Understanding Common Plumbing Challenges: Expert Guidance
Understanding Common Plumbing Challenges: Expert Guidance
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 homeowner, you will certainly come across many various plumbing problems that periodically make a problem. Doing the repair work yourselves on these basic plumbing problems can conserve you lots of money.
Slow Draining Sink
This is the most typical complaint of property owners, with the sink accumulating a lot of hair, grease, particles, and also other crud in time. Unfortunately, the only method to obtain a smooth flowing drain once more is to clear the particles. You can utilize a plumbing device for angling out the debris. From there, you can use a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to cleanse the lines.
Slow-moving Tub Drain
Simply like the sink drainpipe, hair, soap scum, dead skin cells, and other gunk pool in the drainpipe usually. After using the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to refresh the drain lines.
Low Tide Pressure
Is a person from your home whining that there's low water pressure from the sink? If of course, then the problem is the aerator within the sink which may have a great deal of sedimentation resulting in reduced water pressure.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running bathroom, which can be fairly bothersome since the container will not fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone relates to drainage and surging up your water costs. For starters, figure out what's causing it to run. You may need to change any of the adhering to commode devices:
Commode fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Bathroom flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This bothersome trouble is additionally high on the list of typical plumbing concerns. If you lose it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to fix the problem. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the area where you can put the key.
You might even end up conserving money in the lengthy run due to the fact that you can rest assured that your basic plumbing issue will certainly not intensify. Simply make sure you call a respectable company with licenses and accreditations since you will certainly be inviting unfamiliar people in your residence.
As a homeowner, you will run into many various plumbing troubles that sometimes make a problem. Some plumbing problems are a lot more common and can be easily dealt with. Doing the repair work yourselves on these straightforward plumbing issues can conserve you bunches of cash. You can use a plumbing device for fishing out the particles. You might also end up conserving money in the long run because you can relax assured that your basic plumbing trouble will certainly not rise.
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