Summer Water Leaks Often Go Unnoticed

June 21st, 2012 Posted in Water Leak Detection
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Depending on the size of the leak, a water leak in your home can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in wasted water not to mention the potential damage to your walls, ceilings, or foundation.  For many homeowners, the first sign of a water leak is a sudden increase in their water bill.

Unusually high water usage is an excellent indication of a water leak but in many cases, if the high water bill coincides with the beginning of warm weather most homeowners assume that the increased usage is due to an irrigation sprinkler system or from filling the swimming pool.

It is normal for water usage to increase in the summer months if you have a sprinkler irrigation system or swimming pool, but sometimes these increased water bills can hide the warning signs of a water leak.  In addition, swimming pools and irrigation systems are themselves common sources of water leaks especially if they have been sitting idle all winter.

Don’t just assume that your increased water bills are due to the normal summer increase in water usage.  It might be months before you realize that your water bill is not decreasing like it should at the end of summer and by then you will have wasted thousands of gallons of water.

Inspect your water bill closely and compare this month’s water usage with the water usage for the same month last year.  If there is a significant difference, you may have a water leak and need a water line repair.  Call your local plumber if you suspect a water leak. They can quickly identify the source of a water leak in your home and help you choose between your repair options.

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Water Leaks Waste Water And Money

June 21st, 2012 Posted in Water Leak Detection
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A water leak in your home can cost a lot more than most people think.  Even a small leak can add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars per year on your water bills.  A large water leak in your water service line can set you back over a thousand dollars per month!

Don’t let this happen to you – be vigilant and call your local plumber at the first sign of a water leak.  Repairing a water leak will cost far less than the cost of the wasted water.  In addition, underground water leaks in your water supply line can lead to insect problems or damage to your foundation.  Water leaks in the plumbing inside your home can cause expensive damage to walls, floors, and ceilings.

Your first line of defense against water leaks is to keep a close eye on your water bill.  If you see an unexplained rise in your water usage, this is usually the first sign of a water leak and you should investigate further.

Your water meter can help you determine whether you have a water leak in your home.  Locate your water meter and make a note of the reading on the meter.  Turn off all water using devices in your home including automatic ice makers, pool fillers, sprinkler systems, humidifiers, dishwashers, and other appliances.  Don’t flush any toilets or use any faucets for at least 4 hours, then check the meter reading again.

If the meter reading has changed, then you have a water leak and you should call your local plumber right away to have the leak repaired.  Your local plumber will be able to find the leak quickly and explain your repair options.

 

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Polybuylene Pipe Replacement Options

June 21st, 2012 Posted in Polybutylene Pipe
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If you own a home plumbed with polybutylene pipe, you should consider your options before contacting an experienced plumber for a residential repiping.  Polybutylene pipe was installed in millions of homes built after 1970.  By the early 1990’s it became clear that polybutylene pipe that was exposed to chlorine found in the drinking water of many homes would fail and begin to leak and it was taken off the market.

Class action lawsuits were filed against the manufacturers of polybutylene pipe and homeowners who joined these suits received settlements to pay for the replacement of their plumbing.  Unfortunately, it is probably too late to file a claim if you haven’t already done so.

Homeowners have essentially three options for dealing with polybutylene pipe.  The first option is to do nothing and wait to see if the pipes begin to fail.  For some homeowners, this option may be the best route.  Polybutylene fails due to exposure to chlorine and if your drinking water has a very low level of chlorine, your pipes may provide good service for years.  Homes that use well water or that are connected to a municipal water supply that uses a low level of chlorine may not have the plumbing problems typically associated with polybutylene pipes.

If your pipes have begun to leak, then your choice is whether to replace all of the pipes now or to fix the leaking pipes and replace them later.  In most cases it does not make good economic sense to fix a leaking polybutylene pipe.  Your plumber may be able to repair a leaking section of pipe, but a leaky polybutylene pipe is a sign that the rest of the plumbing will fail soon.  Your plumber can help you make the decision, but generally the best course of action is to have all of the plumbing replaced.

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Locating a Water Leak

June 21st, 2012 Posted in Water Leak Detection
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If you have a water leak in your home, finding the leak and having it repaired by a reputable local plumber as soon as possible is important.  Water leaks not only waste water and cost money, but water leaks can cause serious damage to your foundation, walls, floors, and ceilings.  Water leaks can happen in the water supply line that leads to your home, in the plumbing pipes inside your home, and in your plumbing fixtures.

Plumbing leaks in your fixtures are usually easy to identify.  A dripping showerhead or faucet will be obvious, but you may not notice a toilet that is leaking water internally.  You can check your toilets by adding a few drops of dye or food coloring to the tank.  If the water in the bowl changes color, then your toilet is leaking.  The flapper valve is the usual source of these leaks although you may have a malfunctioning or improperly adjusted fill valve.

