Winter in Suffolk County can sometimes bring cold snaps. When that happens, the unusually cool temperatures can occasionally freeze water pipes. That means when you turn on your faucet or try to take a shower, there’s no water flow because the pipe is blocked with ice. Continue reading
How to Address Leaky Pipes While Waiting on the Emergency Plumber
Plumbing emergencies do not work on schedules. You can experience one at any time of the day or night. However, it is when they occur during the overnight hours is when you may have to find a temporary solution to hold you over until the emergency plumbing company can come in and save the day. Continue reading
Do You Know How to Shut Off the Water to Your Home?
Leaky pipes are common in homes, and when this happens, the homeowner needs to know how to shut off the water to their home to prevent an even bigger plumbing catastrophe. Continue reading
Maintaining a Water Heater During the Winter
When the temperatures begin to drop, the last thing you want to have to worry about is whether or not you are going to get a hot shower. Don’t wait until your water heater goes out. Ensure you know how to properly maintain the water heater during the winter, so you can hopefully avoid this kind of plumbing emergency in the dead of winter. Continue reading
Your Guide to Plumbing Inspections
Becoming a new homeowner is an exciting experience, but it can also prove to be pretty stressful as well. To help relieve some of the stress and even some of the headaches that come with your first home, we are giving you this brief guide to plumbing inspections. Continue reading
Types of Home Water Damage You Want to Avoid
The pipes in hour home push tons of water through them each and every day. Have you ever stopped to really think about this and consider how hard the pipes in the home are working?
How Cold Temperatures Result In Burst Pipes
Cold temperature in winter can take a massive toll on any home. When severe winter weather happens, ice dams, roof leaks, and frozen pipes all become possible, and they pose the real risk of costly damage. Both commercial and residential properties alike must contend with the fallout from pipe bursts that occur during frigid days and nights. If you wish to learn more about how pipes can burst during a harsh winter cold snap, continue reading.
What Causes Pipes To Burst?
When the water supply to any type of building is impacted by cold outdoor temperatures, a number of different problems can arise. While cold is known to cause contraction of most things, ice has a higher density than water. Thus, when water starts to freeze within a piece of pipe, the ice expands and boosts the internal pressure. Pipes may be pushed to the point of bursting as a result. It is often the case that these breaks happen at especially weak joints along the piping.
Why You Need an Experienced Plumber for Your Next Bathroom Remodel
Professional plumbing services are essential when you are a homeowner. Without them, you may be faced with costly repairs and a good amount of hassle and headaches in the future when you find that your plumbing is just not up to par. The same applies for when you decide it is time to remodel the bathroom as well.
While some remodels may be pretty easy and straightforward, others may be more involved. Here is why you need an experienced plumber for your next bathroom remodel.
Save Time
With the help of professional plumbing services, you can save time when it comes to more complicated work. There is only so much you can do yourself as a homeowner. Not only do you have other responsibilities to tend to, but you also don’t want to do something that could potentially cause problems down the road.
Hiring someone to come in and help with the plumbing can save you time and get your project done a lot faster. That way, you don’t have to have an out of commission bathroom that takes months to fix.
More Design Options
Another reason to use an experienced plumber for your next remodel is the opportunity to choose from even more design options for your bathroom remodel. Professional plumbers often know suppliers who can direct you to the best deals and a number of different styles and design options.
Upgrade Potential
Since professional plumbers are experts at what they do, they can recommend plumbing upgrades that will take your bathroom remodel to the next level. The plumber will know what the pipes are made of and what needs to be replaced or upgraded.
Insurance Benefits
If you choose to do the plumbing work yourself for your bathroom remodel, you run the risk of something going wrong along the way. If something does go wrong and you were doing the work yourself, then you may be out of luck when it comes to covering the cost for the mistakes.
When you use professional plumbing services, you have the added advantage of insurance on the work the plumber is doing. This leads to much greater peace of mind during your bathroom remodel.
As you can see, there are many benefits to consulting with a professional plumbing service before you jump into your next bathroom remodel. Consider the pros and cons before you try to take on all the work yourself.
Preventing Costly Sewage Backup in the Home
One of a homeowner’s greatest fears is finding that there is a sewage backup in the home. This kind of plumbing emergency can be disastrous and especially so when it involves human waste. However, there is a way to prevent costly sewage backup in the home as long as you know what to watch for.
Tree Roots
Tree roots can wreak havoc on plumbing, no matter where you live. If the tree is in a position where it isn’t getting the moisture it needs to thrive, then it will start hunting down water from whatever source it can easily access.
A lot of the time, the source they find can be your sewer line. So, the sewage backup you may be experiencing can be the result of far-reaching roots on a quest to find water for the tree near your home.
For this reason, you want to make sure to follow through with regular inspections of your plumbing and property and stay up to date with maintenance.
Stubborn Clogs
One of the more common causes of sewage backups in a home are stubborn clogs. You want to make sure you are not flushing anything down the toilet that doesn’t belong, or you run the risk of these clogs.
Your plumbing and pipes can only handle so much, so when you throw unnecessary items down the toilet, you are causing the pipes more stress. When they can’t handle it, clogs happen.
If you notice the sewage backup in just one area of the home, then you may only have a clog in that particular set of pipes. However, if you are experiencing sewage backup all over the home, then the clog is probably going to be in the main sewer line.
Broken Sewer Lines
Finally, the cause of your home’s sewage backup problem may be due to a broken or collapsed sewer line. This usually depends on the age of the home because the pipes are often constructed from materials that are outdated rather than durable and heavy-duty materials that are designed to last longer.
Broken and collapsed sewer lines are problems you will typically find in older homes that had been outfitted with clay or cast iron piping rather than durable plastic materials.
To best avoid these problems, you need to stay up to date with inspections and maintenance; otherwise, you may have to deal with a costly set of repairs that you might not have anticipated.
House Have a Noticeable Stench? Here Are Some Common Plumbing Culprits
Have you noticed any weird smells in the home lately but are having problems hunting down the source? Well, those noticeable stenches may actually be coming from your plumbing. Today, we will go over some of the more common plumbing culprits that may be responsible for that horrid stench.
Clog in the Sewer Line
Several things can cause damage to a sewer line, and clogs can result. When there is a clog in the line, the pressure continues to build up in the pipes, which can ultimately cause them to burst. In some cases, tree roots can grow through the pipes as well and cause breakage.
When this happens, some of the sewage from your drains can begin to leak into the ground. The result? A horrible stench of sewage on your property and in the home. If this is the cause for the stench, you will need to call in professional plumbing services to make the necessary repairs to the broken sewer line.
A Filthy Garbage Disposal
If the smell seems to be originating in the kitchen, then it may be your garbage disposal. A garbage disposal needs regular maintenance and cleaning so it can stay in top shape.
If you fail to do this, then the grime and food and other debris can begin to build up in the disposal and cause a very unpleasant stench in your kitchen.
Baking soda and vinegar and a little soap and water can go a long way in cleaning it out and getting rid of the smell.
Smelly Shower Drain
If the stench is coming from your shower drain, then you may be experiencing another kind of buildup. Your shower drains shampoo, soaps, and oils, and when this happens, a biofilm of these products can begin to build up over time.
This residue accumulates in the drain, and natural bacteria feed on it. This bacteria is what is causing the stench in the shower.
All you need to do to rid your shower of the smell is to clean the drain with a natural cleaner. Pour some hot water down the shower drain followed by a cup of vinegar and baking soda.
Let it sit in the pipes for a couple of hours before running more hot water down the drain.
Follow this advice and consult with a professional plumbing service for inspections and maintenance, and you will soon find that those pesky smells are finally eradicated.