DIY Plumbing Tips

A puddle on the bathroom floor after a shower doesn’t always mean the door is broken. Water escapes in a handful of ways: under the bottom edge, around the hinge side, through a gap at the curb, or from spray that never touches the glass at all. Each one has a different fix. Swapping a … Read more

That damp spot on the bathroom floor, right at the base of your toilet, is not your imagination. And no, it’s not “just condensation,” no matter how badly you want it to be. If your toilet rocks a little when you sit down, or you catch a whiff of something sour every time you walk … Read more

That drip. Drip. Drip. It’s 2 a.m., you’re staring at the ceiling, and your brain has decided the bathroom faucet down the hall is the most fascinating sound in the world. I get it. A leaky faucet is one of those problems that seems small until it’s costing you real money on your water bill … Read more

Water dripping behind your shower wall at 2 a.m. is one of the worst sounds in homeownership. You can’t see it, you can’t always hear it during the day over the kids or the TV, and by the time you notice a soft spot in the drywall, you’re not looking at a $12 washer anymore. … Read more

That phantom “hissssss” at 2 a.m. Your toilet, running again, for no reason anyone in the house will admit to causing. You jiggle the handle, it stops for an hour, then it’s back at it like a leaky faucet with a grudge. I get calls about this one more than almost anything else. A running … Read more

Water pooling on your bathroom floor every single morning is not a “quirky old house” problem. It’s a broken shower door problem, and it’s fixable in an afternoon for less than the cost of a decent dinner out. I’ve replaced more shower door rollers, gaskets, and hinges than I can count, mostly because my own … Read more

That black, fuzzy line creeping along your tub isn’t mold you can scrub away. I know because I spent an entire Saturday morning attacking mine with bleach spray and a toothbrush before I finally accepted the truth: caulk has a shelf life, and mine was long past its expiration date. If you’re staring at cracked, … Read more

Steam fogging up your mirror for twenty minutes after every shower. A weird rattle that sounds like a marble rolling around in your ceiling. Or worse, a fan that just clicks and does nothing at all. If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone, and you don’t need to call an electrician for most … Read more

Your bathroom sink either won’t hold water at all, or it won’t drain no matter how hard you jiggle that little lever. Both problems usually trace back to the same cheap little part: the sink stopper. And both are fixable in about twenty minutes, with tools you probably already own. I’ve swapped out more sink … Read more

Steam rolling off your mirror after every shower isn’t just annoying. It’s a warning sign. That fog, the damp towels that never dry, the musty smell creeping into your grout lines — that’s moisture your fan should be pulling out and isn’t. I’ve crawled through more attics chasing bad bathroom ductwork than I care to … Read more