Fix a Leaking Shower Head - Tips You'll be Glad You Saw

Not able to sleep at night due to constant noise of the drip? No need to send sleepless nights now. Just follow the tips to fix a leaking shower head and you will no longer suffer from insomnia.
Generally the shower head leaks due to worn out rings. In such cases what you need to do is:

o Unscrew shower head and check the ring which is usually beneath the ball.
o Check the gasket .If it is worn out it leaves black soot like marks.
o Take the gasket with you to the hardware store and get the correct size of ring.
o Push the ring in place and wrap piece with Teflon tape to the threads.
o Now re-screw the shower head back and test by switching on the water supply.
o Do not over tighten as you may risk damaging the threads.
o If shower head doesn't come out use petroleum jelly or grease, leave it for an hour and then try again.
o Never try to over tighten joints as this may crack head assembly.

Another problem for leaks could be the diverter. In such cases

o Turn off the water supply
o Remove the faucet handle and then the cap.
o Using a wrench remove the diverter valve.
o Unscrew the assembly, take out the stem and check washer. If worn out take both the valve and washer.
o Clean all of the assembly and after getting the replaced parts reassemble all back.
o Turn on the water supply and check to see any drips.
o Re-tighten the shower head once again.

Now sleep in peace. You will no longer have sleepless nights due to drips.

Tips on Installing a New Shower in the Bathroom

There are two basic configurations of bathroom showers. The first is the independent shower enclosure that may be a square corner unit, a diagonal corner unit or a peninsula unit with three sides. The second is the tub and shower combination that is common in many apartments and hall bathrooms. In high-end master bedrooms or exclusive hotel suites a peninsula or corner shower is sometimes integrated with a Jacuzzi tub to create a luxury bathing and spa area.

The shower is a focal point in a bathroom and there are numerous design options for installing new or upgrading the existing unit. The wide range of ceramic and marble tiles that are available will provide endless design alternatives for the shower, as well as the complete bathroom remodel. Full or partial glass enclosures in bright aluminum or simulated brass frames can be incorporated to add a high-end appearance to the designed bathrooms. In apartments and condominiums sliding shower doors can be installed using opaque or clear glass in bright frames that will brighten the tub/shower combination.

The accent of any ceramic tile or marble installation would be the shower fixtures. The hot, cold and shower head pieces are available in numerous finishes that range from chrome to polished brass, and they are manufactured as single lever or with separated hot and cold faucets. For the tub/shower combination there are single lever with a diverter for the showers. In some instances, changing the fixtures alone will accomplish an impressive upgrade.

Selecting the correct finish and fixtures is essential when installing a new shower enclosure or upgrading the existing unit. The selection will dictate whether the remainder of the bathroom finishes should be replaced, so choosing a the right complimentary color scheme and textures could enhance the existing design. By taking time to consider the many options for a shower enclosure, the upgrade or replacement will turn out to be exactly what one had in mind.

How to Repair Kitchen Faucets

Trying to repair water faucets by yourself can be pretty frustrating and time consuming. In fact, most kitchen faucets are simple devices and are easy to fix. In this article, we will tell you the information and instruction that will help you replacing the faucet.

First of all, the hardest part is to find the right replacement parts. Most of the hardware stores carry name brand faucets (eg. Delta, Kohler, Price Pfister) replacement parts. To make sure you get the right parts, the easiest way is to take the old parts with you to the store. Buy new O-rings too. The tools you will need are one Allen wrench (you can get it from any hardware store for $6 to $12), screwdrivers, and slip-joint pliers.

Before you do anything, turn off the water supply and turn on the faucet to allow the remaining water inside the faucet to drain. Place a basin beneath the sink under the drain and pipes to catch any residual water as you work. Remove the faucet handle by loosening the set screw under the handle using an Allen wrench. Remember the order of the parts as you remove them and be sure to line them up for reassembly purpose. Clean up any residual or debris from the old faucet.

Remove the cap of the faucet using slip-joint pliers. Tape the teeth of the pliers to prevent damage of the surface. Remove the faucet cam, washer, and the rotating ball.

Fish out the old springs and packing pieces using flathead screwdriver. Grab the spout with both hands, twist and remove the spout from the faucet face.

