Found out my water pressure was 90 psi after buying a gauge from Home Depot

I was tired of my faucet always making that hammering sound when I turned it off, so I grabbed a $12 pressure gauge from the plumbing aisle on Thursday. Hooked it up to the outdoor spigot in my backyard and it read 90 psi, which I guess is way too high for a house like mine built in 1978 in Phoenix. No wonder I keep blowing out those rubber washers every 6 months. Anybody else deal with high pressure wrecking their fixtures?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinson.matthew12d ago

Oh man, 90 psi is brutal for a house that age. I had the same problem a few years back with my place built in the early 80s, and my water heater started leaking from the pressure relief valve every summer. It drove me crazy until a plumber neighbor told me most houses should be around 50 to 60 psi max. You're definitely not alone on this one, I bet half the fixtures in your house are slowly getting wrecked without you even knowing it. A pressure reducing valve at the main line is what finally fixed mine, and I think it cost me around 60 bucks at a local supply house plus a Saturday afternoon to install it. Since then, no more hammering sounds and my faucet washers last way longer than 6 months now. Just a heads up though, you might want to check your water heater's pressure relief valve too if it hasn't been replaced recently.

matthewgonzalez12d ago

Saw @robinson.matthew saying the same thing on another thread last week.