[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house! And this is where people make a lot of mistakes. Saving a little bit of money here and there. For instance, I don't buy the store brand toilets. I go out and buy toilets, I buy a good one. Because a good one is going to save you money in the long run. If you look at being able to get repair parts down the road, and having something that's going to perform, those store brand toilets are just low quality, bottom of the builder's list.

[00:00:34] Eric Goranson: And with today's technology, with the water flow, you need to have something good. My favorite brand as it gets out to toilets, and they do not pay me a dime for this, is Toto. When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered. This is Around the House.

[00:00:55] Eric Goranson: Welcome to the Around the House show, the next generation of home [00:01:00] improvement. Thanks for joining me today. I'm Eric G, your host. Today We're going to talk about plumbing 101 in this hour. And there's a lot of great information here for you people out there that are wanting to tackle that next plumbing project.

[00:01:12] Eric Goranson: Maybe it's a minor repair. Maybe it's a big one. And we'll be tackling that today. Now, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house, online. com and you can find everything there from the national radio show to the podcast, of course, our around the house, Northwest television show, which is a weekly one hour television show.

[00:01:31] Eric Goranson: Okay. You can stream on a lot of different networks out there, including Amazon prime. And of course, YouTube, you can catch it over there as well. And, uh, you can find those YouTube videos over and around the house online. com. Now, if you've got a home improvement question, we do have our helpline That number again is 8 3 3 2 3 9 4 1 4 4.

[00:01:54] Eric Goranson: And we're there to help you 24, 7, give us a call, leave a message. If I'm not in the [00:02:00] studio and I'll give you a call back today, we're talking about plumbing one on one. And these are just my general tips for you tackling that plumbing project. Okay. And the first one here is a really big one because the problem is that when you walk into a home improvement store, one of the big box retailers out there, there are plenty of pieces inside that building in the plumbing department.

[00:02:23] Eric Goranson: That won't meet your local building code. And if that, if they do meet it, it's not the right piece or the right solution for you. So that's the first thing that if you, if just because it's on the shelf, doesn't mean that's the right piece to use. And so there's a lot of pieces to this that really change how you do this plumbing project.

[00:02:43] Eric Goranson: So the first thing I want you to understand before you tackle that project is understanding your local building code and following it. Because these projects that you go tackle, you want to understand what that code is. And if you have to ask someone in your local area, if you asked to have [00:03:00] to ask a building official, if you need to jump on the website.

[00:03:02] Eric Goranson: For your state, county, city, whoever runs those building codes, do some research and understand what's white and what's right and what's wrong. Because the last thing I want you to see do is one, you do it wrong. Two, you create another safety hazard. And three, if you ever go sell your house. They come back and say, wow, this was done so poorly.

[00:03:22] Eric Goranson: And then you might have to do it a second time or a third time. And that's going to be something that gets really expensive, especially when they want to have a plumber come in and do it at the end of an inspection period. So the last thing I want to see you do is do it for what you think is right. But not knowing this is where that research really starts to pay off.

[00:03:42] Eric Goranson: And as doing it once it's always cheaper than having to do it twice. And that's not accounting your time. That's going to be involved in the process. The other part of the process here is making sure that you're doing things correctly. And one of my biggest pet peeves in the plumbing world is those [00:04:00] push to connect fittings.

[00:04:01] Eric Goranson: Now, they are not all the same, but to the DIY or shark bite fitting is one of those that can be really problematic. And I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage using these fittings and using these fittings as designed and correctly installed. As an example, I saw a licensed plumber.

[00:04:23] Eric Goranson: Install one on a remodel probably five or six years ago. Now they haven't changed these fittings since then. And actually they are in the middle of changing them. If you look that they are doing an improved version out there, and that might be speculation here, but that might be because of failures out there.

[00:04:38] Eric Goranson: But I think these could be the next class action lawsuit down the road that we see a failed products. But that's my opinion. Now, the thing is this licensed plumber installed this fitting correctly on CPVC pipe. And it said it was for CPVC pipe, it passed plumbing inspection, so the code allowed it, everything else.

[00:04:59] Eric Goranson: A [00:05:00] month later, that slid off the, the CPVC pipe. It didn't work, and so when it failed, they used that to go to PAX, and after that, it failed and slid off the PVC pipe, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage in this house in water damage. And so that was something that I've seen this happen more than once.