Use a small knife or needlenose pliers to remove the old O-ring and diverter. Press the new diverter into place, coat the new O-rings with heatproof packing grease and install the new O-rings. Use both hands, reattach the spout by pressing it back into place. Install the faucet ball, the cam, and cam packing. Reassembly the faucet handle.

Turn on the water and check for leaks by placing some paper towels beneath the drain the pipes. Wait for a few minutes. If there is no water leak, your new faucet is good to go!

There are different kinds of kitchen faucets. Even though the removal of the faucet heads might be a little bit different, but the basic remains the same. No matter what kind of faucet you have, this kitchen faucet repair instructions will help you with the problem.

How to Replace a Water Filter Cartridge

How to replace a water filter cartridge on your home water filtering system. This article covers how to change both filters on a Aquasana AQ4000 filter system.

Some of this information may be helpful with any brand of filter system. Unpack the replacement filter kit and check the contents. You should have 2 replacement water filter cartridges, A and a B. Two replacement O-rings. If the O-rings are not flat lay them out and see if they will flatten out on their own this may take over night. If this does not work, put a book on them over night. The reason is if the O-rings are bowed from shipping makes then harder to make a good seal.

The first step is to lay your home water filtering system on its side. You can see on the filter caps are labeled A and B. Also arrows that indicate which way to turn to loosen each cap. Turn filter cap A to the right to unscrew or the direction the arrow points. Filter cap B should unscrew to the left or the direction of the arrow. They should only be hand tight. If they are too tight to remove by hand use the handles of a pliers to give you a little extra leverage. Be careful not to do any damage to the inlet or outlet water lines.

Water filter cartridge A will be the most difficult to remove. The seal on the top of the filter holds the cartridge in place. There is not enough room in the filter housing to get a hold of it. I find it easy to use a pair of pliers to get a hold of the filter and twist and pull to it out. Water filter cartridge B will be attached to the filter cap. Simply twist and pull the two apart. I lay the filters at each side of the filter housing. This helps to keep track of which filter is A and B. Remove both o-rings make sure the grove where they sit in is clean. Now install the two new O-rings. Put a small amount of food grade silicone based lubricant on the exposed area of each O- ring. This helps when installing the filter caps. The oil lets the caps slide easy on the rubber, which will make them seal easier. Installing them dry may let them kink and dislodge resulting in a leak.

Replacement water filter cartridge A is the white one. Install it in the A cartridge housing with the O-ring end in first. Putting some water on the rubber seal makes it slide in easier. Give it a push and turn until it is seated. The B replacement cartridge is the blue one. Install the O-ring end into the filter cap. In the same manner as the other filter. At this point, I check the O-ring to make sure they are still in place. Then go ahead and install the B filter into the B housing. Screw the B cap until it is firmly seated. Now check the other seal and install the A cap until it is firmly seated.

Keep the filter system on its side, turn on the water and activate the diverter valve. Check around the cap threads for any signs of water. If there is a little leak, try tightening the cap a little more. If this does not seal the leak, then open up that cap and check the O-ring it may have came out of its seat. Check to make sure it is not cut or damaged. If it is, the old O-ring might reseal. The other option is take one of the old seals to your local hardware store and match it up. The other step if none of these ideas work is to order a replacement seal. Now you can be reinstalled the cap as described above and check for any leaks.

If you do not see, any leaks set the AQ-4000 up right and leave the water run for about 2-3 minutes until the water runs clear. The water at first may come out cloudy or even have a black color, this is normal. Carbon dust is being cleaned out of the new filter cartridges. I save the water that used to flush out the filter system. Houseplants like the water, or put it on plants out side. To keep track of when it will be time to reinstall your next set of water filters. Write the next replacement date on a piece of tape and put it on the filter. This helps to keep track of time. They should be replaced every 6 months or 500 gallons on your home water filtering system.

To Install Gutters Or Not to Install Gutters

They divert rain water away from your foundation and landscaping. They protect the ground around your home from erosion. They keep water from pouring on your head as you enter and exit your home. They can be used to collect rain water for watering your lawn and plantings during drought times. Why wouldn't you want to install gutters on your home?

