For many homeowners, having the skill to save some cash by performing minor repairs around home is a blessing. However, when dealing with plumbing issues that may arise, it is important to know exactly what is manageable and what should be turned over to the professionals. We’ve put together this post to help you better understand the difference between DIY plumbing repairs and jobs that only licensed plumbers should remedy.

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When looking to purchase a home in the DFW Metroplex it is not uncommon for future buyers to want an older home. It could be the style and architecture, value and price, or the home’s location & history that draws them. When old homes go on the market they are typically renovated and updated with modern appliances, cabinetry, flooring, and other details. These renovations do a great job at lifting the value of the property and giving the home a nice “face-lift.” One key component that is usually missing during these renovations or is simply overlooked by sellers and buyers alike is the home’s plumbing system. Typically the only plumbing related due diligence that occurs is a Hydrostatic Pressure Test to ensure no leaks are present in the homes pipes.

It is for precisely this reason that most older homes can become a time bomb ready to explode with unforeseen plumbing issues. In this post we will cover some of the things that can wrong related to the plumbing in older homes and ways you can protect yourself from them.

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All too often when we think about plumbing services we think about repairs & service. We rarely stop to consider what we can be doing to avoid service & repairs and prevent plumbing issues from arising in the first place. In this blog post we will focus on 4 best practices that you can implement right away to prevent plumbing problems from occuring in your home or business.

Be Mindful Of What You Put Down The Sink

The most common calls we recieve from customers in need of plumbing service include clogged or backed up drain lines. Sure, it is convenient and time saving to clear leftover food from plates directly into the sink before tossing them into the dishwasher. However convenient it may be, it is not worth the risk. Anytime you place solid foods, cooking grease, vegetable scraps and peels, or other foods down the drain you are increasing your chances of clogging the line and decreasing the flow and efficiency of your homes plumbing system. And perhaps the most damaging of all, you are also increasing the pressure inside the pipes which can lead to catastrophic plumbing leaks.

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It seems like a guarantee that if you own a home for long enough, there will come a time that your homes plumbing will spring a leak. Sometimes leaks are straightforward and can be quickly and easily fixed, and then there are the leaks that require immediate emergency action. For instance, water coming down to the first floor of your home through the ceiling, or a burst pipe that is causing serious and significant flooding. These are the types of leaks that require emergency action in order to neutralize damage. The first and most important step in dealing with an emergency plumbing leak is knowing how to shut off your home’s water supply.

Having an understanding of where your homes shut off valves are located will allow you to react calmly and with purpose in the event of an emergency plumbing leak. It will allow you to greatly minimize potential water damage instead of waiting for a plumber to arrive at your home to shut off the water for you. Simply understanding how to quickly access your homes main water shut off valve can help you avoid allowing hundreds if not thousands of gallons of water to flow into your home causing severe flooding and water damage.
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With as much as 18% of the average homeowners energy bill coming from heating water, it’s more important than ever to get the most out of your home’s hot water heater. However, even the most energy-effecient water heaters don’t work quite as well as they should so upgrading to a new unit can often times leave homeowners stuck in a catch 22. Below we have outlined some quick and easy ways any homeowner can increase the effeciency of their hot water heater while cutting down on energy costs at the same time!

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Lowering a home’s utility bills is never a bad thing. Neither is doing your part to conserve energy and protect the precious resource that our home’s plumbing provides. Below we will outline 6 tips you can take to cut down on daily water usage, and preserve the life of your homes plumbing system.

1) Drains need maintenance, never neglect them!

For most home and business owners alike, drains are rarely given a thought until they become backed up or clogged. If you wait for this to happen rather than being proactive in preventing it from occuring you will likely need a professional plumber to remedy the situation for you.

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In recent years the sales of disposable wet wipes for adults, have skyrocketed. Big box stores like Target and Sams Club have entire sections dedicated to them in the toilet paper aisles. To be completely honest, it makes sense. Wet wipes have an advantage in leaving one feeling more clean after using the restroom when compared to standard issue toilet paper. So, it comes as no surprise that they’ve soared in popularity in the last few years.

The issue with these disposable wipes is one word that consistently appears on their packaging, “flushable.” This is mislabeling at best and dishonest and misleading at worst. I mean, sure, if you attempt to flush them down your toilet they will in fact flush. I can think of a long list of items that can also be flushed down a toilet however, that doesn’t technically make them flushable. There are no shortage of horror stories online about massive clogs in drain pipes and home septic systems caused by the use of flushable wipes.

