DIY Network

Hot Flush in Ohio ... Rebuilding After Katrina

Ed Del Grande, host of Ed the Plumber, gives tips on installing a toilet-mixing valve, and explains the best way to open up a slab to run plumbing.

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There is a control on the plumbing market called an "anti-sweat" toilet valve that is a good option to try when you want to prevent toilet sweating.

Q: Ed, I enjoy your columns and practical solutions to problems. I am in the process of building my new home, and I want to plumb all the toilets off the hot-water lines to prevent sweating. Will this work? No one is sure if this is a good idea or not. Have you heard of this approach to stopping a toilet from sweating? -- Don, Ohio

A: Don, first of all you did the right thing to ask questions before attempting the work. Many people think they have creative plumbing solutions and do the work without checking with a plumber and then find themselves in a mess.

A toilet sweats because the cold water from a well or a city service line can cool the toilet tank to a point where the moisture in the hot summer air condenses around the tank. It's called sweating because droplets form around the tank that resemble sweat, and it can get to a point where constant dripping can damage the floor at the base of the toilet. If your home is air conditioned, the air should generally be cool enough that toilet sweating does not happen.

But back to your question of piping hot water to a toilet to prevent sweating. You should not pipe your toilets with hot water. Aside from wasting energy, hot water is not recommended for toilet use. However, you are on the right track in your thinking that warmer water will prevent sweating. And there is a control on the plumbing market that has been around for a while called an "anti-sweat" toilet valve. It's basically a mixing valve for toilets that uses hot and cold water lines and tempers the water to a safe temperature for toilet use, just warm enough to prevent sweating.

So, before friends and family dismiss your idea, check one of these anti-sweat valves out at your local plumbing supply house and check it out. It will add some costs to your plumbing system because of the valve itself and the extra piping needed. If you follow the manufacturer's instructions for proper installation, that and a few plumbing skills should allow you to install a toilet-mixing valve "no sweat!"

Q: Ed, my home was damaged from Hurricane Katrina. But I'm one of the lucky ones. I'll be able to move back in to my home. Still, I have a lot of work to do and need to install new plumbing in an existing concrete slab. I'm not sure how to open up the concrete. Do I just break it with a sledge hammer? What is the best way to open up a slab to run plumbing? -- Tim, Mississippi

A: Tim, I understand exactly what you and your neighbors are dealing with on the Mississippi coast and in New Orleans. A few weeks ago I could not have made that statement because the truth is, unless you go down there and see it for yourself, people outside the area have no clue as to how serious the problems still are on the Gulf Coast one full year after Katrina.

I just returned from an eight-day journey with HGTVPro.com to see how the building industry is recovering one year after the hurricane. It was a heartbreaking experience and I want everyone to know help is still desperately needed down there. Please continue to donate what you can. I met the strongest and bravest people I've seen in my life--people like Tim, who are attempting to rebuild their homes. Thousands of others are living out of temporary trailers on their property. Those less fortunate cannot even return to their property at all, and it's a whole year later!

So let me try to help. Please don't try to break the concrete open with a sledgehammer. The best way to open a concrete slab for plumbing pipes is to mark off one-foot narrow channels that need to be opened up and have the concrete professionally cut with a concrete saw. This will keep the integrity of the slab intact and give you a nice clean trench to work with. Also, it will make patching the concrete very easy. Tim, I wish you and all your friends the best.

(Ed Del Grande is a certified master plumber and hosts DIY's Ed the Plumber. Send plumbing questions to him at edtheplumber@diynetwork.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service. For building-code concerns, always contact your local government office or a local licensed plumber.)

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