Leaks in the interior plumbing of your home will often be easy to spot if they cause wet spots and water stains on ceilings, walls, and floors but you may not notice leaking water pipes under your home in your basement or crawlspace. Check under your home with a strong flashlight for dripping pipes, puddles, or damp earth. If your home is built on a slab, leaks underneath the slab can be hard to spot.  An unusually warm or cold area of your floor can indicated a leaky pipe under the slab.

A water leak in your water supply line or irrigation sprinkler system will usually appear as a soft or mushy spot in the yard that never seems to dry up.  If you suspect a water leak in your water supply line, your interior plumbing or in your plumbing fixtures, get the leak repaired quickly by a reputable local plumber.

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Call An Expert For Whole House Repiping

June 21st, 2012 Posted in Polybutylene Pipe
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Whole house repiping is one of the biggest residential plumbing projects that homeowners face.  Most homeowners will never need a whole house repiping, but homes that were built with polybutylene pipes or have other plumbing issues may need to have all of their plumbing pipes replaced.  If you are one of the unfortunate homeowners facing a whole house repiping project, in most cases your best option is to have the job completed by a plumbing contractor who specializes in whole house repiping.

Millions of homes built during the from about 1975 to 1995 were plumbed with polybutylene piping.  At the time, polybutylene was believed to be an excellent choice for residential plumbing because it was easy to work with, relatively inexpensive, and seemed to be very durable.  Unfortunately it was later discovered that the chlorine found in most household drinking water caused polybutylene pipe to fail after a few years.

Replacing all of the defective pipe in your home is a big job that can require knocking holes into walls, floors, and ceilings.  The original piping may have been installed in the attic, under floors, and inside walls.  If your home was built on a slab, your plumbing probably runs under the slab and is routed up through the slab in various locations.

Most good plumbers can tackle a polybutylene pipe replacement, but it takes some experience to be able to replace all of the plumbing in a home with the least amount of damage to your walls, floors, and ceiling.   A plumber who specializes in whole house repiping will have years of repiping experience and will have developed techniques to get the job done as quickly as possible with the least amount of damage to your home.

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Water Heater Insulation Blankets Can Save Energy and Money

June 14th, 2012 Posted in Water Heaters
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Heating water accounts for a large percentage of the average home energy bill.  Up to a quarter of the energy consumed in a typical home goes to heat water.  There are many options for reducing energy usage for water heating that not only save you money but also help conserve the environment.

Converting to a tankless water heating system or having your plumber install a new high efficiency storage type water heater are excellent ways to reduce energy costs for water heating, but these are expensive options.  If your storage type water heater is still in good shape and you are not ready yet to take the plunge on a new water heater or tankless water heater, consider installing a water heater blanket.

Water heater insulation blankets are a low cost, easy to install method of reducing your energy usage for heating water.  Water heater insulation blankets are available at your local home improvement center for about $25 and can be installed by the average homeowner, especially on an electric water heater.  Installation on gas water heaters is a little more complicated so if you are not completely confident in your ability to install the insulation blanket, it’s worth the cost of having it professionally installed by an experienced plumber.

Before spending the money on an insulating blanket, check the R value of your water heater.  Most older water heaters can benefit from an insulating blanket, but some higher end water heaters installed in recent years are very well insulated and adding an insulation blanket will not help much.  If your water heater has an R-value of 24 or greater or doesn’t feel warm to the touch, then don’t waste the money on an insulation blanket.  Your water heater is already well insulated.

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Saving Energy on Water Heating

June 14th, 2012 Posted in Water Heaters
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Heating water accounts for large percentage of the energy used in most homes.  According to the Department of Energy, between 14% and 25% of residential energy consumption is due to heating water.   Energy efficient water heating can make a big difference in your energy bill while helping to conserve the environment.

For many homeowners, replacing their storage type water heater with a demand type water heating system is the best, most energy efficient water heating alternative.  Depending on the amount of hot water used in the home and the type of demand system installed, tankless water heating systems can save as much as 50% on water heating energy costs.

However, tankless water heating systems are not for everyone.  They are expensive to install and they have a few drawbacks, especially in homes that rely on electricity for water heating.  If you don’t want to install a tankless water heating system, there are still some great ways to save energy with a standard storage type water heater.

Selecting an energy efficient water heater can make a big difference in your energy consumption.  Well insulated energy efficient water heaters waste less energy due to standby heat loss and are more efficient than standard models.  On an electric water heater, you may consider installing a timer to take advantage of lower electricity rates during off-peak hours.

