Dealing with Common Plumbing Problems: A Practical Approach
Dealing with Common Plumbing Problems: A Practical Approach
Blog Article
What are the most common plumbing problems?
Clogs
Clogs are arguably the most common type of plumbing problem that homeowners run into. Drains clog all the time. Most of these clogs are pretty minor—you clear out a sink clog by running the disposal, or a toilet clog using the plunger.
But, many other clogs are much tougher to clear out. Some can even be a sign of a sewer line blockage—something that should never be taken lightly!
How to deal with clogs
This is how most homeowners approach a clog. They’ll try to clear it themselves and—should that approach fail—they’ll bring in a plumber.
After all, plumbers have access to specialized clog-clearing tools that most homeowners don’t have under their kitchen or bathroom sink. This includes a variety of snake tools, specialized plungers, augers, and more.
Should you use drain cleaning products?
When confronted with a clog, most homeowners are tempted to run out to the grocery store and grab a drain cleaning product. After all, this is typically cheaper than bringing in a plumber.
However, these drain cleaning chemicals don’t always work as well as they should. In many cases, they only partially clear the clog, which means you’re going to be dealing with a clog again very soon.
Plus, these harsh chemicals can be tough on your pipes. Repeated use can actually weaken and damage them.
Frozen Pipes
Throughout much of the United States—including here in Chicagoland—frozen pipes are a major problem in the winter.
All it takes is a particularly cold night and your heater going down for several hours (which are often related) for your home’s pipes to freeze. If your home has an electric furnace, a power outage could also lead to this problem.
What happens when pipes freeze?
For obvious reasons, pipes in exterior walls are at the greatest immediate risk. As the pipes freeze, the water inside of them expands.
If you’ve ever left a can of soda pop in the freezer overnight, you know what comes next: the expansion of water into ice puts immense pressure on the pipe.
Luckily, your home’s copper or PVC pipes are hardier than an aluminum can, but there’s only so much of this sustained pressure they can take. Your pipes are at risk of bursting at any time.
How should you thaw out frozen pipes?
Thawing these pipes out is trickier than you might think. Most homeowners instinctively reach for the hair dryer, but that can actually bring on a pipe burst, since rapidly heating the pipe’s surface may weaken it.
You’ll really want to bring in a plumber. We have specialized thawing tools designed to safely raise the temperature of the water inside of the pipe, defrosting it without damaging the pipe itself.
Leaks
Water leaks are a big deal—and a common problem. Whether they’re caused by frozen—and then burst—pipes, or just by aging pipes, water leaks can cause thousands of dollars in water damage to your home, relatively quickly.
For this reason, every leak—no matter how small it starts—needs to be treated like a major threat to your home.
Do you need leak detection?
Not all leaks start in convenient, easy-to-access places, either. Some leaks start behind walls, in ceilings, or underneath floors. Finding and accessing the leak actually might be the toughest part of the job.
This is where a professional plumber can really save you a lot of time, money, and headache. Using professional leak detection equipment—such as acoustic leak detectors—the plumber will pinpoint the location of the leak.
From there, they can make precision cuts into your drywall or slab to access and repair it.
Leaks and water damage
If you’ve got a leak, you’ve probably also got water damage and, potentially, mold growth. Once your plumber has fixed the leak, you’ll want to speak to a restoration and mold remediation specialist to make sure there’s no long-term, lingering damage to your home.
5 Typical Household Plumbing Issues and also How You Can Fix Them
As a homeowner, you will certainly come across many different plumbing issues that occasionally make a nuisance. Some plumbing issues are more common and can be conveniently taken care of. Doing the repair work yourselves on these easy plumbing troubles can save you lots of money. Have a look at 5 of the most common ones listed below:
Slow Draining Sink
You can make use of a plumbing tool for fishing out the particles. From there, you can make use of a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to clean the lines.
Sluggish Tub Drain
This is another pesky hassle considering that the bathtub is among one of the most used fixtures in your washroom. Much like the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, as well as other cruds pool in the drainpipe commonly. You have to stand out open the drainpipe cover as well as use a tub claw to remove the debris. Do this ASAP prior to the drainpipe blocks totally. After using the claw, you can put drain cleaner to freshen the drain lines.
Low Water Pressure
Is somebody from your house whining that there's low tide stress from the sink? Check if this issue impacts both the cool and warm water lines. If of course, then the issue is the aerator within the sink which might have a great deal of sedimentation leading to low tide stress. This is really easy to fix as you simply require to take it out and also scrub away the natural resource.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running toilet, which can be rather frustrating since the storage tank won't fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone equates to throwing away water and increasing up your water bills.
Bathroom fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Toilet flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This bothersome problem is additionally high on the listing of typical plumbing problems. If you shed it, you will need an Allen wrench to take care of the issue. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the place where you can place the key.
If all of these audio tedious for you, you can constantly hire a plumber to obtain specialist help. Seeking expert assistance means saving time and effort. You might even end up conserving money over time since you can feel confident that your simple plumbing problem will not intensify. Just see to it you call a credible company with licenses as well as certifications since you will certainly rate complete strangers in your home. Of course, you need to make certain that you deal with someone you can rely on.
As a property owner, you will certainly come across numerous different plumbing troubles that sometimes make an annoyance. Some plumbing problems are a lot more common and can be easily taken care of. Doing the repair work yourselves on these straightforward plumbing issues can save you tons of cash. You can use a plumbing device for angling out the particles. You might even finish up saving money in the lengthy run because you can rest assured that your straightforward plumbing issue will not intensify.
Do you really like more info about Do It Yourself Plumbing Solutions? Write feedback directly below. We will be pleased to see your feelings about this blog entry. In hopes to see you back again in the future. If you liked our post if you please make sure you remember to share it. I value reading our article about Do It Yourself Plumbing Solutions.
Service excellence here. Report this page