Plumbing Heating and Cooling Mt Pleasant
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Do you want to make improvements or repairs to your homes plumbing? Would you like to know how to deal with an emergency? Dealing with issues related to plumbing can be complicated. Whether you are doing it yourself or hiring someone there are a lot of things you need to be aware of. Here are some useful facts and tips.
Rigid copper is used for main water lines in many homes. You cannot bend rigid copper so joints and tees must be soldered on. When soldering always apply flux (also called soldering paste) to both surfaces. Flux retards oxidation when the copper is heated. Always use lead-free or nearly lead-free solder when sweating a copper joint.
Dont let your house temperature drop to below freezing and make sure to insulate anything that is exposed to the outside elements to prevent frozen pipes. Pipes can freeze when the ambient temperature in the area of the pipes dips below freezing. It can take a while for the pipes to thaw which means you will not be able to run water for quite some time. On the other hand they can burst which gets messy and really expensive.
Look closely at your toilets several times throughout the year. Check to see if there are any leaks that you may not have noticed; you can do this by placing five or six drops of food coloring in the tank. If there is a leak the color will seep into the bowl within half an hour. This process will help you catch a small problem before it gets too out of control.
Set the temperature on your hot water heater to a temperature that does not exceed 120 degrees. This helps to save energy and prevents the water from becoming too hot and potentially scalding someone in your household. Older models that do not have a temperature setting should be set on Medium.
Do not place items in the toilets that do not belong there. For example if you are a female do not throw away sanitary pads or tampons in your toilet. This could cause severe damage to your toilet that could require a plumber or even worse a whole new toilet!
Be sure that the overflow holes are free of debris. Overflow holes are one of those things which you forget about until you need them. Make cleaning debris from the overflow holes part of your regular routine of maintaining your plumbing and checking it for problems and required repairs.
There are simple ways to check your toilet for leaks that can ultimately lead to great cost savings in the long run. The easiest way to do this is to pour a small amount of food dye into the holding tank of your toilet overnight. In the morning if you have any color in the basin then you know you have a leak that needs some attention.
Beware of black water in your toilet tank. Chances are the color is caused from too much magnesium or iron in your water. Although this is usually harmless it can be annoying for some people. If it is iron or magnesium in your water the only way to fix it is by filtering the water.
There is no doubt that many of the common maintenance and repair jobs that need doing on your plumbing are things that you are well capable of. You just need to adopt a cautious and methodical approach. Dont rush anything or take chances and youll be fine. And if youre a husband you can score major brownie points with your wife!