[jp_over]

Friends,

I'm getting ready to contract some work at my mother-in-law's place and had a couple of questions to get me in the ballpark.

1) Her water main is about 900' of 20-25 year old PVC with at least 5 patches. I'd like to have a new water line run. Any idea on best material and possible total cost? I've read that the standard for many years has been black poly (the best grade one can afford). Of note, the house is in East Tx.

2) She has 3 bathrooms and 2 of the toilets aren't working so well since they don't get used regularly. Also, I imagine the ones she has are budget grade.

Is it a smart idea to simply replace the whole toilet or should I try to replace parts on the existing toilets? She's already had the plumber out several times. Also, I've discussed that if we put new toilets in that she needs to try to use them with equal frequency (i.e. rotating through to keep them working well).

Thanks for any advice!

 

[painterswife]

Black Poly is still the standard for water lines outside. Look on Homedepot or lowes to see a ball park price close to you.

Do the toilets let water go down the pipes if you pour it in by the bucket or is it the stuff inside the tank that is not working?

 

[Cabin Fever]

I doubt if replacing the porcelain throne is necessary (unless there is a lot of scale or iron build-up). Just replace the guts of the toilet. The replacement parts are cheap.

 

[jp_over]

painterswife – Thanks, I’ll check that out. I’ll have to get some specifics on what’s not working next week when we arrive – thanks for the specific advice on what to start checking.

Cabin Fever – that’s what I’ve always thought but I’ve heard that some 80s and 90s toilets had problems. I’ll have to check the specifics next week.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Danaus29]

Toilets from the 80's and 90's use a lot more water per flush and may not have the swoosh power of newer toilets. But it they are rarely used I doubt it would be worth replacing them.

 

[geo in mi]

It might be nice to replace the one getting the most use with a taller one. As a person ages, it's harder to get up and down on the old knees and legs. The new models can come in 17 inches tall, I believe. Most of them nowadays also have a double flush action--one for normal, then just hold the handle down for the second flush of water, if needed. The other nice thing is you can clean the floor underneath and install a new wax ring. And if it wouldn't insult her, you could install some grab bars.

geo

 

[jp_over]

Toilets from the 80's and 90's use a lot more water per flush and may not have the swoosh power of newer toilets. But it they are rarely used I doubt it would be worth replacing them.

Good info; thanks! I'm going to ask her to work on using the "out of the way" toilets more often.

It might be nice to replace the one getting the most use with a taller one. As a person ages, it's harder to get up and down on the old knees and legs. The new models can come in 17 inches tall, I believe. Most of them nowadays also have a double flush action--one for normal, then just hold the handle down for the second flush of water, if needed. The other nice thing is you can clean the floor underneath and install a new wax ring. And if it wouldn't insult her, you could install some grab bars.

geo

Wow - that's good advice; I'll definitely talk to her about some of those options. Thanks!

 

[painterswife]

We put in taller toilets when we built. Love them.

 

[Cabin Fever]

I agree with the recommendation to buy a tall toilet (17"). I also recommend buying one with the larger V-shaped bowl instead of one with the smaller round-shaped bowl.

FWIW, our toilets use a pressurized Flushmate mechanism instead of the typical gravity flush float and flapper mechanism. With a FLushmate, your toilet never sweats in humid weather and it has an extremely powerful flush. The Flushmate stores the water in a pressure tank as opposed to gravity storage.

 

[Nevada]

We put in taller toilets when we built. Love them.

I agree with the recommendation to buy a tall toilet (17"). I also recommend buying one with the larger V-shaped bowl instead of one with the smaller round-shaped bowl.

Yes, they're calling the taller toilets "chair height" toilets. When you get as old as me it's a lot easier to stand up from a chair height toilet. People I know that have them say that everyone at their house gravitates to the bathroom with the chair height toilet. They're no more expensive than standard height toilets. They start at $99 at Lowes.

Black Poly is still the standard for water lines outside.

I've done two water main jobs during my life. I rented a trencher to do the digging, then used glued schedule 40 PVC pipe for the water main. I left the old pipe in the ground.

FWIW, our toilets use a pressurized Flushmate mechanism instead of the typical gravity flush float and flapper mechanism. With a FLushmate, your toilet never sweats in humid weather and it has an extremely powerful flush. The Flushmate stores the water in a pressure tank as opposed to gravity storage.

Something about the pressurized flush is unsettling to me. I don't have one but pressure flush toilets are common in hotels I frequent. I don't know exactly what bothers me about them. Maybe I'm just not accustomed to pressure flush.

 

[Cabin Fever]

Something about the pressurized flush is unsettling to me. I don't have one but pressure flush toilets are common in hotels I frequent. I don't know exactly what bothers me about them. Maybe I'm just not accustomed to pressure flush.

The hardest thing for us to have gotten used to was the sound. The flush is noisier than that of a typical toilet. Neither of our toilets have ever plugged. LOL!

 

[painterswife]

Small house here. The sound of those toilets in the middle of the night would not be welcome.

 

[Cabin Fever]

Small house here. The sound of those toilets in the middle of the night would not be welcome.

We don't flush in the middle of the night unless necessary.

 

[painterswife]

We don't either but the stomach flu just visted a couple of weeks ago. That flushing would have kept both of us up. It is better when at least one person gets enough sleep so they can look after the other person the next day.

 

[Nimrod]

Why not mothball 2 of the toilets? Put a new shutoff valve in the water supply line and shut the water off. Then flush to empty the tank. Next pour 5 gallons of water in the bowl all at once and it will minimize the amount of water in the bowl. Then put RV type antifreeze in the bowl to the normal fluid level. You want fluid in the bowl because it is a trap and keeps evil smells from coming up into the bathroom. Snakes are another matter. The RV antifreeze will not evaporate much so you don't have to check the fluid level very often. Also, the stuff I use smells like wintergreen.

You don't say what the problem is with the toilets. It's usually cheaper and easier to fix them than replace them. We have to know what's wrong before we can speculate on how to fix them.

I have run black poly from the well to the house. It's the cheapest and freezing hasn't broken it yet. It will kink easily. When I run another line I am going to check out PEX.

 

[Darren]

I use the 200 psi rated black poly pipe. Use the Ford couplings you can get at a plumbing supply house. It won't leak in yours or her lifetime. Just be sure to bed it in sand.