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There are quite a few responsibilities that homeowners have in order to keep things running smoothly as often as possible. One of those responsibilities is performing routine plumbing maintenance. You can either perform the maintenance yourself or bring in an experienced Mesquite, TX plumber to handle the maintenance on a regular basis. Today, we will take a look at the different types of maintenance you should perform in various areas of your home throughout the year to keep the plumbing working and flowing well.

Kitchen Sink Maintenance

One of the first places you should start when it comes to regular maintenance for your plumbing is in the kitchen. The kitchen sink gets quite a bit of use each day by every member of your household. This includes adults and children. So many different things can be sent down the drain, including food, oil, grease and other debris that shouldn’t go down there. Kitchen sink maintenance tips include the following:

• Run the water and the disposal together prior to adding food
• Run cold water for 15 seconds after the disposal is done breaking down food
• Run the dishwasher at night to maintain strong water pressure in the day
• Do not put stringy or fibrous foods in the disposal such as banana peels and celery

Bathroom Sink Maintenance

Bathroom sinks get used just as much as the kitchen sink. If not, they are used pretty close, especially when shaving, doing hair, brushing teeth and washing hands throughout the day. The following maintenance tips should be put to use in bathroom sinks:

• Install screens in all drains, including the shower and tub, to prevent hair and other debris from going down them
• Only flush toilet paper and human waste in the toilet, not paper towels, napkins, pads, wipes or other items
• Wait 10 minutes between showers to maintain water pressure and temperature
• Do not use chemical clog removal liquids in any drains or toilets

Outdoor Faucets

Almost all homes in Texas have outdoor faucets. Most of them are spigots that are used to connect hoses to for watering the lawn, watering the bushes, and even washing the cars at the home. You need to take care of these faucets just like the ones inside your home in order to avoid any issues cropping up through the years. Some of the maintenance tips for outdoor faucets include the following:

• Shut off the outdoor water valves and drain them before the winter
• Disconnect all outdoors hoses and empty them of water before storing them
• Check for any leaks on outdoor faucets and have them repaired immediately
• Insulate all of the pipes in the home that are in areas with no heat, such as a basement, crawl space, attic or garage
• Cover outdoor spigots with a styrofoam cover

Check Sump Pump and Gutters

You also need to check the sump pump and the gutters of your home prior to every winter. The sump pump should be emptied and cleaned out so that it does not have issues in the winter months, when it’s less likely to operate. You also need to clean out all the gutters around your home so water can flow properly away from the roof and the rest of the home.

Inspect the Septic System

The septic system in your home should be emptied yearly and inspected just as often, especially if it is an older system. You definitely don’t want this system to fail and backup into your home as it will send human waste into your pipes and drains. If you have sewer service, make sure a plumber snakes it regularly to make sure no tree roots are blocking it.

Maintenance to Perform Weekly

One of the most important tasks you can do is check your pipes at least once per week throughout the year, not just during the winter months. Checking the pipes often helps you avoid a break or other issue that could lead to thousands of dollars in repairs. Other plumbing maintenance items you should do weekly include the following:

• Test all drains in the home for how quickly they drain water
• Check under sinks and toilet bases for leaks
• Turn on every faucet in the home and make sure there is no water shooting out from the handles or valves
• Clean the lint trap on the washing machine

Is your hot water heater making odd noises? Is it knocking and rumbling so loud that it could wake up the neighborhood? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered! The issue can likely be fixed without replacing the whole unit. Typically a noisey water heater is caused by excessive sediment build up in the tank. Think of minerals like calcium and calcium, and disolved metals like iron.

When “hard water” flows into a hot water heater unfiltered, a thick layer of sediment can build up inside the tank. That sediment causes water to become trapped right atop the heating element at the bottom of the tank. When the heating element is turned on, water heats up and begins to boil. That boiling water creates air bubbles that bubble and bubble until, bang!, boom!, rumble!, they finally escape the sediment layer. This is no different than a pot filled with water on a stove. If that pot is filled to the top with water, covered with a lid, and brought to a boil, the lid will shift and jump and bounce. The same thing is happening within your hot water heater.

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