Blaine Kitchen Faucet

Finally got these Semiahoo snowbirds to replace their kitchen faucet. Mr. Snowbird didn't have much choice, as the old one was leaking into a bucket.

The drain was clogged, too, but I'll spare you the pictures of that.

Old kitchen faucet (Lowes Kohler, I think):

New kitchen faucet (Delta faucet bought from us):

The new one has a pull-out spray head with a steel braided hose:

Water Saving Toilets

Anyone older than my pipe wrench remembers when toilets usually worked with one flush. It's getting harder to find ones that flushes waste, washes the bowl, has a decent water spot (the amount of water in the bowl) and most importantly, gets the waste down the sewer.

Today's toilets offer challenges to the plumber and the consumer. We use a very basic model with no gimmicks or big price tags. It has normal, everyday parts in the tank and we get almost zero complaints.

water leak, Mt. Vernon, Wa

It's been said that plastic pipe is easier to work with. I think this has been said by someone who hasn't had to repair it.

This leak was showing up a few feet away from the pipe through a crack in the driveway. Some-other-plumbing-company wanted to replace the whole line for a lot of money, but the building owner (commercial place) called us for a second opinion. It took him a second to hire us and we completed the repair in less time it took that-other-company to write their estimate.

Slab leak in Bellingham

Luckily for plumbers and homeowners alike, there aren't too many homes built on poured slabs. This job had an ongoing leak that was repaired---not by us--a long time ago. The repair itself leaked for years, but wasn't discovered until another leak happened.

New leak:

Bad repair:

DIY Garbage Disposers

Some sinks aren't piped correctly for a garbage disposer because the house plumbing predates them, the original builder didn't want one or the piping was installed incorrectly.

This doesn't stop a lot of people from installing one, though, and from water's p.o.v., it's like installing a tire that is a different size than the others.

This disposer is a perfect example. The installer reversed the p-trap and a few other things that are beyond me:

I took the garbage disposer out, installed a new strainer, trap, and reconnected the dishwasher:

DIY Garage Apartment in Bellingham, WA

Sometimes, people really amaze me. Without getting into the who, where, or why of this job, the customer hired not-a-plumber to bootleg a kitchen and washing machine into a garage. Money and time was spent before it all went bad due to old, open permits on the legal unfinished bathroom in the garage.

My camera committed suicide while taking these photos, so the camera phone will have to do.

This photo has two different plastics glued together using primer and ABS glue, the washing machine hose tied into the sewer (they used long w.m. hoses behind walls and through studs, no p-trap):

This is some of what I cut out. If a plumber ever had a bad acid trip, this is what he would see:

The people who framed the legal bathroom got into the act and put a nail through the pipe app 6" below finished floor:

Toilets

Ball Plumbing does toilets, too.

This 20 y.o. toilet was in a master bathroom of a nicer Bellingham home. Notice the leak in the back.

This is its replacement. It's a Comfort Height (a few inches higher bowl) model with a slow closing lid: