.
I suspect the $1,700 is a sunk cost if we remodel down the line- the work would likely be redone . But I also think a remodel would start near $10,000 and be possibly much more; so the fear of spending $1,700 shouldn’t necessarily spur me to spend much more.
Anyone have a vote on what might be a good solution-
- New faucet in the current bathroom knowing it may not fix the problem
- Move up they timeline for the remodel (or at least get quotes)
- keep trying to diagnose so that I have further confidence in the $1,700 fixing the problem
- try to catch the water that does leak and live with it on my timeline
Future next gen S2000 owner
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 14:24 |
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Keep diagnosing. Open the walls/ceiling up until you find the leak. Keep going until you find it. Water leaks aren’t really something you mess around with and wait on. You can rot your subfloors, grow mold, ruin drywall....... .
All of those are bad and will lead to costly repairs just to remedy, let alone upgrade.
VincentMalamute-Kim
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 14:35 |
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$1700 to replace th e faucet is crazy! Replace it yourself? I assume you don’t feel up to this since it’s not on your solutions list.
In which case, I vote move up your remodel timeline or just catch the water and remodel a little later. But not too much later.
avalonian
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 14:39 |
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I'm having a frustratingly similar problem. My tub has a micro cracked in it and is leaking into the downstairs bathroom. Previous owners repainted ceiling downstairs to hide the issue. So I am now in a similar boat as you to do the bathroom remodel, take out tub and redo everything else. Honestly, I would move up the time line for the remodel and I have gotten labor quotes in the neighborhood of 3-5k. Granted I am in Georgia so prices may vary. And about 1,000ish in supplies, so Honestly you shouldn't be looking at a 10,000 dollar remodel. Try Facebook Marketplace, the have warehouses for surplus tile and what not and you can find remodel folks who can do it for you. Ask your plumber if he knows a guy who can do remodel work and im certain he should. That way you can get the most bang for your buck the most expensive thing is Honestly the glass door and vanity.
MM54
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 14:51 |
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I own my home and do my own work (sounds like my cars... must be a pattern), and $1700 for a faucet is absurd. Do you have another usable bathroom for the interim? If so, now’s a good chance to tear into the one needing work, take your tim e, and learn how to do basic plumbing and other interior work to save a ton of money on the whole thing.
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Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
> VincentMalamute-Kim
10/01/2020 at 14:54 |
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I got one other quote that was a little lower but the guy was a little shifty.
And yes, I’m adept at some things around the house; I have no clue how to solder(?) water pipes. And although I like doing things around the house with the amount of time I have available; a good remodel would take painfully long.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 15:04 |
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It sounds like your shower valve is leaking at the base of the stem, which is not an unusual problem for a 70 year old fitting. I am a half-assed competent at plumbing and would do the job myself in about one day. You have to open up the wall on the backside to get to it but It would be about a 1-2 day job for a novice but totally doable. You can connect in the new valve with *gasp* shark bite couplings. so that’s going to be three couplings and a new valve with hardware. That should run you about $150-$250 in parts. Shower valves are expensive.
I should also mention that often you can rebuild a shower valve with new bushings and that will eliminate the leaking. You will have to remove the valves from the fitting and take it to a good plumbing store for new bushings/seats and seals. That would run you about $10 total.
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VincentMalamute-Kim
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 15:15 |
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Look into the details of the faucet you want to install. It could all be compression fittings, no soldering. Or learn to solder if you have to. It’s not rocket science. Another skill in your quiver. Buy the faucet you want in the remodel so you don’t buy twice.
Really though, @Future next gen and @Highlander have it correct. Diagnose and fix the actual issue.
krustywantout
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 15:23 |
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Could you upload a picture of your faucet and where you think it’s leaking? You might be able to get a valve rebuild kit from a plumbing supply place if you can take apart the valve.
Also, if
you cannot tell if it’s hot or cold you might have drain/
tub
overflow
problem.
Fuckkinja
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 19:01 |
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I do remodels. I install a lot of these. You take out your old mixing valve. Install 2 normal sink shut offs. Connect and hang the panel. The panels cover all of the holes. Ten years later it’s super easy to replace.
shop-teacher
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 19:35 |
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$1,700 is completely insane! Keep searching for a better plumber, if you're not ready to do the remodel.
GLiddy
> Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
10/01/2020 at 23:32 |
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There’s all kinds of things that could be wrong. Now my home is much newer but I had been plagued with leaks the first few years I was living here. While they may not be your problems, these were issues I had.
1. Loose upstairs tub drain. The tub installer only hand tightened the drain ring to the tub flange. With use (maybe thermal expansion/contraction and flexing from getting in and out of the tub) the flange ring loosened more and more until it started leaking water into the space between the floor and ceiling below.
2. Cracked riser/cleanout pipe. This was a real head scratcher. The upstairs sink drain had never given us a problem with leaks. Then a leaky faucet caused water to start coming through the ceiling. We discovered that the drain/riser behind the sink had a cleanout plug that was wrenched on really tight and cracked the threaded ring that the plug screwed into. It never leaked enough when water drained from the occasional use of the sink, but when the leaky faucet happened, it created a continuous leak as the water trickled over the crack and into the space in the wall.
3. Cracked toilet tank. The installer (builder?) did not use the rubber spacers provided when assembling the toilet. They put the toilet tank right on the bowl, installed the mounting bolts and cranked them down and created a hairline crack in the tank. This thing dripped maybe a drop or two an hour for a couple years that never seemed to show itself until one day I noticed the something weird was going on with the quarter-round molding on the baseboard. It was rotting. I replaced the tank properly and the baseboard. I didn’t seem to get into the wall.
All of these were things the slipshod builder did when the house was constructed. I had a 1-year “warranty” but none made themselves known until after that had run. Except for #2, I discovered and fixed them myself. The other water issue I had made itself known the first time we had a heavy rain. The roofing crew had nailed in toe boards through the shingles and then pulled them out leaving nail holes right through my roof. Hell, you could see daylight through the roof sheathing.
Good luck. If I were you, I’d give a shot and finding the leak myself...there’s only so many things it can be, but as you see by my experience, be prepared to think outside of the box.