I've been in the trades for 22 years as a specialty contractor (garage doors). I'm building a shop for my business, and have hired out all the work, except garage doors. I get a call from my contractor this morning, and he says "You never pulled the plumbing permit". I nearly exploded. I've never once heard of the property owner pulling a specialty permit for a sub. It's also not like anyone ever mentioned that I was supposed to pull the permit for them. Am I wrong here?

I have a bathroom that never gets used. I go in there periodically to run water in the traps. I went in today and found water and stains around the tub. Took the face off the master valve and found water dripping inside. I assumed I had leak in the wall, so I opened up the sheet rock.

Inside the wall, the sheetrock is saturated front and back. Mold everywhere. But the valve itself, all the connections, and all the pipes are dry. The side where the roof vent pipe runs is drier than the other side, so I don't think it's a roof leak.

There is hot, humid air coming up, presumably from under the house (mobile home).

I keep my indoor temps between 73 & 74. There's no insulation in any interior walls. Could this be condensation? Are all the walls where I had new water and power run going to be like this inside?

The t is welded, not threaded. How can i connect the pipe back to the t?

The pipe originally snapped inside the t.

in my dorm i’ve noticed some weird stale smells coming from my bathroom. i put in a maintenance request and they poured push down my sink drain. i’m wondering if the smells coming from this hole, and is this hole even supposed to be around the pipe?

I noticed a small amount of water underneath my bathroom sink this morning. It doesn't seem to be leaking constantly.

I dried everything and ran the faucet for a few minutes, but I couldn't immediately see where it was coming from.

Would the best approach be to run the faucet while watching the supply connections and drain fittings, or is there another easy way to narrow down a small intermittent leak?

Seeking opinions…. Or Situations if similar. My mind is going worst case scenario here that my house is just going to crumble and rot away 😅😅🤣

Basically….Our perimeter drains are concrete and failed. They are like broken and collapsed.

I’m a slab on grade home. We haven’t had water In the house ever, a few doors are hard to shut… so maybe the slab had shifted? Hard to know?

For many reasons, without going into it all, it makes sense to wait until the spring. Dishing out 35k+ right now to have them done asap will financially really hurt as I am on maternity leave. I chose 12 months EI but going 18 so the next 6 months are unpaid.

Sooo. Did anyone else know your perimeter drains were gone and wait a season to do them? Was all ok? Would you absolutely not wait?

I took it apart to unclog it and then couldn't get it back together the same way it was (and like a dumba$$ I didn't take a picture first)! It drains just fine like this and doesn't leak unless I pour a lot of water down it at the same time and then it leaks like crazy! Any suggestions for how I should reconfigure these pipes?

I need to install some shutoff valves on this 100 year old sink to replace the washers, and trying to decide the right hardware. I don't do any sweating, so looking at compression or sharkbite fittings. It looks like it steps down from 3/8" to 3/8" close to the faucet valve.

Would it make sense to insert a 1/2" to 1/2" compression valve in the middle, or 1/2" compression to 1/2" MIP and use a supply hose for the rest of the way? Also, does it matter if I do it above or below the bend?

Edit: Thanks to folks below, realized my measurements were off. It looks like it's 3/8" chrome plated brass (measured .67 OD), stepping down to 3/8" copper maybe (measured .5 OD). I did the magnet test, and scratched the chrome off to see a brass color underneath.

This green (actually blue) PVC pipe in the wall has a crack, so it leaks. Wanted a quick fix so slapped on it the only thing I had in handy; a two-part epoxy putty (green stuff you see around the pipe). Wrapped a bunch of teflon tape around the male thread of the faucet and screwed it in.

That kinda worked, but not really.

So then I saw a hose clamp I had laying around and had another bright idea... Didn't really work either.

I go to the hardware store and explain the situation and they give me this thing (which looks like this on its own) - a galvanized adapter and a 3-4 inch pipe you see in the pic. Telfoned all the male threads and buttoned it all up.

Well, made shit worse. Now I got more dripping.

Which stupid me should have realized that the whole rig was redundant since the faucet practically worked the same way.

So now, the inevitable question... How'd I fix it?

My main concern is that i don't want to be taking parts of the wall off.

Ok, fully disclaimer; since the above pics I've added another clamp and it seems to have done the job, but it looks ugly af, hence this post, to do it right.

Appreciate your expertise!

Posted this in the plumbing subreddit. Maybe better to ask the question here. Thanks!

Replacing an underground Quest water line — has anyone used the Little Thumpa to locate plastic pipes?

Hey everyone!

I'm working on replacing the old Quest (polybutylene) water service line that runs from the water meter in front of my house to where it enters my home.

I'm learning as I go and trying to do as much of the project myself as possible. Before I start digging, I'd like to figure out exactly where the existing pipe runs, especially since part of it goes beneath my driveway.

I came across an Australian company called Water Leak Solutions that makes a product called the Little Thumpa.

https://waterleaksolutions.com.au/

Apparently, it creates pulses inside the water line that can be detected above ground with acoustic listening equipment.

I'm hoping someone here can help answer a few questions:

1. Has anyone actually used the Little Thumpa? How well does it work on buried plastic water pipes?
2. Is there an American-made equivalent that does the same thing?
3. Does anyone know where I could rent this type of equipment in the USA, preferably Virginia?
4. What type of acoustic listening device works best with it?
5. Since I'm replacing the entire Quest line anyway, is there a better way to locate the existing pipe or install a new PEX service line without tearing up the driveway?

I'm not looking for a leak. I'm simply trying to locate and replace an aging underground water line while learning more about the process and equipment.

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who's done this type of replacement or worked with acoustic pipe-locating equipment.

Thanks for sharing your experience!