I'm in the process of buying a new home. During the home inspection it was noted the whirlpool tub in the master bath fills very slowly. By slowly I mean it took 10 minutes to get the water level above the jets. The water pressure is fine, 60 psi. I'm thinking there may be a flow restrictor that's causing the problem. The tub spout and control valve are wall mounted. Is this an easy fix?

The tub spout and and control valve are wall mounted. Is this an easy fix?

Hey Girl,

In water piping the house some construction debris got in the pipes, some sawdust, tiny wood chips, dirt, etc. and lodged in the inlet ports of the cartridge on your valve. The answer is to shut off the water to the valve, open it up and clear the inlet ports. Your new home is under a builders warranty and this should be fixed without any action or charge on your part. Also any other defects you can come up with. Best of luck in your new home. Tom

Mahalo for the reply Speedball. The house I'm buying is 5 years old and the owner has confirmed that there's a flow reducer in the water pipe. Does increasing the flow require a professional or is it a simple DIY project? The inspector seems to think all I'd have to do is "drill out the reducer to open it up".

Drill it out! Good luck, Tom

Hey speedball, is there any reason why they would have installed the flow control fitting? I'm just curious

Aloha theBigkill

To answer your question, when the house was under construction Maui was in the midst of a drought. The Maui County Department of Water Supply was offering incentives for water conservation. The County was giving away things like, low-flow showerheads, self closing hose nozzles, and faucet aerators. The builder took advantage of the freebies. Most made sense, some didn't. Seems to me you'd use more hot water if a tub takes 10-15 minutes to fill up halfway. By the time the water level is high enough to run the jets the water has cooled so more hot water gets added. Then again maybe the idea was to save water by making the tub a pain to use. ;)

Oohh OK, I was wondering about that... didnt seem to make sense to constrict the flow. And yeah it seems to me like you would use more hot water if it took that long to fill the tub. My whirlpool takes about 10 minutes (without any constriction) to fill 3/4 full and since acrylic tubs don't hold heat like the old cast ones do I often have to keep adding hot water