Plumbing Repair

When kitchen or bathroom faucet repairs go bad, they can be a nightmare. Professional plumbers share their solutions for disassembly and repair…

Get a close-up, cutaway view of a stop valve, gate valve and ball valve, along with detailed explanations of how they work and advantages and…

Small water leaks at soldered copper joints can be easy—or not so easy—to fix. This article explains the options, including what to…

There's a right way and a wrong way to install vents. This photo shows the wrong way; the article explains what probably happened and how to…

We show simple ways to find and stop common water leaks before they cause rot and other expensive damage. You'll find most of them around…

To save you time, money and headaches down the road, we collected our favorite tips and tricks for solving common household plumbing problems.…

The best time to fix a plumbing leak is before it happens, by properly connecting water supply and waste line fittings. Learn the tricks that…

Hand-tightened compression nuts for water supply lines always seem to need an extra turn with pliers. But a big part of the problem is…

There's a right way to solder copper pipe—and a wrong way. Learn the difference so that your next bathroom or kitchen plumbing project is…

You can fix leaky copper pipe quickly and efficiently with special repair sleeves. We show you how to cut and solder copper supply lines.

Connect PVC and ABS plastic pipe with special transition fittings, correctly sized to the pipe size. They make a sound joint and meet plumbing…

Water leaks from old galvanized steel water pipe are common at joints, especially when they're joined to copper. Use a dielectric coupling…

Sump pumps and sewage ejector pumps rely on check valves to stop backflow, but they can be noisy when they slam close. Quieter alternatives are…

Pipe straps can loosen over time, allowing pipes to creak and groan as water temperature changes, but you can stop this annoying chatter from…

Whether you're working with PVC, ABS or cast iron, Mission couplings are essential for fitting a section of pipe into an existing run of…

Solution to a bubbling toilet and sudden water level changes in the toilet bowl. Both indicate an air-venting problem in the drain system.

Fix a clogged tub drain quickly and easily by removing the stopper and fishing out the hair and gunk that causes the problem 80 percent of the…

If your spray head has a weak flow, the problem is usually a clogged inlet screen or aerator. We show you how to fix these and troubleshoot…

Fix a dripping laundry faucet by replacing the faucet washer or the valve stem O-ring. You can replace both in ten minutes with a wrench and…

An unusually noisy outdoor faucet may be due to something as simple as a worn-out washer. To find out, disassemble the faucet from the outside,…