Plumbing Emergency Tips

Plumber’s Emergency Kit

• Use a five gallon bucket as a tool holder. And if a leak springs mid-project, it’ll catch the water. A tool caddy can also be attached to the bucket providing a place for everything.
• Keep a forced cup and a regular plunger handy. Each plunger has its own specific use and provides extra unclogging power.
• Wrenches are essential in plumbing. A pair of medium sized slip joint pliers and an adjustable wrench should cover most jobs, along with various sized wrenches.
• A multi-bit screwdriver can reduce the number of tools that need to be carried around on the job.
• An assortment of Allen keys is very handy and has many uses.
• Duct tape and leak sealing tape can help out in a plumbing emergency until a permanent fix can be made. Teflon tape will seal up leaks from around threaded connections.
• A variety of blind caps can help you see your way through repairing a broken valve.
• Heavy duty paper towels or rags will help clean up water from small leaks.

Emergency Tips

Always know where the main water shut-off valve is located in case of a leak.

Know how to turn off the water heater. If it’s a gas water heater, turn the switch to the “pilot” position.
Isolation valves located at each fixture will stop the flow of water to that location. This allows water to continue to service the remainder of the house while the leak is being repaired. It’s a good idea to turn on and off each isolation valve in the house at least once a year to keep them in good working condition.
Using two wrenches at once turning in opposite directions is called “backing off” and allows the wrench to absorb the stress and not the plumbing.

Slip joint pliers can be used to loosen the collar nuts on a drain line.

If a supply tube break off is causing a leak, screw in a blind cap to seal off the leak until it can be fixed.
Occasionally, the ferrules in a supply tube can get scratched or dented causing water to leak. Use Teflon tape around the ferrule until a permanent repair can be made.

Use duct tape or pipe sealing tape to pull together a crack in a pipe, reducing the leak as a temporary solution.
A cup plunger can be used for small drains like bath tubs, showers and lavatory sinks. Forced cup plungers have a funnel that can apply extra force down the drain, which is good for sinks or toilets.
When unclogging a kitchen sink, use a second plunger to cover the other drain to get the most force to remove the clog.

To unclog a toilet, use a forced cup plunger.

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5 Tips to Prevent Your Plumbing From Freezing in the Winter

Once temperatures drop, many Ohio homeowners are at risk of frozen pipes. When this happens, ice expands within the plumbing, causing it to break and eventually leak. In addition to disrupting your home plumbing, frozen pipes can also lead to significant damage that requires professional care from a water restoration service. Fortunately, if you want to avoid water restoration challenges, following these tips can help defend your pipes against the winter cold.

5 Ways to Avoid Frozen Pipes

1. Shut Off & Drain Exposed Outlets
   Plumbing that is exposed to colder temperatures—such as outdoor faucets and pipes in the garage—will be the first to freeze when temperatures fall. To avoid the risk of bursting pipes, make sure to shut off all valves that serve these outlets as this will prevent water from flowing through. After closing the supply valves, drain the outlet completely to remove any trace of water that could freeze.
2. Turn Up the Thermostat
   By keeping your heat on, you’ll prevent the indoor temperature from dropping to a point where pipes can freeze. Aim to keep the heat consistent—even if you’re not at home. If you’re away for an extended period of time, keep the heating system at 55°F or above.
3. Insulate
   water restoration Another way to shield your pipes from freezing temperatures is to cover them in insulation, like foam. Additionally, inspect the insulation in your attic and basement and replace it if there are any weak spots. When cold air is allowed to flow through these areas, they can increase the risk of frozen pipes.
4. Let the Faucet Drip
   If you’re worried about your pipes freezing overnight or while you’re not home, it can help to turn your faucets on to a very small drip. While it may not be a lot, this trickle of water keeps liquid moving through the pipes and can prevent full freezes from occurring.
5. Try to Thaw
   If you spot a freeze before damage occurs, turn on the faucet that the pipe serves and locate the ice blockage. Safely apply heat to the area—such as by using a blow dryer, warm towels, or heating tape—to melt any ice and restore water flow.

