Plumbing Tips

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

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

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…

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…

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…

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

Plumbing an island sink can be a challenge. That's because there is no adjacent wall to run a vent for the drain. This article will show you…

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

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…

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…

Soldering copper water supply lines is not a difficult skill.  Even a rookie can learn to solder leak-proof joints in 30 minutes. The…

The best cure for banging water pipes is a water hammer arrester with a lubricated internal piston. The sealed piston works better than capped…

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…

Whether you're installing a better-flushing toilet or resetting the old one after remodeling, these tips will help you do it faster and with…

Before you replace a broken hot water heater, check to make sure the thermocouple still works. It's a simple, inexpensive repair that could…

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