Common Plumbing Issues: How to Expect

Common Plumbing Issues: How to Expect

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What are the most common plumbing problems?

Clogs

Clogs are arguably the most common type of plumbing problem that homeowners run into. Drains clog all the time. Most of these clogs are pretty minor—you clear out a sink clog by running the disposal, or a toilet clog using the plunger.

But, many other clogs are much tougher to clear out. Some can even be a sign of a sewer line blockage—something that should never be taken lightly!

How to deal with clogs

This is how most homeowners approach a clog. They’ll try to clear it themselves and—should that approach fail—they’ll bring in a plumber.

After all, plumbers have access to specialized clog-clearing tools that most homeowners don’t have under their kitchen or bathroom sink. This includes a variety of snake tools, specialized plungers, augers, and more.

Should you use drain cleaning products?

When confronted with a clog, most homeowners are tempted to run out to the grocery store and grab a drain cleaning product. After all, this is typically cheaper than bringing in a plumber.

However, these drain cleaning chemicals don’t always work as well as they should. In many cases, they only partially clear the clog, which means you’re going to be dealing with a clog again very soon.

Plus, these harsh chemicals can be tough on your pipes. Repeated use can actually weaken and damage them.

Frozen Pipes

Throughout much of the United States—including here in Chicagoland—frozen pipes are a major problem in the winter.

All it takes is a particularly cold night and your heater going down for several hours (which are often related) for your home’s pipes to freeze. If your home has an electric furnace, a power outage could also lead to this problem.

What happens when pipes freeze?

For obvious reasons, pipes in exterior walls are at the greatest immediate risk. As the pipes freeze, the water inside of them expands.

If you’ve ever left a can of soda pop in the freezer overnight, you know what comes next: the expansion of water into ice puts immense pressure on the pipe.

Luckily, your home’s copper or PVC pipes are hardier than an aluminum can, but there’s only so much of this sustained pressure they can take. Your pipes are at risk of bursting at any time.

How should you thaw out frozen pipes?

Thawing these pipes out is trickier than you might think. Most homeowners instinctively reach for the hair dryer, but that can actually bring on a pipe burst, since rapidly heating the pipe’s surface may weaken it.

You’ll really want to bring in a plumber. We have specialized thawing tools designed to safely raise the temperature of the water inside of the pipe, defrosting it without damaging the pipe itself.

Leaks

Water leaks are a big deal—and a common problem. Whether they’re caused by frozen—and then burst—pipes, or just by aging pipes, water leaks can cause thousands of dollars in water damage to your home, relatively quickly.

For this reason, every leak—no matter how small it starts—needs to be treated like a major threat to your home.

Do you need leak detection?

Not all leaks start in convenient, easy-to-access places, either. Some leaks start behind walls, in ceilings, or underneath floors. Finding and accessing the leak actually might be the toughest part of the job.

This is where a professional plumber can really save you a lot of time, money, and headache. Using professional leak detection equipment—such as acoustic leak detectors—the plumber will pinpoint the location of the leak.

From there, they can make precision cuts into your drywall or slab to access and repair it.

Leaks and water damage

If you’ve got a leak, you’ve probably also got water damage and, potentially, mold growth. Once your plumber has fixed the leak, you’ll want to speak to a restoration and mold remediation specialist to make sure there’s no long-term, lingering damage to your home.

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5 Typical Household Plumbing Issues as well as How You Can Fix Them

As a property owner, you will come across numerous different plumbing issues that periodically make a problem. Doing the fixings yourselves on these simple plumbing troubles can conserve you bunches of money.

Slow Draining Sink

This is one of the most usual problem of homeowners, with the sink gathering a great deal of hair, grease, particles, and other gunk with time. The only means to get a smooth moving drain again is to remove the debris. Initially, you can use a plumbing device for fishing out the particles. From there, you can make use of a store-bought drain cleaner to cleanse the lines.

Sluggish Tub Drain

This is one more pesky annoyance given that the bathtub is one of the most secondhand fixtures in your restroom. Much like the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and various other gunk pool in the drainpipe usually. You should pop open the drain cover and utilize a bathtub claw to clear the particles. Do this ASAP before the drainpipe congests entirely. After using the claw, you can pour drain cleaner to rejuvenate the drain lines.

Low Tide Pressure

Is someone from your family complaining that there's low tide pressure from the sink? Initially, check if this issue influences both the hot and cold water lines. The issue is the aerator within the sink which might have a lot of sedimentation resulting in low water stress if indeed. This is very simple to repair as you simply need to take it out and also scrub away the mineral deposits.

Running Toilet

You might have experienced a running toilet, which can be rather irritating due to the fact that the container will not fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone corresponds to wasting water and also surging up your water expenses. For starters, find out what's triggering it to run. You may require to change any one of the adhering to bathroom mechanisms:
Bathroom fill valve
Dripping flush shutoff
Commode flapper

Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System

This annoying problem is also high on the listing of typical plumbing problems. If you shed it, you will require an Allen wrench to fix the trouble. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the place where you can insert the trick.

You can always call in a plumber to get professional aid if all of these sound tedious for you. Seeking specialist help means saving effort and time. Because you can relax assured that your easy plumbing issue will certainly not escalate, you might even finish up conserving money in the lengthy run. Just make sure you call a trustworthy firm with licenses and accreditations due to the fact that you will be welcoming complete strangers in your home. Certainly, you need to see to it that you collaborate with a person you can trust.


As a property owner, you will certainly come across lots of various plumbing issues that occasionally make a nuisance. Some plumbing issues are much more common and also can be conveniently taken care of. Doing the fixings yourselves on these basic plumbing problems can conserve you tons of money. You can utilize a plumbing tool for angling out the particles. You may even finish up saving money in the long run due to the fact that you can relax ensured that your simple plumbing problem will certainly not intensify.

I was shown that report about Repairing Common Household Plumbing Issues through someone on our other blog. Sharing is good. Helping people is fun. Thank-you for going through it.

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