LESLIE: John in Montana, you’re on the line. What can we do for you?
JOHN: Oh well, I have a problem with some plumbing in a basement apartment. It’s kind of in a split level house and their shop is attached to the front of the basement.
TOM: OK.
JOHN: We’ve got a rental down there and when you turn on the faucet in their rental, the pipes just make a “bbbrrrrr” like they’re vibrating really hard.
LESLIE: And it’s when you turn it on or when you turn it off?
JOHN: When you turn it on.
LESLIE: Does it stay rattling for the entire duration while you’re using the sink?
JOHN: No, not the entire duration. It’s just when you first turn it on about halfway and it’s a kitchen sink that has one handle, you know, you swing for hot and cold.
TOM: That’s a diverter valve that’s gone bad on that. You need to replace that faucet. You know, a good website for that is FaucetCoach.com. It’s put together by the folks at Peerless. They have step-by-step instructions on how exactly to tackle that home improvement project. What’s happening is the diverter valve is going bad in your old faucet and that’s what’s making that very loud vibrating sound. And of course, when you have a situation where you have common walls like that, that’s going to vibrate and make a big racket all the way up and down the plumbing line. So, what you need here, John, is a new faucet. It’s not worth repairing it. It’s an easy do-it-yourself replacement project and you can learn how to do that with that website; FaucetCoach.com.
JOHN: OK.
TOM: John, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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