Whole house needs new plumbing ? or any quick fix ?

Question

we recently bought a 12 year old house. Home inspection was fine.

The problem is if one of us is taking a shower and the other person runs the flush or runs any tap even in the kitchen, the water in the shower instantly becomes very hot. Almost buring the person taking a shower. So now inspite of having 3 bathrooms, we can only run 1 shower or tap at a time and make sure no one else in the house runs any other water source.

Any solution to this problem ?

Answer 1

There is a shower fixture that has a built in regulator because of just this problem. It is that common. I have installed such a device and I was totally amazed how well it worked. The cost was quite reasonable, just a very few dollars more than the same thing without the feature.

Newer houses have a different type of water supply system that is supposed to help this problem also. It uses plastic pipe from a central distribution point called a manifold. There is a separate pipe from the one manifold to every tap.

Since no tap can "rob" water from any other, it is supposed to keep a more constant supply. Also, the fact that it is plastic will reduce or eliminate the buildup of rust and scale that is so common in any metal pipe system. Actually, copper doesn't rust, but it does have at least some scale issues.

It remains to be seen how popular this system is in 50 years. So many "new" products and procedures have been found to have problems that were not first forseen.

I doubt there will be an issue with cancer, but several building products have been disgarded over the decades because it was eventually found that they caused cancer. Since they typically take 20 to 30 years to show up, it is too late to do much about it. E.g. lead paint, asbestos, and urea insulation.

Others have been disgarded because their lifespan is not what is was supposed to be. Others are still in use even though they don't last as long, they are cheaper. There are also some that we had to adjust their usage because not enough testing was done prior to implimentation, e.g. aluminum wires and GFI.

Just so you don't misunderstand, some more modern materials and techniques are proving to be fine, it is just some that are not.

P.S. as I was writing my reply, the previous one was posted. His refers to the same special shower valve that I am referring to.

Answer 2

This is very common, and there really isn't anything wrong with your plumbing. There is a reservoir that you can purchase that will equalize water pressure. They are about the size of a hot water heater and cost about 500, I think. The are usually only for hot water, as people more commonly have this problem with hot, and not cold. Other than that, the best thing to do is make each bathroom and kitchen its own "zone" by tapping a line directly from the water main to where the pipes break off to go to a specific room. Because you are bringing a line parallel to the existing line, and then just cutting at the "Y", it shouldn't be an insanely huge project. Also, I'd check the home depot for a localized pressue regulator that may decrease the hot pressue as the cold is decreased, just so you don't scald yourself.

Answer 3

You need to have pressure balanced valves replaced for the old ones. They are required by building code in florida and may other states now. It completly solves this problem. They work by using an internal part that will work by allowing the same amount of pressure in from both the hot and the cold sides of the valve. If the pressure drops on one side the other side will only let the same amount of pressure through, ensuring equal amounts of water from both sides. You will notice the pressure drop a little but the tempreture will stat the same. Sounds like your pipes are undersized a little also. But this really dosent matter if you are happy with the volume of water you are getting.

Answer 4

Have your shower valves replaced with the newer temperature compensating (anti-scald) valves. They automatically adjust the balance of hot and cold water to maintain a constant temperature.

Answer 5

get a plumber for help