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Wipes labeled as ‘flushable’ wreak havoc on household plumbing and municipal sewers

Prepare for plumbing woes with these pro tips

Murphy’s Law dictates that all plumbing disasters occur when you’re entertaining, cooking a large meal or hosting guests for the weekend. Naturally, of course, they also generally occur on Saturday night or Sunday. Here’s what you should do when they happen.

CLOGGED TOILET

The only thing worse than dealing with a clogged toilet is clogging a toilet in someone else’s home. Talk about embarrassing. That being said, toilets get clogged, even if you make it a point to have your main sewer line scoped once or twice a year.

Thankfully, it’s one of the easier plumbing problems to fix — usually a plunger will get things flowing again (so be sure to keep one in every bathroom). But sometimes you have to deal with the mother of all clogs, and that calls for more drastic measures.

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Could your house be an Instagram star? There are a number of different tactics for dealing with a clogged toilet. You can use chemical drain cleaners, a coat hanger (be sure to wrap the end with toilet paper), a wet/dry vac, or a drain snake, to name a few. Regardless of what method you choose, just remember to turn off the water to the toilet (you don’t want to compound the problem). If none of these options clear the clog you’re going to need to call a plumber.

Dealing with a clogged drain is a lot like dealing with a clogged toilet. But it could be an easier fix if the clog is located in the j-trap (the j-shaped pipe under your sink). Before you go taking apart pipes, try using a chemical drain cleaner. If that doesn’t work, try snaking the pipe. If the clog still doesn’t dislodge, take apart the j-trap to see if the obstruction is there. If it isn’t, the clog is further down the line, and you’ll need to call a plumber.

BROKEN GARBAGE DISPOSAL

If you have a garbage disposal, you’ve probably dealt with clogs at one point or another. Aside from being a major (and sometimes smelly) annoyance, a clogged disposal is a problem that can often be prevented as long as you’re mindful of what you put down it (no eggshells, potato peels, grease or coffee grounds).

That being said, a disposal is a machine, and machines do break. If you notice that it’s taking longer than usual for your disposal to do its thing, there’s a good chance its blades need sharpening. A quick and easy way to give the blades a new edge is to run a few ice cubes through the disposal.

If the disposal isn’t running at all, locate the reset button on the bottom of the unit and press it. If it’s still not working, it’s time to call a plumber.

WATER HEATER WOES

There’s usually little mystery when your water heater breaks: There’s no hot water or the unit is leaking at the base. If you’re dealing with a broken water heater, you’ll need to call a professional. But in the case your water heater is working and you’re running out of hot water sooner than you’re used to (not good when you’ve got a house full of guests), it could be caused by sediment in the water tank — and you’ll want to flush the unit to clear the debris.

Of course, it could be that your water heater is just old and needs to be replaced. If you want to make sure you never run out of hot water again, take a look at installing a tankless water heater. Since costs can vary, you’ll want to get estimates from a few pros.

Prepare for plumbing woes with these pro tips first appeared on https://www.seattletimes.com

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Plumbing Tips: No More Frozen Pipes

Becoming an expert at wielding a toilet plunger?

With fall upon us and those brisk nights creeping into our forecast, it’s a good time to go over some ways you can prevent your pipes from freezing.

Why do frozen pipes burst?

When water freezes, it expands, putting pressure on the inside of your pipe. And it’s a strong force – over 2,000 lbs per square inch – that should not be underestimated. Whether it’s metal or plastic that expansion can easily cause it to break.

Which pipes are most susceptible to freezing?

