Are you ready to become a DIY plumbing expert, or at least someone who can fix the minor plumbing issues that come up? There are a number of reasons why you may need to hire services of a plumber, but most of the time some minor problems can be avoided easily. If you equip yourself with a few plumbing tips you can be in a position to combat common plumbing issues from occurring. This will save you lots of unnecessary hassles and money in the long run.
The following are some plumbing tips that you can use for both inside and outside your home to prevent common problems.
The Basement
The basement of your home is one of the areas where problems arise. But if you adhere to the following simple plumbing tips you can prevent these issues.
- One of the things that you can do is ensure you check your water heater settings frequently to ascertain it is at a maximum. You will reduce energy usage and prevent the instances of too hot water when you shower.
- It is also advisable to make sure you pour water regularly if you have drains in your basement. Gases emitted by the sewer can lead to a high concentration of unpleasant smells, but if you pour a lot of water down them, you can prevent this problem.
- In addition, for those people who have septic tanks in their basement, it is essential to hire a professional to inspect it and make sure it is pumped at least once every 3 years. If you ignore this, you may be required to change the filter field, which is a bit expensive.
These few simple steps in caring for your basement plumbing system will keep your system in tip top shape and prevent bigger, more expensive problems from occurring.
In the Kitchen / Pantry
The kitchen is another area that gives rise to the most common plumbing issues, but there are a few plumbing tips to adhere to as well. One of the golden tips for the kitchen is to restrain from disposing of greasy substances down the drain. If you do this you might end up blocking the drain.
- Ensure kitchen plumbing maintenance is to keep your faucet’s aerator clean.
- Low water pressure from the faucet/sprayer or water leaks from the handle are usually caused by lime buildup and sediment blocking the small openings inside the aerator.
- The garbage disposal is another area that poses common problems in the kitchen and you are advised to avoid disposing of wrong types of food stuff down it.
In the Restroom
- Check the toilet’s water level to be sure that water doesn’t rise above the overflow pipe. Check it by locating the pipe in the center of the toilet’s water tank (it’ll have a piece of tubing connected to it).
- It’s easy to ignore that little drip from the sink, but the EPA reports that a leaky faucet that drips one drop per second wastes about 3,000 gallons of water a year. That’s equal to 180 showers! Can you afford to waste money on water you aren’t even using? If water won’t stop flowing, then you may need to shut off your main water valve. Approach leaks with caution to prevent greater damage. Start your cost-savings today by putting a stop to leaky faucets.
- Be cautious of what goes down your toilet in the bathroom. Make sure nothing else goes down except toilet paper. When you notice your bathroom faucets are leaking, get someone to fix them because they can cause serious water wastage and cause more expensive problems in future.
Outside the Home
- Ensure you clean any leaves or debris from your drains and gutters on a regular basis. For instance, you find a buildup of such materials in vent pipes can give rise to serious problems.
- Check regularly for stagnant water in your home yard as this might be an indicator of a leaking pipe, and if notice them ensure they are fixed as soon as possible.
To wrap up the loose ends, it is worth to mention that the above plumbing tips for inside and outside your home can help to prevent common issues which might need a professional to solve them. So, keep your home safe and avoid the common plumbing problems by adhering to the above tips.