Low water pressure after remodel

[Nay]

Hello. I had to change my entire shower and I put a shutoff valve on the cold and hot water lines. They stayed off (and uncapped- I only recently learned about caps) for just over 2 months. The line goes bathroom sink-> shower-> kitchen sink. Ever since I put the shut off valves on, the water in the kitchen has been low. Now I put the shower head and tub spout on to test it and the cold water pressure is VERY low (kept accidently hitting the cold water shut off valve on and off while putting in the tub) and the hot water is low.

I'm like 99.999% sure all valves are back on, but the pressure is only getting to the bathroom sink and the shower and kitchen are low, hot and cold.


Edit: the pressure loss is ONLY on the shower and the subsequent line which leads to the kitchen. The toilet and bathroom sink are fine.. could the valve stops(shark bite) that I put on cause poor flow??? I tried turning every valve on and off in the entire house. And I ran the water for 10 minutes to flush the pipes, checked the aerators, everything. Now idk what to do.

 

[Reach4]

Now I put the shower head and tub spout on to test it and the cold water pressure is VERY low (kept accidently hitting the cold water shut off valve on and off while putting in the tub) and the hot water is low.

I think you are saying that the cold water flow is much worse than the hot at the tub/shower. Is that part of what you are saying?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Jeff H Young]

nay, you didn't have a question. but It sounds like you got debris in the pipes when you left the ends open, so I'd try clearing out those lines

 

[Nay]

I think you are saying that the cold water flow is much worse than the hot at the tub/shower. Is that part of what you are saying?

Both are running very slow. It's just the cold is running a lot slower.

 

[Nay]

nay, you didn't have a question. but It sounds like you got debris in the pipes when you left the ends open, so I'd try clearing out those lines

That is probably true. Thank you! I'm going to try that

 

[Reach4]

Edit: the pressure loss is ONLY on the shower and the subsequent line which leads to the kitchen. The toilet and bathroom sink are fine.. could the valve stops(shark bite) that I put on cause poor flow??? I tried turning every valve on and off in the entire house. And I ran the water for 10 minutes to flush the pipes, checked the aerators, everything. Now idk what to do.

I was wondering if 1 gpm might feel fine for the bathroom sink and filling the toilet, but would be noticeably bad at the kitchen sink or tub.

Try this test: run the water at the bathroom sink, and note the flow. Keep that water on during this test. Turn on the water on and off at the tub. Does the flow from the bathroom sink faucets change much while turning the tub valves on and off?

 

[Nay]

I was wondering if 1 gpm might feel fine for the bathroom sink and filling the toilet, but would be noticeably bad at the kitchen sink or tub.

Try this test: run the water at the bathroom sink, and note the flow. Keep that water on during this test. Turn on the water on and off at the tub. Does the flow from the bathroom sink faucets change much while turning the tub valves on and off?

That's a very good point. I'm going to try that right now

 

[Jeff H Young]

Some times you need to remove angle stops and slip a hose over end turn water on and blast out . I've tried many variations including compressed air. Or removing shower cartridge as well. not really a standard way to do this but general idea is to blow the trash through.

 

[Nay]

I was wondering if 1 gpm might feel fine for the bathroom sink and filling the toilet, but would be noticeably bad at the kitchen sink or tub.

Try this test: run the water at the bathroom sink, and note the flow. Keep that water on during this test. Turn on the water on and off at the tub. Does the flow from the bathroom sink faucets change much while turning the tub valves on and off?

I tried it and the bathroom sink fills a 9quart bucket up halfway with cold water in 1 minute. The kitchen sink fills it half as much as the bathroom sink, in 1 minute. And the bathtub only filled it 1/3rd of the way to where the kitchen sink fills it after 1 minute with cold water

 

[Nay]

some times you need to remove angle stops and slip a hose over end turn water on and blast out . Ive tried many variations including compressed air . or removing shower cartridge as well. not really a standard way to do this but general idea is to blow the trash through.

I'm wondering how the tub being redone is even effecting the kitchen sink at all. It's on the same main water line, sure; but the tub is tee-d off. I figured even if something happened with the tub line then I shouldn't effect the next line

 

[Nay]

I was wondering if 1 gpm might feel fine for the bathroom sink and filling the toilet, but would be noticeably bad at the kitchen sink or tub.

Try this test: run the water at the bathroom sink, and note the flow. Keep that water on during this test. Turn on the water on and off at the tub. Does the flow from the bathroom sink faucets change much while turning the tub valves on and off?

Also, no, the flow is not much effected by turning on anything else. Its still low and slow, the exact same

 

[Reach4]

Also, no, the flow is not much effected by turning on anything else. Its still low and slow, the exact same

I expect flow at the kitchen would be changed substantially by running the tub.

So it would seem something is blocking the path after the bathroom sink tee and before the tub/shower tee. Crushed or kinked pex pipe? But wait... what is weird is that both hot and cold are affected. Now the tub/shower could have a balancing valve that blocks both hot and cold flows if one is blocked. But I don't think they do that for kitchen faucets. So anyway, a single kinked pipe, or other blockage, would not seem to explain this set of symptoms.

So your repeat test is to check the flow for both cold and hot in the kitchen.

The stop valves to the bathroom sink, tub/shower, or kitchen sink can't be the problem, because each of those only passes the water for one fixture.

 

[Nay]

I expect flow at the kitchen would be changed substantially by running the tub.

So it would seem something is blocking the path after the bathroom sink tee and before the tub/shower tee. Crushed or kinked pex pipe? But wait... what is weird is that both hot and cold are affected. Now the tub/shower could have a balancing valve that blocks both hot and cold flows if one is blocked. But I don't think they do that for kitchen faucets. So anyway, a single kinked pipe, or other blockage, would not seem to explain this set of symptoms.

So your repeat test is to check the flow for both cold and hot in the kitchen.

The stop valves to the bathroom sink, tub/shower, or kitchen sink can't be the problem, because each of those only passes the water for one fixture.

It is all copper pipe used

 

[Nay]

Hello, in summary, the sink ended up having a bad valve and I think stuff got stuck in the faucet head. It's extremely coincidental that it happened at the same time, I guess. The sink was a Pfister and the plumber said those always have problems. But its been good since I moved in 5 years ago. The plumber also said that the brand new shower valve may be bad also. They said they never worked on a Pfister shower valve *shrug* and his manager said those are often bad fresh from the box *double shrug*. So I replaced the kitchen sink with a Glacier Bay and the it's working fine. The valve stops were also bad so I had to change those as well and that's how I know the pressure Is good. I will change out the shower valve and rest the pressure in there to see if the valve is indeed the issue.

 

[Nay]

They wanted to charge me 750 to change the 2 valves and the 2 valve stops in the kitchen. He said it's 250 for just the valve stops. I bought 2 shark bite for $25 and changed them myself. He got $100 for diagnostics though. So I guess I'll be out about $150 instead of $750

 

[Terry]

Which Phister shower valve to you have?
When it's rotated on, is it cold first?