We’ve all heard plumbing horror stories: broken pipes, flooded basements, bizarre objects clogging toilets, and worst of all, the hefty bill attached to each tale. To prevent these stories from becoming your own experience, it is important to keep our home in great shape, and as all homeowners know, that requires maintenance – a lot of maintenance. Here are a few common issues that have quick and easy fixes.
SLOW DRAINS
The worst feeling when taking a warm, relaxing shower and getting squeaky clean, is realizing your feet are in a pool of dirty water – that is a sign of a clogged drain. Have no fear, however, there are a couple of easy tricks to get your water back to an uninterrupted flow so you can return to the serenity of the shower.
If you like a good DIY, mix 1/3 cup of vinegar with 1/3 of baking soda, for an easy cleaning solution. Pour it down the drain (it will fizz), and let it sit for an hour. After the hour, run hot water down the drain to flush everything out.
Don’t have an hour to wait? Grab a plunger. Remove the drain cover and stick your plunger over the opening. Run the water until the water covers the bottom of the plunger. Using the plunger handle, get ready to start plunging. Begin forcefully moving it up and down, to create pressurized water to unclog the drain. It should take about 6 good plunges to get the job done. Run the water again, to make sure the clog is gone.
LEAKY FAUCETS
If you have a leaky faucet, you need to take action! It can cause your utility bill to increase by over 10% each month. Not only will your bank account thank you, but the constant sound of water dripping are what nightmares are made of. For a cartridge faucet, just like its name, you have to replace the cartridge. Start by removing the faucet handle, to expose the cartridge (it’s the metal piece that’s attached with a hex nut). You will need a wrench to remove the hex nut and replace the old cartridge with a brand-new one. After it’s all said and done, your beauty sleep will thank you.
GREASE OR COOKING OIL DOWN THE KITCHEN SINK?
You cooked an amazing meal, and enjoyed it to the point of food coma. The last thing you want to deal with now that dinner’s over is clean up, so you toss everything in the kitchen sink only to realize you just poured duck grease (yes, it was a fancy meal night) down the kitchen drain. Don’t panic – run the faucet to its hottest temperature, while pouring a gallon of boiling water slowly. Add dish soap down the drain to help ease everything out of the pipe.
CHECK FOR LEAKS
To prevent catastrophic problems, it is always important to do routine checks. This means looking under your sink for stains, by the toilet, near your water heater, and anywhere else a water source is connected. If there is a small leak, have a professional plumber come in for a repair – it will save you money on the long run.
WATCH WHAT YOU FLUSH
This may sound silly, but not everything can be flushed. Many products are even labelled “flushable”, but they can block your pipes, which will eventually lead to a toilet overflowing. To avoid an unfortunate clean up, be cautious of what goes down the toilet bowl. Watch for a future blog post on this very matter (pun very much intended!).
Hopefully you’re already practicing these tips in your home maintenance, but it’s never too late to start! If you have a plumbing job that’s become a bit bigger than you can safely handle, consider giving We Love Plumbing a call at 204-789-7803 or emailing us at service@weloveplumbing.ca.