Does your toilet seem slow to flush? Are your drains clogging again and again? With any type of plumbing problem, you have to investigate. Figure out why and stop it at the root cause. If a clog makes its way further down a property’s plumbing or gets into the septic tank, that could lead to nasty smells and potentially permanent damage. You will require a plumber to have a close look at both your tank and pipes.
If you take a few important preventative steps to protect your pipes, calling a plumber is a service call you may not have to make. Plumbing is not meant to get clogged, blocked, or experience very many issues. If treated right, your plumbing will last decades with no issue.
Here is everything you need to know about how to prevent plumbing problems.
1. Use Drain Protectors
Drain protectors work well. In the kitchen sink, they prevent food from catching in the U-bend and stinking up your home. In the shower, they prevent long hair from catching in your pipes and creating a clog that can take a lot of work to clear. On each one of these drains, equip it with some sort of drain protector. You will be shocked by how much these strainers pick up and the amount of debris that would otherwise be put down the drain.
2. Heat During Winter
Your water pipes can freeze with water in them. The water molecules expand and can weaken or burst the pipe. Through winter, if you’re going away for a few days or when you’re not there throughout the day, always keep your heat on low. Especially under the sink or if your home’s older, you want to avoid any unnecessary strain on the pipes. Heat on low will keep comfortable air circulating and help protect your plumbing.
3. Do Not Overuse Chemicals
Chemical toilet cleaners and regular chemical use to unclog your drains can wear down a property’s plumbing. If you do use chemicals, use them only when necessary. Although modern plumbing is fairly tough, chemical solutions may cause more damage than anticipated. The worst of these are drop-in toilet bowl cleaners which often sit in your plumbing and working away. Although effective, they’re highly acidic to the components in the pipes.
4. Do Not Pour Fat or Grease
Some of our parents did this. Maybe some of us still do it. Pouring fat or grease into the kitchen sink’s a bad idea. It does not go down. It coats the inside of the pipe and stays there, growing bacteria and all sorts of ugliness that you certainly do not want. This is where you get smells, increased chance of clogging, and can seriously damage your plumbing if it’s done again and again.
5. Enzyme Cleaners
Bio-enzyme drain cleaners use natural enzymes to eat away at grease, fat, and residue that may be clogging your pipes. If you are determined to use a drain cleaner on a regular basis, use a bio-enzyme cleaner once a month or once every two months. It will help to clear out unnecessary debris and keep your plumbing in tip-top shape.
6. Don’t Flush Solid Waste
Any solid waste products, like feminine hygiene products, diapers, and paper towels, shouldn’t ever be flushed down your pipes. They run a fair chance of catching somewhere, creating a clog that you may or may not have to call a plumber to get rid of. This is why you always want to have a garbage bin in your bathroom. You keep these items away from the plumbing.
7. Do Not Flush Flushable Wipes
Anything that is marketed as flushable is sometimes not so flushable. Flushable wipes are designed to break down in water. For this to happen, they have to be submerged for a little while. If you happen to put one in the toilet and flush right away, you might be alright. If you put more and more, those flushable wipes could catch and clog your pipes in a bad way. Try to avoid it, at all costs.
8. Fix Small Issues Quickly
You may not see a small leak in a pipe as a big plumbing problem. It can be. A small leak can become a bigger one and a more expensive repair. Plumbing is all connected. A breakdown over there can affect the pipe system over here. If you can, do not put off those minor repairs. Consider it a sort of maintenance work on the house. If it’s left untouched, it isn’t a guarantee there won’t become something much more costly to address.
