We only have warm/hot water coming from every faucet in the house. We had Mr. Plumber come out this time last year with the same problem and he said the pipes were crossed and he rerouted them. $500 later, it worked, but only for a year. So now I'm thinking that wasn't really the problem?

My husband, who's an idiot, says it might be the heat (100+ degree days for the last month) but like I said, he's an idiot.

I'm thinking it might be something wrong with the water heater?

I should also mention that this problem started with the installation of a second hot water heater. We endured the no cold water problem for a couple of years before my husband would admit there was a problem that needed fixing (did I mention he's an idiot?).

So here are my questions:

What's causing this problem?
Can it be fixed and if so, how?
Can I get my money back from Mr. Plumber?

My husband being an idiot is a problem no one can solve...

We only have warm/hot water coming from every faucet in the house. we had Mr. Plumber come out this time last year with the same problem and he said the pipes were crossed and he rerouted them. $500 later, it worked, but only for a year. So now I'm thinking that wasn't really the problem??

My husband, who's an idiot, says it might be the heat (100+ degree days for the last month) but like I said, he's an idiot.

I'm thinking it might be something wrong with the water heater?

I should also mention that this problem started with the installation of a second hot water heater. We endured the no cold water problem for a couple of years before my husband would admit there was a problem that needed fixing (did I mention he's an idiot?).

So here are my questions:

What's causing this problem?
Can it be fixed and if so, how?
Can I get my money back from Mr. Plumber?

My husband being an idiot is a problem no one can solve ...

I'd be interested in finding out just exactly what Mr. Plumber did to your water system to get you cold water.
Have Mr. Idiot go out to the meter and see if you have a backflow preventer or a check valve installed. If so, yours is not a uncommon complaint.
Back flow preventers and check valves make your water system a closed system. This means that as the water heater heats water and that water expands it has no where to go but back up the cold water pipe and into the cold water system. Water heater manufactures now recommend a expansion tank be added to the cold water supply of the heater. This allows the hot water to expand into the expansion tank instead of the cold water system.
To check out expansion tanks click on; http://www.stateind.com/expansion/expansion.htm
As far as Mr. Plumber's concerned , that's a done deal and a dead issue. More questions? I'm as close as a click. Tom

Tom,

Thanks for your reply! Mr. Idiot has agreed to go outside to the water meter - you do mean water meter, right? The one that would be up by the road and not anywhere near the water heater tank?

And, because Mr. Idiot is who he is, what exactly is he looking for? Will it be obvious? Maybe I should do this myself, huh?

Mr. Idiot's wife

So upon doing some research on backflow preventers and check valves (b/c we didn't know what we were looking for), I found a lot of info about inground sprinkler systems. So we tried something -- we ran the inground sprinkler system which hadn't been run in over a year and then tried the cold water taps - after a while, cold water came out. It;'s not super cold, but it's not warm either.

Does this make logical sense? Or will the house go hot again?

So upon doing some research on backflow preventers and check valves (b/c we didn't know what we were looking for), I found a lot of info about inground sprinkler systems. So we tried something -- we ran the inground sprinkler system which hadn't been run in over a year and then tried the cold water taps - after a while, cold water came out. It;'s not super cold, but it's not warm either.

Does this make logical sense? Or will the house go hot again?


What you have done is to divert tepid or the warm water in your house system to the outside sprinkler system allowing cold water to enter the house system. Let it go overnight and I'll bet you have the same problem in the morning. And yes, a backflow preventer is installed next to the water meter and down stream, (ahead) of it. There is one other possibility. A crossover can occur in a single handle faucet if the cartridge's faukty but it doesn't sound like this is your problem. A simple check for the water heater would be to check the outside of the cold water supply pipe in the morning after you get up and before you draw any water. Don't flush t5he john, don't draw a glass of water, just check the pipe first. If it's hot then you have hot water backing up into your system and a expansion tank's needed. Regards, Tom

Thanks again, Tom!

Although when I went to the grocery store, the idiot husband dug up the front lawn to do something with the sprinklers... sheesh. I'm sure he made it worse.

We'll try the water heater simple test in the morning - boy, he's going to love that! Thanks so much, you are my plumbing guru!