E22 | Cold Water Bathtub, Cornhole | Ask This Old House

♪♪ Kevin: On "Ask This Old House," our experts travel across the country to answer questions about your house.

♪♪ Today, Richard will do a deep dive to learn why this bathtub runs cold.

Then, the paint job is over.

Now what?

Mauro will walk you through the process.

And on "Build It," Tom and I come up with a project that the whole team can enjoy.

Mauro: You got to have the skill.

[ Cheering ] Nathan: Nothing but net!

Kevin: All that on "Ask This Old House."

♪♪ -Richard: Henry.

-Henry: Hi.

Richard: Richard Trethewey.

Nice to meet you.

-Henry: I'm so glad you're here.

-Richard: Glad to be here.

Henry: So I have a problem with a tub.

Richard: Okay.

Upstairs or down?

-Henry: Upstairs.

-Richard: All right.

So what's happening up here?

Henry: So, we installed this deep soaking tub, and ever since we've installed it, my wife has not been able to enjoy a hot bath.

Richard: And how recently did you do this remodel?

Henry: When we got renovated the house six years ago.

Richard: Six years?

I'm glad I rushed right over here.

-Henry: [ Chuckles ] Yes.

-Richard: All right.

How do you make your hot water here?

Henry: It's tankless.

Richard: Okay.

So tankless.

So how about hot water?

Do you have plenty of hot water everywhere in the building?

Henry: We do.

We do.

Actually, when we fill the tub, it goes cold after a couple of minutes from the spout.

-Richard: Yeah.

-Henry: But we are able to fill it with the hand sprayer because the water stays hot.

But it takes so long that, by the time the tub is full, the water in the tub is cold.

Richard: Well, there's a reason for that.

You know, every single plumbing fixture is limited by code to have no more than 2.5 gallons per minute coming out of it.

Every hand shower, every faucet.

Except the tub fill.

It has no restriction.

So this will be two and a half gallons a minute, but it might take too long to fill the tub.

What we don't know yet is how many gallons of water are in this tub.

How much do we need in a short period of time?

Henry: So I looked it up.

It's actually 60 gallons.

Richard: Okay.

So 60 gallons.

If you didn't know that number, you could actually determine gallons by taking the cubic content -- the width, the length, and the height up to the overflow in cubic inches -- and divide by 231.

And that would tell you the number of gallons.

So if we know we need 60, what we don't know is how much water is coming out of right here.

Let me run to the truck and we're going to do one test.

Henry: Okay.

Richard: So what we want to test is the flow rate in gallons per minute through this tub filler right here.

Now, this is a one gallon jug that we know about.

It's hard to get all that water into this.

So I've got a bucket.

Now, Henry, you got your phone on you?

-Henry: I do.

-Richard: Put it on timer.

And what we're going to do, here's the mark for one gallon.

Ready?

I'm going to say go.

Go.

[ Water running ] Stop.

What do you got?

Henry: 8.2 seconds.

Richard: All right, so do some math.

60 divided by 8.2.

Henry: It's about 7 1/2.

Richard: Okay, so this tub filler is 7 1/2 gallons a minute.

This is 2 1/2.

This is three times more water coming through this than this.

We're getting there.

All right.

So here is your power plant for the building.

This is a gas-fired wall-hung unit.

You can see that it it exhausts to the outside right here, and fresh air from outside for combustion comes in here.

And inside you've got a gas-fired condensing boiler, a heat exchange.

It squeezes every bit of energy it can out of the fuel and it heats up water.

Now, that water goes over here and goes through this piping, through these circulator pumps, to heat the building, goes to your radiators or your baseboard.

But it also diverts that same hot water to a reservoir right here.

And this has a heat exchanger in it.

So that means you're going to use it to make the hot water for your faucets.

Henry: Oh, so it's not tankless?

Richard: No, it's actually -- it's a combi unit.

And I think what happened is the installer was trying to deal with the fact that they want a little more volume to try and satisfy the tub.

They were close, but not quite there.

Okay?

