Basic Plumbing Tips You Should Know

What kind of plumber are you? Even though it’s important to know the name and number of a professional plumber or plumbing service so you know who to contact in case of emergencies, it’s helpful to have a grasp of the basics, in order to fix easy problems or to know what to tell a professional plumber when something goes wrong.

Having a strainer is a good first step for most drains and sinks. Make sure a strainer is covering your drains to collect particles and other debris that would clog it if anything goes down the drain. Any strainer used in your kitchen will need regular cleaning, but you should also clean your bathtub strainer any time it is slow to drain.

Prevention is important for avoiding any expensive repairs to your plumbing. Hair is a common source of clogged drains. You can prevent this by using a screen or drain cover that is designed to keep hair out of your drain and pipes. It’s much easier to clean a screen than to remove a messy hair clog in the pipes.

Don’t use your toilet for anything but waste material and toilet paper in order to keep potential problems to a minimum. Never flush down cotton balls or swabs, sanitary pads, used diapers, paper towels, or anything else that will not dissolve. These items can create major clogs.

When attempting to unclog one of your drains, be careful when using chemical drain cleaners. as they might seriously harm your skin if you get splashed. Make sure that you protect yourself by wearing gloves and handling any harsh cleaning chemicals very carefully.

Lastly, know who to contact in case of a plumbing emergency. Your local plumbing professional or plumbing service can answer any plumbing-related question you might have.

Tips on How to Prevent Clogged Drains

A clogged drain can be extremely problematic and can consume a great deal of time and effort. In severe cases requires the services of a plumber to come out and remove the blockage for you. Clogs are most often caused by the things that residents of the properly allow to go down the drain so monitoring and controlling what goes down the drain can help to prevent the occurrence of clogs and blockages and save you money on drain cleaning.

Food is one of the most common causes of clogged drains as even little pieces are easy to get caught up and stuck within debris that builds up on the side of pipes. Make sure that you scrape as much of the food off of your plates and into the trash before putting them into the sink. A drain strainer should also be used to catch any left over large pieces. Grease from your frying pan can be very problematic in drains as fat can solidify on the walls of the pipes. Collect left over fat and oil to be re-used or dispose as much of it as possible before your rinse and wash it.

We have all seen how hair tends to collect around the drain and removing that collected hair after each shower or bath and disposing of it rather than forcing it down the drain will help to prevent clogs. Soap is another item that is often responsible for clogs and soap and hair mixed together is a deadly combination responsible for difficult to remove clogs. Remember to throw soap in the garbage once it has become too small to use.

What Not to Flush Down Your Drain

Your kitchen and bathtub drains seem like a convenient way to dispose of liquids and other flushable materials, but you can save yourself a lot of trouble and some expensive plumbing repairs by being careful what you put down the drain.  This goes double for homes that are on septic systems.  These systems are meant to treat and dispose of household wastewaters, sewage, and small amounts of paper.  Anything else can cause clogged drains that will require drain cleaning.

Avoid pouring any type of caustic chemicals down the drain.  Small amounts of cleaning fluids are acceptable, pesticides, caustic chemicals, and chemical drain cleaners should be avoided.  Also, don’t pour anything down the drain that can harden on the walls of the pipes.  Over time, these materials will lead to clogs that can be particularly difficult to remove.

These fluids include paint, oil, grease, lard, butter or margine.  In addition, some homeowners make a habit of flushing all sorts of solid materials down the drain.  If you have a garbage disposal, this isn’t such a  problem, but even with a garbage disposal solid materials will adhere to grease, oils, and other hardened fluids lining the walls of the pipe.

Even if you have a garbage disposal, it is good practice to avoid dumping coffee grounds and eggshells down the drain.  These are notorious for adhering to pipe walls and forming clogs.

Finally, your toilets were designed to flush human waste and moderate amounts of toilet paper.  Don’t use them to dispose of cat litter, feminine personal products, contraceptives, or diapers.  All of these items can cause an expensive and messy clog.

Preventative Maintenance For Your Plumbing

Plumbing is one of those things that most people take for granted until a problem arises.  However, there are a few things you can do to help your plumbing last longer and to save you money on expensive repairs.

Flushing your water heater annually can help extend its life, save you money on energy costs, and maintain the water heater’s capacity.  Over time, a layer of sediment builds up on the bottom of a water heater.  This sediment makes the water heater work harder to heat the water and takes up space in the tank, reducing its capacity.  In some cases, bacteria grows in the sediment and causes the hot water to smell bad.

Clogged drains are a common source of plumbing problems.  Grease and hair are the two main causes and keeping grease and hair out of your drains will go a long way toward keeping them trouble free.  Consider installing a screen over shower drains to limit the amount of hair that goes down the drain.  Drain screens are available at your local home improvement store.

Most grease goes down the kitchen sink drain.  First, Pour or scrape grease into a jar and dispose of it in the trash.  Some grease will still make its way down the drain, so be sure to use plenty of hot water and soap when washing the dishes.  Also, you can help keep your drains flowing freely by pouring hot, soapy water down the drain on a regular basis.  Avoid using caustic chemicals as these can harm the insides of your pipes.