Plumbing and social control

[IronWing]

I had time this morning to contemplate why plumbing fixtures are such utter garbage. They don't need to be. We have the capacity to build fixtures that don't suck. I concluded that it is no accident of a free market that we can't have functional plumbing. It is a plot by the powers that be to keep us occupied with trivial bullshit while they rape the world. Why else would a faucet that has replaceable valve springy things be built with a screwy on piece so flimsy that it literally shreds under hand tightening? Why are toilet parts either crappy, brittle plastic or metal castings so distorted they were likely made by armless lepers? It is time for a revolution.

 

[local]

China, the answer you are looking for is China.

 

[lxskllr]

I'd like to go back ~60 years. More frequent leak maintenance, but the fix was a part that cost a few cents, was non-proprietary, and could be bought at any grocery store. Toilets used brass/bronze castings that hardly ever went bad.

 

[Engineer]

China, the answer you are looking for is China.

And that leads us back to corporate profits and shareholders. The ever increasing desire to get more and more while giving less and less (quantity and quality).

 

[Kaido]

I had time this morning to contemplate why plumbing fixtures are such utter garbage. They don't need to be. We have the capacity to build fixtures that don't suck. I concluded that it is no accident of a free market that we can't have functional plumbing. It is a plot by the powers that be to keep us occupied with trivial bullshit while they rape the world. Why else would a faucet that has replaceable valve springy things be built with a screwy on piece so flimsy that it literally shreds under hand tightening? Why are toilet parts either crappy, brittle plastic or metal castings so distorted they were likely made by armless lepers? It is time for a revolution.

Yeah, I've done a few plumbing jobs for elderly relatives & my own place over the past few years, horrible every time. Everything is cheap crap. Even the commercial stuff seems to be junk. I would definitely pay more for quality stuff, but it doesn't really seem to be available...

I'm still learning code, but in my ideal setup, I'd run some CPVC pipe in the walls, then run PEX inside the pipes, so if they DID leak, it'd have an outlet path to drain into rooms that had in-floor drains. They make nice edge drains now that don't look like you're in a gas station bathroom. My plan is to do my whole house in Sharkbite with PEX & a leak-handling system made up of tubes & drains. I've had two leaks in my current place that have absolutely ruined sections of my home. One was in the bathroom above the living room and required a quarter of the ceiling to be gutted. Sooooooo stupid :thumbsdown:

 

[runzwithsizorz]

And that leads us back to corporate profits and shareholders. The ever increasing desire to get more and more while giving less and less (quantity and quality).

LOL, someone besides me gets it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbbF3oxf-E

 

[Fanatical Meat]

China, the answer you are looking for is China.

Agreed however most crappers are US made

 

[lxskllr]

Agreed however most crappers are US made

Guts too? The porcelain doesn't matter(as much). It's the plumbing guts that can be infuriating.

 

[Humpy]

China, the answer you are looking for is China.

Right, has nothing to do with American consumers demand for cheap crap. I just don't know if it's more about saving the money or if it's about the insatiable need to bitch about something and place blame elsewhere for the cheap toilet that is in their cardboard house.

 

[Rakehellion]

Right, has nothing to do with American consumers demand for cheap crap. I just don't know if it's more about saving the money or if it's about the insatiable need to bitch about something and place blame elsewhere for the cheap toilet that is in their cardboard house.

I've never seen someone get this angry over a damned toilet.

 

[Humpy]

I've never seen someone get this angry over a damned toilet.

You mean me or the OP?

 

[TheSlamma]

Spend the extra money for the ones with that "made in USA" like I do and in the long run you save yourself so much time and money it's unbelievable. I constantly watch people buy cheap crap thinking they are saving money just to replace it over and over and over again. Works with more than just plumbing too.

A tip for plumbing, when you replace something like a stem on a shower faucet, put silicone grease on the gasket then put it on, lasts longer and makes a great seal you don't have to crank down as hard also prolonging the life of that gasket further.

 

[brianmanahan]

it's therapeutic to schedule time to just get mad about various injustices in the world

a couple of pointers:

1. make sure to focus on a wide range of injustices
2. don't overdo it

otherwise you'll end up like dave

 

[Greenman]

China, the answer you are looking for is China.

China is just a symptom of the problem, free trade is the root.
When we gave our economy to the third world, we signed the death warrant for the middle class.

 

[Newbian]

I wonder how much water damage op had today. 😛

 

[brianmanahan]

China is just a symptom of the problem, free trade is the root.
When we gave our economy to the third world, we signed the death warrant for the middle class.

i thought OP's toilet was the symptom of the problem

 

[Charmonium]

My house is pretty old but I've installed some PVC stuff (laundry, under sink) and that stuff lasts forever. In fact, it's way better than copper or brass because if never clogs. I did the sink years ago and it's never clogged even once. No disposal attachment either.

