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One visit, three problems: a skewer, a fire line and a relief valve.
A Port Coquitlam homeowner had a blocked bathroom sink, a leaky toilet shutoff and a boiler relief valve that wouldn’t seat. The sink was a metal skewer. The toilet turned out to be fed from the fire sprinkler line.
A skewer, and a surprise water supply.
We took the bathroom sink drain apart and found a metal skewer blocking it. We cleaned the trap, ran a cable a few feet to make sure the trap arm was clear, put it back together and tested it: it drains well, with no leaks.
The toilet’s shutoff was leaking, but turning off the house water didn’t stop it. The toilet was fed from the fire sprinkler system, at full pressure with no pressure reduction. With the owner’s go-ahead we isolated and partly drained the fire system, replaced the shutoff, and slowly brought it back up to pressure. We recommended adding a small pressure-reducing valve for the toilet.
A relief valve that couldn’t seat.
The boiler’s relief valve wasn’t seating consistently. There were no isolation valves for it, so the whole heating system had to be drained to change it, which we did on a second visit.
The old valve had broken welds between the seat and the spring, which is why it couldn’t close properly. While the system was empty, we recharged the expansion tank to 12 psi, refilled the system, and bled each circuit. No leaks.
Small problems, done properly.
Each one was quick, but each needed checking: what was in the drain, where the water came from, why the valve failed.
Clear the sink
Remove the skewer, clean the trap and test it.Find the toilet’s supply
Trace it to the fire line, isolate it and replace the shutoff.Replace the relief valve
Drain the heating system and install a new valve.Refill and bleed
Recharge the expansion tank, refill and bleed every circuit.Three fixes, and two recommendations.
The sink drains, the toilet shutoff holds, and the boiler’s new relief valve seats properly. We recommended a pressure-reducing valve on the toilet’s fire-line supply, and told the owner to keep an eye on a noisy but working circulator pump that should still be under warranty.
Metal skewer removed from the sink drain
Toilet shutoff replaced on the fire line
Boiler relief valve replaced
Expansion tank recharged and system bled
Start with the problem. We will help plan the next step.
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