[00:05:20] Eric Goranson: So really I try to tell people, if you're going to use these here on a project, they're great for temporary fittings. I have some in my toolbox for capping off a broken line for doing something quick, just to get water service back in, to mock something else. That's what it's really designed for. One, they're super expensive fittings.

[00:05:42] Eric Goranson: So if you're better off to go in and fix it, right. So for instance, if you're going to go from CPVC, which is that yellow PVC pipe that, that loves to fail that stuff. I've had houses with it. If you've got that in a house from 10 or 15 years ago, you're Just plan for a re pipe in your budget because I tell you [00:06:00] what I had a house and I have literally been sitting there in the house watching television and I could hear the water running in the crawlspace below and it was not Cold outside.

[00:06:09] Eric Goranson: This was not a frozen pipe and the pipe basically just burst and that stuff happens, that stuff gets micro cracks in it, and maybe it's because it sat out in the sun, maybe it got dropped along the way and all of a sudden when that stuff lets go, it is brittle like glass. And when that stuff breaks, you got a hot mess.

[00:06:30] Eric Goranson: You want to go in and cut that pipe. And solvent glue on the right fitting and take it over into packs. Don't use a shark bite fitting there. And the same thing is if you're going to go from copper to packs, go ahead and sweat that fitting on there and get over to the right barb fitting. So you can do it that way and make a clean connection.

[00:06:53] Eric Goranson: That is the right way to do it. And there's a reason why good licensed plumbers out there don't use shark bite [00:07:00] fittings, because they've got the skills in something. This is a good life skill to have. If you have copper pipes in your house. Get a torch, spend 30 or 40 bucks, which is really the price of a handful of those fittings, learn how to do it, learn how to do it correctly.

[00:07:14] Eric Goranson: And then it's not a scary process anymore. It's not hard to do. It's just like anything else out there from using the table saw to using a skill saw, whatever. Once you learn that skill, you got it. And it makes it pretty easy to do. And the plumbers have been doing that for over a hundred years here in the U S.

[00:07:31] Eric Goranson: So just learn how to, how to do that. And you're going to be better off and have a cleaner connection. And then it's just a beautiful job. It's just a skill that you've done. So this is not a bad thing to do. And then as you're going and changing over, great example, if you're in this project and you're, you're repairing something to get in and do it.

[00:07:51] Eric Goranson: If you've got, maybe it's a leaky fitting in galvanized, get rid of the galvanized. You can get access to, if you're going to get rid of that galvanized pipe. [00:08:00] Get rid of as much as you can while you're in there. Don't just do a little repair that galvanized pipe in most instances is already worn out. So why not give yourself better flow to the shower, sink, or wherever else that water's going.

[00:08:13] Eric Goranson: Get rid of as much of that as you can. And then as you go through the project, if you're doing another remodel someplace and you get access into it, then change that stuff out. You don't have to go through and do a full replumb. But if you've got those issues and maybe it's that, maybe it's that shower that you're like, wow, I've got galvanized pipe in my house.

[00:08:30] Eric Goranson: And I have zero pressure at the bathtub or shower, and I just get a little dribble of water out of there. That's that galvanized pipe failing. So that's a good time to go in there and use PEX, get switched over to PEX fittings and go from there and use the threaded connection where you and then take that into That reducer.

[00:08:52] Eric Goranson: And if you're going to that, then it's not that hard to get over into, into packs and go from there. And then you've got a nice, durable [00:09:00] connection. That's going to last and later you can come back. And when you want to replace farther back from that, you can get in there, take that connection apart and continue on.

[00:09:09] Eric Goranson: And it's not a bad way to go. And it's going to be something that now all of a sudden, if you can get in there and change it out, now you've got a shower system, that's giving you more water and no rust stains in the bottom of the toilet or the shower or whatever, and anytime you've got that galvanized pipe going, it's just going to get worse and you're going to get less and less flow.

[00:09:29] Eric Goranson: And that's stuff that you got to tackle. Those homes that were built in the sixties and even seventies with galvanized pipe in it. If you still have it in the house, you're going to be fighting it. So it's a great thing to do. Get as much out of as you can tackle that project, make your repair, but just use the correct fittings when you do it.

