Frequent Plumbing Issues: What to Expect
Frequent Plumbing Issues: What to Expect
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 house owner, you will certainly come across many different plumbing troubles that periodically make a nuisance. Doing the fixings yourselves on these straightforward plumbing issues can conserve you tons of cash.
Slow Draining Sink
This is one of the most usual issue of home owners, with the sink accumulating a great deal of hair, grease, particles, and also other crud gradually. Sadly, the only means to get a smooth moving drainpipe once more is to clear the debris. First, you can utilize a plumbing device for fishing out the particles. From there, you can make use of a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to cleanse the lines.
Sluggish Tub Drain
Simply like the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and also other substances pool in the drainpipe frequently. After utilizing the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to freshen the drainpipe lines.
Low Water Pressure
Is somebody from your home complaining that there's low tide pressure from the sink? Inspect if this issue influences both the cool and warm water lines. If indeed, after that the problem is the aerator within the sink which may have a lot of sedimentation causing low water pressure. This is very simple to fix as you just need to take it out and also scrub away the mineral deposits.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running bathroom, which can be fairly frustrating because the tank won't fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone equates to wasting water and spiking up your water costs. For beginners, find out what's triggering it to run. You might require to replace any of the following commode devices:
Commode fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Toilet flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This annoying trouble is also high on the listing of usual plumbing concerns. Your system will certainly feature a nifty trick to unjam your maker. If you lose it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to fix the problem. You need to go under the sink and seek the place where you can put the secret. When you detect it, use your wrench to turn the machine to free the motor. Do not neglect to switch off the system and cut the breaker when working with your garbage disposal system to prevent horrible crashes.
If every one of these sound tedious for you, you can always call a plumber to obtain expert support. Seeking expert assistance suggests conserving effort and time. You might even end up saving money over time due to the fact that you can rest assured that your basic plumbing issue will not escalate. Simply make sure you call a trustworthy firm with licenses as well as qualifications because you will rate complete strangers in your home. Of course, you have to see to it that you collaborate with someone you can trust.
As a property owner, you will experience lots of various plumbing issues that periodically make a nuisance. Some plumbing issues are a lot more usual and also can be conveniently dealt with. Doing the repairs yourselves on these simple plumbing problems can conserve you loads of money. You can use a plumbing device for fishing out the debris. You might also finish up conserving money in the long run because you can rest assured that your basic plumbing problem will certainly not intensify.
I hope you enjoyed reading our part about Common Household Plumbing Issues. Thanks for taking time to read our article. For those who enjoyed our page if you please do not forget to pass it around. Many thanks for your time. Visit us again soon.
Expertise on line! Report this page