This is not a political statement, it refers to plumbing.
When it comes to plumbing, I repeat, equality is not always good. Case in point -- I see this minor plumbing concern at bathtub/showers and at kitchen sinks. The problem is subtle and few people, other than inspectors or plumbers, seem to notice it. Here is the deal, inside a faucet assembly there is a diverter valve.
This valve moves up and down and has a simple and specific purpose. When the water is coming out the spout or the tap, then no water should be coming from the shower head or the hose sprayer at the sink. Let's reverse that. When the shower head is on, or the hose sprayer is being used, then the diverter should block any water that would come out of the tap or the tub spout.
The photo below, quite clearly, shows that the diverter is not functioning at this sink. In this case, equal is not good. Mr Valve, please choose one side or the other, not both. These diverter valves are normally easy to replace but having the tools to access the diverter can be a problem for some homeowners. A plumber can fix it no problem at all. Does this little and common problem have to be fixed? Well, no it does not! You will live for years even if it is ignored.
However, especially with the shower scenario, an awful lot of hot water and energy is wasted and runs down the drain, when both the shower head and the spout are running.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspections
Comments(12)