[00:09:46] Eric Goranson: Now when we come back, we're going to talk about pecs here and using the right pecs for the project Because there's more than one type we'll do that just as soon as around the house returns[00:10:00]

[00:10:10] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show the next generation of home improvement, thanks for joining us today Hey, if you want to get ahold of us, head over to around the house online. com. And if you've got a home improvement question, you want to make a comment, you can message me there at the website around the house online.

[00:10:24] Eric Goranson: com, or you can give a call at our message line there at 833 239 4144, where we can help you with your home improvement questions. That number again, is 833 239 4144. 8 3 3 2 3 9 4 1 4 4. And if you listen to the end of the segment here, if you don't have something to write with, I will give it at the end of the segment here.

[00:10:43] Eric Goranson: So listen through this and you'll be able to catch that number one more time. Then you can save it in your phone or you can just head over to around the house online. com. We've been talking about my tips to make a great plumbing project. And some of those just really great places where [00:11:00] you can get tripped up or cause unintended consequences.

[00:11:03] Eric Goranson: On that project. And that's what we're talking about today. And we just got done talking about understanding building code and not using those push to connect sharp bike fittings. They just, in my opinion, don't hold up. And now we're going to talk about the different types of packs and packs is that cross length plastic pipe that you see a new homes today, and it works really well, and you just need to know the different types, but most of the time, There's basically three different ones out there.

[00:11:34] Eric Goranson: We're going to talk about two here, which is pex A and pex B. Now, if you think of pex A, that is the expansion pex. And what I mean by that is it takes an expansion tool. And what there is, as you can tell by looking at it, there's a, when it's installed, there's a little like white opaque collar around the outside.

[00:11:55] Eric Goranson: And you slide that over the end of the cut PEX pipe. You put the expansion tool [00:12:00] in, it stretches it out. And then this stuff has memory. So you push the fitting in and in a couple seconds, it shrinks back around it and you have a solid fitting again. Now, one of the reasons that I like PEX A is that when you're fishing it through a wall, you're doing something with it.

[00:12:14] Eric Goranson: If you get a kink in it, that kink will push itself back out and basically self repair itself, which is a solid thing. Pex B, which actually uses a crimp ring around the outside of it. It does not. So if you kink it, you need to get a repair in there or get a different piece of pipe because that stuff doesn't do that.

[00:12:35] Eric Goranson: Now here's the big difference between the two of those. If you hold a PEX A elbow up and a PEX B elbow up, you will see there is a massive interior diameter size difference between the two. PEX A flows a ton more water than PEX B. And that's just the way, because you're expanding out the fitting or the pipe.

[00:12:59] Eric Goranson: So the [00:13:00] fitting can go in there the other way, you're sliding a smaller fitting inside the pipe. So every time that you do an elbow, a connection, you're now reducing that half inch pipe. Down to something much, much smaller. So when you're designing out using a PEX product with a PEX B now you go, Hey, I can buy a crimp ring tool for inexpensive, depending on which one you get.

[00:13:24] Eric Goranson: There's some really cheap ones that you can get on Amazon and online. And of course it's your local home center and there's the more plumber based ones out there, which of course are more, more expensive, but depending on the quality of tool you're going to use. But here's the thing, those crimp rings, they do work, but the problem is you need to upsize the pipe.

[00:13:42] Eric Goranson: So what you would normally say is, Hey, I'm running half inch out here to do this tub shower. You need to be running at least three quarters, depending on the length. You might need one inch to get that out there. So these are things you need to know those calculations. So you can make sure that of course have the right flow to it, [00:14:00] because if you do And now all of a sudden you've got this really big problem with flow.

[00:14:07] Eric Goranson: So that's why PECS A is really the best one out of those. Now the tools are more expensive, but you can go down and rent them from many tool rental centers, or if you're doing a project, buy the tool. But I tell you what, it is the more reliable one. And since PECS A has such a higher burst strength, that's the thing that's cool.

[00:14:24] Eric Goranson: That basically has a 500 PSI burst strength. So it takes a lot. To bust that open. And then if you get a freeze many times, as long as it's not in a plastic fitting or something like that, if you've got a freeze in the pipe, in most cases that will return back and not be an issue, so it will stretch. But that memory lets that come back once it thaws out.

[00:14:45] Eric Goranson: So it's a, not a bad little way to go in something that's going to be burst. Now. Any material that's come out there that is a man made product like this, there were some early issues with some of them. And there were some recalls out there with some of them, especially when you looked [00:15:00] at the, the color, the red and the blue, and there've been some issues with that product.