Exterior pipes exposed to cold weather – outdoor hose bibs, swimming pool supply lines, water sprinkler lines – are likely candidates for freezing.
Interior pipes in unheated areas of your home or business – water supply lines in basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, or even kitchen cabinets.
Interior pipes that run along exterior walls with little or no insulation.
Protect Your Pipes From Freezing

Drain the water from supply lines for swimming pools and outdoor sprinklers, following any installation instructions provided by the manufacturer.
Detach and drain outdoor hoses and store them indoors.
Close inside valves that supply outdoor hose bibs. Then open the outside hose bibs to allow the water to drain. Keep the outside valve open so that any water remaining in the pipe can expand without causing the pipe to break.
Insulate attics, basements and crawl spaces to maintain higher temperatures and eliminate the risk of interior pipes being exposed to a freeze.
Inspect the areas around your home where water supply lines are located and may be exposed to freezing temperatures.
Areas to check include:

o The garage

o Underneath kitchen and bathroom cabinets

    Note: Both hot and cold water pipes in these areas should be insulated.

Insulate exposed water pipes with a “pipe sleeve,” UL-listed heat tape, heat cable, or similar materials.
Consider relocating exposed pipes to provide increased protection from freezing.
Preventing Frozen Pipes

Keep your garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. (Move harmful cleaners and household chemicals out of reach of children.)
Allow the cold water drip from the faucet served by any exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent freezing.
Keeping the temperature of your house above 55 degrees to prevent freezing of pipe lines when you go on vacation or leave for a few days.
When you are home, make an effort to keep the home temperature the same at all hours to avoid a rapid temperature change, which could result in a frozen pipe.
How to Thaw Frozen Pipes

If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle of water comes out, you may have a frozen pipe.

Likely places for frozen pipes are those against exterior walls or where your water service enters your home through the foundation.

Turn up the heat in your home to bring the temperature up.
Keep the faucet open. As the ice inside the pipe begins to melt, water will begin to flow through the frozen area. Running water through the pipe will help melt ice in the pipe.
If the frozen pipe is exposed, apply heat to it using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water.
Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.

Apply heat until full water pressure is restored.
If you are unable to locate the frozen pipe, or the area where it is frozen is behind a wall and not accessible, it’s time to call a licensed plumber.

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Tips For Plumbing Repair On A Budget

Every home should have a capable plumbing system. After all, having access to clean water and an effective drainage system can have a considerable impact on your family’s health. But when a portion of your plumbing system fails, you have an expensive and important problem to solve.

Fixing plumbing issues is arguably the most difficult of all home maintenance activities. That alone should explain the high cost of keeping your plumbing system well maintained. Thankfully, there are practical tips that should help you keep your plumbing repair costs down and prevent any more damage to your plumbing system. Aside from that, you can avoid unnecessary water expenses that could really hurt your budget.

Here are some ways that should help you along those lines.

Avoid pouring food down the drain

As much as possible, you would want to prevent your pipes from clogging by making sure large chunks of food won’t end up inside the drain pipe. That said, make sure you throw away food waste directly in the trash bin. Never let the drain do it for you lest you end up with standing water in the sink.

Fix leaky faucets right away

If your faucets keep on dripping, then it’s time for you to fix it as soon as you can. While your first impulse is to call a plumber to fix the problem for you, it’s still more practical to deal with it yourself. After all, broken faucets are fairly simple to fix. All you have to do is determine the kind of faucet you have and learn as much as you can about how it works. For this, you will need to know if your faucet is a ball type or if it contains a ceramic cylinder. From there, you will be able to know how to disassemble the faucet and replace any parts yourself after a quick trip to the hardware store. You can even ask for advice on how to do certain things or what parts to get while you’re there.

Invest in high-quality equipment

Considering that you’re on a budget, you might be thinking about spending less on plumbing tools. However, settling on cheap equipment will prove to be even costlier. Low-quality tools can wear out faster, meaning you’ll find yourself updating your toolbox every now and then. That being said, it’s better to invest in high-cost tools as these are often more durable compared to cheaper ones. If you’re out shopping for wrenches and pipe rehabilitation packers, it’s important that you know the brands you should be getting.

Get the right professional to help you out

When it comes right down to major plumbing fixes, it’s always better to opt for a plumbing service you can trust. For sure, there are limits to the things you can do your own, so make sure you find a plumber that offers excellent service for the best value. It helps if you are able to search your local directory and get referrals from people you know.

An effective plumbing system can help improve your family’s health. You just have to know how to keep it in good condition without going over your budget.

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