For those that have either followed our blog or social media accounts for some time, you likely know that maintenance and plumbing often go hand-in-hand. After all, if you want to get the most years out of the various plumbing components in your home, you’re going to have to maintain them, right? However, until something goes awry, it’s easy to put plumbing maintenance tasks on the back burner and forget about them. As long as hot water is coming out of your faucets, showerhead and bathtub spout, how often do you actually think about the water heater? That being said, we always like to utilize our plumbing blog as a resource to help homeowners better understand their home’s plumbing system. From tips on purchasing new fixtures to DIY tricks and more, there’s no shortage of topics to discuss!
As alluded to in the opening paragraph, this blog is going to take a look at a few plumbing maintenance tasks that you may want to consider adding to your regular to-do list. Depending on your existing plumbing set-up, not all of these will apply to every single reader, but they are definitely tasks that impact plenty of homeowners! Before diving into that though, we would like to provide a brief introduction to any first-time blog visitors. Stine-Nichols Plumbing is a plumbing business located in North Kansas City, MO and providing plumbing services all throughout the Kansas City area. Whether that be residential, commercial or even new construction, we strive to be a one-stop shop for all things plumbing! If you live in or near the Kansas City area and are needing some plumbing help, don’t hesitate to give our team a call at (816) 348-3481. Now, back to the blog!
Do you have a water filtration or water softener system?
Water softeners and whole-house water filtration systems have continued to become more and more popular over the years. Water softeners serve the purpose of alleviating some of the negatives associated with hard water. Meanwhile, water filtration systems are responsible for eliminating unwanted contaminants in your drinking water. Both are definitely beneficial components to implement into your home, so it’s no shock why so many homeowners love them! However, having a quality softener or filtration system installed in your home doesn’t solve the problem by itself (at least not forever). The next step is to maintain it and ensure you get an adequate return on your investment.
Luckily, manufacturers nowadays have made products that don’t require extensive maintenance practices. Let’s start with water softeners. As we’ve mentioned before on prior blog posts, you can either choose a salt-based system or a non-salt-based one. Salt-based systems are going to need slightly more work done throughout the year, as you’ll need to refill the tank with salt, clean it from time-to-time and so on. Meanwhile non-salt-based systems, such as NuvoH2O, take a different approach. We particularly recommend NuvoH2O for two main reasons. One, it works. It’s as simple as that! They have proven technology with the ability to take care of the annoying side effects that come with hard water. Secondly though, it’s also easy to maintain, as you just have to replace the cartridge when the time comes. When it comes to selecting a system for your home, those are two qualities you’ll want!
Before we carry on to the next section, the final component we’ll discuss here are water filtration systems. Unsurprisingly, there are a wide range of water filtration systems available nowadays. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll be referencing the whole-house water filtration systems here. Depending on the brand of filter you have installed, chances are the maintenance tasks may vary. However, in most cases, homeowners will definitely need to change out the filters every few months and keep an eye out for any irregularities. All in all, while the maintenance isn’t anything major with water filtration systems and water softeners, there’s no denying that it’s easy to forget about them and that’s why we continue to emphasize its importance here on the blog!
Water heaters.
While not every home will have a water softener or water filtration system installed, a water heater is undoubtedly a must-have. Wouldn’t you agree that it’s tough to imagine not having hard water available on a daily basis?! That being said, a functioning and reliable water heater is obviously a MUST. However, it’s important to note that having a new water heater (whether that be a traditional storage tank heater or a tankless unit) installed is a sizable investment in its own right, so it’s also an example of a plumbing component that you’ll want to last for as many years as possible. This is no different than with any other significant home improvement project! Fortunately, maintenance here is easy as well!
Most notably, you’ll want to flush the tank roughly once a year. We mentioned hard water above, but it can also be a detriment to your water heater too. Over time, your water heater can experience sediment build-up at the bottom of the tank. When this build-up occurs, it can force your water heater to work harder and harder to perform its normal responsibilities. As you can likely guess, this added wear and tear can force the unit to deteriorate quicker. Luckily, flushing the tank can help with these potential problems! While an annual flush is the water heater maintenance task that tends to get the most attention, there are plenty of others to add to your list as well, including simply keeping an eye out for anything that looks out of the ordinary, monitoring the expansion tank’s condition, making sure the T&P valve works correctly and more! If you ever feel that something isn’t right with your home’s water heater, it wouldn’t hurt to have a licensed plumber get eyes on the situation.
Prepare for winter.
We’ve said it before, but as the weather outside changes, so do the potential plumbing issues. In particular, the cold Kansas City winters are definitely capable of causing some plumbing headaches for homeowners. With that in mind, it’s always a good idea to start planning ahead every year when September or early-October comes around. Disconnecting any outdoor hoses is a no-brainer! Make sure your heat is turned on inside the house to help prevent frozen pipes. During particularly cold nights, it’s always a good idea to leave cabinet doors open under sinks and even let the faucets slowly drip. Have any exposed piping in an unheated part of the house? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to look into adding insulation there! Pipe insulation isn’t very expensive and anything you can do to prevent a frozen pipe burst will be worth it. Know where your main water shut-off is. This final one that I just mentioned can actually be applied to all months of the year. However, knowing the location of the main water shut-off can help limit the overall damage if an emergency were to occur! Don’t wait for an emergency to happen for you to realize the winter can wreak havoc on your plumbing system!
Professional Plumbing Services in Kansas City!
To sum it up, there are certainly plenty of plumbing maintenance tasks that homeowners should be aware of. None of them are overly complicated and several you can even do on your own, but they nonetheless need to be completed to ensure an effective and efficient plumbing system.
Need plumbing help in Kansas City? Our team at Stine-Nichols Plumbing has always prioritized providing reliable and professional plumbing services to our clients in KC. Water heaters, faucets, water softeners, sewer lines, sump pumps, garbage disposals, you name it! If you’re interested in receiving an estimate on a plumbing project, feel free to fill out this form HERE and a member of our team will be in touch!