Common Plumbing Issues: What Every Homeowner Should Understand
Common Plumbing Issues: What Every Homeowner Should Understand
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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 How You Can Fix Them
As a home owner, you will certainly run into several plumbing problems that occasionally make a nuisance. Some plumbing concerns are extra typical and can be easily dealt with. Doing the repair work yourselves on these basic plumbing problems can conserve you tons of cash. Take a look at 5 of the most usual ones listed below:
Slow Draining Sink
You can use a plumbing tool for fishing out the particles. From there, you can use a store-bought drain cleaner to cleanse the lines.
Slow-moving Tub Drain
This is another pesky hassle since the bathtub is among one of the most pre-owned components in your bathroom. Much like the sink drainpipe, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and various other substances swimming pool in the drainpipe typically. You have to pop open the drainpipe cover as well as use a tub claw to clear the particles. Do this ASAP prior to the drainpipe blocks totally. After making use of the claw, you can put drainpipe cleaner to rejuvenate the drainpipe lines.
Low Tide Pressure
Is somebody from your home whining that there's low tide pressure from the sink? First, inspect if this problem impacts both the cool and also warm water lines. If indeed, then the problem is the aerator within the sink which might have a great deal of sedimentation leading to low tide stress. This is extremely simple to take care of as you just need to take it out as well as scrub away the mineral deposits.
Running Toilet
You might have experienced a running bathroom, which can be rather irritating due to the fact that the storage tank won't load up. At the exact same time, leaving it alone corresponds to wasting water and also increasing up your water expenses.
Commode fill shutoff
Leaking flush shutoff
Toilet flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This frustrating problem is likewise high on the listing of common plumbing issues. If you shed it, you will certainly need an Allen wrench to repair the issue. You have to go under the sink and look for the spot where you can place the key.
You might even finish up conserving cash in the lengthy run because you can rest assured that your simple plumbing trouble will certainly not intensify. Just make certain you call a reputable company with licenses and also accreditations because you will be inviting complete strangers in your house.
As a house owner, you will certainly experience lots of different plumbing issues that periodically make a nuisance. Some plumbing issues are much more usual and can be quickly taken care of. Doing the repair services yourselves on these easy plumbing troubles can conserve you lots of cash. You can use a plumbing tool for angling out the debris. You may also finish up saving money in the lengthy run since you can relax guaranteed that your easy plumbing trouble will not intensify.
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