A plumbing problem is, for many homeowners, a time of anxiety. This is the type of home issue that can get very expensive very quickly, and with good reason. Fixing a plumbing emergency without tearing into walls to access problem pipes requires expensive, specialized equipment.
And in some cases, there’s no choice at all, the walls or floor have to get torn down. If you want to avoid this, there are simple measures you can take to avoid some big problems.
THE LEAKY FIXTURE
Most of the time, this isn’t going to be considered an emergency. But, the irritating dripping aside, this will cost you more money on your water bill when it finally arrives.
The easiest measure is just to make sure your taps are tightly turned shut. But if water is still dripping despite that, you have a worn out washer or O-ring in the fixture.
Fortunately, these parts are cheap to buy and easy to replace.
BLOCKAGE IN YOUR DRAIN
The most common cause of a blocked drain is negligence because plumbing usually gives homeowners plenty of warning that a blockage is going to happen.
A blocked drain occurs because of a build-up in the pipe, some matter, like food from a kitchen sink, or hair in the bathroom sink or tub did not flow away down the drain and instead got stuck in the pipe somewhere.
As time passed, that matter started to get other matter stuck, resulting in the blockage building up. When it becomes a partial blockage, homeowners will notice that a sink is draining out slower than it used to. This is when you have the choice to address it, with drain cleaner or a plunger, or ignore it, so it becomes a completely blocked drain.
TOILETS THAT OVERFLOW
This is not just a plumbing emergency; it’s also a health risk. Human waste is full of contagions, so it’s always a surprise of the worst sort if you flush a toilet and instead the waste comes up, over the toilet, and onto the floor.
The chief cause of this is someone ignoring the toilet’s function. It is not a garbage disposal. It can only reliably eliminate human waste and toilet paper, which is designed to break up on contact with water.
Diapers, cigarettes, and even kitchen paper towels can all jam the drainage pipe. Prevent this from happening by not flushing foreign objects down the toilet as a fast, “easy” method of garbage disposal.
BURST PIPES
Pipes don’t usually burst, so when this emergency does occur, it’s usually for extraordinary reasons.
People who set their water pressure too high are applying constant, unnecessary force to their water pipes, which can weaken them over the years and cause them to break, so keep water pressure within tolerance levels.
On the other hand, sometimes pipes are simply too old. If you have an older home that still has cast iron drainage pipes, those pipes may be close to 100 years old!
Metal fatigue at that age is almost a foregone conclusion, so replace them with a modern PVC upgrade before this happens! It will also increase your property value!
Plumbing in most Ocala, FL will provide years of trouble-free operation, but you can lengthen that to decades if you just take good care of your pipes. Fix small problems before they become bigger and more expensive.