Things That You Need To Know About Plumbing
Water can be a serious source of issues for a homeowner. Next to a natural disaster, the one thing that can ruin your home is a major plumbing issue. Fortunately, homeowners can take a lot of steps to prevent plumbing nightmares and to minimize the effects when they occur.
Don’t let your house temperature drop to below freezing and make sure to insulate anything that is exposed to the outside elements to prevent frozen pipes. If the temperature surrounding the pipes is anywhere below freezing, this can cause the pipes to freeze. If they freeze, it will be awhile for them to gradually warm. Therefore, it will take some time for you to have running water again. However, they might burst, which will cause an enormous mess and repair bill.
To keep your pipes from getting frozen, always maintain a temperature in the house above freezing and make sure all pipes exposed to outside elements are insulated properly. Pipes will begin to freeze as soon as they reach freezing temperatures. In the very least, you could lose running water inside while waiting for the pipes to unfreeze. The worst case would be that they burst, creating water damage and a big repair bill.
If your water pipe freezes, switch on the nearest faucet tap to that pipe so that water can exit when the pipe thaws. As such, bursting can be halted, saving you from even more costly damages.
Orange or pink discoloration on your bathroom fixtures is a solid indication that your water contains too much iron. This is fixed by using water softener, which can be bought at a store, or you can have someone come to your home and fix it.
Don’t put oil, grease or fat into your drain. Oils will eventually harden and clog up your drain. This is very true for garbage disposal, since fat will make the blades run less quickly and efficiently. Dump your oil outside or in a container that you throw out with the regular trash.
As you have hopefully learned, plumbing doesn’t have to be complicated even if it can appear intimidating at times. There are, however, certain basics that you must understand. All you need to do to start is do your homework, common sense, and best method to go about doing your job.