[00:15:04] Eric Goranson: But the new stuff coming out right now is solid. I have no problem with it. And if you do this stuff correctly, it will really hold up. And so think about doing that using the right materials. But if you're doing repairs, PEX B is fine. There's no problem with that product. I just think that PEX A is a better system all around.

[00:15:23] Eric Goranson: So if you're going to start and do those repairs, I recommend PEX A for the durability and just how it's going to hold up in the house. Now, the next thing I want to talk about here is an important one, and this is something that we really need to jump in. And have a great discussion about, and that's venting.

[00:15:40] Eric Goranson: Now, venting in your drain waste vent system is key. And really when it comes to letting water drain out of a toilet, bathtub, sink, whatever that's coming out of, you need to understand how the airflow works because That air is just as important as [00:16:00] creating that slope and everything else for that water to go out into your sewer system, out to the street or into your septic tank or whatever you're doing, wherever that water is going, having that venting system is as important as everything else.

[00:16:15] Eric Goranson: And so that's why a number of years ago, and again, this is one of those things, if you walk into your home center. You can find all of those things out there, which are S traps and things like that, which don't meet current building code. So anytime that you have, you go into the store going, Hey, I need to replace this trap.

[00:16:31] Eric Goranson: And it's dropping down to the middle of the floor. There's no vent that you can see. And it's in the middle of the floor of the cabinet. That's probably an S trap, or you should take a look at it. And you have a venting problem that needs to be done and repaired correctly. And that is something that, uh, you need to do right, and it's something that you really need to understand how that venting works.

[00:16:51] Eric Goranson: Because you do need to have a stack for that, so that you have something working correctly for you. Because that vent stack is the key to letting those sewer gases [00:17:00] escape, otherwise you're escaping into your house. So if you get a gurgling drain because there's not the right vent, That's displacing sewer gas into your home.

[00:17:10] Eric Goranson: And that is something that you don't want to have. That can be a health hazard that can be bad for you. That is stuff that you do not need in your house. That is unhealthy. So really it's about doing the vent correctly. Now there are air admittance valves, which are these kind of cheater vents that you see out there, but you need to do the research before you even say, Oh, I'm just going to use a cheater event in this because.

[00:17:31] Eric Goranson: One, you need to know where it goes in two. You need to understand it might not even meet building code in your area. You need to have no matter what a solid main vent stack in the house. And if you've got a kitchen sink and an Island, maybe that's a location for that, but that vent is key to make sure that system works correctly.

[00:17:51] Eric Goranson: So again, we're gonna go back to rule number one on that. Make sure that you understand your local building code of where you can use those and where you can't. [00:18:00] And then there's sizing, make sure you get the right size. Where's it located? How high it is. There's a lot of little details here. And when in doubt with this type of thing, bring in your licensed and bonded plumber, because they understand it.

[00:18:13] Eric Goranson: They understand locally what you can do and what you can't. Now, I promised you here at the beginning of this episode here, at the beginning of this segment, that I would give you our phone number here. So that number is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. That number again is 833 239 4144 and, uh, save that on your phone, write it down and, uh, you can be able to catch us here at the show if you have home improvement questions.

[00:18:38] Eric Goranson: And of course, take a look at our almost 400 videos that we have over on our YouTube playlist, and you can find all that information over at AroundTheHouseOnline. com. We'll be right back after these important messages. Don't go anywhere.

[00:18:56] Eric Goranson: Back[00:19:00]

[00:19:12] Eric Goranson: to the Around the House show. This is your next generation of home improvement. Thanks for joining me today. We have got the smartest audience at home improvement out there. And I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Eric G. Well, if you missed last week's episode, this is something you might want to go check back on the podcast player or wherever you're listening to the show, because we dove into a deep dive on affordable housing and what we can do to make sure that people really understand.

[00:19:38] Eric Goranson: What's causing homes to get expensive and what really is the process of fixing that? And I have some solid solutions for you that I think we can make some big changes, but it takes you people out there in our audience to help do that. So take a listen to that show. There's a great to do list built within that of things that we can do to make sure that people that are out there renting [00:20:00] now that are wanting to get to be homeowners, but I can't afford to be, what can we do to get housing more reasonable in that way?

