Plumbing problems are not only frustrating, but they can also threaten the safety of your family and your home. Taking preventive measures can help you keep your home plumbing in tip-top shape.
Remember your grandma’s advice – grease and fat should be collected and thrown away in a trash can, not down the drain. This simple task can significantly reduce the risk of clogged kitchen sinks and other plumbing disasters.
Keep Your Drains Clean
Your home’s plumbing system is one of the most important systems you use, bringing in fresh water for everyday needs and routing waste out of your living space. Keeping your drains clean is essential to ensure that these vital services are working properly. Dirty, clogged drains can not only lead to unpleasant odors throughout your home but may also cause sewage backups and other serious problems.
A common culprit of clogged kitchen drains is cooking grease that washes away while hot but solidifies into a clump in your pipes. To avoid this, always wipe down your dishes with a paper towel before putting them in the sink, and instead, pour any excess cooking grease into a disposable jar to throw away with the regular trash. You should also be careful what you put down your garbage disposal, which is only meant to dispose of organic liquids and small quantities of non-fibrous food scraps.
Other common causes of clogged drains include hair and soap scum. To prevent these buildups, regularly clean your drains using a DIY solution or commercial drain cleaner. When using a chemical cleaner, be sure to wear rubber gloves and never look down the drain afterward. The fumes can burn your skin and lungs, and mixing different types of chemicals can cause a dangerous reaction.
To clean your drains with a homemade solution, try pouring a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by a cup of vinegar. This will create a chemical reaction that removes clogs and helps to eliminate foul odors in your kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room. Repeat this procedure every few weeks to keep your drains clear.
Don’t Pour Grease Down the Sink
While fats and oils are liquid at room temperature, they solidify when they cool down, creating a sticky build-up that can cling to the insides of your pipes. Over time, this can lead to clogged drains and sewer backups, which require costly plumbing services.
Many people make the mistake of pouring grease or oil down their kitchen sinks after cooking, or rinsing their pans with hot water afterward. They think they’re doing a good thing by flushing these substances down the drains, but they’re actually causing serious problems for their plumbing system.
Grease and oils cling to the walls of your pipes, which can create a perfect trap for other food particles and soap scum. Over time, these can lead to stubborn clogs and slow drains that are almost impossible to clear on your own.
If you’re using a garbage disposal, be careful not to dump too much food waste into it at once, especially fibrous foods like celery or potato peels and corn cobs or husks. They can jam up the disposal, even if you’re running hot water.
Instead, let your grease and oils cool before transferring them to a resealable container for storage in the refrigerator or freezer. You can use a used, clean coffee can or glass food jar, such as the kind pickles come in, for this purpose. If you don’t have a sink with a drain trap, use a strainer to catch excess debris. This will help keep your drains clean and prevent clogs and backups from forming. This is one of the best ways to prevent plumbing issues fast and save money on expensive repairs in the future, concurrent with advice from experts like the Scottsdale plumbers.
Clean Your Faucets Regularly
As the water travels from your pipes to your faucet, it picks up all kinds of debris. This can be from dirt and sediment, as well as mineral deposits. Over time, these can cause the seals and joints to wear down and leak. Cleaning your faucets regularly is one of the best ways to prevent this from happening.
In addition to removing hard water stains and other debris, regular cleaning can help keep your water clean. As a general rule, you should aim to clean your bathroom faucets every two weeks. This includes the spout, drain, and handles. Using a soft brush or toothbrush, and some gentle cleaning solution (like vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice) is usually sufficient to get the job done. Be sure to rinse thoroughly afterward to avoid damaging your faucet finish.
If your faucets are particularly dirty, you may need to use more vigorous means of cleaning. For example, if the aerators are clogged with minerals or debris, you can remove them and soak them in a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar to dissolve the build-up. Once they’re clean, you can reattach them and enjoy better water flow.
It’s also a good idea to regularly wipe down the air vents around your sink and bathtub. You can clean them with a cloth dampened with plain soapy water or with a mild cleaner like white vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice—be sure to test the cleaner on a small area first to ensure it won’t discolor your finish.
Turn Off the Water at the Source
In many cases, you’ll need to turn off the water supply at specific spots in your home to make repairs or for other reasons. It’s important to know where these valves are located so that you can shut off your water quickly and easily.
Leaking pipes can flood your property if they’re not dealt with right away. If you can find your main water valve and shut it off, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of water that leaks from these pipes before it becomes a full-blown plumbing emergency.
The same applies for plumbing issues that develop around the points where piping intersects. If you don’t shut off the water to these areas, you could experience flooding in those spaces if a fault develops at one of those intersections.
When you turn off the water at the source, you can also reduce your risk of experiencing a water hammer, which is when a sudden increase in pressure can cause parts of your plumbing to explode or break. This can damage your water piping and water fixtures, but it’s easy to avoid by turning off the water at the source.
Finally, if you’re planning to go on a trip or for any other reason, turning off your water can prevent serious problems like flooded bathrooms and water heaters from happening while you’re gone. This will save you a lot of money and stress in the long run.
If you’re not sure how to find your main water valve, you can ask your local water authority for assistance. They should be able to point you in the direction of your water meter pit, which is usually an eight-inch metal or plastic cover on your street. You’ll need to open the lid and look inside for a small valve that you can turn clockwise to shut off your water supply and anticlockwise to turn it back on.
Schedule Regular Maintenance
Plumbing is a huge part of our lives. Unfortunately, we often don’t think about it until a disaster occurs. A burst pipe, sewage backup, or major water leak isn’t just inconvenient, it can be expensive and even dangerous. But you can take several steps to reduce the likelihood of these issues occurring in your home.
One of the best things you can do is schedule regular maintenance for your home’s plumbing system. By having a plumber visit your home regularly, simple problems like clogs and leaks are less likely to occur.
A few additional preventive measures include regularly checking for leaks, especially under sinks. The longer a leak goes unnoticed, the more damage it causes to your home. Additionally, if you are away from home for an extended period, it’s important to close your main water valve. This will prevent leaks and unexpected flooding while you’re gone.
In addition to these preventive measures, make sure you have a professional inspect your home’s plumbing annually. A plumber can catch any small problems before they become bigger ones and save you a lot of money in the long run.
Whether it’s a leaky kitchen faucet handle or a running toilet, it’s important to fix these issues as soon as you notice them. Small leaks can quickly turn into big problems, and even a small problem in one area of the home can cause issues in other areas of your house. In addition, many of these minor problems are inexpensive to fix and can be done quickly by a professional plumber. So don’t wait until the problem gets worse! It’s worth the investment to have a professional check your plumbing and make any necessary repairs.