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The Plumbing Brief
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The Plumbing Brief

How-To

Step-by-step plumbing guides: how to fix, install, unclog, and maintain the plumbing in your home, and when a job calls for a licensed plumber.

Behind a front-load washer, a recessed white wall box with two quarter-turn valves, one red handle and one blue handle,
How-To

Washing Machine Shut Off Valve Leaking: Fixes

Washing machine shut off valve leaking? Find the drip at the stem, hose washer or wall box, use…
A white freestanding plastic utility tub in a laundry room with a chrome faucet, a white PVC P-trap and drain running in
How-To

Utility Sink Plumbing: Drain, Vent, and Supply Setup

Utility sink plumbing by code: 1-1/2 in trap, 6 ft trap arm limit, vent, washer standpipe sharing rules,…
View into an open cabinet under a double-bowl stainless kitchen sink showing two basket strainers joined by a white PVC
How-To

Kitchen Sink Drain Plumbing Diagram, Part by Part

Kitchen sink drain plumbing diagram, labeled: strainers, baffle tee, disposal, 1-1/2 in P-trap, trap arm limits (6 ft…
Under a kitchen sink, a plain dark garbage disposal hanging from the sink flange mounting ring with the discharge tube d
How-To

How to Remove a Garbage Disposal in 8 Steps

How to remove a garbage disposal in 8 steps: cut 120 V power, free the hoses, turn the…
A white toilet with a slim bidet attachment fitted under the seat, a chrome T-valve on the supply line at the wall shuto
How-To

How to Install a Bidet Seat or Attachment

How to install a bidet attachment or electric seat, with the 7/8 in T-valve, hose sizes, GFCI and…
A bare toilet flange on a bathroom floor with two new brass closet bolts standing upright in its slots, plastic retainer
How-To

Closet Bolts: Sizes, Types, and How to Replace Them

Closet bolts come in 1/4-20 and 5/16-18 sizes, usually 2-1/4 in long. Pick the right type, tighten without…
Close view of the black gas control valve on the front of a gas water heater with the gas supply pipe and shutoff valve
How-To

Water Heater Gas Control Valve: Symptoms, Testing and Replacement

Water heater gas control valve guide: Honeywell blink codes 1 to 8, the mV and pressure tests that…
An open toilet tank slowly refilling with a thin stream from a plain fill valve, water level low in the tank, soft bathr
How-To

Slow Filling Toilet: Causes and Fixes

Slow filling toilet? Time the refill, then work through the shutoff, supply line, fill valve debris, seal, float…
A single-handle kitchen faucet with the handle removed exposing the cartridge, a new cartridge resting on a towel on the
How-To

Kitchen Faucet Cartridge Replacement: Find the Part Number and Swap It

Kitchen faucet cartridge replacement by brand: Moen 1225 or Duralast, Delta RP50587, Kohler, Pfister part numbers, 2026 prices,…
A drum-style drain cleaning machine on a basement floor with its steel cable fed into an open white PVC sewer cleanout,
How-To

How to Snake a Main Sewer Line Through the Cleanout

How to snake a main sewer line through the cleanout: K-750 manual rules, 5/8 or 3/4 in cable,…