[00:20:07] Eric Goranson: We can really help people get into homes and build that American dream out there. So take a look at that and you can find us on any podcast player out there. If there's one that you can't find us on, let me know and send me a message over to around the house, online. com. And I'll make sure because there's new podcast players all the time out there, but just look for the around the house show.

[00:20:26] Eric Goranson: And you'll see that to house logo with Eric G and you'll see it right there. And we own the trademark for around the house. So this is the original around the house show. We've been going for 36 years. We're talking today about my tips for a great plumbing project. And we're just talking about making sure that the venting is done correctly for any of those plumbing projects you're working on and making sure that is correct.

[00:20:50] Eric Goranson: And that is something that you should pay attention to as well on this is that building code is changing all the time. Now, every couple of years, major [00:21:00] changes to the plumbing code And it's something that you can really take a look at online and see what is going on each state, city, county, depending on when my state here, it's a state of Oregon that really runs things here and same with the state of Washington.

[00:21:14] Eric Goranson: And then you will have sometimes a city, for instance, like the city of Portland or one of these places around me. That will maybe do some additions to that code, but really what code are they taking in? What is going to be it? And you can understand what's going on there and that will really help you. So you can take a look and understand that code through there.

[00:21:31] Eric Goranson: So you're following those rules correctly. Now, here's the next one. And I think this is one of the most important ones here. And this is knowing when you're over your head, knowing when you like, ah, I think I know what I'm doing. But I'm questioning what I know what I'm doing. And this might be where you need to spend the money and get a pro to come in and tackle the project for you.

[00:21:53] Eric Goranson: Maybe they'll do part of the rough in for you and you can take it from there, but really talk to that pro get the license [00:22:00] plumber out there. This is not where I want to see you bring in the handy person. You jump online and get one of those. This is where you want to bring in that licensed plumber that can do the job correctly, because that's where you just get those problems taken care of.

[00:22:14] Eric Goranson: There are so many things that you get in there and it's, wow, this is once you get the wall opened up and you're like, this is much more complex. Then I thought I was getting into, or you're in there and you're like, I don't feel comfortable. These pipe fittings are so close to the wall right here. Even if I put a flame protector in there and I'm going to sweat that copper, I don't feel like I can get a good job here with this.

[00:22:38] Eric Goranson: Then you bring in the pros and have them knock that out for and get it roughed in and then you can take it from there. So bring it in that plumber. It's going to be expensive. Good plumbers are not cheap. And think about it. If you take your car into the shop and they're working on that for five or six hours, your plumbers probably going to be costing more than that.

[00:22:55] Eric Goranson: That's just how it works out there these days. So you're going to have a few hundred bucks [00:23:00] or if it's a bigger project, thousands of bucks to do it. But if you're over your head, no one to say no, no one to bring in that pro. And if you do it right, you don't want to, here's the thing, I don't want to see you unless you have to bring in that pro on the after hours stuff on the Saturday afternoon or holiday pay or whatever else.

[00:23:19] Eric Goranson: That's when they get you hard on those things. If you can get on their schedule, plan it out, have them come over and knock it out. It's usually not that big of a deal, but making sure. And then here's the other thing too, I say, when you're bringing plumbers in most cases, um, Yeah. Is let them bring their parts, because here's the thing.

[00:23:38] Eric Goranson: If you are supplying the parts for this, you're in charge of making sure that the right parts are there and that they don't typically warranty the parts in many cases. If you're buying them, so let them bring the parts, let them handle it. Let them use what they think for that. It's different. If you've got your own toilet, if you're going to buy your own toilet or your shower valve or that kind of stuff, I get that.

[00:23:59] Eric Goranson: But [00:24:00] letting the pros bring it in and having their warranty on it is a much better plan. So that's a big one. And that's just the secret to having that pro come out and do it. So bring in that licensed plumber, make sure you get the right one. Take a look at their Google reviews is a good one. Here's the thing.

[00:24:17] Eric Goranson: A lot of these review places like Yelp and the bitter business bureau and stuff. These guys are making money on reviews and many of these people like the better business bureau. I don't trust as a resource because you can actually, and you've heard me say this before, if you're a regular listener, but I'm just going to say it for all the new people out there catching the show.

