Plumbing Question 85

Question:

I bought my house about a year ago. It was a short sale and the former owners had not paid bills so the water, electric and gas had been turned off over the winter. Unfortunately this resulted in some busted pipes. We had a handyman fix them and everything seemed to be working well.

This past fall, about 6 months after the pipes were fixed, we did a small kitchen renovation that involved installing a new sink. It seems like shortly after this time we lost water pressure in the 1/2 bath sink on the other side of the house. We also noticed the water pressure in the utility sink in the basement lost some pressure was well. We don’t think we have a leak (we’ve checked over and over) but can’t figure out what would cause this two sinks to have the problem but no where else in the house. It doesn’t appear to be the aerator on the faucet because the water is so pathetic that it wouldn’t matter. I’m stumped!

Answer:

When the addition was done I assume they shut off the water to connect the lines. Sometimes turning the water back on will cause debris from the water heater to rush through and plug the lines or areators. You said you removed the aerator and water still just trickled. Now try removing one of the flex lines to the 1/2 bath sink from the faucet, (shut water under sink off first). Point the flex line into a bucket and slowly turn on the water. If it comes out full blast, the faucet is plugged with debris and may need to be replaced or completely disassembled for proper cleaning. If the water still barely trickles out, call the “Handyman” back and have him check his tie in to make sure it was done correctly.