They leak. They clog. They overflow. They rob the plants around your home of a good soaking. They can cause tremendous erosion at the base of downspouts. They're ugly! They require maintenance from a dangerous rooftop or ladder. Why would you want to install gutters on your home?

There is no easy answer to the simple question: "Should I install gutters on my home, or not?" You'll simply have to weigh the pros and cons for your particular situation and decide for yourself.

The first thing to consider in making this decision is do you really need them? Take a look at the ground around your home. Does it slope away from your foundation? If it does you don't need gutters to keep water away from your foundation. If it doesn't you should probably look into some grading work before worrying about gutters anyway.

Next, take a look the landscaping surrounding your home. Can it be damaged by rainwater falling from the edge of your roof? This may be a tough question to answer at first thought. Go outside and inspect the areas under your eaves. If you find bare ground, mulch or lawn you should definitely consider gutters, or a change in ground materials that your rainwater will fall upon. If you find mature shrubbery, stone or any variety of hardscaping you probably don't have to worry about erosion. Consider the height of your roof. Water falling from the edge of a two, or three, story home will cause far more erosion and water falling from a single story home.

Do you have trees around your home? Are they taller than your roof? Will they eventually be taller than your roof? If you have, or someday will have, trees that will shed leaves onto your roof you should seriously consider making do without gutters. Consider installing an alternative to gutters, or invest in one of the better products designed to keep leaves and other debris from entering your gutters. And don't be fooled into thinking that coniferous trees (e.g. pines) don't count. They drop as much, or more, material onto your roof as do deciduous trees.

A clogged gutter or downspout is not only useless, it is dangerous. The overflow is likely to find its way into the fascia board to which the gutter is secured causing rot and possible infiltration into walls and other structural members of your home. Where the collected water hits a clog it overflows, pouring onto a concentrated area of your landscaping or hardscaping causing damaging erosion. Water is heavy. A full gutter can break free damaging your home, or worse.

Do you live in an area that compels you, or forces you, to ration water use? This factor alone can trump all others. Collected rainwater is superior to any other source of water for lawns and other plantings. It can be used to wash your cars or fill pools and other water features. You use it for washing clothes and bathing, even for drinking with proper treatment.

Can you get by with a simple diverter over your entryways allowing water to fall to one side or both? Can you simply deal with a bit of water shedding onto your head during storms? Can you deal with the mundane appearance of traditional gutters and downspouts? Granted, half-round copper gutters and round copper downspouts add elegance to Victorian and Gothic architecture, but standard aluminum "K" gutters and rectangular downspouts can do more to break the clean lines of modern houses than any other exterior accessory items.

Chances are you live in a home that already had gutters installed either for need or as an afterthought of conformity. If you are looking at having a new roof or siding installed think hard on all of these points before making a blind decision to replace your gutters and downspouts as well. If you are building new, consider the site and talk to your neighbors, especially if you are moving to an unfamiliar area. In the end, the decision is yours and yours alone. Make an informed one.

Why My Shower Leaks - And What To Do

Why my shower leaks and what to do. Have you ever had a shower pan that leaks? This can be a nightmare for a homeowner! This can ruin walls and floors and cause mildew and fungus, which can be a health hazard.

Some background information:

Some older homes, built 20 years ago,or more had "composition" shower pans. They were made of kind of a tar paper. When a shower base filled up with water from a leak the cement work under the tile got wet and so did the shower pan, after a while it deteriorated and the pan no longer was a receptor to hold the leaking water. The water just ran out of the bottom and onto your bathroom floor.

Newer bathrooms use a vinyl shower pan material that does not deteriorate. So unless there is a serious hole in the vinyl pan from construction nails or screws the pan does it's job, which is to retain water from a shower floor leak from flooding your bathroom. So with the new vinyl pans, or if you had a soldered copper pan, you have a great receptor to hold leaking water.

But...Even with a good shower pan you can still have problems! When the cement in the shower pan is completely saturated there is no place for the water to go except, through capillary action, up the wall and down into the bathroom. If you have cementatious sub walls it's not to bad if fixed in time. The walls will dry out and loose tile or marble , can be replaced.
If you have green board (treated drywall) your walls if not fixed will rot out and
then its time for a major overhaul.