[00:24:35] Eric Goranson: They, in my area, especially if I want to buy off and get a accredited rating with those guys and raise my scores, I can write a check to them. And my review is better. And they, their argument is that you're accredited now, but they didn't do anything. They didn't go do research on you. They just put an accredited stamp on it.

[00:24:54] Eric Goranson: So it's my opinion that that is not a good solid place. Check with your local licensing board. If [00:25:00] you are looking for a plumber and get ahold of your state plumbing licensing board, talk to them, see if they've had any lawsuits, take a look online. Many states and cities and counties and municipalities have licensing and they have a place for you to take a look at all that.

[00:25:15] Eric Goranson: As a consumer. So you can get the right people for the right job. So next one here is, this is an important one here using brand name products for fixtures. Now this is a big one and this is where people make a lot of mistakes, saving a little bit of money here and there. For instance, I don't buy the store brand toilets.

[00:25:37] Eric Goranson: There's store brand toilets out there. I do not. I go out and buy toilets. I buy a good one. Because a good one's going to save you money in the long run. If you look at being able to get repair parts down the road and having something that's going to perform those store brand toilets are just low quality bottom of the builder, basic toilets.

[00:25:59] Eric Goranson: [00:26:00] And with today's technology, with the water flow, you need to have something good. My favorite brand, as it gets out to toilets and they do not pay me a dime for this. I have used Toto for a number of years, probably close to 20. And if you don't know who Toto is, they are the largest toilet manufacturer in the world.

[00:26:20] Eric Goranson: They make more toilets than American Standard and Kohler combined. These guys, you won't find them in the home centers typically. But they make beautiful stuff. And when you're talking toilets, you want that toilet to be able to, if it's a one gallon flush, he want this to work correctly. You want to be able to hit the flush button and have everything go away.

[00:26:41] Eric Goranson: And then there are some things out there that you can do to make sure that they last. And for instance, with Toto, They have that porcelain coating that's on there like many toilets do, but they put a nano coating on top of that, which repels things that makes it basically like a Teflon nonstick [00:27:00] coating on it.

[00:27:01] Eric Goranson: And so what happens is you have a toilet that is easier to keep clean. Now, if you go spend a bunch of money, they have toilets now that are completely 100 percent self cleaning. They missed under the seat. They keep things clean. And other than maybe a quick wipe down or the cloth to get the dust off the top, there's not much that's needed to clean these toilets.

[00:27:26] Eric Goranson: And the difference is too, is when you look at these higher grade toilets, Is that the trap area. So basically below the waterline in that toilet, as you go into the opening where the waste goes out, they actually put that porcelain coating in it's much bigger area as well. So sheesh, 10 years ago, you would see, it was funny.

[00:27:46] Eric Goranson: They would do a test at the trade shows where they had one hooked up and they would flush down a bucket of golf balls. With a single flush. So that was crazy how well that stuff worked. And so that is how they [00:28:00] would do that. And so what's cool with this is that they make those nice and big. So you have no flow restrictions.

[00:28:06] Eric Goranson: And what happens is, and this is where things get messed up in a toilet is when you flush it. And there's little defects in that porcelain underneath there. That's why some toilets love to clog up. It's because even though you're flushing stuff down there, the trap is so small. It's unfinished. So it's just like a raw ceramic, like the backside of a ceramic tile with nothing on it.

[00:28:29] Eric Goranson: And all of a sudden you've got this area that doesn't want to let things flow by it quickly and smoothly. And so that's where you get the bad design, the production flaws with it. And you just get a great looking toilet if you buy something nicer. So take a look at the total ones out there, go around the house and be right back.

[00:28:46] Eric Goranson: Don't go anywhere. We got more coming up after these important messages.[00:29:00]

[00:29:18] Eric Goranson: To the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement, I'm Eric G thanks for joining me today. And again, if you want to find out more information, if you're catching us on the talk media network out on the radio, thanks for joining us. You can get more information about us over to round the house online.

[00:29:32] Eric Goranson: com. And if you're on the podcast, which is available on just about any podcast player out there, you Thanks for joining me there as well. And especially all of the different streaming networks out there that we're on. Thanks for catching our show here. And if you miss something or you didn't know that we have almost, I think we have over now a thousand episodes in our back catalog.

[00:29:52] Eric Goranson: You can check that out over at around the house, online. com or your favorite podcast player. And we have usually up there on [00:30:00] Apple and those a few hundred of those, but we do have a subscription network. Where you can get back there for less than a price of a cup of coffee and go uh, back and listen to all our rowback episodes where we tackle a lot of different projects and have some amazing guests on over the years.

