Pet owners LOVE their pets. A recent study shows nearly one third of homeowners in the U.S own either a cat or a dog. You might not have experienced it, but with pets in the home, pet related plumbing problems can be a concern that pet owners must deal with. Here are the top five useful tips that will help you pet-proof your home’s plumbing. Adopting these practices will enhable pet owners to keep both pets as well as plumbing safe from one another. So, you can relax and enjoy without worrying about how one might harm the other. Pet proofing your home is not much different from child proofing.
- Encapsulation: First of all, keep or hide the dangerous items away from your pets. Encapsulate all your covered pipes or wirings. You can either invest in basic pipe covers available at your local big box store, search the web for a DIY solution. Regardless of how you do it, covering the pipes with simple covers will keep your pets away from chewing your pipes.
- Installation of Pressure Balancing Valves: Have your ever experienced a sudden hot water scald when someone flushes a toilet while you are showering? If so, that might be due to the absence of pressure balancing valves in your plumbing. A pressure balance valve maintains an equal amount of water from the hot and cold side. When sudden changes in water pressure reduce the water flowing from the showerhead, like a toilet flushing, the temperature will remain the same. Without pressure balancing valves, scalding can happen to anyone, including your pet taking its bath, using the water at that moment because hot water could suddenly jet out of any of the faucets. Sudden outbursts of hot water can pose a major problem for your pets at home. It is advisable to install pressure balancing valves in the home. They are affordable but will likely require a plumber to install.
- Use Drain Guards: Hairs are a major reason for clogged drains in every household. Just like humans, dogs and cats also can lose a lot of fluff while bathing or roaming in the home. Drain guards are cheap and readily available. Get them installed & you’ll be amazed to see how much drain guards help in preventing clogged drains.
- Keep Your Toilet Lid Closed: Avoid using chemical drain cleaners as these are acidic. They might resolve clogging issues but may corrode your pipes at the same time. And most importantly for pet owners, chemical drain cleaners can be toxic for your pets if ingested accidently. You won’t want your pet to ingest toxic leftover residue from your toilet bowl water. It is recommended to keep the toilet lid closed while a chemical drain cleaner does its job. And keep your pet’s water bowl filled so that they don’t have to look it elsewhere.
- Keep a Tab On Your Pet: Generally sewer lines are deep however some sewer lines might only be a few inches under your yard. If your pet is fond of digging, it is recommended to ensure that they never remain unsupervised in the backyard. Dogs and cats can easily dig their way down to the sewer line pipes, possibly puncture or dislodge them, damaging the pipeline in the process. Doesn’t happen often, but it does occur.
If your family’s pet is causing plumbing issue, no worries. Contact Dallas Plumbing & Air Conditioning today. We would love to fix your existing plumbing issues. We would love to fix any of your existing plumbing issues. We’re also happy to equip you with the knowledge to keep it from happening again. We want to keep you and your pets happy!