Now is the time to learn about plumbing. You have considered it before, but never got around to it.
Avoiding frozen pies is easy if you ensure no area of your house ever falls below freezing and that any pipes which are exposed to such temperatures are protected with insulation. Pipes will freeze if they are exposed to temperatures below freezing. Even in the best case scenario, it will take hours for thawing to happen before you have running water again. Frozen pipes can also burst, which can be very messy and expensive to repair.
To keep your pipes from freezing in the winter, maintain a constant temperature in your home above freezing, and be certain to adequately insulate those pipes that are out in the weather. Your pipes can freeze if the air around them fall below freezing. It takes time to thaw so that you can have water again. However, frozen pipes commonly break or crack pipes, as well – making a huge plumbing bill.
If any water pipe that you have freezes, turn on a nearby faucet so that thawed ice has a place to go. This can prevent damage to your house because it lets the pressure that is in the pipe out, which would reduce the damage done to your house.
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 help relieve pressure in pipes to prevent them from bursting, which may prevent bigger damage for your home.
Septic Tank
You should have your septic tank every five years for best performance. Although having a septic tank pumped costs money, it will cost a lot more having to clean sewage backup or having to fix or replace a septic tank.
If your toilet gets clogged, your plunger is not fixing it, and your water level inside of the toilet appears low, you can sometimes fix the problem by dumping warm water into your toilet at waist level (or maybe even a little higher). Do this as often as necessary if the water level dips back down again.
Don’t use harsh chemicals such as toilet tablets that claim to be cleaners in your toilet. These may deodorize, but they have the side effect of damaging the rubber in your toilet, which can prevent your toilet from functioning correctly.
If you have a clogged toiled with a lower water lever, and there is very little water in the basin, it’s possible to resolve this by pouring warm water from a bucket directly into the toilet bowl from about waist level. Repeat this procedure if necessary as the water goes back to a lower level.
You should regularly check for water damage to your bathroom floor caused by your toilet in order to save money and further complications. Feel the floor around the toilet and check to see if the floor is soft, molded, chipping, etc. Straddle the toilet, then start rocking on each foot to check whether you feel softness or weakening on the floor under you. Discovering this issue sooner can mean big savings for your checking account, as compared to finding out about it later.
Don’t put things like fat, grease or fat down the drain. This is especially damaging to garbage disposal; the fat can make the blades turn more slowly and less freely. Make certain you dispose of all oils away from the sink.
If your home operates on well water and you notice pink or orange stains in your bathtub and other fixtures, that is from iron in your water supply. This is something that needs to be taken care of by water softener, which you can buy at a store, or you can have someone come to your home and fix it.
A strainer should be placed over all the drains in order to gather particles that would just get in the drain and potentially cause stoppage. Whenever large particles become trapped in the strainer, remove them. Strainers placed in a bathtub can be cleaned periodically.
Pour baking soda followed by vinegar down your bathtub drain once a month. Plug the opening or cover it with a cloth while the chemical reaction to occur. After a few minutes, clear the pipes out with a gallon of boiling water. This process should help clear your pipes of hair and soap scum.
Run cold water whenever you use your sink when you turn on the garbage disposal. Cold water helps to maintain the sharpness of the blades sharp and encourage a smoother disposal.
Don’t pour cooking grease, leftover frying fat or any oils down your sink drain. These substances will create clogs after cooling in your drain. This can make your garbage disposal run slower. You should dispose of all oils outside of the sink.
If you have any water in your dishwasher that should not be there, it is most likely because of the hose to the kitchen sink being installed improperly. The hose from your sink to your dishwasher needs to go upward before going back down in order for the water of both locations to not mix.
Clean the aerator to adjust water pressure problems in case you have sediment build up. Take out the aerator, pull it apart, and brush it clean with a little vinegar.
Set up a time when all plumbing work will be completed at one time. You may be tempted to call a professional plumber if you have any minor issues, but saving your plumbing issues for one time can let you put that money back into repairs. Most plumbers charge an hourly fee that can be minimized if there is only one visit to your home.
Do not expect to clean grout from your plumbing.You could dislodge the grout to send it down further. This works better when you have plastic than metal ones.
If you have a need for a plumber, be sure to check them out prior to hiring them. A plumber with bad credentials might not skilled in a particular task could actually aggravate the problem.Check out online reviews of various plumbing companies, and ask friends and family for the name of a plumber that they use and trust.
You can keep your bathtub pipes clear by pouring baking soda and vinegar down your drain once a month. Use one cup of each. The combination will cause a chemical reaction, so just place a cloth or other object over the drain after pouring. Allow some time to pass, then follow up by pouring down boiling hot water. Doing this will probably void your pipes of hair accumulations and soap scum.
To summarize, becoming more familiar with basic plumbing systems is time well spent. If anything ever goes wrong with your pipes or drains, you will have the knowledge to fix it in a hurry without having to spend big money by calling in the professionals. Hopefully you have learned from these tips and will apply these the next time you need to.