Having good plumbing is very important to having a safe and healthy home. There may be times, though, when your plumbing system needs work and you can’t afford to call a professional, or you don’t have time to sit at home and wait for one. This article provides some fantastic tips for maintaining and fixing your home plumbing.
When it gets very cold, your pipes may freeze. If it does, relieve the pressure in the pipe by turning on the tap so the water can be released as the pipe thaws. Doing so provides pressure relief, and might spare you the damage of a burst pipe.
If something is wrong with the disposal in your sink, avoid the temptation to stick your hand in there to fix it. Garbage disposals are not healthy places for hands to be, even if they are not running. You can look online to find the diagram for the disposal that you have.
Never put fat, grease, or oils into your drain. They can clog your drains once they cool down. As an owner of a garbage disposal, this is important because the blades will stop working if they have fat on them. Throw away oils nowhere near the sink.
If your house uses well water and you start to see orange or pink stains in your tub and other water fixtures, you have too much iron in your water. You can combat this by using a water softener. You can either purchase it at a store, or hire a company to come to your house to set it up for you.
Don’t treat your toilet like a garbage can if you want to avoid a lot of potential plumbing problems. For example, don’t flush sanitary pads or diapers down your toilet. These items can clog the pipes. Also, be conservative in your use of toilet paper.
If you need to buy a pipe cleaner to unclog your pipes, it is best to find one that is enzyme based. These cleaners turn the sludge into a liquid using natural bacteria, and then the liquid flows out of the pipes. The most highly recommended pipe cleaners are enzyme cleaners.
Clean your dryer’s lint trap. This will save a ton of trouble for you, it will also prevent fires. Search the lint trap to see if there are any tears or holes, this helps to prevent lint from getting into the pipes, which can cause clogs and many other problems.
Cleaning the aerator will fix low water pressure issues that are caused from sediment buildup. Take the aerator apart and clean it with a brush and some vinegar. Finally, rinse off the aerator, put it back together and then reattach it to your faucet. If the problem was caused by a dirty aerator, cleaning it will increase the pressure.
As indicated by this article, there are many ways to maintain and repair your plumbing system. Practice the tips you read about. Learning how to deal with your plumbing system saves you time and money since you can take care of most maintenance and emergencies without the aid of a plumber.