Solid Advice For Dealing With A Broken Pipe
If you know absolutely nothing about plumbing and are just dreading a day when the pipes in your home may burst, you need to read this article, which contains numerous tips that will both inform you and ease your mind. Read on for a comprehensive list of solid plumbing advice.
Avoid frozen pipes this winter! Keep a small trickle of water dripping from faucets, and wrap your uninsulated pipes with foam or newspaper. If possible, keep the doors open between unheated and heated rooms. In an unheated area such as a garage or laundry room, keep a small heater next to the pipes. Remember to do this before the first cold snap hits.
To avoid clogs, pay attention to what you flush. Sanitary napkins, thick toilet paper and baby wipes should never be flushed. These items can expand and cause a clog, or get caught on a pipe. Instead, dispose of them in a sanitary way that does not involve flushing them down the toilet.
Make sure you know where your home's water shutoff is located. You never know when there might be an emergency involving a broken pipe or damaged connection that requires you to turn off the water right away. In addition, knowing where the shutoff is located is vital before you start any plumbing project, in case anything goes wrong.
Don't pay a plumber until the job is completed. A plumber may require some money upfront, but it's wise to wait until the job is completely done before giving him the entire payment. Many things can happen between the stop and end of a job, so to be safe wait until you are satisfied with the completed work before paying.
You should put a strainer over your drains to catch anything that could clog your drain up. Clean out the one in the kitchen whenever there's something trapped there that shouldn't be. The bathtub strainer will prevent hair from clogging up your drain.
Keep an eye on the hoses for your dishwasher and washing machine. These hoses can leak and bulge, which can be a problem. Check them for signs of wear and tear and replace any hoses more than 10 years old. You'll find that these hoses age well, but you have got to make sure they are doing the job they should.
If you have drains in your house that have not been used for a long period of time, pour one gallon of water through them to keep them functional. Furthermore, this will have the added benefit of reducing any odors from entering your house from lack of use during the year.
If you need a plumber, check out his or her credentials first. Some plumbers do not have the experience to deal with certain problems, and may make matters worse. Find some reviews of your local plumbers, or ask around to see if anyone has any recommendations or warnings.
Always check for leaks in and around your toilets. Try dropping a little food coloring in the tank. Then, observe the bowl. If the water turns the same color as the food coloring, you know there is some sort of leak that must be fixed right away.
The Department of Consumer Affairs is a great place to check if you need a plumbing contractor. By doing this you can see if they have any problems with their license and heck on reviews about the quality of their work. If their license is questionable or expired, you won't want to hire them to do work for you.
When looking for a plumber, you have quite a few options. Ask friends for recommendations of who they use. Check online for plumbers with good reviews and references. Use your yellow pages and look under "Plumbing Contractors" or "Plumbing, Drain and Sewer Cleaning". Make sure that you contact more than one plumber before making a choice.
Since most people have little knowledge about all that plumbing entails, they are willing to pay whatever a plumber demands for repair work. If you own your own home, then it behooves you to understand plumbing concepts to the degree that you can assess a professional plumber's work. This will ensure that you are not ripped off.
When you are working with plumbing, you also need to have some basic skills in other areas. This is especially true of electrical problems, as the two systems often overlap. This doesn't mean that you need to solve the problems, but that you understand what the problems could be.
Hopefully, now that you've read the above tips, the fine art of plumbing is a little less scary to you. Remember what you've learned here, so that you can put in practice when you need to. Also, remember that when all else fails, a plumber is just a speed dial number away.