As for fittings, in the kitchen, I replaced an aging stem and valve faucet with a fairly cheap faucet with plastic valves. I've had that for years as well and it works perfectly.

If I have any complaints at all, it's with the older pipes and fittings in the house. The bathroom trap is in the basement and it clogs on a regular basis. It was obvious even from the outside that it was deteriorating from all of the drain cleaner that had been used on it. But in that case I just wrapped the piss out of it with epoxy tape. Now when I plunge the trap I often see flakes of corroded metal coming back up but the trap has never leaked. You've just got to lover polymers.

My other complaint would be the electric water heater. Even though the water here is soft there are still dissolved solids which eventually plate the inside of the tank and cause it to draw too much current. Either that or it leaks. So pretty much every 5 years I need to replace it.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Classic misuse of technology. Many things are no longer made for ease of use or repair but, ease of production.

 

[TheSlamma]

My house is pretty old but I've installed some PVC stuff (laundry, under sink) and that stuff lasts forever. In fact, it's way better than copper or brass because if never clogs. I did the sink years ago and it's never clogged even once. No disposal attachment either.

As for fittings, in the kitchen, I replaced an aging stem and valve faucet with a fairly cheap faucet with plastic valves. I've had that for years as well and it works perfectly.

If I have any complaints at all, it's with the older pipes and fittings in the house. The bathroom trap is in the basement and it clogs on a regular basis. It was obvious even from the outside that it was deteriorating from all of the drain cleaner that had been used on it. But in that case I just wrapped the piss out of it with epoxy tape. Now when I plunge the trap I often see flakes of corroded metal coming back up but the trap has never leaked. You've just got to lover polymers.

My other complaint would be the electric water heater. Even though the water here is soft there are still dissolved solids which eventually plate the inside of the tank and cause it to draw too much current. Either that or it leaks. So pretty much every 5 years I need to replace it.

Most of the time old drain fixtures clog because they have straight intersections, T's instead of Y's.

But no matter what things like biofilm with eventually attach to anything, even plastic with smooth unions.

My house is 91 years old and the line from my utility sink/washing machine is the original iron pipe.. never clogs, but I maintain it once every 2 years. Plastic or metal, you should do the same thing, people who rest on set it and forget it, will eventually be reminded to not forget it 😉

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

And that leads us back to corporate profits and shareholders. The ever increasing desire to get more and more while giving less and less (quantity and quality).

In yet the people bitching the most are the ones shopping at Walmart. Catch 22 there eh bud?

 

[Charmonium]

But no matter what things like biofilm with eventually attach to anything, even plastic with smooth unions.

Maybe there is something different about white pvc. I can look down my kitchen drain with a bright led flashlight, and the pipe is as clean and white as the day I installed it.

The main pipe is iron and there was only one time I had a problem with that which was probably from tree roots. Ever since, all I do is pour copper sulfate(?) down the drain in the spring and autumn and I haven't had any issues since.

 

[TheSlamma]

Maybe there is something different about white pvc. I can look down my kitchen drain with a bright led flashlight, and the pipe is as clean and white as the day I installed it.

The main pipe is iron and there was only one time I had a problem with that which was probably from tree roots. Ever since, all I do is pour copper sulfate(?) down the drain in the spring and autumn and I haven't had any issues since.

Sounds like you are really good about not putting dumb things down your sink like a lot of people do (grease, grounds, etc) but that is great they have stayed that clean, that is impressive they look good as installed.

On the main lines, yep as long as you maintain them they will last for a very long time, eventually they will go bad but that could be over 100 years.

 

[master_shake_]

Most of the time old drain fixtures clog because they have straight intersections, T's instead of Y's.

But no matter what things like biofilm with eventually attach to anything, even plastic with smooth unions.

My house is 91 years old and the line from my utility sink/washing machine is the original iron pipe.. never clogs, but I maintain it once every 2 years. Plastic or metal, you should do the same thing, people who rest on set it and forget it, will eventually be reminded to not forget it 😉

D:

nuke it from orbit.

it's the only way to be sure.

 

[Charmonium]

Sounds like you are really good about not putting dumb things down your sink like a lot of people do (grease, grounds, etc) but that is great they have stayed that clean, that is impressive they look good as installed.

Coffee grounds and motor oil, but aside from that . . . 😉

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't stand this whole disposable society either, everything is made so cheap so that it breaks, so that you have to buy more often. There is so much waste because of this and it all revolves around making sure that big head honcho 1%ers get to buy more houses and more yachts every year, because their billions are never enough.

Then food is a similar situation. Food companies arn't making food so they can feed us, they're making it so they can maximize their profits, they don't care about our health, and neither does the government. Most of the food we buy these days is garbage. The only way to really eat healthy is if you grow your own stuff and raise your own animals. Nobody aint got time for that, because the society system has been designed to ensure that we have to work all day, so we are forced to buy things that save us time. Try to do anything against that grain, and it's probably illegal, or it's regulated to the point where it's not worth it.