May 2, 2008
Can the Shower Be a Humidifier?
Q: Ed, can you resolve another husband/wife dispute? During the heating season we run an electric humidifier to put moisture into our home since we heat with a wood stove and the air can get very dry. When taking showers I leave the bathroom door open with the fan off to let the moist air dispense into the house. I feel this helps keep our house extra moist during the heating season. My husband insists that we keep the bathroom door closed tight with the bathroom vent fan on to prevent mold from building up in the bathroom. What do you think? Jayne (New Hampshire)
A: Issue one: I think that a husband should never complain about his wife taking showers with an open door. Issue two: Both of you bring up some very valid points.
You are correct that moist air is moist air and the extra shower steam may feel good in a dry house. Your husband is correct that good air flow from a vent fan may prevent mold from building up.
I have the perfect solution for your home and your marriage: Continue to take your showers with the bathroom door open, but run the vent fan while taking your shower. This will give you a nice mix of fresh air flow and extra moisture throughout your home.
Now that this dispute is over, I'm sure you'll be showering each other with love very soon!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 11:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Code Red For Ed
Q: Mr. Del Grande, While I enjoy reading your column in our local newspaper, the advice you gave this week about setting a toilet without sealing the fixture to the floor sent me to my code books. According to my code books they all state that: "Joints formed where fixtures come in contact with walls or floors shall be sealed."
My jurisdiction has taken this to mean the joint between the toilet base and the floor must be caulked or sealed with grout on tile floors. I would hate to have the homeowner follow your advice and get a red tag upon job inspection. Wally (Florida)
A: Hi Wally, first let me explain to our readers what the dreaded "red tag" means. It usually means someone did not follow their local codes and the "tagged" issue needs to be corrected.
In all fairness though, I was not advising to set a toilet without sealing it to the floor, the issue was shimming a toilet. So, please don't send the toilet cops after me! It looks like you did your homework and if your local codes require that the toilet base be "sealed," then there is no disagreement, we seal the toilet base to avoid the red tag.
However, there is a difference between "sealing" a toilet base and "caulking" a toilet base with adhesive caulk. My advice was that: "Most of the plumbers I know do not caulk around the entire toilet base." The reason for this is that a toilet glued to the floor can be difficult to remove without damaging the floor or breaking the toilet. Now, if you seal the toilet base with a non-adhesive material like tile grout, you can follow your local codes and avoid a problem down the road.
Keep in mind also that a completely sealed toilet base may hide a leaking toilet flange and this may damage the floor under the toilet over time. For that reason, once again myself and most of the plumbers I know will leave a gap in the seal on the back side of the toilet base. This way, the front of the bowl is sealed from urine or moisture that may get in under the toilet, but if there is a flange leak you can usually spot the water leaking out the back.
Bottom line on toilet bottoms is to do what the local inspector says and that should seal the deal with this issue!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 11:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