So these things have about 20 gallons in them.

Okay?

And it has a mixing valve on the top.

That's an attempt to store it at a hotter volume, mix some hot, hot water with cold and go out and try to get a little more volume for the tub.

But I brought some building blocks to actually help understand the issue that you've got here.

All right.

This represents your tub.

These blocks represent gallons of hot water.

Now, each block is two and a half gallons.

Okay?

So you're looking for 60 gallons.

This is 20 blocks.

20 times 2 1/2 is 50.

So this is -- You need even more than what you see here.

So this is what we need to do to fill that tub.

You've got 20 gallons right here.

20 gallons is eight blocks.

This is what you got for hot water supply.

This is what you need.

Okay?

So that's really what the issue is.

Now, why does the rest of the house work fine?

Every single shower valve, every single faucet uses this -- 2 1/2 gallons per minute.

Okay.

So you could take a shower all day long, but as soon as you now add that tub filler of 7 1/2 gallons a minute, you're going to blow through that 20 gallons pretty quick and go to cold.

So I'm going to predict that you could only fill that tub about a third of the way, right?

-Henry: That's right.

-Richard: Okay.

The science bears that out.

So the rule is pretty simple.

This unit can handle every other load in the building.

But when you have what they call a dump load, a big load that we need to fill a tub, you have one choice.

You have to have a stored vessel of the water ready to go to handle the worst case scenario.

So we're going to need a new piece of equipment, a tank.

Henry, I have some new friends for you to meet.

One of them is Jim Papalia.

He and his crew from Papalia are going to help us do the installation today.

Henry: Thanks for coming.

Jim: No problem.

Glad to be here.

Richard: The other is your next newest best friend, which is this hot water tank right here.

This is going to be all we need to make sure you have plenty of hot water for that tub.

Jim: Yep.

Storage tank only.

80 gallons.

So you have plenty of hot water for your tub.

And it's very well insulated.

Richard: It's made out of stainless steel, too, so there's no anode rod to go bad inside.

And, so, the way it works is it's just a tank, stainless steel.

It's got two tappings down at the bottom, a bronze pump right here.

Now, what you're going to do is they're going to pipe it in such a way that we come off this beautiful reservoir of 20 gallons of hot water, right.

Sends heated water over into the bottom of the tank, heats up the tank, heats up the tank, heats up the tank, comes back right here.

And once it's all heated up, there's the water that goes out to your tub that you'll never run out.

This is 80 gallons.

So we're going to have plenty.

All right?

We're ready to get rolling?

-Jim: Yep.

Richard: All right.

Come on, crew.

Let's go.

The installation begins by turning off the power and the water and draining out the reserve tank on the combi boiler.

♪♪ With the water drained, we can cut away some of the old piping.

♪♪ We're running copper lines between our old boiler and our new tank and using solderless press connections to make it watertight.

♪♪ ♪♪ On our new loop, we're installing a bronze circulator pump, an expansion tank, and a check valve.

Once the system is tight, we can turn the cold water back on, refilling both the heat exchanger and our new storage tank.

And then, purge all the air out of the system.

Time to turn on the boiler again.

♪♪ So we're fired up.

And look at this cool device.

Temperature gauge reading out right there.

And we're heating up.

-Jim: We're on the rise.

Richard: All right, let's just review what they've done here.

So we've got our cold water that comes into the top of the old unit just like it always has, and it comes out through the top, just like it always has, but we've added this loop, these pair of pipes right here that comes over into the bottom of the tank.

Now, you can see there's a sensor down at the bottom of the tank.

This is called an aquastat.

And that'll say, "Bring on the pump," and it brings on the pump to send water back to be reheated.

The water just will circulate around, circulate around until this tank is satisfied.

When this thing is satisfied, it shuts off the pump, and it just sits there, ready to go.

Heated water leaves through the top right here through a mixing valve, mixes with cold, and comes right out here and goes out to your tub.

You know what?

I don't think you're going to run out of hot water.

Henry: Oh, that's great.

How long will a tank like this last?

