DIY automotive vs DIY plumbing

[BrandoJames]

I retired two years ago (DoD computer nerd for 30 years). I’ve spent a lot of my free time on DIY automotive repair/maintenance for my extended family. I recently took on some DIY plumbing tasks and learned a few painful lessons. After stripping a faucet and cracking a toilet tank, the main takeaway: you can’t wrench on plumbing fixtures the way you wrench on automotive fixtures.

A YouTube plumber put it this way: toilets, bathtubs and sinks don’t speed down the highway at 70 mph. They’re stationary, so there’s no need to arm-strong fasteners like you would with automotive work. For those of you who are just starting out with DIY plumbing jobs, a few suggestions:

1. Water cut-off: My toilets have cut-off valves, but most of my plumbing fixtures do not (old house). Go to your breaker box, find the breaker that cuts off your water (I have an electric pump/well). Then turn on faucets to drain the water going into your house before doing anything.
2. If you're going to use a ratchet, use a 1/4” ratchet. Don’t arm-strong anything.
3. Say hello to SAE sizes. If most of your tools are metric, then you’ll need to buy some SAE tools.
4. Power tools = No. Hand tools only unless you’re a pro or experienced DIYer.

I hope that helps the newbies out there. Good luck.

 

[qqzj]

Cool. I hate plumbing work. Can be very dirty and gross. I hope you won't have to do this for your extended family.

Also get some soft jaw pliers and a lot of adjustable wrenches.

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[2ndGearRubber]

I find a lot of plumbing fixtures are neither metric nor sae. Just adjustable wrench sized.

 

[Outlander]

plumbers should be billionaires. Can't stand even the easiest of jobs!

 

[RoundedNut]

Still working on the crack, may need to get different pants. Other than that, I can do basic jobs to save some cash. We have hard water so the values and seals get worn quickly.

 

[joe_padavano]

I stopped reading after "YouTube plumber"

 

[Buckaroo5]

Got into serious plumbing diy jobs when renovating an old house years ago. I don't mind working on fairly new plumbing but older fittings can just crumble in your hands. When I look at that type of job, my question is always, "How far back am I going to need to go?". My best advice is don't start a job that you need to finish that day unless the hardware store is going to be open. Another good piece of advice is before you start, know where the whole house shut-off is and make sure it's working.

 

[BrandoJames]

Also get some soft jaw pliers and a lot of adjustable wrenches.

I definitely don't have "soft jaw pliers", can you recommend a specific brand? I did a quick check on Amazon: the Knipex look nice, but expensive ($50). For occasional DIY use, the Stanley-Proto may be a better value at $25.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AY0JUJ2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001937V2W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[BrandoJames]

I stopped reading after "YouTube plumber"

Lol. Maybe you can start a GJ plumbing forum (no sarcasm). I'm surprised that there's not a plumbing forum here. At least I haven't been able to find it.

 

[Locker537]

While the advice really works for anything, it is especially true when dealing with water.

Know how to shut it off prior to starting the work. Demoing a bathroom...quadruple check where the supply lines are. I cut one with a sawzall.

 

[Dave455]

I don’t mind electrical work, but hate plumbing.

Reckon I might make sparks flow uphill but don’t fancy my chances with water. Maintaining two houses and a workshop though, I sometimes just have to do it.

Like anything else, use decent tools. The crappy tools sold to plumbers seem to be even crappier than the ones sold to mechanics. The GJ favourites, the Knipex Cobra and Pliers Wrench are invaluable for plumbing tasks.

Even decent plumbing fittings are cheap, so I keep a load in the shop, and also the common stuff such as tap inserts.

I’ll tackle the simple stuff, but with a bit of experience now, I know when a jobs going to start becoming more grief than it costs, so I know when to get someone in.

There used to be a British firm called Garrington, who manufactured all manner of strange shaped wrenches, mostly adjustables. I never knew why you would need so many till I started doing plumbing jobs and found out.

A Garrington “Lapwing” shown!

 

[JRC3]

Lol. Maybe you can start a GJ plumbing forum (no sarcasm). I'm surprised that there's not a plumbing forum here. At least I haven't been able to find it.

That's what the TerryLove forum is for. https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Go to your breaker box, find the breaker that cuts off your water.

You had me for a second there...


Unless it's new construction, I approach any plumbing job assuming it's going to take at least 3 times as long as I expect. Something is always stuck, broken, seized, rusted in place, impossible to re-route. Sometimes the best way is to remove everything and start over.