Installing an insulation blanket can help reduce standby heat loss in older water heaters that lack adequate insulation.  Heat traps installed in the water inlet and outlet lines also reduce energy loss by preventing unwanted hot water flow out of the tank.  In addition, reducing the temperature setting and installing low flow showerheads and faucets can lower energy usage for water heating.

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Low Flow vs. WaterSense

June 14th, 2012 Posted in Bathroom Remodeling
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If you have been shopping for new plumbing fixtures for your bathroom remodeling, you may have noticed the WaterSense label on many faucets, toilets, showerheads, and other bathroom fixtures.  If you assumed that WaterSense products were water efficient products, you were right!  But there is more to the WaterSense label than just water conservation.

Since the 1990s, government regulations have set standards for water usage for a wide variety of plumbing fixtures and other products.  Most homeowners are familiar with low flow toilets, showerheads, and other fixtures.  Many of these fixtures earned a well-deserved reputation for poor performance.  Low flow toilets in particular earned the ire of homeowners because they performed so poorly that they often had to be flushed twice which defeated the purpose of a low flow toilet in the first place.

Since then, plumbing fixture manufacturers have redesigned their products to meet federal standards while performing far better than older low-flow products.  To encourage manufacturers to take it to the next level, the WaterSense program was developed.  Before it can display the WaterSense label, the product must be certified to perform as well as its counterparts while using 20 percent less water.

What this means for consumers is that they can enjoy even greater water efficiency without sacrificing performance.  WaterSense products are tested by independent third party labs so consumers can depend on the results and easily identify high-performing water efficient products.

The WaterSense program includes faucets, showerheads, and toilets.  It also includes controllers for irrigation systems and plans are in place to add other products such as water softeners.  For the best combination of performance and conservation, look for the WaterSense label.

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Going Green With Green Plumbing

June 14th, 2012 Posted in Bathroom Remodeling
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Conserving natural resources is great for the environment and when it comes to plumbing, conserving water and energy for water heating can help you save money too!  Here are just  few of the many ways you can do your part for the environment while putting money back in your wallet with green plumbing:

Low Flow Toilets – According to the EPA, toilets account for about 30 percent of water usage in a typical home.  If your toilets were installed in your home prior to 1992, installing new low flow toilets can cut your toilet water usage by half or more.  Standard low flow toilets use about half the water of older toilets and WaterSense use 20 percent less water than a standard low flow toilet.  The great news is that the performance of modern low flow toilets is far superior to those sold in the late 1990s.

Low Flow Showerheads and Faucets – Replacing your old showerheads and faucets with new low flow fixtures can cut your water usage by more than half and save money on energy costs for water heating as well.  The less hot water you use, the less energy it will take to heat the water.  Save even more with WaterSense fixtures.

Water Heating – There are many ways to save energy on water heating.  Lowering your water heater setting and installing heat traps and an insulation blanket on a storage type water heater can significantly reduce energy consumption for water heating.  Better yet, talk to your plumber about installing a tankless water heating system.  You will not only eliminate standby heat loss, but you will also enjoy an endless supply of hot water.

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Leave Clogged Drain Repairs To The Pros

June 14th, 2012 Posted in Clearing Clogged Pipes
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Clogged drains are one of those things that most handy homeowners try to tackle themselves, but in most cases you are really better off letting a professional plumber handle it.  Sometimes a homeowner can successfully clear a clogged drain, but if efforts are unsuccessful, they often end up damaging their pipes or making the problem worse.  In addition, most of the time a clogged drain is just that –  a clog that only affects a single drain.  However, sometimes a clogged drain is a sign of a much bigger problem and an experienced plumber has the training and skill to recognize these problems.

Some clogged drains can be cleared by the homeowner.  If your stopper has collected too much hair or if the clog is in the trap, many homeowners can safely remove these clogs and get their drains flowing freely.  In addition, some clogs will respond to gentle pressure from a plunger.

However, when homeowners start using plumbing snakes, drain cleaning chemicals and the like, the problem can go from bad to worse.  Drain cleaning chemicals sound great – just pour it in the sink or drain and let it do it’s magic to dissolve the clog.  Unfortunately, these caustic chemicals can do just as much damage to your plumbing as they do to the clog.  In addition, they usually don’t work and you end up with clogged sink full of dangerous chemicals.

Plumbing snakes are another home remedy that looks like a great idea, but rarely works out that way.  Homeowner grade plumbing snakes are only useful for light clogs very close to the drain.  Even when the work, they often only knock a hole in the clog and leave most of it behind.  The sink drains today, but the clog will be back soon.  In addition, plumbing snakes can damage pipes or get stuck in the pipe causing even more problems.

For all but the simplest clogged drains, you are better off calling a plumber who can quickly and safely clear the clogged drain.  Also, your plumber will be able to tell if the clog is a symptom of a more serious problem like a collapsed sewer line or a backed up septic system.

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