They fail without warning and always while nobody is home. Braided stainless replacements are inexpensive and take ten minutes. This is the single highest-value plumbing job an owner can do themselves.

This is most common in homes built roughly 1940 to 1980. Post-war and mid-century — copper supply, aging cast iron stacks, 60 to 100 amp panels, first-generation central air.

You can handle this one yourself. No call needed.

Related

• Pressure drops at every fixture at once
• Every drain in the house is slow, not just one
• Rusty water only on the first draw
• The main shutoff will not turn
• Sewer backs up in the lowest fixture after heavy rain
• Sewer smell from a room nobody uses
• Hose bib with no vacuum breaker
• Stain on the ceiling directly under a bath

Back to Plumbing.

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Written by Jaylan Jones. I Like To Fix earns a referral fee when a call connects to a contractor. See our business-model disclosure.