The Fixtures Inspection is a very important part of a home inspection. Plumbing fixtures are installed at the end of the water supply and the beginning of the drainage system, providing a means by which the water brought into the house can be used. Depending on their purposes, the fixtures for home have either hot water, cold water or both, and they also have a drain for removing waste water. This waste water is channeled away from the plumbing fixtures through drainpipes to a sanitary sewer or a private sewage-disposal system such as a septic tank or cesspool.
Fixtures Inspection – Outlets and drains
Each plumbing fixture has one or more water outlets and a drain. In some cases, the drain has a device that can be manipulated to block the drain to fill the basin of the fixture. Also, each fixture has a flood rim, or level at which water will begin to overflow. In addition, most fixtures have an overflow as well, which is the conduit for water to drain away, when the regular drain is plugged, before the water actually overflows at the flood rim level. This feature is for bathtubs, but water closets and showers usually do not have it because their drains usually cannot be stopped.
Usually, each plumbing fixture has a characteristic means of connection. The normal plumbing practice is to install a valve on each water supply line before the fixture, commonly referred to as a “service valve”. While the water supply for some fixtures such as water closets and urinals is cold water only, most fixtures also have a hot water supply. On occasions, you may also find a sink with a potable and a non-potable water supply.
Water closets and lavatories normally connect to the water supply though a tube, usually of nominal ⅜ in U.S. in 10 or 12 mm diameter in Europe and the Middle East, which connects the water supply to the fixture, sometimes through a flexible, braided hose. For water closets, this tube usually ends in a flat neoprene washer that tightens against the connection. For lavatories, the supply usually ends in a conical neoprene washer. Kitchen sinks, bathtubs and showers usually have supply tubes built onto their valves, which are then soldered or “fast jointed” directly onto the water supply pipes.
Traps and vents
All plumbing fixtures have traps in their drains, either internal or external to the fixtures. Traps are basically pipes which curve down then back up, trapping a small amount of water to create a water seal between the ambient air space and the inside of the drain system. This prevents sewer gas from entering buildings. Most water closets, bidets and many urinals have this trap integral with the fixture itself, while the visible water surface in a toilet is the top of the trap’s water seal.
Each fixture drain must be vented so that negative air pressure in the drain cannot siphon the trap dry, to prevent moisture air pressure in the sewer from forcing gases past the water seal, as well as to prevent explosive sewer gas buildup.
Drains
The initial drain part in a lavatory or sink is called a strainer, and if there is a removable strainer device that fits into the fixed strainer, it is a strainer basket. The initial pipe that leads from the strainer to the trap is called the tailpiece.
Floor-mounted water closets seal to the toilet flange of the drain pipe through a wax ring, generally made out of beeswax. The proper sealing, however, depends on proper seating of the water closet, on a firm and secure base, as well as on proper installation of the closet bolts which secure the closet to the flange. In turn, this must be securely fastened to the floor.
Electronic plumbing
In public facilities fixtures are generally sensor-operated, improving hygiene and saving money. For instance, sensor-operated automatic-flush urinals have fewer moving parts, reduce wear and tend to last longer than manual-flush valves. In addition, they ensure fixtures are flushed just once per use. Some even contain intelligence that flushes them at different amounts of water flow, depending on traffic patterns. For instance, the fixture can detect a lineup of users and give a full flush only after the last person has sued the urinal.
Sensor-operated toilets have automatic flush as well. Also, sensor-operated faucets and showers save significant amounts of water. For instance, while the user is soaping up, the fixture shuts off and then resumes when the user needs to rinse. Moreover, sensor-operated soap and shampoo dispensers reduce waste and spills that might otherwise pose a slippage hazard.
These fixtures are more expensive to install than conventional plumbing fixtures, because they require the services of both a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber. Then, the additional complexity of these plumbing fixtures also makes repairs more complicated, particularly the diagnosis of malfunctions causing unexpected flushing. Very few electricians and even fewer plumbers actually understand microelectronics well enough for complex diagnosis. On the other hand, the costs will be well-balanced by the water savings.