As far as tools, I feel plumbing is where you want quality pliers. I know it gets harped on a lot, but Knipex Cobras are far superior to Channellocks in this respect. You want something easy to adjust with good, sharp teeth. Don't skimp on pipe wrenches either.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you're working on a kitchen sink and have to tighten/loosen a sink strainer nut like this

Go grab your Channellock oil wrench pliers.

 

[lardy1]

Other than crawling under houses and the often dirty conditions, I like plumbing.

 

[LeeG]

When I was a kid, I spent half a Christmas vacation helping repair a frozen/ruptured sewer line in a crawl space. I have no idea how much my Dad made on that job, but a few days laying in almost frozen sewage did a great job of making sure I went to college.

I’ve started doing some plumbing DIY, but my childhood experience scarred me.

 

[speed bump]

Plumbing isn't bad until it is. The only plumbing jobs I have done that I would happily never do again involved cold weather (-30 or worse) or a torch in a tight crawl space.

 

[Odd-job]

Power tools have their place in plumbing. Although not as good of a variety as auto and much more limited applications. Drain snakes and transfer pumps come to mind. When the sawzall comes out it’s usually a bad sign.

 

[theoldwizard1]

1. Water cut-off: My toilets have cut-off valves, but most of my plumbing fixtures do not (old house).

Every "water appliance" has stop valves all less than 30 years old. Everyone is seized and I know, internally, they are plastic so you dare not put a wrench on them. Most a "sweat" connections.

If I ever build a house or re-do major plumbing, I will install 1/4 turn stop valves that are connected to the copper with compression fittings.

 

[theoldwizard1]

If you're working on a kitchen sink and have to tighten/loosen a sink strainer nut like this

Go grab your Channellock oil wrench pliers.

So a few years back I get a phone call from one of my computer buddies. He in turn is over at one of his friends house and they want to replace the garbage disposer. Not one of them has an ONCE of DIY experience !

So, over the phone, I tell them to disconnect the drain pipe and dishwasher drain, remove the electrical connection. Now it get tricky. Find the "disposer tool". After 5 minutes of rummaging around in kitchen junk drawers they find it. Try to explain to someone. over the phone, with zero experience, where to insert it !

Installation, of course, is just the reverse. They got it done !!

 

[qqzj]

Just reading this makes me cringe [emoji1787] I hope government sends serial killers to do that for life.

For soft jaw pliers, the stanley proto one looks good.

When I was a kid, I spent half a Christmas vacation helping repair a frozen/ruptured sewer line in a crawl space. I have no idea how much my Dad made on that job, but a few days laying in almost frozen sewage did a great job of making sure I went to college.

I’ve started doing some plumbing DIY, but my childhood experience scarred me.

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[LOW1]

Sharkbites and pex are your friends.
Another major difference is in the lack of part numbers. If you need to replace the struts on your car you can just look at a parts book and order one that fits. But houses are all different and it takes practice to lay out for example a drain line . Getting the right part and fitting it correctly are vital.

Unlike with cars plumbing is not usually fixable with a BFH.

And buy a good plunger and drain trap cleaner.

 

[RTM]

So a few years back I get a phone call from one of my computer buddies. He in turn is over at one of his friends house and they want to replace the garbage disposer. Not one of them has an ONCE of DIY experience !

So, over the phone, I tell them to disconnect the drain pipe and dishwasher drain, remove the electrical connection. Now it get tricky. Find the "disposer tool". After 5 minutes of rummaging around in kitchen junk drawers they find it. Try to explain to someone. over the phone, with zero experience, where to insert it !

Installation, of course, is just the reverse. They got it done !!

I've done this with my just out of college daughter, in her first house, a year or two back. Facetime made it easy to walk her through. She has a few very competent neighbors, and one who works at Lowe's, who are all willing to offer advice as well. She has just enough confidence after watching my for her first 17 years., and helping for some of them.

I've found using pics from HD or Lowe's website helps, download it, mark it up, say look for this.

Sense of pride when it worked, and didn't leak, on her first try. I was not so lucky on my first try.

 

[joshmodelskidoo]

I rented a power snake for $50 to unclog the main pipe just after i had the septic tank pumped. Power snake and turd pipe is like going mudding!! Found out a plumber would have been about $75. I would have gladly paid more. Most plumbing doesn’t bother me but anything south of the tolet tank is a sucky job

 

[qqzj]

My daughter looks like an angel. But her bathroom sink belongs to a devil. I can't believe how much gunk I had to pull out before it flowed good again. Someone has to pay me a serious amount of dough before I willingly do this for others.

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