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Leavemealone
Oct 23, 2008, 05:54 AM
After my plumber did some work a couple of months ago my weak water pressure got even weaker. Any suggestions before calling the plumber?

speedball1
Oct 23, 2008, 06:08 AM
After my plumber did some work a couple of months ago my weak water pressure got even weaker. Any suggestions before calling the plumber?

Yes! When he worked on the pipes he dislodged minerals built up in the pipe walls where it's now clogging your faucets. The crud will have to be flushed out of your system. Start at the aerators,(see image). Pull each one and check abd clean the screens. Turn the water on, If you get a good stream replace the aerator and move on. If not shbut the water off and open up the valve. Pull the cartridge and remove any trash you find clogging the inlet ports. Turn the water back on for a few seconds to flush out the open valve body and the supplies. You should have a strong stream now. If so button up and move on. Good luck, Tom

Milo Dolezal
Oct 23, 2008, 06:58 AM
What exactly did he do ? Is the pressure low all over the house? Do you have a pressure regulator ?

Leavemealone
Oct 23, 2008, 07:22 AM
What exactly did he do ? Is the pressure low all over the house? Do you have a pressure regulator ?

The pressure has never been great. We bought the house about 5 years ago and is an older home. But the pressure in the shower has really gotten pretty bad since the repair work. I cleaned out the shower head and that has helped. Also, it takes about 5 minutes for the hot water to heat. I put in a new water heater when we moved in and is an 80 gallon tank and should be over kill for us. I bet we waste several gallons of water every day waiting for the water to heat. All 5 of us can shower one after the other and never run out of hot water. However, we can never take more than one shower at a time because the 2nd shower would lose all pressure and would barely trickle out of the faucet. I am sure a lot if it is because it is an older home. It was built in 1950 but the builder was a strong builder and a head of his time when he built the house.

gmount
Oct 23, 2008, 08:00 AM
Have you called your water department? If not, do so and they can check the pressure at the meter to rule out any issues on their end.

Milo Dolezal
Oct 23, 2008, 10:53 PM
First, put water gauge on your hose valve and measure how much pressure you have in your house. If you get reading over 45psi than pressure is fine. I suspect that you may have either undersized pipes and/or if you have galv. Pipes than they may be clogged cutting down on volume. Do you have water pressure regulator installed ?