Ways You Can Create a Plumbing Problems
Think of this as a list of things we, as professional plumbers, don’t want you to do with your plumbing. We offer emergency plumbing in Glendale, AZ to deal with the disasters that can happen because of poor treatment of fixtures and other parts of the plumbing. It’s an important part of our job to be available whenever people need them. But we also want our customers to have few problems in the first place. We offer preventive services to help maintain plumbing so emergencies are rare, but there are steps you can take to even further lower opportunities for your plumbing to go wrong.
Or perhaps we should say “there are steps you shouldn’t take.” Below are a few of these steps that can cause minor to major plumbing issues.
Going “do-it-yourself” for repairs or installations
This is the biggest cause of unnecessary plumbing disasters, and we see it all the time. Amateur futzing with the pipes with only a Youtube video for a guide often causes leaks, clogs, and broken appliances. Only allow licensed plumbers to handle repairs and installations: they have the training, tools, and experience to get the job done right at a fraction of the time. (Unfortunately, the previous owner of your house may have done some amateur fixes that are ticking time bombs. Professional maintenance can help detect these.)
Not looking for the water shut-off valve ahead of time
You and every adult in your household need to know the location of the water shut-off valve and how to work it. It’s located next to the water meter, usually down in a concrete pit near the sidewalk at the front of the house. Knowing where this valve is can save you from massive water damage in case of an unstoppable leak in your house. You’ll still need to call plumbers for help, but at least you won’t have to pay for expensive water damage remediation.
Throwing trash into the garbage disposal
We wish garbage disposals were called anything else. All plumbers do. The name makes it easy for people to think that actual garbage can go down into the disposal: paper, plastic, cigarettes, bits of wood, packing material, etc. But only chewable food waste should go into the disposal. This means that fruit pits, unpopped popcorn kernels, and meat bones are also not allowed. You’ll bring your garbage disposal’s life to a fast end if you feed it garbage.
Using liquid drain cleaner to clear clogs
Plumbers would have these chemical drain cleaners banned if they could. Not only are these “cleaners” only partially effective, leaving plenty of debris lining the pipe walls, they contribute to damaging drainpipes. Often, the acidic chemicals remain down in the p-trap of the draining, eating away at the metal and plastic. These chemicals aren’t good for you or anyone else in your household, either.
The Trusted Plumber provides residential plumbing system services in Glendale and the surrounding areas. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today. Call for emergency plumbing assistance.
This post first appeared on https://www.thetrustedplumber.com
