Hello,
I live in a condo and am having a lot of issues with the plumbing. I'm trying to find out if it's a building problem or a problem in my unit. Here are all the issues:

1) Shower in master bath has hot water for about 30 seconds then turns cold.
2) Toilet in guest bathroom fills with hot water, and floor around the toilet is warm.
3) Faucets in kitchen run hot water when it's supposed be cold and cold water when it's
supposed to be hot. It usually corrects itself after running the water for a few minutes.

Can anyone shed some light on the root of these problems and if they are related?

Thanks!
Natalie

It is a problem somewhere, but depending on the way the building is plumbed, it might be starting elsewhere. You have a cross connection that is allowing hot water to push into the cold water lines. I suspect that it is in the shower if it is a single handle unit, but could be in a basement mop sink with a chemical dispenser attached; any single control valve is suspect. Finding the problem will take the most time, but ask your neighbors as well. If it is affecting multiple people, it could be a problem with the building and finding the source might be difficult. Still, I would start with your shower, but it could be your guest bathroom as well. if the floor is warm around the toilet and it isn't a heated floor or doesn't have a reason to be getting heat from below, then I suspect your toilet is running in the guest bathroom and the hot water is trickling through the toilet and into the drain and heating everything up along the way. The kitchen faucet problem is unusual. normally it would be cold till hot water got to it, or if there is a cross connection, both sides would get hot, but opposite then correcting isn't normal. Find the cross connection and fix it first, then go on to the kitchen faucet if it still has problems.

Thanks for your reply. I have spoken to some neighbors, mostly my downstairs neighbor, and she also has hot water in her toilet. Many of my neighbors have problems with cold water running hot and vice versa. We were told that the cartridges are going bad in our units and they will all need to be replaced and everyone will need to do it because if one persoe doesn't then it won't be fixed. It seems suspicious to me that all of our cartidges would go out at the same exact time though.
And yes, my shower is a single handle shower.

Unlikely but possible I suppose. It is probably one unit with the problem and it hits everyone, but if the building doesn't have individual water heaters for each unit and separate plumbing, finding the one valve isn't impossible, but it isn't easy. If the building is making the individual tenants pay for this, get together with your neighbors and set up a time when everyone can get it done at the same time. Call one plumber and get a reduced price for the job. Any plumber I know would be happy to rebuild a bunch of shower faucets instead of driving from job to job. Get a plumber out ahead of time so that he can take a look at what you have ahead of time so that he has all the parts at the ready. Like I said, it is unlikely that everyone needs the shower cartridges replaced, but if the plumbing was all put in at the same time, the wear and tear is close to being the same and the cartridges failing around the same time isn't uncommon, but it is usually dripping, not cross connections that are happening. Just coordinate with your neighbors and your plumber, it will make things easier for everyone.

recirculating check valve is bad...

I think you're right packy. Unless they find something else, then I'll delete this, and deny it...LOL

Brain fart. Yeah, the hot water recirculation system has connections to the cold water line as well. Have the building manager get a plumber out to have them checked/replaced first. Thanks Packy, I blanked on that one.

Thanks everyone!



Edited 1 times.

...or a thermostatic mixer on the recirc. line...



Edited 1 times.

If you are on the bottom floor and the piping is under the concrete, then you are describing a classic case of a broken underfloor hot water pipe. ANything else, someone would have to be there to make their own tests to see what is happening.

If your "one handle shower valves" are the Mixet brand, then changing the cartridges seldom cures the problem. In fact nothing would except to install a "NoMix" brand retrofit cartridge.