This month, All Pro Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical is taking a closer look at some important maintenance tasks you can do this fall in order to ensure your home is ready for winter and the months of use ahead. Previously, we took a closer look at maintenance for your heating and cooling system. Today, we continue the series with our second entry, focusing on your plumbing.
With fall in full-swing, it’s only a matter of time before cold weather, shorter days, and busier schedules make working on your home sound like a pretty serious chore. And when that happens, maintaining or working on your home isn’t going to be high on your priorities list. So that makes now, the very start of fall, the best time to work on your home’s most important features, and that includes your plumbing.
Your plumbing is sort of like the circulatory system of your home: much like your veins and arteries carry blood throughout your body, your plumbing carries water to where you need it. Likewise, with how your blood removes waste from cells so it can be filtered out by your kidneys, your plumbing also features drains, which remove waste and wastewater and flush it away safely. Likewise, when something goes wrong with your circulatory system, it can have serious consequences on the rest of your body, much like problems with your plumbing can cause issues throughout your home.
This makes regular maintenance a key part of making sure your plumbing remains in good condition. A well-maintained plumbing system will be more dependable, more predictable, and even last longer than one which receives little to no professional attention. And likewise, just because your home seems like it’s in okay condition and working properly doesn’t mean you don’t necessarily have any issues forming where you can’t see them.
Here are a few valuable maintenance tips you can follow in order to prepare your plumbing for the upcoming winter as well as the remainder of the year.
Insulate Exposed Water Lines
Do you have any areas in your yard, in front of your home, or in any uninsulated rooms of your home like your garage where you have exposed plumbing lines? Whether it’s copper, PVC, or any other material, exposed plumbing lines are a source for trouble when cold winter nights start working their way into the calendar. Here in the Inland Empire, where our desert climate can occasionally send our temperatures plummeting to sub-freezing temperatures, that’s not something you want to deal with. If the water in your lines freezes, it can cause your pipes to crack or burst, and that creates leaks which could cause a ton of damage and be extremely difficult to stop.
Insulating your pipes is easy: head to your local hardware store and pick up some pipe insulation (it usually runs for a few cents per foot; make sure you get the right size). Wrap any exposed sections of plumbing line outside your home or in uninsulated rooms with this insulation, and then use a secure form of tape (like duct tape) to secure it in place. It’s that simple. The insulation should keep your home protected by preventing too much heat from escaping the line.
Replace Leaky Toilet Stoppers
Do you have a toilet which runs periodically, even though nobody has used it for quite some time? This is a sign that you have a leaky stopper, which is a fairly routine repair. Simply purchase a new stopper for your toilet at your local hardware store, shut off the water to your toilet, drain your tank, remove the old stopper from both the bottom and the handle, and then put the new one in place. As long as the new flapper seats with the drain down to the bowl properly, you should notice your toilet stops leaking right away once you refill the tank.
This is an extremely simple task that requires no specialized tools, and a replacement stopper is generally no more than just a few dollars in cost. However, because the rubber these stoppers are made from will wear out and degrade over time, it’s a service you’ll probably have to do to your toilet every year or two.
Relieve Slow Drains with Hydrojetting Services
Are several drains in your home slow? Whether they’re all in the same room or found throughout your home, the reason could be because you have a blockage in a drain line. Blockages used to be a real nuisance to clear up, but today it’s much safer and easier thanks to hydrojetting technology. Think of hydrojetting like a pressure washer treatment that you’d do for your patio—only instead it’s used to blast away at the inside of your drain lines. This process removes everything from hair and soap scum to tree roots and other waste. Jetting drains is by far the safest and most natural way to remove clogs, so we encourage you to reach out to our team to schedule this service for your home as soon as possible!
Have Your Plumbing Inspected
When was the last time you had your plumbing inspected? You may have issues you never even knew about. A plumbing inspection can spot everything from routine clogs to possible leaks to issues with seals and more. As your plumbing begins to age, it’s important to start scheduling these safety inspections more frequently so you can continue to have the peace of mind of knowing your plumbing is in good condition. Likewise, this lets you get out in front of potentially big problems, such as water heater replacements and more.
When you need a plumbing service, call All Pro Plumbing, Heating, Air & Electrical to schedule an appointment and let our team get it done for you!
We invite you to come back next week on September 23rd as we take a look at maintenance services you can do for your electrical system.