Water Heaters in the Attic

This job was scarier than that movie with the similar name.

It got done, though. Easy Peasy, it was.....

Water Heater 98226 Barkley Plumbing

Water Heaters Bellingham

Rust in Water

Rusty water is getting rare because of all plastic piping from the water meter to every faucet in the house. When I get a call about it, it's frustrating. All it takes is one steel pipe in the system to create problems. These before and after photos is the perfect example and I stumbled on it by accident.

 

Check your water heater!

This beauty was located in the rental house's crawlspace. The water was boiling inside the 240 volt connection box causing steam to rise into the bathroom directly above. The tenants noticed steam and all sorts of exotic mold when opening the drawers.

Yikes.

July 1 Washington State Contractor Law Changes

 Quote:

General contractors who are offering, advertising, and/or bidding on projects that require plumbing work to be completed, beginning July 1, 2021, must subcontract that work to a licensed plumbing contractor. 

That means that all contractors (including house flippers and r.e. agents) must hire a licensed plumbing contractor to work on your plumbing.

Wait! There's more!

 Quote:

Plumbing contractors must designate to L&I, a certified plumber as the “dedicated plumber” for their company. This could be an owner/partner or a full-time employee.

That means there has to be a licensed plumber working for every single plumbing company and that's a very great thing. Not all companies in Whatcom have licensed plumbers working for them.

Electricians have had to have a certified electrician since Day One, so this law isn't new to Washington state, just to the plumbing industry.

The law goes deeper than those two points, but from my p.o.v., they're the most important. 

Note that there is a hard deadline of September 1, 2021 to accommodate the slackin' existing plumbing contractors to complete the paperwork--all two forms. I mailed my paperwork today.

Washing machine stoppage

 Had a call out to one of those 70 year old houses on Sunset for a washing machine stoppage. My snake couldn't get past the "saxophone trap." The drains are original; Durham and galvanized steel.

I cut out the trap and found this hard rubber tubing stuck in the stand pipe along with decades of built up crud. I replaced the trap, standpipe, and the drain to the closest Durham fitting.

Washing machine stoppage

The Month of Kitchen Sinks!

Before Barkley Plumbing

 

After Barkley Plumbing

New disposer and sink drains with a healthy dose of plumbing experience got this otherwise nice kitchen functioning again.

Dishwasher Air gaps

 It's Washington code to have an airgap installed on a dishwasher. It's purpose is to prevent dirty water from backflowing into the dishwasher. It must be installed a minimum 1" above flood level, which is the top of the sink. It's discharge has to be before the p-trap.

 Pretty basic stuff.

The residential airgap has been redundant for decades. 

Dishwashers come with a looped drain in the back of the unit, one. Two, the dishwasher pump--the one that forces the water out--has an internal check valve preventing water to go back into the machine. derp...

Now, why am I ranting? Lookie here:

Bellingham dishwasher air gap

This air gap is installed under the sink, then covered by insulation! The reason it was installed under the sink is the beautiful countertop only has one hole for the faucet.

That's the third one in two weeks! Guys, air gaps leak eventually and if you put them under the sink it will damage the cabinet, wall, and floor.

Insurance won't cover the damage because of glaring code violation.

By the way, the insulation was a first for me. The owner said it's a "Canadian thing" and shall remain. And so it does.