Hot or Cold?

fisselt · 08-25-2010, 01:23 AM

I recently bought my first house. After spending some time in here I wished I hadn't. One of my many problems is my bathroom. Namely the ability to get hot water into that room.

The first day we got here I wanted to take a shower but no hot water. I remembered I had the dishwasher on and turned it off. A few minutes later I got my first (and only) warm shower in my new home. The faucet in the bathroom is the same. I had the hot water once and not since. Everywhere else in the house is just fine for hot water. No problems at all.

But try as I might I cannot get hot water in my bathroom again. The sellers never mentioned any problems like this but seemed to have forgotten a number of other things as well.

The day I got my hot water was the first day the water heater had been on for about a week or so. I don't know if that makes any difference. I haven't been in the crawl space yet to check out the plumbing under the house yet... I need to buy a full body suit before I dare dive into that.

Thanks for the help.

**Reedwalker** · 08-25-2010, 11:48 AM

What kind of water heater is it?

Define "first time it had been on".

How far from heater to bathroom?

fisselt · 08-25-2010, 01:44 PM

There is probably less than 50ft from our water heater to our bathroom.

I had just lit the pilot light on the water heater that day. The gas had been off for a couple days.

Richmond Gas water heater. It is only 2 years old.

thanks

**phishfood** · 08-26-2010, 02:12 AM

Is the problem that no water flows when you turn the hot on at the shower valve or faucet, or does the water come out cold from the hot side?

fisselt · 08-26-2010, 03:48 AM

Room temperature from the hot side. My wife told me she had some hot water coming from the sink in there before she left for work today but when I tried it it wasn't warm at all. Our cold water is pretty darn cold but when I turn the hot water on I only get room temperature from the sink and shower.

DFBonnett · 08-26-2010, 01:38 PM

Is there a shut-off valve for the hot to that bath? Could there be an obstruction at the valve?

**havasu** · 08-26-2010, 03:39 PM

An obstruction at the valve is probably the answer if you have hot water at all other points. Pull the valve and check for a sediment clog.

fisselt · 08-26-2010, 06:52 PM

I'm going to have to go for a crawl to check the valves. I'll post what I find later.

**phishfood** · 08-26-2010, 11:01 PM

As long as you have good pressure on the hot side, I am not thinking that it is an obstruction problem, at least not entirely. It sounds more like the cold water is crossing over and feeding the hot side. An obstruction in the hot piping to this bath COULD make a crossover problem more pronounced in this area, though.