# Two Plumbing Issues - Discolored Water and Low Heat



## Alzafan (Mar 28, 2017)

Hello! My partner and I just bought a house and we're trying to figure out a few issues we've encountered. We're both first time house buyers, with little in the way of useful knowledge when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm hoping to get a better idea of what might be wrong with your help.

First issue:
When I run the cold water tap, the water occasionally comes out discolored. I say 'occasionally', because it only seems to happen when we haven't run the water in 12+ hours -- usually we notice this in the morning. It's also been raining every day since we moved in, though I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. The water is also only slightly discolored, a light brown/yellow/maybe red. Running the tap for 20 seconds has always completely cleared the issue up.

Second issue:
I have the water heater set at 135°F and the smaller taps seem to heat up just fine. However, the water in the shower never gets properly hot. It's warm, and completely acceptable, but it never gets steamy hot. Which, you know, probably isn't the worst thing, but this issue seems to be restricted to this particular shower. 

If anyone has any ideas about what could be happening, we'd both really appreciate it.


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## JoeD (Mar 28, 2017)

1. Sounds like rust. Do you know what type of  pipes you have in your house?
2. Is this a single handle valve? They usually have an upper limit setting. Perhaps you simply need to remove the handle and adjust it, If you feel the need.


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## nealtw (Mar 28, 2017)

You may want to have the water tested.
and the shower may be adjustable.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTqj1clHVJY[/ame]


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## Alzafan (Mar 28, 2017)

Thanks for responding so quickly!

The pipes are galvanized steel. At least, the pipes going into the wall behind the water heater are. We don't have a proper basement, so getting under to check out the pipes is a bit of a hassle. However, the house was demolished to its foundation back in 2001 and even galvanized steel pipes have a lifespan of, what, 40 years?

Yes, it's a single handled valve. A friend of mine mentioned it may be the scald guard as well, I just haven't been able to find any documentation on how to remove an American Standard handle. More googling is needed.


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## nealtw (Mar 28, 2017)

Alzafan said:


> Thanks for responding so quickly!
> 
> The pipes are galvanized steel. At least, the pipes going into the wall behind the water heater are. We don't have a proper basement, so getting under to check out the pipes is a bit of a hassle. However, the house was demolished to its foundation back in 2001 and even galvanized steel pipes have a lifespan of, what, 40 years?
> 
> Yes, it's a single handled valve. A friend of mine mentioned it may be the scald guard as well, I just haven't been able to find any documentation on how to remove an American Standard handle. More googling is needed.



I think it is pretty safe to say the pipes are near the end of life.


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## Alzafan (Mar 28, 2017)

You guys were correct about the hot water. It's running well now.

As for the pipes, the person who did the inspection on our house gave them a thumbs up two weeks ago. Is there a good way to test the water to see what could be the problem? Would we test for zinc or for rust?

Thank you both for your help.


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## nealtw (Mar 28, 2017)

http://www.homedepot.com/p/LABTECH-H2O-OK-Plus-Complete-Water-Analysis-Kit-LT5015-1/205540501


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## JoeD (Mar 29, 2017)

A little brown rusty water won't hurt you. It will discolour your laundry maybe if it is bad enough.


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## frodo (Mar 29, 2017)

you need a repipe to get rid of the old galvy piping


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## joecaption (Mar 29, 2017)

First thing I do when buying a house with old steel pipes is get a price on replacing all of it with Pex.
There is no way to just look at the outside of it and know what's going on inside of it.
It rust out from the inside out.
At some point when you do you replace it you will be suprized how closed up the pipes are on the inside from rust.
First place it's going to start leaking is any place it's been threaded.
That rust is loading up the bottom of the water heater, wearing out the faucet seals, causing the anti scald to stick.
Did you use a realtor suggested home inspector?
That's a buyer 101 huge no no.


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## frodo (Mar 29, 2017)

..............galvinised pipe with calcium build up,  typical,


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