Safety

Save Water & Money
Smart Tip
Frozen Pipes

A Pipe Burst
Frozen Sink Drain
Clogged Kitchen Drain
Bathtub Clogs
Sewer Problems
Plugged Toilet
No Hot Water

Safety

Always escort your small children when they go to the bathroom. Bathrooms are the most dangerous places in your house. Children can burn themselves or slip and fall resulting in serious injury or death.

Water Traps

Keeping water in your trap fixtures are a must. Your trap has a water seal which stops sewer gases from coming into your house. Sewer gases or methane are lethal. If your trap under your sink is leaking, you must have it repaired at once. The floor drains that some of us have in our basements have trap fixtures under the floor. Because water does not run through the drain on a regular basis you must pour a bucket of water down the drain once every two weeks. Continue this because water will evaporate from the trap.

Health Hazards

Legionella is a water-born disease which can develop in water heaters that are set too low. The temperatures that Legionella develop in are between 70 and 110 degrees. Keeping your water heater at 120 degrees will kill the disease. Please discuss this with your plumber before turning up the tank.

General Plumbing Tips

Save Water & Money

• To save money, update your toilets. Most older toilets work off of 3.5 gallons of water or more per flush.  All new toilets work off of 1.6 gallons of water per flush resulting in a cheaper water bill.
  
• Most older shower heads work off of 3.5 gallons of water or more per minute. All new shower heads work off of 1.5 per min. or 2.5 per min. Updating your showerheads can save you money.
  

Smart Tip

• Check out your plumbing contractor to be sure he/she is a Master Plumber and has a plumbing license number. Also make sure he/she is insured for plumbing work in your county.  Just because he/she has a contractor number doesn't mean he/she is licensed and insured as a plumber. Remember plumbing work can include work with torches. You do not want a handy man working with fire in your house.
  
• Never put drain cleaning solutions into kitchen sinks that have a garbage disposer.  These acids will destroy your disposer.
  
• Have leaky faucets and toilet tanks fixed or replaced. An average leak in either of these can waste up to 1,000 gallons of water every month.
  
• Drain a bucket or two of water from the valve at the bottom of your water heater. This will eliminate any sediment that may have settled at the bottom of the heater. Also, examine the valve and pipes for any signs of water leakage.
  
• Avoid rainy day surprises by checking your sump pump to make sure it's in working order. Keep the pit debris-free and test the pump by running a garden hose into the pit. The pump should kick on as soon as it senses the water.
  

Frozen Pipes

If pipes freeze, they could stop the flow of water into your home, and if they burst, you're in for a messy, expensive repair job. To avoid this homeowner headache, take the following steps when temperatures dip below freezing:

• Prevention: Keep temperature inside the house at a minimum of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Let a trickle of hot and cold water run from the highest faucet in your home, or the faucet furthest from the water meter. Or, if a faucet has frozen before, let that one run. Open cabinet doors under sinks. This allows warm air from the room to circulate around the pipes. During extremely cold temperatures, place a protected light bulb near exposed pipes.
  
• Remedies: You may thaw a pipe using a hair dryer, but do not, under any circumstances, try to thaw a pipe with an open flame. Try wrapping the frozen pipe in a towel soaked in boiling water of the frozen area with a turkey-baster. If you cannot thaw your pipe, call a licensed professional contractor. They have the skill and knowledge to thaw the pipe safely.

In Case of Emergency:

A Pipe Burst
Shut off the main water; reduce pipe pressure by opening the faucets at the lowest level off the home, usually the basement. Then identify the exact location of the problem. If it's the hot water line, turn off the water supply into the water heater. Turn the main line back on so cold water can be used while the pipe is being fixed. If the water will be off for extended periods of time, turn off the water heater.

Frozen Sink Drain
Fill the sink with very hot water and a handful of table salt. If the ice is close to the sink, the salt can penetrate to melt the ice.

Clogged Kitchen Drain
Most sink clogs are due to grease. Simply pour boiling water down the drain. Wait a few minutes then use a plunger. For double bowl sinks, hold down a drain stopper in one bowl while you plunge the other side.

Bathtub Clogs
Try plunging the drain, but stuff a rag in or cover the overflow so as not to blow the air out.

Sewer Problems
Sometimes drains back up due to a sewer problem. To check, flush the toilet. If water bubbles up in the basement sink, the sewer is backed up. Use water sparingly to allow ample drain time. If the sump dump pumps into the sewer, unplug it or sewage will pump through the sink.

Plugged Toilet
For a small to moderate clog, use a plunger. For a more stubborn clog, it is possible, although slightly risky, to use a closet auger. If the toilet is clogged and overflowing, do not try to flush. Turn off the toilet's water supply using the knob on the water supply pipe under the toilet.

No Hot Water
When there is no hot water, one of three things is probably wrong with your water heater. If there is no loss of water pressure, but the water supply is cold, it's probably a burned out pilot light or a blown fuse. Check a gas-fired unit to see if the pilot light is off. Follow the unit's instructions to re-light. For an electric unit, check the fuse panel and flip the correct circuit breaker to "on".