Hello, I have lost the water pressure in my main bath shower tub. I have a ranch home with a full open crawl space. I checked on the copper pipe feeds in the the tub area and have no sign of new or old water marks on the sub floor(beaver board in crawl space) where the copper 90 enters into the vertical. Everything looks good below. I ran the shower for a minute or two before going down. I followed the copper to where it comes into the house underground and back to hot water tank and absolutely no sign of a break or leak anywhere. Good pressure on all other house faucets. My house was built in 1986 and it is the original shower head placed with the house. If it were the pipes broken or leaking, I should see some water stains on the subfloor, correct? Going to change the shower head to see if that may be my problem. My question is.... can an old shower head build up enough to obstruct the flow of water? I know that's possible but is it probable, the norm? This shower head has always had the best pressure in the house as it's the first closest to the water main coming into the house, about 4 feet away and closest to our 50 gallon hot water heater about 6 feet away. Our tap water is drinkable, good water too. Thanks! Merry Christmas and Best Wishes in the New Year to all

For those of you not following my saga, I've been without heat since a gas boiler fire on Dec. 5 led to the local utility shutting my gas off until a) perfection was restored to the boiler and all the gas pipes in the basement and b) that perfection was certified by a NYC inspection. I've been doing everything that seemed reasonable since then to accomplish that, but have encountered a series of dismaying delays and misinformation (and outright lies and deception) in the process, and have finally decided to switch to an oil boiler-- against the unanimous opposition of everyone here at DIY, but I see no other way of preserving my house through the winter. Meanwhile, bitter cold is descending upon NYC and I need to take immediate protective measures. Several weeks ago, I drained the boiler system (the boiler itself and all radiators), which was the most vulnerable thing in the house. But now I'm trying to deal with the pipes. I couldn't drain the hot water tank and hot water pipes because, I discovered to my chagrin, that even when the valve to the hot water heater was turned off all the way, enough water still flowed through it to make draining impossible without turning off all the water to the house, disconnecting the hot water heater and putting in a new valve. I may still do that, but meanwhile, I thought I could use the same method to prevent freezing I intend to use for the cold water pipes: running water continuously but at a very slow rate. However, I don't really know how slow is too slow to be effective, and how fast is unnecessarily fast. So my first request is: Could someone quantify it by describing how long it should take for the flow of water to fill up an 8 ounce glass? And I assume that if I let both the hot and cold water run at the same time, then that flow should fill the 8 ounce glass in half that time. Another problem: Several of the sinks have a draining problem that I haven't been able to remedy with a drain-cleaning product and the one and only time I got a plumber in for a stubborn clog, he blew out my drain and caused a massive flood before I discovered what had happened to the drain. So my idea, which I'm sure will work if implemented properly, is to attach a tube to the spout on the sink where the water comes out and place the other end in the toilet, securely taped in place. My only uncertainty is how I should deal with the connection between the tube and the spout-- some kind of stretchy, rubbery material seems like it might be suited to the job, but I'm concerned about a secure attachment of the rubber to the tube and to the mouth of the spout. And what kind of rubber-- perhaps one of the fingers of a Playtex-type glove? Clearly, I need some advice here. Assuming I'm able to open the stuck valve discussed in another thread, that would still leave one glaring omission-- the shower in one of the bathrooms ( the one controlled by the valve stuck in the closed position) leaks somewhere inside the wall when you turn it on, so it has not been used since the leak's discovery many years ago, when it dripped into the kitchen. If I run the water going to that bathroom (in the sink and toilet), will that help prevent freezing of the water in the pipes for the shower, even though I'm not running the water there? I also need to know how to recognize a critical situation developing in the pipes to the shower-- and what do I do then? Forget about running water in the sink and toilet and turn off the hot and cold water valves (assuming I've gotten the cold water valve open in the first place) to that bathroom? At least that will minimize any flood. You guys can see why I'm opting for an oil boiler to be installed as soon as possible.