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Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks Some tips on how to start with plumbing makes a great start for beginners. Below are some tips that will hopefully assist you into making better decisions and to start maintaining your own home system. You need it to work effectively, so it is to your benefit to learn something from these tips. If you have issues with the plumbing making a hammering sound when you turn it off, check your water pressure. Any time your water pressure is above 80 PSI, you will hear extra water noise. This can be easily solved by the installation of a pressure-reducing valve, which can be done by most homeowners. Look closely at your toilets several times throughout the year. Check to see if there are any leaks that you may not have noticed; you can do this by placing five or six drops of food coloring in the tank. If there is a leak, the color will seep into the bowl within half an hour. This process will help you catch a small problem before it gets too out of control. 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. Keep from using harsh drain cleaners. If you utilize them too often you can damage your pipes. Sometimes, finding a professional to fix a blocked drain is the best way to solve the problem. 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. Sometimes kitchen sinks can be clogged up due to a slow accumulation of solidified grease. One quick fix for this is to try pouring very hot grease down the sink, which will liquefy the grease clogging the drain and carry it down. Water won't work, because grease will not dissolve in water.
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Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks

Apr 13, 2017

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Page 1: Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks

Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks

Some tips on how to start with plumbing makes a great start for beginners. Below are some tips thatwill hopefully assist you into making better decisions and to start maintaining your own homesystem. You need it to work effectively, so it is to your benefit to learn something from these tips.

If you have issues with the plumbing making a hammering sound when you turn it off, check yourwater pressure. Any time your water pressure is above 80 PSI, you will hear extra water noise. Thiscan be easily solved by the installation of a pressure-reducing valve, which can be done by mosthomeowners.

Look closely at your toilets several times throughout the year. Check to see if there are any leaksthat you may not have noticed; you can do this by placing five or six drops of food coloring in thetank. If there is a leak, the color will seep into the bowl within half an hour. This process will helpyou catch a small problem before it gets too out of control.

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

Keep from using harsh drain cleaners. If you utilize them too often you can damage your pipes.Sometimes, finding a professional to fix a blocked drain is the best way to solve the problem.

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

Sometimes kitchen sinks can be clogged up due to a slow accumulation of solidified grease. Onequick fix for this is to try pouring very hot grease down the sink, which will liquefy the greaseclogging the drain and carry it down. Water won't work, because grease will not dissolve in water.

Page 2: Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks

The most important plumbing tip you needto know is -- how to turn off your home'smain water supply. Once the water is shutoff, you can investigate problems and figureout how to resolve them. Walk the familythrough the house and show them where allthe water shut-off valves are, and how to usethem.

To prevent pipe banging when you turn onthe water, think about rubber blankets orstraps. Instead of assuming the pipes needreplaced, consider anchoring them orbuffering them. If your pipes are plastic,leave them some room for expansion andcontraction. If pipes do not leak but justmake noise, eliminate the noise.

Make sure that any exposed pipes in yourhome are insulated, especially those found in crawl spaces on the outside walls of your home. Thiswill help keep them from freezing and causing you tons of problems. Frozen pipes can often bedevastating and leave you with problems that are expensive to fix and no water in the middle ofwinter.

If you find that your pipes have frozen during the cold winter months open all the faucets in yourhome. This lowers the water pressure for when the pipes thaw and the water is freely flowing again.Make sure to open all the faucets not just those that are frequently used.

To avoid sediment buildup, drain gallons of water from your water heater to flush any corrosion.This will help your heater to run more efficiently therefore saving you regular energy costs. Makesure to read your heater's instructions before attempting this, and do this periodically to make surethat your heater is running as well as it can.

Many people complain of low water pressure. While there are several things that can cause this, onemust not be overlooked when starting your investigation. What kind of pipes do you have? If yourpiping is galvanized, you are better off just replacing your piping which will eliminate the issue.

Check to make sure that the walls behind the tiles in your bathroom water heater repair averagecost are not soft. Push into the tiles to confirm that the foundation is firm and robust. If the area isdelicate and brittle, there is a good chance that water has created damage behind the tiles overtime.

Do not shock yourself! Water and electricity do not mix well! If you are working with both electricaland plumbing issues at the same time, then you must avoid crossing them. Beware! The twotogether can be deadly! When water and electricity are mixed, the risk of getting a shock can beincredibly high, as well as deadly.

Page 3: Take advantage of Your Plumbing Tasks

Sometimes in the case of minor and or major emergencies we all have to become Mr. Fix itourselves. If you've got blockage in your drains the first step is to try a commercial de-clogger likeDrano. Simply pour it down the drain, wait ten minutes, and presto, your drain should be clear.

To avoid plumbing disasters in your kitchen, never place hard-to-grind, stringy, fibrous waste, suchas poultry skins, banana peels, carrots, celery, or cantaloupe pulp, into the garbage disposer. Thedisposer can't sufficiently grind these food products and they will clog your sink drain. You shouldalso run cold water down the drain for about 15 seconds before and after using the garbage disposerto flush the waste down the main drain.

If you have a leaky faucet, the problem may bemineral buildup. Mineral building can cause you tohave a broken seal in your faucet which will causeleaks and make it unreliable. If you've alreadychecked for the most common leak problem which isthe washer, looking for buildup is the next possibleculprit.

The best thing you can do if you smell a foul odorcoming from your toilet is to call a plumber. There isa good chance that you may have a sewer backup.Not only can this cause pipe damage, but inhalingthe smells from sewer backups is harmful to your

help.

When you have a plumbing problem that comes up in your home, you do not necessarily have to paya plumber a lot of money to come out and fix it for you. The helpful points you learned in this articlewill enable you to care for basic plumbing maintenance and repairs around your homehttp://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/storage-water-heaters yourself.