Hello all,

I would like to admit that these are probably easy questions to answer but I am still feeling a little lost. Please help if you can

Here is what I know so far:

-Whoever did the remodel on my plumbing did it in such a way that everyone at Home Depot laughs at me when I come to them with a problem. (Yes laughs in my face)
-My hot water line has a leak.
-I have no cut off valves for the shower.
-I have no cut off valves on my water heater.
-I do know where the main cut off valve is for the entire house.

My tub is leaking(out the shower head or spout depending) and I am pretty sure that I need to replace the washer(hooray for multi-packs).
I turned off the main water supply, turn power to the water heater off and turned on the water to my tub.

Cold water line= fine, no water coming out
Hot water line= continues to run

Questions:
How long should it take to get all the water out of the pipes so I can work on it?
Am I draining my water heater if I just let it run?
(I was told that it would be bad news if I drained the water heater since it had never been drained in the past 4 years)

Any advice, suggestion?

I am a first time homeowner with no family in town so I am reaching out to the online community. I would really love to fix this myself if I can (pride and money thing)

Thanks in advance,
RunningWater.

 

Here's what I would do. Since you have no shut off valve for the water inlet to the hot water tank I would start there. I don't think you need to drain the tank. Turn off the water to the whole house. Open all faucets to let as much water drain from the pipes. It might take some time. You can emppty tank part way to help relieve some pressure to hot water pipes. Cut the the cold water inlet pipe to the tank and install a valve (either solder or sharkbite).

If the location allows install isolation valves for your tub and/or sinks or both. Where is your hot water line leaking? Fix that next. If tub faucets are leaking, remove the stems or cartridges and replace as necessary. Expect to make multiple trips to plumbing supply house. If HD laughs at you , give your business to the local hardware house where you can get good information and help. Use this forum and other self help web sites to get information. I suggest Ron Hazelton web site to get a videos as to how to do plumbing .

 

Don't forget if you lower the water level in your water heater any you should turn of the breaker so you won't burn up the top element [assuming it's electric] FWIW - there weren't any cut off valves in my house when I bought it. I agree with Norm, I'd take my business somewhere else if they don't show me any respect. We all started out not knowing anything!

btw - welcome to the forums!

 

And make sure you fill the hot water heater before you turn back on the electric...

 

Thank you for all your help! I am planning a trip to the local plumbing store so hopefully I will soon be less leaky.

Happy Tuesday!

 

If your trying to shutoff the main and it's a gate valve it may not shut off all the way. Replace it with a ball valve.
In fact all the valves you install should be gate valves.
Only install a valve on the cold water side of water heater, not the hot.
If you know the brand of faucet you have most likely you can get all the parts for free from the manufacture if you contact them.
When refilling a water heater you must open up a hot faucet someplace as it's filling or it's not going to fill to the top.
Anytime a heater is flushed you should remove the aerators on the faucets and flush some water out of the lines or there going to load up with trash.
Showers and tubs almost never have shut offs, no reason not to, it's just not often done.