Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Comprehensive Guide
Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Comprehensive Guide
Blog Article
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.
How to Fix Common Household Plumbing Issues
Some plumbing issues are more typical and also can be quickly repaired. Doing the repairs yourselves on these simple plumbing issues can save you tons of cash. As a homeowner, you will certainly come across many different plumbing problems that occasionally make a hassle. Take a look at 5 of the most usual ones listed below:
Low Tide Pressure
Is a person from your home complaining that there's low tide stress from the sink? Check if this issue affects both the cool and also warm water lines. If of course, after that the problem is the aerator within the sink which might have a lot of sedimentation resulting in low water stress. This is very simple to deal with as you simply require to take it out as well as scrub away the natural resource.
Running Toilet
You might have experienced a running toilet, which can be fairly annoying due to the fact that the tank will not load up. At the exact same time, leaving it alone equates to losing water and spiking up your water expenses.
Bathroom fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Bathroom flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This aggravating trouble is additionally high on the list of usual plumbing issues. If you shed it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to take care of the trouble. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the area where you can insert the secret.
Slow Draining Sink
You can use a plumbing tool for fishing out the debris. From there, you can make use of a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to clean the lines.
Sluggish Tub Drain
This is an additional pesky hassle because the bathtub is among the most previously owned components in your washroom. Just like the sink drain, hair, soap scum, dead skin cells, and also various other substances swimming pool in the drainpipe usually. You must pop open the drainpipe cover and utilize a bathtub claw to remove the particles. Do this ASAP before the drain blocks completely. After using the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to freshen the drain lines.
You can constantly call in a plumber to get professional aid if all of these audio tedious for you. Looking for expert assistance indicates conserving effort and time. You may even wind up conserving cash over time since you can feel confident that your simple plumbing issue will not intensify. Just see to it you call a trusted business with licenses and also certifications due to the fact that you will certainly be welcoming complete strangers in your house. Certainly, you have to see to it that you deal with somebody you can rely on.
Some plumbing issues are a lot more typical as well as can be quickly repaired. Doing the repair work yourselves on these straightforward plumbing problems can save you heaps of cash. As a home owner, you will encounter many various plumbing troubles that sometimes make an annoyance. You can make use of a plumbing device for angling out the particles. You may even end up conserving cash in the long run due to the fact that you can relax ensured that your simple plumbing trouble will certainly not rise.
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