With back-to-school season right around the corner, now is a good time to take a few basic steps to protect your plumbing and ensure everything works as it should. Leaks and other plumbing issues can arise suddenly and lead to damage in your home or prevent your plumbing from working properly. The good news is that taking some simple preventative measures can go a long way to preventing plumbing issues.
Inspect for Leaks and Dripping Fixtures
Even a small pipe leak or drippy shower or sink can waste a huge amount of water and result in a much higher water bill. A leaky water line or drain pipe can also cause quite a bit of water damage and sometimes lead to mold issues in your home. That’s why it’s a good idea to occasionally go around your house and make sure no fixtures are dripping. Also, look for any signs that can indicate a leak. That means checking underneath sinks to make sure your drains aren’t leaking and looking on walls, ceilings, and floors for signs of water damage.
Yellow or brown stains on sheetrock, mold spots, bubbling paint, and peeling wallpaper can all indicate a leaky water line. If a shower, toilet, dishwasher, or washing machine is leaking, you’ll also typically see that the flooring in that area has started to lift away from the subfloor or warp.
If you suspect a water line leak, you can use your water meter to quickly confirm your suspicion. The dial on a water meter slowly spins as water flows through it into your plumbing system. If you have all of your plumbing fixtures turned off and the dial continues slowly spinning, it’s a sure indication your plumbing is leaking. You can also check the numbers on the meter and then check again an hour or two later. If the numbers are higher when you check the second time and you didn’t use any water in the meantime, you should contact a plumber specializing in leak detection.
Experienced plumbers have a few advanced tools and methods they can use to quickly detect and locate leaks. These methods are non-invasive, meaning they can find and fix the leak without cutting too big of a hole in the wall or ceiling. Nonetheless, it’s important that you get the leak fixed immediately to minimize the amount of water damage to your home.
Make Sure No Toilets Are Running
Toilets often develop issues that prevent the water from shutting off after flushing or lead to them needing to run occasionally due to water slowly leaking from the tank into the bowl. In either case, the issue can result in the toilet wasting several hundred gallons of water a day.
If you can’t get your toilet to stop running, shutting off the water by closing the valve on the water line next to the toilet is a good idea. That way, your water bill won’t continue to increase while you wait for a plumber to arrive and fix the toilet. If the toilet only occasionally runs to refill the tank, you’re usually fine to keep using it as long as you get it repaired as soon as possible.
Some issues, like a worn-out toilet flapper, are fairly simple fixes and something you may be able to do yourself. If your toilet won’t stop running, it usually indicates that the fill valve is faulty or stuck. In this case, you’re usually better off hiring a plumber to handle the repairs.
Check for Drain and Sewer Issues
It’s also a good idea to go around your house and check that your sinks and showers are draining properly. A slow drain or a drain that makes a gurgling sound as the water goes down indicates that the P-trap underneath the drain or the drain pipe it connects to is beginning to clog. When facing this situation, it’s not recommended to use drain cleaner since it can damage the drain and drain pipe. Instead, you’re always better off having a plumber clear the drain using a pipe snake. Even better, have your drain cleaned with hydro jetting to scour the pipes and prevent future clogs.
When all of your drains aren’t working properly, it’s a sign that your sewer line is beginning to clog up. This is a more serious issue since there’s a high chance the line will become completely clogged, resulting in your floor drains backing up and sewage backing up into your home. That’s why you should immediately contact a plumber to get rooter service for your sewer line or have it cleaned with hydro jetting. Either method will eliminate the obstruction and allow everything to drain again.
Having a plumber clean your drains and sewer line at least once a year is also an excellent preventative measure that helps to ensure your plumbing always works properly. That means you’ll usually have fewer issues with clogs, sewage backups, and foul drain odors.
Flush Your Water Heater
If you have a storage-tank water heater, it’s essential that it gets flushed once or twice a year. The purpose of flushing a water heater tank is to wash out the mineral sediment that naturally forms inside the tank. Sediment build-up is one of the main reasons a water heater will stop working as well as it should and take much longer to reheat. On gas units, sediment also increases the chances of the tank eventually developing a leak. The reason is that the sediment absorbs large amounts of heat from the gas burner. This leads to hot spots forming that slowly damage and weaken the tank, creating an increased risk of it leaking in the future.
It is possible to flush your water heater yourself if you shut it off and either turn on the shower to drain all the hot water or let it sit long enough to cool. However, most experts recommend having this task done by a plumber since they can also inspect and service your water heater at the same time. If you don’t have your water heater flushed, inspected, and serviced regularly, it will have a shorter lifespan and eventually not work as efficiently or effectively as it should.
If you instead have a tankless water heater, it’s also important that you have a plumber flush and descale it at least every year. Descaling aims to eliminate the mineral deposits that continually build up on the unit’s heat exchanger. If you don’t take this step, the mineral deposits will eventually decrease your water heater’s performance and often prevent the unit from heating the water to the correct temperature.
Since 1996, John Henry's Plumbing, Heating, Air, and Electrical has been the company Nebraskans have trusted for all their home service needs. We serve the Lincoln and Omaha areas, and our team is ready to professionally handle your water heater, plumbing repair, maintenance, and installation needs. You can also count on us for any HVAC or electrical services. Whether you need to have your water heater serviced, your drains and sewer cleaned, or anything else, give John Henry's Plumbing, Heating, Air, and Electrical a call today.
