Your Home Improvements

Robert,

My name is Vic C. and I live here in Canyon Country.

I’m in the process of having a sewer line replaced. This sewer line is a shared line between the two homes we have on our property, one in front and one in back.

The line goes along the side of the house, to the front, and is adjacent to a retaining wall. I’ve attached photos for you to see.

When the city was out, they said that they want us to do a slurry backfill rather than the normal dirt backfill.

If we decide to go the dirt route, they want a soil engineer to give a report, because they’ll require what they call 90 percent compaction.

I have a call out to the contractor and am hoping that you can get back to me as soon as possible. The city is saying a single sack slurry, but the contractor is saying a threesack slurry, saying it has something to do with the pump.

I’d like to get your input on what all of this means, so that I am educated in how to deal with this, prior to agreeing to anything that may cause me problems or cost me a possibly unnecessary amount of additional costs.

Vic,

The contractor is being absolutely truthful with you.

The pump itself does require a minimum three-sack slurry.

For the readers: slurry is a mixture of sand, water and cement, with no coarse aggregate.

There is not a pumper out there that will do less than a three-sack slurry, as it puts undo stress on their machine.

To have this pumped, you have to go with the three-sack slurry, though the city requires only a single sack for this application on your project. Know that the city’s one-sack requirement is in fact, equivalent to 90 percent compaction, so either application would be viable and equally safe, and they are requiring this due to its location near the retaining wall.

It’s one of those things that seems unnecessary, but this is why the city is involved, they keep us all following standard for everyone’s safety.

The soil method is going to cost an arm and a leg due to the costs of a Soil Engineer’s time/ report, so you are best to go with the slurry.

Unfortunately this needs to be done, there’s no skirting the costs but your question was great. Good luck.

Robert,

My name is Leonard P. and I live in Canyon Country on a fixed income.

I have searched the internet for a solution to my problem, but have yet to figure out this situation.

When I turn my master shower on there is the most high-pitched, excruciating noise that lasts for the duration of the shower, as the water is turned on/off or adjusted.

I have taken apart everything that I could think of, including the shower head, but I can’t figure out where this noise is coming from.

I sent photos so you know what I’m dealing with, hoping that you can enlighten me on how to take this apart and what to look for, if this is even the issue.

Leonard,

What you have is called a single handle Mixet valve and the cartridge, which is the stem, has gone bad.

When you are rotating the stem and the plastic insert isn’t rotating with the stem, it only allows water through partially, much like when you pinch the opening of a balloon and it squeaks. This is the source of the highpitched noise.

As far as removal and replacement, this is quite simple.

Shut the water to the house down and drain the water out of the house to the first level by opening fixtures in the first floor until virtually no water comes out. This will give you a “dry” area to work with upstairs.

There is a clip called a keeper ring, which sits in front of the cartridge, to keep it from popping out. Use a small jeweler’s screwdriver to remove this. If it is quite old, this may be frozen and you’ll have to either get a specialty tool at the big box store, or sometimes you can free it up with a wrench or channel locks.

Once you have the stem off, match it up perfectly at the big

box store, and then you’ll be ready to reverse the process for installation.

Be sure to look into the area with a flashlight and be sure that everything looks good with no calcification, then use the lube that comes in the package with the new stem and get the stem ready for use.

Be sure to put that keeper ring back on and then you’re ready to valve back up the house.

Do this slowly as you’ve drained the house and you don’t want the water rushing into the pipes too quickly. Once you don’t hear the water any longer from the area of the main, you are ready to go.

You’ll likely have a few pockets of air escape when you open a fixture in the house, this is expected.

You can definitely do this project, just take your time and use caution. Good luck.