It’s common for plumbing problems to happen right after buying a house. The majority of the time this happens in the kitchen or bathroom. Plumbing issues can be extremely expensive, especially if they are not handled immediately. Keep reading to find tips that will assist you in dealing with those problems.
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 begin to freeze as soon as they reach freezing temperatures. In the best case scenario, you will have to wait until they thaw so that the water runs again. They could also burst costing you a lot of money and repairs.
Avoid the use of products for your toilet that help with odor, such as bleach tablets. Either kind of toilet tablet might break down obnoxious smells in your toilet, but they might also break down the rubber parts, resulting in malfunction.
Check for floor damage around your toilet. If the floor around your toilet feels softer than the rest of the floor in your bathroom, there’s damage you need to address. Put a foot on each side of the toilet and put weight on each side, if you have any give you may have damage. It could potentially save money by discovering any problems before too much damage occurs.
Place a strainer over the drains to collect anything that could clog and cause stoppage. Your kitchen sink strainer must be cleaned whenever it catches anything. The bathtub strainer will prevent hair from clogging up your drain.
Water from wells can cause orange or rust colored stains in places like bathtubs and sinks. This comes from large amounts of iron present in the water. You can use water softener that you buy at the store to remedy this situation, or you can have a professional do it for you.
You can keep your bathtub pipes clear by pouring baking soda and vinegar down your drain once a month. Use one cup of each. Plug the opening or cover it with a cloth while the chemical reaction takes place. After a few minutes,just flush the drain out with water that has reached a boiling point. Doing this periodically should keep your pipes free of hair and soap scum.
Check overflow holes to make sure there’s no clog. These passages allow your sink to fill up without overflowing onto your floor, and if they’re blocked that can cause you a major headache. When you’re periodically checking your sink for possible problems, take the time to clean out the overflow holes.
Don’t treat your toilet like a garbage can if you want to avoid a lot of potential plumbing problems. Nothing should be flushed down the toilet except human waste and toilet tissue. Flushing sanitary napkins, diapers, disposable napkins, and other materials is a sure recipe for a clogged drain and a backed-up toilet. Also, try to use the smallest amount of toilet paper you can.
Prevention is the key to keeping your plumbing repair bills down. Clogs are the most commonly reported problems when it comes to plumbing issues. Drains can be clogged by hair. Avoid this by using a drain cover or screen that keeps hair and other particles from clogging your pipes. It’s more convenient to remove hair before it has a chance to get down the drain and into the pipes.
There are two ways to remove stubborn clean-out plugs. You can loosen the fitting around the plug using a hammer and chisel. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to break through the plug itself.
Check to see if you have toilet leaks. A good tip for this is to take food coloring and put a few drops in your toilet tank. Look at the bowl carefully. If you notice colored water in several seconds, then you know your toilet is leaking badly, and you need to fix this as soon as possible.
The valves that are rarely used can fuse together easily. Maintain the water valves every so often with a qualtiy penetrating oil, turning each of them every now and then to prevent them from sticking.
Choose your drain cleaner with care. Certain cleaners have strong chemical agents which will cause damage to the pipes. You need to select a cleaner that has been advertised as being gentle on pipes. Your plumbing needs some forms of bacteria in order to work properly and the wrong chemicals can kill these good bacteria, as well as being toxic to people.
Plumbing Issues
Calling a plumber for every issue will add up to a huge bill, so it’s important to deal with small plumbing issues yourself as they arise. All homeowners should have at least a basic understanding on plumbing tools and improvement tips. This tips shared here will allow you to handle plumbing issues more readily when they occur.