Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Guide
Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Guide
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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 as well as How You Can Fix Them
As a property owner, you will certainly encounter several different plumbing problems that periodically make a nuisance. Doing the fixings yourselves on these straightforward plumbing problems can save you heaps of money.
Slow Draining Sink
You can make use of a plumbing device for angling out the debris. From there, you can utilize a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to clean the lines.
Slow Tub Drain
This is one more pesky nuisance considering that the tub is among the most pre-owned fixtures in your restroom. Similar to the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and other substances swimming pool in the drain frequently. You have to pop open the drain cover and also make use of a bathtub claw to get rid of the particles. Do this ASAP before the drainpipe blocks totally. After using the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to revitalize the drainpipe lines.
Low Water Pressure
Is a person from your household grumbling that there's low tide pressure from the sink? First, inspect if this issue impacts both the cool and also hot water lines. If of course, then the issue is the aerator within the sink which might have a lot of sedimentation resulting in low tide stress. This is really easy to fix as you just need to take it out as well as scrub away the mineral deposits.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running bathroom, which can be quite irritating because the container will not fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone relates to drainage and increasing up your water bills. For beginners, figure out what's triggering it to run. You might need to change any one of the adhering to commode devices:
Commode fill valve
Leaking flush shutoff
Toilet flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This irritating problem is additionally high on the listing of usual plumbing issues. If you lose it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to take care of the issue. You have to go under the sink and also look for the spot where you can place the secret.
If every one of these sound laborious for you, you can always call in a plumber to obtain expert support. Looking for professional help suggests conserving time and effort. You might even wind up saving money over time since you can feel confident that your easy plumbing issue will not intensify. Due to the fact that you will certainly be welcoming complete strangers in your house, simply make certain you call a respectable business with licenses and also qualifications. Of course, you have to ensure that you collaborate with someone you can rely on.
As a house owner, you will certainly come across lots of various plumbing problems that occasionally make a hassle. Some plumbing issues are extra typical and also can be quickly repaired. Doing the repair work yourselves on these basic plumbing issues can save you lots of cash. You can utilize a plumbing device for angling out the particles. You might also finish up saving money in the lengthy run because you can rest guaranteed that your easy plumbing issue will certainly not rise.
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