It seems that plumbing problems often occur right after you buy your home. The bathroom and kitchen are the most likely sources of these problems. Every homeowner has to deal with plumbing problem of some kind. This article offers sound advice will make dealing with a wide variety of plumbing problems as painless as possible.
You don’t want to end up with frozen pipes, so take preventive action, such as wrapping outside pipes with insulation, and keeping indoor temperatures above freezing at all times. But, be advised that your pipes may freeze if the surrounding temperature near those pipes is less than freezing. In the very least, you could lose running water inside while waiting for the pipes to unfreeze. However, frozen pipes commonly break or crack pipes, leading to flooding and costly repairs.
Don’t use harsh chemicals such as toilet tablets that claim to be cleaners in your toilet. These products may well remove odors, but they can seriously damage the rubber pieces in the toilet, causing poor functionality or even complete breakdown of the fixture.
If you discover a frozen water pipe, turn on a nearby faucet so that thawed ice has a place to go. This can relieve the pipe pressure that could cause bursting and further home damage.
If your toilet gets clogged, the water level in the toilet is low, and the plunger is not working, you can sometimes fix the problem by dumping warm water into your toilet at waist level (or maybe even a little higher). Do this every time the water level dips back down again.
A great tip to use to stop your septic tank from backing up is to make sure you have it pumped at least every five years. Regular maintenance will keep sediment from backing up inside of the tank. Sediment can not only cause the sewage in the tank to back up into your house, but it can cause the tank to fail completely. Hiring a professional to pump out your septic tank is costly, but it is far preferable to the damages that could be incurred if the tank becomes backed-up or inoperative.
Garbage Disposal
Avoid using any tablets that are meant to reduce odor in and around your toilet. It may help to get rid of your toilet’s odors, but it will damage any rubber parts, causing your toilet to malfunction, or even break down.
Never use your bare hands to try fixing your garbage disposal to fix a problem.Even an un-powered garbage disposal is turned off they can be dangerous.You can look online to find the diagram for your garbage disposal.
Never reach into your garbage disposal with bare hands, even if there is a serious problem with it. Even when the garbage disposal is turned off they can be dangerous. Go online and search for sketch of your disposal, or a troubleshooter.
Check the floors in your bathroom for soft areas around the floors. You can save money simply by noticing and treating this problem as early as possible.
If your home has a well for water and there are pink or orange stains in the sinks and tubs, this could be due to high iron content in your water. You will need a water softener in order to take care of this problem, which you could purchase at a local store, or hire someone to go to your home and fix it for you.
Don’t put oil, leftover frying fat or any oils down your sink drain. This is primarily true if you are someone who has a garbage disposal; the fats will make the blades go slower and less efficiently. Make certain you dispose of oils away from the sink.
Putting a cup of any kind of baking soda followed with a cup of white vinegar each month will keep your drain running smoothly. Cover with a rag or plug, as a chemical reaction will occur in the pipes. Wait a while, and then use boiling water to flush. By following this tip, you should be able to clear all the soap scum, hair, and other grime out of your pipes.
Dish Soap
Flush your drain with a constant stream of cold water when operating your drain mounted disposal unit. The cold water keeps your blades sharp, which helps your disposal run smooth. Don’t use hot water while running the garbage disposal. Hot water converts the grease in your trash to liquid form. When the liquified grease goes down the drain, it clogs the pipes.
By regularly using a mixture of dish soap, cherry pits and dish soap, you can make sure that your garbage disposal is running well and smelling so clean it could be new.
You can save lots on energy with efficient shower heads. Most of our hot water is used in the shower. If you spend several extra dollars putting in energy-saving shower heads, you can potentially reduce your energy bill by $100 or more annually for every shower head used in your home.
Schedule one plumber to take care of all your plumbing work at the same time. You may be tempted to call a professional plumber if you have any minor issues, but kicking the can on some issues until you have a list means you can save a few bucks. Most plumbers have an hourly fee that can be minimized if there is only one trip is cheaper than calling them more than once.
To lower the chance that you will have issues with your toilet, do not approach it like it’s a trash can. Don’t flush paper towels, diapers, cotton balls, tissues or any other materials besides toilet paper. These items don’t dissolve and can cause clogs. Also, you want to use the least amount of toilet paper to clean yourself.
Being unprepared for a plumbing problem can really make an already bad situation worse. Always keep some basic tools on hand, and try to have some idea of how your plumbing works, as well as what to do in the event of an emergency. The tips you have found above should go a long way towards preparing you to deal with a plumbing problem when it occurs.
Fix issues with low water pressure by cleaning sediment buildup out of your faucet’s aerator. A small brush (an old toothbrush is ideal) dipped in vinegar will do a great job on the aerator after it’s been removed and disassembled. Rinse it and put it back on the faucet. Removing obstructions from the aerator should allow for increased water pressure.
