DIY Bathroom Plumbing

DIY Bathroom Plumbing Reference Books

A real inexpensive bathroom remodeling tip!

Invest a few dollars in a how-to plumbing book for a ready reference if you're brand new to the plumbing trade. 

It's a handy reference guide to have in your library and will save you $100's on small repairs up to $2,000 to $3,000 in labor on a complete home renovation.

DIY Bathroom Plumbing Tools You Will Need

• Screw drivers
• Pipe Wrenches
• Crescent Wrenches
• Channel Locks
• Drill and whole-saw set
• Pipe cutter
• A Torch set for Copper
• Plastic - cleaner, Primer, and Glue
• Pex Tubing - Crimp set
• Cast Iron - cutting tool or metal saws
• Plumbers putty

Home Depot, Lowe's, and your local hardware have plumbing departments and helpful employees to assist you in your diy bathroom plumbing supply selections. I've found many of the employees at the plumbing supply stores have some background in plumbing and will be willing to answer your questions and explain how the plumbing all ties in together.

New Plumbing or Old Plumbing

In the plumbing photo you can see a rough-in bathroom project on how the plumbing is built into the walls. On new construction, Building Codes will usually allow a home owner to pull a home owner's permit and the home owner can do the work.

Otherwise, new construction plumbing on any building other than a primary residence will require a Licensed Plumber to pull the permit and oversee the plumbing project.

Plumbing Supplies

Suppliers who sell plumbing supplies will also sell the tools you need to install the materials. If unsure on something, ask the employee, "What tool do I need to install this plumbing material?"

DIY bathroom plumbing projects can get expensive quickly, on older homes that...

Still have the Original:

• Water Supply Pipes
• Shut off valves
• 1-1/2-inch to 2-inch Drain Pipes
• 3-inch to 4-inch Waste Pipes
• Vent Pipes
• Faucets
• Toilets (water closets)
• Bathtubs and showers

As a house Rehabber, a diy bathroom plumbing project is replacing the water pipes with new pipe from the water meter to the stop valves in every bathroom, to the kitchen, to the laundry room, and to the exterior hose bibs.

The diy plumbing project may get into replacement of the drain, waste, and vent pipes depending on the condition of those pipes. 

A simple repair may end up having to remove drywall to replace pipes inside the walls

Originally, cast iron drain pipes were used before plastic drain pipes were invented. Cast iron pipes will eventually rust out and leak - it may take 75 years however, in cases of semi plugged cast iron pipes with standing water inside of them, I've seen cast iron pipes split in vacated homes facing freezing temperatures.

Plumbing in the Crawlspace

See the bathroom plumbing crawlspace photo? Plumbing pipes are hidden in between the walls, in the crawlspace or basement, or buried under the concrete in a house on a slab. Take the time to trace the lines your working on before you get started.

Plumbing Point of Use

Plumbing doesn't start at the bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room... The plumbing ends there. That's the point of use or the end of the of the pipe line; to the faucet or the drain.

All plumbing starts outside of the building from the main public water supply line or water well pump. All drain lines start outside of the building from the public main waste line or septic tank.

Take a few minutes to find where your pipes enter the house and trace them to the point of use in the bathroom, kitchen, and laundry rooms. Once you've determined that the main lines are not leaking and look in relatively good condition, move on into the project at hand, in this case... onto the basic plumbing repairs in the bathroom.

The Simple DIY Bathroom Plumbing Projects

• New seals in a leaking sink faucet
• New seals in the bath or shower faucet
• Un-clogging aerator screens
• Replacing a sink faucet
• Replacing a toilet tank supply float assembly
• Replacing the sink trap
• Replacing a Sink and Vanity
• Replacing the wax ring under the toilet
• Replacing the whole toilet
• Clearing the drains - try a liquid drain cleaner first!
• Plumbers hand snake or power snake to clear drain lines
• Clearing the vent stack to the roof
• Installing a screen on top of the vent on the roof

Don't Feel You Have To!

It's happened many times with good intentions,
on what seemed to be a simple diy bathroom plumbing project, 
that leads to not having a usable bathroom for a few days.

For a couple hundred dollars in labor, a licensed professional plumber can complete your repairs in an hour or two, and just might save you a lot of headache and grief!

With investments properties, budget $1,500 to $3,000 for a licensed plumber to complete all installations, new pipe, including permits, and a warranty. A great selling point to your prospective buyers and assurance for you when your investment property is a rental unit.

Still want to do your own DIY bathroom plumbing projects?

A Great Way to Learn...

On The Job Training! When you plan on doing ongoing DIY bathroom plumbing projects, hire a plumber for the first project, it's well worth the little added labor expense.

The watch the plumber do the work, ask questions while they work (if they'll let you - if not, hire one that will explain what they're doing). Watch and Learn.

The alternative is purchase a basic plumbing book and go the trial and error route.

Any questions? Click here.

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