Jim: Manufacturer's warranty is 10 years.

But it should last you a lot longer.

Richard: It's a stainless steel tank.

There's no burner in it.

There's no anode rod.

It's a pretty straightforward device that should last.

So we gave it about 40 minutes for all that cold water to heat up.

And now we've been filling this tub.

And guess what?

It's hot water.

And I have a thermometer, and it's going to prove to you something you've never had before in this house.

Still hot water coming up.

My work here is done.

Henry: Wow, That's great.

Richard, thank you so much.

As tempting as this looks, you know, my wife has been waiting six years for a hot bath.

I'm going to let her have the first one.

Richard: You're a good man, Henry.

I'll give you -- Sorry about the wet handshake.

-Henry: Thank you.

Richard: All right.

Enjoy.

♪♪ -Kevin: Hey, Mauro.

-Mauro: Kevin.

Kevin: So what have you got for us today?

Mauro: Well, we're talking clean up after the paint project is done.

Kevin: My least favorite part.

But it's got to be done.

Mauro: It's got to be done one way or the other.

Kevin: We all like the paint.

It's an easy homeowner project.

Mauro: This is what we have here -- water-based paint.

All right, this is what we're using all the time.

Kevin: So are we basically saying oil-based paint is a thing of the past?

Mauro: Oil based paint has become a thing of the past.

Reason number one, homeowners doesn't want any more of the oil paints inside of their homes.

-Kevin: Really smelly.

-Mauro: Smelly.

And, you know, especially during the winter, everything is closed.

That smell of paint and the oil base, people don't want that anymore.

What they want is what we call the water based or waterborne.

Same thing.

-Kevin: Gotcha.

-Mauro: All right?

-Kevin: So all the cleanup we're talking about today is for water-based paint, which is actually easier to clean up than oil, right?

Mauro: It's easier to clean up.

All you need is a bucket with warm water in it, and you clean your brushes right away and be ready to use it again.

Kevin: So when it comes to cleaning brushes, literally, we can just sort of take a -- well, get all the loose paint off -- but just submerge it in the warm water and give them a good swirl.

Mauro: Spin it, put it back in its cover, and just be ready to use it again.

-Kevin: Look at that.

-Mauro: Look at that.

Kevin: Yeah.

No need to throw the cover away, right?

That's meant to be reused.

-Mauro: Never.

Never.

This is not part of the package.

This keeps your bristles when you brush is clean.

Put it back.

Bristles would be straight, clean, nice shape to paint again.

Kevin: I know you're an advocate of good brushes, so cleaning them and saving them makes a lot of sense.

But what about the rollers?

They're kind of a little bit more disposable.

Do you actually clean the rollers or are these sacrificial?

Mauro: I don't like much of cleaning the rollers because they, you know, they're not going to perform the same way as a new roller.

-Kevin: Right.

-Mauro: Okay.

Every time you clean it, you know, and it dries, it's not going to be good for your next paint project.

Unless you're going to keep using the same color again.

Put it in a plastic bag, tie it up, and we'll be ready to go next day or after lunch or something like that.

Kevin: All right.

So let's talk about disposal.

Mauro: Disposal, yes.

Kevin: Because that's important.

Whether it's the roller, whether it's old paint or whatever, what do you think about disposal?

Mauro: Old paint, and if you don't want the paint cans in your house anymore or just try to get rid of it, there's two ways to do it.

Okay?

One, open up your can, let it dry.

Okay?

And there's a faster way to do it.

Open up your can again, put some cat litter in there, leave it outside, and that will dry faster.

-Kevin: Kitty litter?

-Mauro: Kitty litter.

Kevin: Gotcha.

Okay.

Mauro: And then, the most important thing, before your dispose of it with the regular trash, consult with your town.

-Kevin: Right.

Mauro: Your town will guide you the best way to dispose of this.

Kevin: Yes.

Because they've all got their own rules.

And if the cans are dry, typically, they're easier to get rid of.

If there's liquid paint there, then it's oftentimes toxic and you've got to handle it separately.

