When it comes to residential or commercial plumbing issues, there are certainly a wide variety of possibilities that you may experience. Some can be prevented with routine maintenance. Some will simply be inevitable as a result of everyday wear and tear. Some are capable of arising because of inadequate original installation. All in all, it can be a challenge to manage the plumbing system for a house or commercial facility. Luckily, with some general plumbing knowledge, you can at the very least limit the odds or chances of a plumbing issue occurring. Throughout this week’s blog post, we’ll be discussing a few of the ways in which you can do just that and hopefully prevent some of these common plumbing problems from popping up!
As a plumbing business that provides residential, commercial and new construction plumbing services, it’s safe to say we come across a wide range of projects throughout the year. Whether it be installing a new water heater, replacing a sewer line or roughing-in a new bathroom, our team has always strived to be a one-stop shop for all things plumbing. If you live around the Kansas City area and need some plumbing help, don’t hesitate to give us a call at (816) 348-3481. Now…let’s dive right in and talk about how you can protect yourself from common plumbing headaches!
Flush Your Water Heater
We’ve said it countless times before, but the water heater is an integral part of any plumbing system. While it’s easy to take for granted when it is working, you’ll definitely be well aware of it if things happen to go awry! In general, you can expect storage tank water heaters to last roughly 12-15 years. On the other hand, tankless water heaters can easily last 20-plus years. The one common point in these estimated figures is the assumption that you’re properly maintaining the unit. With that, one invaluable maintenance task is going to involve flushing your heater.
Since Kansas City is home to hard water, this mineral build-up that can occur at the bottom of your tank can eventually cause some issues (by putting added pressure on the water heater) and you’ll end up needing to replace your water heater earlier than expected. Obviously, there are other water heater-related maintenance tasks that you’ll want to utilize, such as monitoring the various components for any issues, but an annual flush is a great starting point!
Test Your Sump Pump
When it’s working properly, a sump pump can be an incredibly useful plumbing component. After all, it can be the perfect safety tool in helping to prevent water damage in your basement. If you’ve ever experienced a flooded basement, you know exactly why it is easily worth the investment. Nonetheless, as is the case with anything else, sump pumps can experience issues over time. Whether that be in the form of diminished performance because of wear and tear, the sump pump falling on its side (which could cause issues) or even debris creating problems, homeowners are going to want to make sure their sump pump is ready to go when needed!
Like with the water heater, visual inspections are always a worthwhile task. Given that both sump pumps and water heaters are typically installed in basements (thus not being something you regularly look at), it’s important to check on them from time-to-time and make sure there’s nothing out of the ordinary. Nonetheless, one of the easiest ways to give you the peace of mind that everything is normal would be to test it out. Pour some water in the sump pump pit to see if it kicks on and then starts clearing out the water through the discharge piping. After that, it wouldn’t hurt to head outside to where the piping leads and confirm that it’s headed away from the home’s foundation. As we often say, you never know when you’ll need your sump pump, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Watch What Goes Down Your Drains
As you can likely guess, one of the more common calls that we receive is in regards to slow or clogged drains. While it’s not something that would always be considered an emergency, it is also not necessarily an item you want to deal with for an extended period of time or leave unresolved. Whether it be a sink drain, bathtub drain or anything else, it can be a little frustrating to deal with a slow-moving drain. Not to mention, when this happens, you should now know there’s something in there clogging things up, which should signal to you that it’s time to call in a professional to get things cleared up.
Having said all of that, the reason this item finds a place on this list is simply because you can limit the odds of this occurring by keeping a closer eye on what goes down your drains. Understanding what is capable of causing clogs can go a long way in preventing them from routinely popping up. For instance, let’s look at the kitchen sink drain. Unsurprisingly, it can be a challenge to monitor everything that goes down a kitchen sink drain, especially if you have numerous people living in your household. In addition, when you’re cleaning up after dinner, food particles are going to inevitably find their way down the drain. What that in mind, knowing the items that are instant no-no’s can be helpful. One easy item that would be categorized as a “no-no” would be grease. Once the grease starts to cool down, it will gradually become a solid in your pipes and start causing issues in your drain lines! On the flip side, when you consider the bathroom drains, you need to be mindful of the issues that can arise from soap scum, hair and so on.
To sum it up, your drain lines serve an incredibly important role in your home’s plumbing system. Keeping them in working order is always going to be key!
Don’t Procrastinate
With some of the smaller plumbing issues, it’s easy to just forget about them and put off the repairs until a future date. After all, how much damage can a running toilet really do? While this blog post has technically been focused on preventing plumbing issues from the start, I wanted to add one final note about the importance of avoiding procrastination on any plumbing repairs. While more complex problems are going to require an experienced professional to complete the repairs/replacements, there are several troubleshooting items you can do on your own for the smaller jobs. Here’s a quick example in regards to a potential toilet issue. If you’re unsure of whether or not you have a leak with your toilet, pour a little food coloring in the tank. While not flushing, wait 30-45 minutes and then check inside the bowl. Has the food coloring made its way down there? If so, you have a leak somewhere that is wasting water and now it would be time to figure out where the issue resides!
In the end, some plumbing issues can end up getting worse over time if they’re left unfixed. So…rather than continuously putting smaller plumbing projects on the backburner, make an effort to get them resolved in a timely manner!
Reliable Plumbing Services in Kansas City
As mentioned in the opening section, our team at Stine-Nichols Plumbing works all throughout the Kansas City area and many of the surrounding cities. Over the years, we have consistently placed an emphasis on providing timely and reliable plumbing services, while also educating homeowners and facility managers on how they can prevent the same plumbing issues from arising again. Throughout this blog post, we highlighted just a few of the ways in which you can limit the odds of having to deal with certain plumbing issues.
No matter what the plumbing issue may be, we’re always here to lend a helping hand with your plumbing needs. To speak with a member of our team and request a free estimate on an upcoming project, feel free to fill out the form linked HERE.