I live in a 5 year old, 3 story house (including a finished basement with a steam room). Water gets hot everywhere (there is a total of 4 bathrooms - 1 with a garden/jacuzzi tub, 1 kitchen sink, 1 bar sink and 2 dishwashers + the steam room in the basement) except the bathroom on the ground level floor. Water in the sink will eventually warm up, but the tub never gets warmer than tepid. Water in the kitchen sink, on the same level, heats just fine. Any suggestions?

Hi GinaHH...

Are the kitchen sink faucet or the bathroom sink faucet single handle faucets? If so, turn the hot water off at the shutoff under the kitchen sink to start and then go try the tub and see if you can get hot/hotter water now? Let the water run at the tub for a couple minutes and see if there is an improvement. If not, turn the hot water off under the bathroom sink (if single lever) and see if there is an improvement at the tub now?

Here, I am wondering if a mixing valve at a single handle faucet has failed and is causing cold water to mix into the hot water and is causing the issue for you.

Pop back here and let us know what you found, OK?

Mark

PS:I won't be back in until later this afternoon, but let me know what you do and I'll post back on it later today.

That's so strange. Did you test it out before you purchased it at the dealer? One of the key steps in buying a hot tub, spa or bathroom tub (http://www.buyerzone.com/residential/hot-tubs/bg-spa-tub-buying-tips/) is "wet testing." All this really means is visiting the dealership prepared to take a test soak. By spending 10 to 20 minutes in the spa tub you're evaluating, you'll get a good sense of the action of the jets, the comfort of the seats, and the noise level of the whole spa.