Weak water pressure could have lots of causes

Q: What would you recommend as a possible remedy to weak water pressure at the master (and hall bath) shower on the second floor of a 10-year-old, two-story home? Water heater is gas and located in finished basement.

Are there shower heads or other remedies for this problem? Home is on public water and sewer.

A: Well, let’s start at the beginning. Water is going to enter your house with a certain amount of pressure. Since your water heater is in the basement, I’m going to assume that the main water line probably enters through the basement, as well. As the water heads upstairs, it loses pressure because of the vertical climb — about 1 pound of pressure loss for every 2.3 feet that the water has to climb.

So, one of the first things you’d like to know is how much water pressure you have when it first enters the house. If you already have low water pressure, say down about 40 pounds per square inch, then your upstairs showers are going to have a hard time handling the pressure loss no matter what type of shower heads you have.

You can test this by buying or renting a simple pressure gauge and attaching it to an exterior hose bib close to the incoming water line. Or, since you’re on a municipal water system, you can call your utility company and have them do the testing for you.

You said this is a 10-year-old house, so the next question is whether this is a sudden new problem, a problem that’s always been there, or something that’s developed slowly over time.

If it’s a sudden new problem, it could be caused by a leak in your plumbing system somewhere, or by a drop in water pressure by your water supplier or a piece of sediment that’s suddenly broken free from your water heater or elsewhere and clogged your shower head (unlikely if it’s affecting both showers).

If it’s always been there, it could be the flow restrictors in your shower heads. These are small plastic disks inside the heads, designed to restrict the amount of water that passes through the head. You can remove the head from the arm, and pop the disk out of the head. Be forewarned that this is not the most energyefficient thing to do, and while you’ll be increasing water pressure at the head, you’ll also be increasing water usage. Another option is to check online for sources of high-pressure shower heads, which are engineered to provide a higher pressure stream of water at lower flows.

If this is a problem that’s developed slowly over time, then it could be a combination of sediment building up in your water heater (drain and flush the water heater); sediment in the plumbing system; a slow reduction in the water pressure being delivered to your house; a slow leak somewhere in your plumbing system; dirt in the filters or flow restrictors in the shower heads (you can take them off and clean them); or any number of other problems, which would

require a consultation with a licensed plumbing contractor.

Q: I am having a problem where the noise from the neighbor's dryer is extremely loud. It appears to be coming mostly from the exhaust vent. We've tried angling the vent a little bit but the sound echoes and reverberates and it's driving us insane!

Is there any way to quiet this noise?

Do they make mufflers or silencers for the end of the duct to stop this noise?

A: To be honest, that’s the first time I’ve ever had that question. It’s possible that your neighbor’s dryer is malfunctioning — the drum is out of balance, bad belts or some other problem — and it’s making an unusual amount of noise that’s somehow being magnified by the ductwork, or is echoing for some reason because of the location of the vent between your two houses.

I’m not aware of any type of muffler, and anything you tried to put on the end of the vent to muffle the noise would cause backpressure in the dryer that could damage it.

My only suggestions would be to:

1) get the dryer checked and serviced by a qualified appliance repair person (or replace it)

2) relocate the exhaust duct system so it exits the house somewhere else, and/or

3) insulated the duct system to try and reduce the reflected noise.

All of these steps would obviously require the cooperation of your neighbor.

Have a home repair or remodeling question for Paul? He can be reached by email at improvingyourhome@ ykwc.net.