But in either case, check.

-Mauro: You need to check.

That's not a good thing to throw your paint can as a regular trash.

Kevin: And if I want to save the last couple of inches, you've got no problem resealing these cans, right?

Mauro: Not at all.

Save it.

You might need this paint later for a touch-up or something.

A good way for you to keep this clean and put the lid back on again and get the paint nice and tight, so make sure after you paint job is done, or even before, and clean the rim as best as you can.

Kevin: Same?

Just warm water and a rag all around.

Mauro: Same technique.

Get your rag in there, wipe it out, and clean up the best you can.

Put the lid back, press it down, and no air goes in.

Paint is still good for a long time.

Kevin: That is the tough part right there because that's just a little funky.

Mauro: Paint dries here, like, really fast.

Kevin: Got it.

Okay.

Sounds pretty easy.

I like the fact that we're mostly in water-based paints right now.

Easier cleanup, but better on our noses and our throats and stuff.

-Mauro: It's the way to go.

This is the way to do it.

-Kevin: Awesome.

Mauro: It doesn't smell so much like oil-based paint.

People will come home, be happy.

Paint job is done.

All good.

-Kevin: Thank you, Mauro.

Appreciate it.

-Mauro: Thank you.

♪♪ -Kevin: Hey, Tommy.

-Tom: Hey, Kevin.

How are you?

Kevin: All right.

So what are you thinking here?

Beanbags?

Plywood?

Tom: Well, yeah, a nice, simple project.

We're going to build a couple of cornhole boards.

Kevin: Oh, cool.

All right.

Yeah, I like that idea.

Tom: So I picked up some KD 2x4s, and they're pretty straight, 'cause we don't want to have a dip or a curve in the board.

Kevin: Mm-hmm.

Tom: And I wanted the smoothest surface I could get, so I got some precut panels out of birch.

Kevin: Yeah.

Interior plywood, though, right?

Tom: Yeah.

Well, I think most people keep them inside when they're not playing, and we're going to put a finish on them to seal them.

And I think that a little bit of time that they're outside and not in the weather, it's going to be fine.

-Kevin: I like it.

-Tom: All right.

Let's get started.

All right.

Let's cut these two 8-footers.

Put them on the saw.

Make sure your end is even down there.

Kevin: These are flush.

Yep.

Tom: Okay, good.

Let's put them against the saw.

So what I want to do is I want to cut the 8-footers, two of them, in half, which would be 4 feet.

That will give us four sides for the two boards.

-Kevin: Mm-hmm.

-Tom: So, to find the center -- 'cause I know that these are a hair over 8 feet -- I'm going to measure from one end and put a mark at 4 feet.

I'll meet you from the other end at 4 feet.

Kevin: So those aren't going to line up because it's a little bit more than 8 feet?

Tom: Right.

And if I cut right in the center of that, I'll have four equal pieces total that are 4 feet long.

Kevin: Clever, Tommy.

Very clever.

Tom: All right.

Kevin: Even with cornhole, you're clever.

Tom: All right.

There's our four sides all cut equal in length.

Kevin: Love it.

Tom: So now we're going to cut the pieces for the top and the bottom.

And our cornhole board will be 24 inches on the outside.

So the pieces that are going to go in the top and the bottom will go in between the 2x4s.

So what we need to do is subtract the width of two of the 2x4s.

And each 2x4 is an inch and a half.

Two of them will be 3 inches.

21 inches will be the length for our four pieces.

So now we're ready for some assembly.

We're going to pre-drill some holes for our screws.

So I'll mark them, and then, you can drill them.

3/4 in, put a line here, there.

♪♪ I'm going to use 3-inch deck screws.

♪♪ ♪♪ So when you're driving a Phillips screw sometimes and you drive it really fast with these drivers, the tip can slide out of the screw head.

So, if you take your drill and pump the trigger, that little hesitation allows it to slip back in and less chance of it sliding out.

So you pump it every now and then when it's slipping out.

♪♪ I'm gonna move it out just a little bit.