[00:30:16] Eric Goranson: So there's a lot back there for you to tune into in that. And that's a great way to go. You can find out more of that and around the house online. com. We've been talking today about my tips to a great plumbing project. And we were starting to talk about last segment here about using brand name products in that plumbing project.

[00:30:34] Eric Goranson: And this is another good one here that I want you to really consider. Anytime you're building in plumbing, use the best stuff you can afford. Now I'm talking about, maybe it's that tub shower valve or the shower valve that's going in there with the body sprays, anything that you're permanently mounting in a wall.

[00:30:53] Eric Goranson: This is where you want to buy the good stuff. And there, here's some secrets about [00:31:00] plumbing good stuff out there. Let's talk about it for a minute. When you walk into a home center, many companies will have different grade products in the home center than their plumbing retailer that you see in your local town.

[00:31:15] Eric Goranson: And here's what happens. And this is because we've talked about this in previous episodes. So bear with me, if you've heard this before from me, but what happens is, is home centers and big box retailers that want to have a product in there, they'll go to company X and say, Hey, I need the shower valve that you're selling for 300 bucks.

[00:31:35] Eric Goranson: I need this at two 49 price point. And they're like, we can't build it for that. What if we do the same version, but do it in plastic? Okay. All of a sudden the brass was taken out of it and there's a lot more plastic parts, less metal, and maybe that part's not made in the U S that's now being made overseas.

[00:31:54] Eric Goranson: So you're seeing some of that where you have the same model numbers, but if you go buy one at your [00:32:00] local plumbing retailer, go to your home center, you'll notice the boxes are different and that's so they can keep track of what's going away. So you'll notice that the retail packaging for the home centers might be different.

[00:32:11] Eric Goranson: That's one of the clues that I've seen that you'll see they'll have different color boxes or different packaging. It's not always the case, but always take a look and see you might be worth paying that extra 20 bucks more for the plumbing retailer to get a higher quality product and something that might last you a little bit longer.

[00:32:28] Eric Goranson: Now, when you're doing this, I am always worried about online retailers. Now there are certain ones out there that are good. But anytime that you're jumping on an online retailer and buying a built in plumbing fixture, you are taking life into your own hands. Cause here's what I could do. I could walk down to my local home Depot store and buy a Kohler faucet right off the shelf.

[00:32:53] Eric Goranson: I can come back here at my house. And I can sit there, get ahold of somebody over in China. Plenty of websites I can do that [00:33:00] with. I can tell them, Hey, I want you to make this faucet in this packaging like this. And if customs and border protection doesn't catch it coming back in now, I've got pallets of this stuff showing up and I can sell it on the, on the online retailer and guess what?

[00:33:15] Eric Goranson: They knocked it off. It's like coach purses or anything else out there you're seeing. But the problem is that the repair parts, when you go to fix it down the road, because it's made out of probably inferior parts. All of a sudden you figured out that the repair parts don't fit and now you have to replace the whole thing So be really careful with on ramp online retailers because I know talking to my friends in the plumbing industry How many times they have people coming in going?

[00:33:40] Eric Goranson: I need a valve extension for this and they're like that that's not what that is. No, that's here's the box That's a knockoff So make sure that you're buying all of your plumbing fixtures from a known source of where it's coming from You So that way, you know what you're getting because I want to make sure that you're doing it and don't scrimp on those built in [00:34:00] pieces because the last thing I want to see you do is go have to tear out your beautiful shower project or your beautiful tub project and tear out tile, tear out a wall to get in behind it.

[00:34:12] Eric Goranson: And make sure that you now you're replacing pieces. You don't want to have to do I want you to be able to get replacement parts for it and be able to do that And that's one of the problems that you see with some of these off brands out there the no name ones or or you jump on Amazon or one of those and buy them the cheap sets.

[00:34:28] Eric Goranson: That's the house flipper mistake as I see it And so many people buy that flipped house and you see those plumbing fixtures in there, like, Oh, that looks gorgeous. If there's no name brand on it, be wary. If you don't see a little D for the Delta, or if you don't see a Moen or a Pfister or one of those different brands, Kohler, American standard, whatever on it.