Why do showers leak?

The biggest cause of shower floor that leaks is a bad installation:

1. Which could be the tile or marble not cut tight to the wall.

2. Low areas in the cement work under the tile. Water sits in the depression and does not
flow to the drain. On some materials it can migrate into the pan.

3. Tile not cut tight to the drain itself that can crack and open up an entrance for water.

4. The most common reason is the shower floor was installed after the finish walls were!
In this case when the shower moves from expansion and contraction due to
temperature changes, or the house settling. A crack or separation occurs between the
finished shower wall and finished shower floor. "This is the entrance for water".
The shower floor should be built the other way around that is the wall material lands
On top of the finished shower floor and forms kind of a water barrier and it is much harder for water to get in. There is a second set of holes in the drain where water is suppose to go if the cement under the floor gets wet, but this, in my experience seldom works.

5. Sometimes it is not the shower floor letting the water in, it is the diverter leaking behind the wall. This is easy to determine.Take off the faucet handles and eschucheon (cover plate) Put the handles back on and turn on the water .Look in the open hole with a flashlight if necesary and see if there is water leaking out of the diverter, once in awhile that's the problem. If it is you need a new divereter.

More next article : How to keep your shower from leaking and preventive maintenance

Jupiter Microlite - The Facts You Need to Know

When you by a Jupiter MicroLite Water Ionizer you will be taking the first step towards inaugurating the harmonizing of your essential internal pH towards its suitable level. The Jupiter MicroLite Water Ionizer has all of the positive characteristics of the trendy products that are presently being shown all over the place.

The Jupiter MicroLite has all of the positive attributes of its precursors, the Jupiter Masterpiece and Jupiter Mavello. This design for this unit has been renovated to be more competent and easier to use. The Jupiter MicroLite also contains the revolutionary BioStone Far Infrared filter which is seen as the biggest advance in the construction of electronic water ionizers in years.

The water which you are currently getting from the tap is teeming with an array of harmful living and non-living matter, and it is dead in an energetic sense due to its lengthy enclosed passage from the reservoir to your home over the mediums of steel, plastic, concrete and copper pipe. The work of your Jupiter MicroLite is to revitalize your water and to restore life to it.

All Jupiter Science units sift out any hazardous matter in your water including an array of different bacteria using the multi-stage activated carbon filters which can be replaced. In addition to straining out all harmful matter from the water that is put into it, the Jupiter MicroLite strains the water through what has been named the Biostone. The Biostone is a ceramic produced from Tourmaline.

Tourmaline as a rule emanates Far Infra-Red energy (FIR) and this modifies the tension of the water's surface, ensuring that the water is easier to process by the Jupiter Microlite Water Ionizer and initiating the negative ion creation process.

This guarantees that you get superior water, even if the water is only cleaned, and you will receive a greater advantage from the antioxidant effect on the ionized water, without augmentation of the alkalinity level. These inventive filters are becoming accepted in all of the upcoming Jupiter units. It performs the same function as an antioxidant 'booster'.

Additionally, Jupiter Science has included Coral Calcium in the filter. This inclusion will help ionization in water that is in short supply of minerals such as tank water. The coral calcium also helps to sustain our interior calcium stability. Coral Calcium has the ideal 2:1 blend proportion of calcium and magnesium with a large quantity of important trace minerals. The new Biostone filter is included in the MicroLite package and is installed prior to arrival. Or you can choose to buy your MicroLite with a regular Jupiter filter.

The Jupiter MicroLite Water Ionizer comes with a two year warranty that should give you a feeling of security due to the fact that Jupiter Science has been among the most prominent producers of water ionizer for 20 years and is the only such manufacturer allowed to enter the European Common Market.

You can select any one of five different levels of water pH on the Jupiter Microlite to make certain that the water ionizer fulfills the needs of yourself and all your family members. For the duration the cleaning period pleasant sound effects are provided for you.

To instill you with peace of mind temperature and pressure safety systems are put in place. There is a new-look diverter valve for the tap which has been decreased in size. The automatic water cleansing period makes certain that there is no need to ever wait for your water. There in no need to be anxious about a swell in the amount of bacteria either.