Typical Plumbing Concerns: Insights into Frequent Issues
Typical Plumbing Concerns: Insights into Frequent Issues
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 as well as How You Can Fix Them
As a property owner, you will certainly run into several plumbing issues that sometimes make an annoyance. Some plumbing issues are much more common as well as can be quickly taken care of. Doing the repair work yourselves on these easy plumbing problems can conserve you lots of money. Take a look at 5 of the most typical ones listed below:
Slow Draining Sink
This is the most usual problem of homeowners, with the sink accumulating a lot of hair, oil, debris, and various other gunk with time. The only means to get a smooth streaming drainpipe again is to get rid of the debris. You can make use of a plumbing device for fishing out the particles. From there, you can use a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to cleanse the lines.
Slow Tub Drain
This is an additional pesky hassle given that the tub is just one of the most secondhand components in your shower room. Much like the sink drainpipe, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and other cruds swimming pool in the drainpipe typically. You have to stand out open the drainpipe cover as well as use a tub claw to clear the debris. Do this ASAP prior to the drainpipe blocks entirely. After utilizing the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to rejuvenate the drainpipe lines.
Low Water Pressure
Is somebody from your house whining that there's low tide stress from the sink? Check if this concern influences both the cool and hot water lines. The issue is the aerator within the sink which might have a lot of sedimentation resulting in reduced water stress if indeed. This is very easy to fix as you simply require to take it out and scrub away the mineral deposits.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running toilet, which can be rather annoying due to the fact that the container won't fill out. At the same time, leaving it alone corresponds to wasting water and surging up your water expenses. For beginners, determine what's creating it to run. You may need to change any one of the adhering to bathroom mechanisms:
Toilet fill shutoff
Leaking flush valve
Commode flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This irritating issue is additionally high on the list of usual plumbing issues. If you lose it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to repair the issue. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the spot where you can put the secret.
If all of these audio laborious for you, you can always call a plumber to obtain specialist assistance. Looking for specialist aid means conserving time and effort. You might even end up saving cash in the long run since you can rest assured that your basic plumbing trouble will certainly not intensify. Since you will be inviting strangers in your home, simply make sure you call a trustworthy company with licenses as well as qualifications. Certainly, you need to ensure that you work with somebody you can rely on.
As a property owner, you will certainly encounter several different plumbing troubles that sometimes make a nuisance. Some plumbing problems are much more usual and also can be conveniently fixed. Doing the repair work yourselves on these easy plumbing issues can conserve you tons of cash. You can use a plumbing device for angling out the particles. You may also end up saving cash in the long run due to the fact that you can rest guaranteed that your basic plumbing trouble will not intensify.
We had been made aware of that editorial about Repairing Common Household Plumbing Issues from a friend on another website. So long as you liked our post if you please do not forget to share it. We cherish reading our article about Do It Yourself Plumbing Solutions.
Immediate response? Click here. Report this page