[00:34:48] Eric Goranson: Be, be wary because now all of a sudden you've got a product in there that you probably will have to replace sooner than later. And the other thing I want you to talk about here too, before we get [00:35:00] into The next one is making sure that you have your water quality under control before you take on that new bathroom or kitchen or whatever else, because water quality is key.

[00:35:12] Eric Goranson: And this is one of those things we're going to talk about in the future here. But so many times they see people, Oh, I just did a brand new bathroom model. Spend all my money on that. It's great. But man, that hard water is already making, you should have gotten that under control. So one of the first things in your house that I want to see you do.

[00:35:28] Eric Goranson: Is test your water, see what you got and get a fixed and design that system around it. Do you have a lot of chlorine in it? Do you have a lot of heavy metals in it? Is hard water destroying your water heater, your washing machine, your dishwasher, your ice maker on your fridge? Is it destroying all that stuff?

[00:35:50] Eric Goranson: Let alone your toilet, your showers and the tubs. Make sure that or even worse out on your sprinklers and stuff outside. Is it putting stuff on the side of the house and making your [00:36:00] house look chalky because of the poor water quality? Now I'm not saying you need to treat the water going out your sprinklers, but think about what that's doing to your house and your fixtures.

[00:36:10] Eric Goranson: It can really reduce the life. And that causes other maintenance issues like your water heater. If you've got a hard water, you should probably, if you haven't been doing it, you probably next time you replace it, do it, but really go through once a year, turn the water heater off, flush it out, make sure you get all the scale buildup out of the inside of it and make sure that you do that maintenance on it and get that cleaned out and then make sure that you're running your, your scale remover out of your washing machine, your dishwasher.

[00:36:38] Eric Goranson: And then your coffee makers as well, because if you've got hard water, that is going to, that's the fastest way to throw away a coffee maker is not doing that to scaling process through there. Because anytime it's heating water, it's getting buildup on that, which means it's less efficient. You have cooler hot water.

[00:36:55] Eric Goranson: And then of course, on top of that, you've got that buildup and that will at a point, especially like [00:37:00] with the currigs and some of those out there, there's a point that thing just shuts down and you'll never get it back to working again. And once it stops moving water, it's done. You're tossing it away because it's too expensive to fix.

[00:37:10] Eric Goranson: So make sure you got your water quality under control. And these days do some testing. See if you've got PFAS, do you have forever chemicals in your water? That's a new thing that we're seeing. We talked about it in the show, but understanding what that is. And if you're on a well, this is even more important because you're the only person that's testing that water.

[00:37:28] Eric Goranson: Typically. And make sure that your well water is good. You can have problems in well water for instance Like radon and things like that could be really damaging to you And that can be really tough because when you're standing in the shower full of steam You could be breathing in radon So just double check on that to make sure that your water quality is exactly where you want it to be So pay attention to that guys It's something super important and that is the first thing I would be doing when I move into a house You Is checking that online and there's a lot of places you can do [00:38:00] And take a look at my friends over at king water filtration They do have a thing over on their website over there where they will Ask your zip code and you could put your zip code in and see what your water Has from that so just go over to king water filtration.

[00:38:14] Eric Goranson: Take a look there And they do have a finder over there that you can see at least what's in your municipal water in your area. So that'll help you out. All right, guys. Hey, this has been a great one talking about my, my favorite things to tackle on these plumbing projects as far as tips. And then the last one I just want to mention before we go out here at the end of the show is just make sure that you've got quality tools.

[00:38:34] Eric Goranson: If you've got a good tubing cutter, you've got good parts, good pieces, good saw, and then make sure that you follow the directions on any of the pieces you're using. If you're gluing pipe together, make sure that you're using a primer and the pipe glue cement and doing that correctly. And if you're going to use the primer in one, all in one, just make sure you're doing that.

[00:38:53] Eric Goranson: So just make sure you're following those best practices and using all the right hangers and all the right stuff to make sure [00:39:00] the things are tied down and protected. From somebody with sheet rock nails and screws and that kind of stuff. So that'll help you out on your next project. Hey, if you want to find out more about us, head over to around the house online.

[00:39:13] Eric Goranson: com and you can find us more information there, including our phone number, which is 8 3 3 2 3 9 41 44. That number again is 8 3 3 2 3 9 4 1 4 4. I'm Eric G and you've been listening to around the house.