Plumbing Is Not As Hard As It Seems

This article is going to provide you with well proven advice about plumbing. Sometimes you are not sure about what you can trust and what you cannot. Use the great tips and tricks that have been gathered here and you can be assured you are getting tried and true advice.

If you have a plumbing nightmare and your house gets flooded, avoid using heat and heat lamps to dry the property out. Let it dry naturally if you can because the additional heat can cause problems. When building materials dry too fast, they can warp and crack causing more damage than just the water.

Schedule all your plumbing work at the same time. It can be tempting to call a plumber each time you have a minor problem, but saving plumbing work for one time allows you to put money aside for the repairs. It also saves you money because a lot of plumbers charge by the hour–they cannot charge for multiple hours every trip if they only make one trip out.

Watch how your toilets are flushing. If you have to jiggle the handle or if it takes too long, you might have to repair some toilet parts. Replacing these parts early may help you to save on your water bills and will save you from more expensive repairs at a later date.

To avoid frozen pipes in your home, never allow the temperature in your house to drop below freezing and insulate any pipes that are exposed to the elements. If the ambient temperature around the pipes is below freezing, the pipes can freeze. At best, it can take time for them to thaw and for you to be able to have running water. But they could also burst, causing a mess and a large repair bill.

If your toilet is slow to flush, add some white vinegar to the overflow tube. White vinegar helps the water from your tank to flow quickly, which will make the toilet flush faster. It is recommended that you use about a quart of the vinegar and let it stay there for at least an hour before flushing.

It is imperative as a homeowner that you know exactly where your main water shut-off valve is located and can operate the valve in case of an emergency. The best first step measure for frozen pipes is to stop water from entering your home in the first place. Locate the main water supply valve and turn it on and off on a regular basis to keep it easily operable in an emergency.

If the water in your shower or tub seems cold, even though the water coming out of your kitchen faucet is hot, don’t assume the worst. The faucets in your shower or tub enclosure have been preset to prevent burning and the way this is accomplished it that most newer faucets have a little mechanism in place to prevent turning the handle to the point where you get hot water. You can remove the faucet handle and readjust that mechanism to allow the handle to turn more and get you much hotter water.

To summarize, you are looking for advice on your plumbing project but want to be sure that the information you are using has been tested over time. Hopefully you will find this to be true of the information in this article. Use this great advice today and you will be more than satisfied.

Plumbing Is Not As Hard As It Seems

Plumbing can imply a lot of different connotations depending upon whom you ask or talk to about it. We all know that it’s essential to your home, but that doesn’t mean that you should neglect it or just leave it to a pro. Take some time to learn how to do it yourself using the tips below.

It is not always necessary to call in a plumber when you have a damaged section of pipe in your plumbing. There are repair kits you can buy in your local hardware store which are excellent in repairing leaks. If you have a small leak, you can rub a compound stick over the hole or crack in the pipe to seal it shut. Epoxy paste is also an excellent remedy for a leaking pipes. Make sure you turn off the water and completely dry the pipe before applying the epoxy.

Always keep your garbage disposal clean. You can do this in many ways. Pour some dish soap in and let the disposal run for a few minutes with some cold water. Be sure to run it regularly, if not, it can cause rust. To eliminate foul odors, grind lemon or other citrus peels. You can clean the walls of the disposal by grinding small fruit pits or egg shells.

You absolutely must use sealant on a joint unless it has been glued or soldered. Sealant tape is easy to use and will create an amazingly tight fit, so choose the right one for the job. Blue tape is for sealing a connection for water, and yellow tape is for gas joints.

If you want to keep your kitchen drains from clogging up, don’t pour grease down them. As it cools and congeals it can trap other food or waste particles, which over time can slow the draining of water and even form a clog that will not be easy to remove.

Do not pour grease or oil down any of your household drains. Put them in containers and place in the fridge until they are solid, then throw them away. If you pour them down the drain, they can solidify in cold pipes. These solid masses will clog your pipes and are very difficult to remove.

Don’t use drain cleaners on your plumbing as they’re very corrosive and can actually damage your pipes. Anything that says it’s harmful if applied to the skin can be harmful to whatever it touches! If you have a septic system then this is even MORE important as it will kill the bacteria which is digesting your waste.

If the water pressure on your street exceeds 60 pounds, you many want to consider installing a pressure reducing valve. Too much water pressure is actually harmful to your plumbing system and could cause excess water pressure. A pressure reducing valve cuts down your water pressure by almost 50 percent.

It’s true that plumbing should be of utmost importance when it comes to home improvement. That said, you should not just leave it until there is a problem and then call a pro. You can learn to take care of it yourself and hopefully these tips gave you advice on how to do that.