Question: I hope you can help with two problems we have. First is the screw popping in our walls. We did have our year inspection and they fixed them. Well they’re all coming back. What can we do?
Second, has anyone ever looked into a Watts recirculating system for the hot water heater? I’ve been told by a plumber that it would not work with us being on a slab. What has anyone heard on this issue? We would really like to have hot water in our master bath and not have to wait for almost five minutes. I would really appreciate you looking into these two matters.
Answer 1: Your problem used to be called nail pop, but since wall board isn’t installed with nails anymore, your problem is now called screw pop. It happens as the house settles and as the studs dry and the walls relax. The very cold weather this year has exacerbated this problem.
If you want to fix this problem yourself, it is a rather easy repair. Where you have a bump in the wall indicating a screw pop take a utility knife and clear away the joint compound exposing the screw head. Take a Phillips screw driver and drive the screw in until the head is 1/8” below the surface of the wall. In some cases the screw will be stripped so that you can’t drive it into the wall stud. In that case, remove the screw and drive a new screw an inch or two above or below where you removed the screw.
When you have finished setting all of the offending screws, cover the holes with joint compound. Smooth off the excess with a three inch wide putty knife. Wait 24 hours for the compound to dry. It will probably shrink as it dries and you will want to put on a small amount of additional compound on and smooth it with the putty knife. When this has dried, sand it smooth with 150 grit sand paper wrapped around a wooden block. Prime and paint the spots you fixed and you can now admire your handy work.
If you don’t want to make this repair yourself, any minimally competent handyman can do it.
Answer 2: The Watts recirculating pump is a device that will give you instant hot water at any sink in your house. The reason you get cold water from the hot water tap for from one to five minutes is that all of the water in the pipes between your sink and the water heater that has cooled down to room temperature has to run through the faucet before the heated water from the tank comes through. In my house the faucet in the laundry room produces hot water in 10 seconds because the water heater is directly below this sink in the basement. The faucet in the master bathroom takes three minutes to run hot because it is on the opposite end of the house from the water heater.
The Watts recirculating pump has a bypass sensor that mounts to the hot and cold water lines under the sink where you want instant hot water. It also has a pump that mounts on top of the water heater to pressurize the hot water side. When the temperature of the hot water at the sink drops, the sensor valve senses this and opens. This allows the hot water in the water heater to flow to the sink and force the cooled down hot water into the cold water pipe where it returns back to the water heater. There is a timer on the pump so you can set the system to only deliver instant hot water when you are awake to use it. Below is a link to a four minute video that will show you the parts and how they get installed:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCe_eg7PexE
This system can be installed by a moderately competent home owner. Most plumbers (but not the one who told you it would not work on a slab) have experience installing this system and can give you a quote to install one in your house.
• If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com.
