I'm new here, so if this has been addressed, please point me to it. Searching I found this thread:
https://www.plumbingforums.com/threads/no-hot-water-in-only-one-faucet-in-the-house.2614It is eerily similar to my issue but unfortunately, it died out before a resolution.
I have one faucet (a kitchen faucet), that will get luke warm, but not hot. The rest of the faucets & showers in the house get hot.
We have lived with this since we bought the house about 3 years ago; it's time to fix it though!
In those three years, the faucet was replaced with a new faucet (simply for aesthetic reasons). The problem was the same with both the old & new faucets.
Under the sink there are three shut off valves; two on the left (one above the other). The upper one goes to the hot side of the sink; the lower goes to the dishwasher. The 3rd valve, which is on the right, goes to the cold water side of the sink.
With all three valves open fully, I get good pressure/flow on cold, hot, or mixed, but only luke warm water if the faucet is open on cold only. Cold only side runs cold.
Shutting off the cold water valve under the sink, I get no water on the cold side of the faucet. I still get luke warm water on the hot side and still get the same good flow.
Shutting off the dishwasher valve yields no change.
There is a faucet outside of the house immediately behind the skink & it has a soft rubbery type product insulating between the copper pipe & a larger hole through the brick, so thought possibly someone had added that faucet & somehow tied cold & hot together in the process, but that faucet runs cold only & flows well even when the under sink valves are all off. The sink still runs luke warm when the outside faucet is running so I don't think it's related to the problem.
The house is a 2 story with the hot water heater in the garage and this faucet is on the 1st floor 60' or so (straight line) away. The pipes run throught the walls & I'm guessing through the ceiling of the 1st floor/floor of the 2nd for 1st floor sinks/shower so can't follow them-- although, it did just occur to me that it's possible everything goes to the attic & then down the walls so maybe I can check there to see if I can find the pipes to check whether they are hot there. Not sure if that will tell me anything useful or not?
The two closest rooms with water are a downstairs 1/2 bath -- hot & cold work fine there.
And, a 2nd floor bathroom -- hot & cold work on the sink & tub/shower, but the hot & cold are connected backwards on the tub handle. I get hot when the faucet is set to cold & cold when the faucet is set to hot. I don't see how that could cause the problem; but, is it possible? Likely?
From a history perspective, I'm aware of the following:
1. Main water line was replaced because it was leaking where it came up through the slab.
2. There was some work done on that upstairs bathroom because inside a cabinet on the opposite side of the wall, the sheetrock was cut out & re-installed with visible sheetrock screws holding it back in (never taped/floated so I could remove it to look at it). I'm assuming the tub/shower fixtures were changed out when the prior owners were getting the house ready to sell but I don't know for sure what was done there.
3. There used to be a water softener in the hot water heater closet. It was leaking and my wife doesn't like the soapy feel to softened water so it was put in bypass mode & hasn't been touched since (other than dumping the water from the salt container)
4. There was an addition done just before we moved in - a downstairs Master bedroom/Master bath was added. I believe the builder tapped into a cold water pipe in the attic of the existing part of the house to get water to that room for that room. The Master bath has its own hot water heater so I don't think they tapped into any hot water pipes. We get good cold & good hot water in the Master bathroom.
Any of this provide possible clues to the luke warm water at the kitchen faucet?
What else would you recommend checking to figure this out?
https://www.plumbingforums.com/threads/no-hot-water-in-only-one-faucet-in-the-house.2614It is eerily similar to my issue but unfortunately, it died out before a resolution.
I have one faucet (a kitchen faucet), that will get luke warm, but not hot. The rest of the faucets & showers in the house get hot.
We have lived with this since we bought the house about 3 years ago; it's time to fix it though!
In those three years, the faucet was replaced with a new faucet (simply for aesthetic reasons). The problem was the same with both the old & new faucets.
Under the sink there are three shut off valves; two on the left (one above the other). The upper one goes to the hot side of the sink; the lower goes to the dishwasher. The 3rd valve, which is on the right, goes to the cold water side of the sink.
With all three valves open fully, I get good pressure/flow on cold, hot, or mixed, but only luke warm water if the faucet is open on cold only. Cold only side runs cold.
Shutting off the cold water valve under the sink, I get no water on the cold side of the faucet. I still get luke warm water on the hot side and still get the same good flow.
Shutting off the dishwasher valve yields no change.
There is a faucet outside of the house immediately behind the skink & it has a soft rubbery type product insulating between the copper pipe & a larger hole through the brick, so thought possibly someone had added that faucet & somehow tied cold & hot together in the process, but that faucet runs cold only & flows well even when the under sink valves are all off. The sink still runs luke warm when the outside faucet is running so I don't think it's related to the problem.
The house is a 2 story with the hot water heater in the garage and this faucet is on the 1st floor 60' or so (straight line) away. The pipes run throught the walls & I'm guessing through the ceiling of the 1st floor/floor of the 2nd for 1st floor sinks/shower so can't follow them-- although, it did just occur to me that it's possible everything goes to the attic & then down the walls so maybe I can check there to see if I can find the pipes to check whether they are hot there. Not sure if that will tell me anything useful or not?
The two closest rooms with water are a downstairs 1/2 bath -- hot & cold work fine there.
And, a 2nd floor bathroom -- hot & cold work on the sink & tub/shower, but the hot & cold are connected backwards on the tub handle. I get hot when the faucet is set to cold & cold when the faucet is set to hot. I don't see how that could cause the problem; but, is it possible? Likely?
From a history perspective, I'm aware of the following:
1. Main water line was replaced because it was leaking where it came up through the slab.
2. There was some work done on that upstairs bathroom because inside a cabinet on the opposite side of the wall, the sheetrock was cut out & re-installed with visible sheetrock screws holding it back in (never taped/floated so I could remove it to look at it). I'm assuming the tub/shower fixtures were changed out when the prior owners were getting the house ready to sell but I don't know for sure what was done there.
3. There used to be a water softener in the hot water heater closet. It was leaking and my wife doesn't like the soapy feel to softened water so it was put in bypass mode & hasn't been touched since (other than dumping the water from the salt container)
4. There was an addition done just before we moved in - a downstairs Master bedroom/Master bath was added. I believe the builder tapped into a cold water pipe in the attic of the existing part of the house to get water to that room for that room. The Master bath has its own hot water heater so I don't think they tapped into any hot water pipes. We get good cold & good hot water in the Master bathroom.
Any of this provide possible clues to the luke warm water at the kitchen faucet?
What else would you recommend checking to figure this out?