'Cause I want to make sure I'm lined up with the screw.

♪♪ All right, so now we're ready to put the top on.

♪♪ Kevin: Inch and 5/8 exterior screws.

Tom: Yep.

Countersink them down so we'll hit 'em flush with the top.

♪♪ Put one in the center here.

♪♪ All right, So now we're ready to drill the hole for the bags to drop into.

And there's dimensions that we have to follow.

And if I come down 9 inches from the top... Kevin: That's center of hole?

Tom: That'll be the center of the hole.

And center it this way, which is 24, so we want to divide that in half.

So that's where we want to drill the hole right there.

Kevin: Okay.

Tom: So I can take a compass and I can put it on the center like this, and I can draw a circle.

Kevin: So what do the regulations say the hole has to be?

Tom: 6 inches, 9 inches down, and then, in the center.

So I could take and draw a hole like that and cut it with a jigsaw or saber saw, or I just happen to have a 6-inch hole saw.

Kevin: Surprise, surprise.

Tom: That we can cut it all in one.

Kevin: Okay.

Tom: All right, so we've got our hole cut, and we're ready to use the board, except for one thing.

They're usually at an angle, as you know.

And, so, that requires that we put a set of legs off the back.

And we need two of them.

We could just attach them with screws, but we're going to attach them with a carriage bolt.

Kevin: Because?

Tom: Well, because we need to swing these legs out of the way so that they'll go up like that because it's easy to store.

-Kevin: Gotcha.

-Tom: All right?

We've got to make an adjustment to the square part of the leg at the top.

We need to make a radius right here, all right?

So now it becomes a circle, and the carriage bolt will become the pivot point or center of the circle so we can then turn it.

The reason is, is I can't turn with the corners.

They'll hit.

The American Cornhole Association says that the box needs to be 12 inches high at the top, and we have to allow for the thickness of the top, which is a half inch, so I need to cut the legs 11 1/2 inches.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Both boards are built.

Now we're just going to protect them and we're going to use some water-based urethane.

We're going to roll it on.

♪♪ ♪♪ I actually ordered some decals.

And now you're going to take and bring this down.

Kevin: Oh, I like this.

This is satisfying.

Tom: Yeah.

I'm going to walk this paper up, and as we walk it up, you just go back.

Push the bubbles up and out.

Ready to put the top coat on?

-Kevin: Ready.

Tom: Think we'll do it the same way.

Just dump it on the board and roll it around.

Kevin: Okay.

Tom: All right, let's set them up right over there.

-Richard: Oh, look at that.

-Tom: Oh, look at this, huh?

What do you guys think?

-Mauro: Ooh, nice.

Nice.

-Tom: How do you like it?

-Richard: Did you guys buy that?

-Kevin: Oh, hey, come on.

-Tom: You like that logo?

Kevin: Why would you buy when you can build?

Richard: I love that.

-Jenn: This is true.

-Kevin: You guys all approve?

-Richard: Yes.

-Jenn: I love it.

-Nathan: Perfect.

-Jenn: I want to play.

Kevin: We will, we will play.

But first, that is a wrap for this episode.

We got another one coming next week, so make sure you join us.

On behalf of all of us, I'm Kevin O'Connor for "Ask This Old House."

who's with me.

[ All talking ] Jenn: Make sure you line em up right.

Scott: Do you want to go first?

All: Oh!

-Richard: Oh!

-Kevin: Oh!

Jenn: You got to get the double swing.

[ Cheering ] Richard: Nothing but net!

Kevin: Mauro's been talking smack all -- [ Cheers, laughter ] -Jenn: Wow!

-Mauro: I told you!

♪♪ Kevin: Next time on "Ask This Old House"...

When this tub spout is open, water pours out the showerhead.

Richard will diagnose.

Next, Heath will explain how electrical circuits are designed.

And Mark is headed to New Hampshire to help a homeowner repair loose flagstone in his entryway.

Mark: And, eventually, everything ought to look the same.

Man: Perfect.

Kevin: All that on "Ask This Old House."