This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey visits New Jersey to install a water softener. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.)
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Shopping List for Installing a Whole-House Water Softener:
– Water softener
– Solder
– Copper pipe and valves
– 3/8-inch-diameter plastic tubing
– Compress fittings
– Hose clamps
– Air-gap fitting
– Salt
Tools List for Installing a Whole-House Water Softener:
– Tubing cutter
– Soldering iron
Steps for Installing a Whole-House Water Softener:
1. Turn off the water at the meter.
2. Use a tubing cutter to tap into the existing cold-water pipe.
3. Connect the water softener’s resin tank to the cold-water pipe by soldering on an assembly of copper pipe and three valves.
4. Run a length of 3/8-inch-diameter plastic tubing from the resin tank to the salt tank; connect each end of the tubing with compress fittings.
5. Use a hose clamp to attach the drain line to the drain elbow on the resin tank.
6. Install an air-gap fitting to the drain that leads to the sewer pipe.
7. Attach the water softener’s discharge hose to the air-gap fitting with a hose clamp.
8. Hook the discharge hose from the washing machine onto the air-gap fitting.
9. Fill the salt tank with salt.
10. Turn the water back on.
About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we’re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
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How to Install a Whole-House Water Softener | Ask This Old House
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This Old House, a classy classic outfit organization with the right stuff of knowledge in a man's (family) castle!!! Hey @thisoldhouse at home I have a hot water heater with a large 2ft filter prior to the input of the heater. I change the filter every June & December, religiously. Every time my white filter comes out brown. I have tested my house water. The results from a stick method are within normal parameters. Advise?
After the husband peaces out, the plumber hands the wife an invoice demanding the deed to the house, on top of the installation cost.
After all, the best way to get rid of hard water stains and deposits, is to just dump it, like they did with the toilet.
It’s funny how they keep thanking him “for coming to New Jersey”!! 😂
Add salt once a year ??? I think I’m doing something wrong ??? I top off the salt every 5 to 6 weeks …
Twice a year to add salt? That's a looooooooong time. Pretty sure that was mispoken.
They “replaced” toilets because of rings? Wait til she leaves the craziest poop schmears.
husband looks so handsome in his big boy business suit
How did richard catch them off gaurd in the kitchen?
Love the opening scene with the husband in the suit awkwardly holding his coffee. 😂😂
I didnt see any bonding clamps to properly ground the copper before the softner to after the softner. Very dangerous without.
Where is the hot water heater?
When I visited relatives with soft water, in the shower I always felt too slick and not yet clean. Now I'm in the midst of a crisis because this house MAY have had a softener in it by design, and because of that, some PEX plumbing is under the garage slab and leaking up thru the hole in the slab and flooding a bedroom instead of just going up into the attic and being noticed immediately.. I might have noticed sooner, but most of the water was soaked up by my vinyl collection, audio equipment, camping gear, boxes, etc. Storage room.
At least it's PEX. Could be much worse, right? No. Property manager is considering this whole screwed up system. Laundry room hot on right. Ice maker might be hot, also.
The plumbing could have been extremely simple and all contained it the attic, straight down the centerline of the building. Easy peasy, even WITH a softner. Shyt contractor/designer.
'95 btw Edit: Forgot part of the story. Most of the water/mold was around the air return duct and got aerosolized and fed back to me constantly since last November at least.
Mostly same symptoms as covid.
When he said “it’s not dangerous to drink the water it’s only cosmetic” that’s entirely not true. The minerals are inorganic and your body has a hard time processing them. My blood calcium level was always high until I stopped dring tap water because of high calcium levels. If it can clog your pipes it can also clog your arteries.
Sooo just hire a plumber
We had Culligan water give us a huge price to install a water softener I ordered one online for half the price of a Culligan unit and installed it myself and had to add salt at least every month
That’s his mama house 😂😂
Culligan softeners are over priced. Made in China
I usually skip this part of the video
Man I use to think trades were complicated, but the more I learn about trades the more I see things overlapping and it really just bigger cooler Legos.
Can’t believe city water needs a softener?!?