The hot water in the kitchen sink comes out at 1/2 the pressure of the cold. Both lines come in as galvanized. The cold has a shut off valve and then hose to the faucet. Before last night, the hot came into a T with one side for dishwasher and then a very small copper line to a shut off valve and then into the hose for the faucet.

When I tried to turn shut off valve off, it sprayed water, so I consulted a very good plumber at Home Depot who said to get rid off T (screw it off) and place shut off valve first like in cold but gave me a shut off that had a screw on for the dishwasher too. I was unable to get the T off. But I did get the rest of that screwy plumb job off and hook the sink and dishwasher to the T directly. The hot water has no more pressure than before. She thinks it is just corroded and told me to try WD-40 which I have and I have put so much muscle and force on it and it will not budge.

Can I take my Sawzall and cut that T in half and then peel/physically remove the rest of it, so as to preserve the threads? If not, can I cut the pipe under the T and how would you connect it to PVC-one of those plastic tube compression fittings?)?

Thanks so much.
Tom

P.S. I did change the flexible hose going from water source to hot water faucet and that made no difference, so no clog in there.

IF you cut ANYTHING on the galvanized pipe, you WILL have to unscrew it because there will be no way to screw anything back on to it. You probably should call a plumber before you cause some damage that may be hard and/or expensive to repair. There is no such thing as a "Home Depot plumber person".

A couple of 18" pipe wrench's would unscrew the tee.

Well, I was reading some older posts that related to galvanized pipes that wouldn't turn, and the person made mention of a very large pipe wrench--largest he'd ever seen. That must have been the one I never thought I'd have a use for but that is in the closet anyway. So, I tried it and it turned a little. With the more common size it kept turning but no threads showed, so I became suspicious as to whether the pipe (under the floor, under the house) was turning and it was. I was able to tighten it back together, but am left with what to do with this galvanized fitting. If cutting it apart is not a good idea, are we left with cutting under it and then going to PVC? And I think to do that I'd have to use the kind of compression fitting (long, rounded plastic) that I used to fix the lead underground in the front yard to go from galvanized to PVC. Is that right?

Also, I appreciate the concern about doing damage, but although my sawzall idea may have been bad, that is why I put it up here before doing it. I have fixed quite a number of things without a plumber and this doesn't seem like the one where I have to call one. As for Home Depot, she is a Master Plumber (why a Master Plumber works at Home Depot, I don't know); that said, I recognize the limitations of even a highly trained professional telling you something about your house's plumbing from pictures, descriptions and pieces of pipe. But she's very smart and this is the first time what she's said hasn't worked. I thought you guys and gals would be happy to discuss your areas of expertise. But please give me a little credit as to knowing when I need a plumber and when I don't.

quote; As for Home Depot, she is a Master Plumber (why a Master Plumber works at Home Depot, I don't know);

I don't either, but it could be like Benny Hill said, "It's not what they are, it's what we call them".

If I have to cut of the Tee, would CPVC be the material to join to (this is hot water for the kitchen sink) and would I join such with what I've been told is called a compression fitting. I am referring to an elongated, round plastic tube with a screw on at each end and each end has a gasket hat goes on to each pipe and then you screw it all together tight and you've gone from galvanized on one end to CPVC on the other end. Then you add a CPVC male adapter and you can use a shut off valve with a new Tee one for hot water to the sink and one with hot water to the dishwasher.

If not, assuming that the galvanized tee will not come off, and I am very convinced of that, is there another option besides sawing pipe under the Tee and doing something similar to what I've described above?

use two wrenches

hold back on the nipple

unscrew the tee


or


call a plumber

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

I've found in older houses with galvanized pipes, rust can build up and restrict water pressure. Your problem may involve more that the tee fitting in question. When the buildup inside the pipes gets to a certain point, the only real cure is to re-pipe the house, or replumb the branch in question. I would never use a compression or repair coupling on galvanized. I would trace the pipe back to the source connection, cut the pipe and thread in an adaptor, and run pex or cpvc from that point all the way to a new sink shutoff. Not to discredit your abilities, but your problem may involve more than just a tee fitting.

You might also have an issue with loose rust/scale buildup clogging up inside of the kitchen faucet.



Edited 1 times.

if the pipe under the floor has started to turn, you are home free..
take IT out and start your repiping from there.
or take it out, put it on the workbench, heat the tee really hot and remove it.
personally, i would go with plan "A"..
by the way, sharkbite makes fittings that will slide over 1/2" iron pipe size.

Right now, your descriptions have been so vague, that I am not sure what you have or what you need to do. How about a picture to make it clear. DO NOT use a SawZall for ANYTHING until you know how you are going to put it back together. ALL galvanized fittings WILL come apart if you use the proper technique.