Having good plumbing is very important part of managing your home. This article lays out some effective tips for repairing and maintaining your home plumbing.
To avoid frozen pipes in your home, never allow the temperature in your house to drop below freezing and insulate any pipes that are exposed to the elements. Your pipes can freeze if temperatures around them fall below freezing. In the very least, you could lose running water inside while waiting for the pipes to unfreeze. However, they could burst, and that could make a mess and result in a big repair bill.
Noisy pipes that make squeaking or hammering sounds are actually a lot easier to fix than you would imagine. You must anchor all exposed pipe.
If your water pipe has frozen, start water running in the faucet closest to the frozen pipe. This will give excess water somewhere to drain as the ice in the pipe thaws. This will relive some of the pressure, and could prevent cracks from appearing.
To prevent pipes from freezing, maintain a constant temperature in your home above freezing, even if the house is vacant. Pipes will begin to freeze as soon as they reach freezing mark. It could take some time for thawing to occur so that you can have running water. However, frozen pipes commonly break or crack pipes, which would cause a huge mess and an extremely big repair bill.
You need to know your plumbing tools as well as how they are used so your plumbing efforts are always positive. Read each and every manual, and utilize the information that can be found in libraries and the Internet about do-it-yourself projects. Before attempting any repairs, plan ahead, or you may make a costly mistake.
Septic Tank
Pass on seemingly convenient cleaning products like bleach tablets and blue toilet tabs. While they are good at removing odors, they have a detrimental effect on the parts of the toilet that are rubber. This can make it not function correctly and may even break it.
Have a professional flush your septic tank every five years to keep it working well. Although having a septic tank pumped costs money, it is nothing compared to what you will have to spend on cleaning up a backup of sewage or repairing or replacing your septic system.
If your toilet is clogged, the water level in the toilet is low, and a plunger is not doing the trick, you may be able to resolve the problem by pouring a bucket of warm water into the toilet from waist level or higher. You could repeat this process again if the water in the toilet bowl gets low.
If you have a clogged toilet with the water level very low, and plunging it isn’t working, try to fix the issue by dumping warm water in the bowl from around your waist line. Repeat this procedure if necessary as the water goes back to a lower level.
Position a strainer over all drains to collect any particles that would otherwise go down the drain and possibly cause a stoppage. Whenever large particles become trapped in the strainer, remove them. Bathtub strainers need regular cleaning as well.
Use filters on all drains to prevent small particles from sliding down your drain and causing clogs. The bathtub’s strainers need to cleaned out as needed.
If your house uses well water and there are orange or pink stains in tubs or sinks, it’s because of the iron level in the water. You should purchase a water softener to use, or ask a local business to make a visit to your residence and resolve the issue for you.
Don’t put oil, grease or fat down the drain. This is primarily true if you are someone who has a garbage disposal; the fat can make the blades go slower and less efficiently. Make sure you dispose of all oils away from the sink.
Clean your garbage disposal regularly to prolong the life of your disposal. You can use dish soap, lemon peels, and cherry pits to get your garbage disposal clean and fresh and running well.
Schedule your plumbing work at the same time. You might be tempted to call the plumber every time you need something fixed, but if you wait and hire the plumber for a single visit, you will have time to save money for the fixes. Most plumbers charge an hourly fee that can be minimized if there is only one trip is cheaper than calling them more than once.
If you have any water in your dishwasher that should not be there, check the connection on your kitchen sink. The hose between the kitchen sink and the dishwasher has to have a peak in the middle so that the water can’t wash back in the wrong direction.
Pour equal parts baking soda and vinegar down your bathtub drain every month. Plug the drain and allow the chemical reaction to occur.Wait for a bit, then flush it with boiling water. This method should clear your pipes by clearing out hair and soap scum.
Do not use your toilet to get rid of garbage. You should never flush cotton balls, sanitary pads, tissues, paper towels, diapers, or certain other materials, because these things don’t dissolve and could clog up your toilet. Even toilet tissue should be used conservatively. Use enough to clean yourself, of course, but if you need to use wads of tissue you should flush several times in the process instead of waiting till the end.
Overflow Holes
If you take care of your plumbing, you will have lower plumbing bills. Drain clogs are probably the most frequent issue you will run into with your plumbing. Loose hair is often the culprit if your drain keeps getting clogged. To keep hair out of your plumbing, use a screen or cover for your drains that allows water through but keeps hair out. It is much easier to remove the hair from a screen than it is to get it out of a pipe.
Check overflow holes are not clogged up. Clear the overflow holes when you are doing periodic checks for problems and things that need to be repaired.
Cold weather can cause expensive plumbing repairs if your pipes freeze. This problem is easily avoided. First, you need to check your outside pipe to make sure it has the proper insulation. Secondly, when the temperature begins to drop, you want to drain and disconnect the hoses, then make sure you turn the outside faucet off. Making sure that all of this is done will have you a lot of money in plumbing bills.
Installing efficient shower heads that are more effective can save you a lot of money when it comes to your energy bill. Most of the hot water in our showers. If you use energy efficient heads for your showers, you can potentially reduce your energy bill by $100 or more annually for every shower head used in your home.
There are two ways to get a clean out fitting out. You can use a hammer and a chisel to attempt to make the fitting looser. The only other option is to chisel right through the clean out plug.
Don’t flush items like paper towels, such as diapers, tissues, paper towels and cotton balls.
Realize that branch lines can get blocked and cause sewage backups that affect main lines. If you can’t clear the line, you’ll need professional help to run a snake and break up the clog.
Be sure to check your dryer and clear your lint trap is clean. This will ensure that your dryer to work better and prevents fires. Be sure to check the trap for tears and rips, which can cause clogs and issues.
Temperatures are dropping, so check your outside faucets for dripping in order to prevent a freezing nightmare. If you find a problem, you need to move quickly to repair it, lest the faucet crack. Frozen water puts a lot of pressure on pipes and makes them crack, regardless of the material. Even a small crack can cause a lot of damages to your home.
The best way to avoid plumbing repair bills is prevention.One of the most common repairs is clogs. Drains easily clogged by hair.It’s a lot simpler to eliminate hair out of a screen than to pull it from a pipe.
Use a pipe snake if your washing machine drain stack overflows. The pipe may be clogged up due to lint.
Do not expect to clean grout from your plumbing.You can try dislodging some of the grout up and make it go further down the line. This works much better if your pipes are plastic rather than metal.
When unclogging your drain, don’t use chemical drain openers. These products do help open a clogged drain, but the chemicals they contain may damage the body, and this is especially true if it gets on the skin. Wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt if you absolutely must use them.
As already revealed, there are many useful tips to help you keep your plumbing working well and to prevent common problems. By utilizing these tips in your home, you can not only fix your plumbing in an emergency, but you can also cut costs by reducing the need for a professional plumber.
Copper pipes can expand as hot water runs through them. When they do, they can rub against the pipe hangers, causing pipe damage. Taping around the pipe where it meets the hanger can prevent this problem.
