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I am newbie/first time home buyer. We are under contract for buying a resale home built late 06, 2 story. One of the problems we observed during inspection was that the kitchen faucet water flow seems to drop noticeably when fixtures in the mater bath upstairs is operated. (also seems to fluctuate)
Water flow/pressure upstairs in general is noticeably better than faucets in the first floor. Seller says he has cleaned/de-calcified the kitchen faucet and cannot think of anything else. (Note that from the kitchen he had pulled a water line extension to a utility sink he added in the garage.)
Questions:
a. In any case, who is needed to investigate/diagnose such an issue? A plumber? (fixing can come later)
b. Can someone recommend one? Also how much does it cost to get something like this looked at ?
I am newbie/first time home buyer. We are under contract for buying a resale home built late 06, 2 story. One of the problems we observed during inspection was that the kitchen faucet water flow seems to drop noticeably when fixtures in the mater bath upstairs is operated. (also seems to fluctuate)
Water flow/pressure upstairs in general is noticeably better than faucets in the first floor. Seller says he has cleaned/de-calcified the kitchen faucet and cannot think of anything else. (Note that from the kitchen he had pulled a water line extension to a utility sink he added in the garage.)
Questions:
a. In any case, who is needed to investigate/diagnose such an issue? A plumber? (fixing can come later)
b. Can someone recommend one? Also how much does it cost to get something like this looked at ?
Thx
Ordinarily you might expect the pressure in the upstairs to be equal to or less than in the downstairs. That's the opposite of your observation. Look for more clues. Running hot water only, Is the water pressure the same, upstairs and downstairs? Same question, running cold water only.
Houses built in recent years have typically been plumbed with flexible plastic pipe. Perhaps the downstairs supply was plumbed with smaller-diameter pipe than normal. Perhaps a kink has developed somewhere in the pipe(s) which supply the first floor. If such a deficiency may be corrected by working in a crawl space, the cost for correction will be modest. If it becomes necessary to break open sheetrock walls the cost would be higher.
a) You need a plumber.
b) I've been a homeowner for many years and never hired a plumber, so cannot make a recommendation.
Is there any type of filtration system on the actual faucet? Same question goes for the entire house? If so, look at cleaning those out or having them serviced.
Usually your realtor will have a recommendations list for trades - folks they have worked with. If your realtor doesn't, they should be able to ask a colleague.
Located in morrisville. It's a home on slab. I don't think there is any filtration for the whole house. The seller said the kitchen faucet is a low flow/water saving 1.8GPM faucet and considered it normal.
I think best I can do is get a plumber to look to ensure there is nothing major to avoid surprises later?
You might also check the pressure regulator on the water line where it first comes into the house. It can be adjusted to increase the water pressure by turning a bolt - Google for specific instructions. Looks something like this:
Right, seller commented that may be a hack/risk. Wasn't recommend unless done by a professional who knows the implications.
When you say "that," to what are you referring? What is the hack/risk?
Quote:
let me know if anyone can recommend a plumbers and what should I be looking at $? for a plumber to come look at something like this.
Rule of thumb: a man and a van sent to your house for an hour will cost $80-$90. Doesn't matter if the man is a plumber, electrician, HVAC technician, etc. It's simply the cost of doing business in our world.
You might also check the pressure regulator on the water line where it first comes into the house. It can be adjusted to increase the water pressure by turning a bolt - Google for specific instructions. Looks something like this:
I've adjusted this on my own with success but BEWARE: if you increase the pressure too much you run the risk of finding the weak link in your supply lines. My neighbor adjusted his too high and either broke or exposed a weak coupling on his water heater. Ended up with water all over his garage before he noticed it.
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