Anytime you have a plumbing issue, it is common to find yourself unprepared for the situation. Often people will not plan ahead of have a plan of action for when a plumbing issue arises. Today, we will give you advice and suggestions in order to avoid this potential problem if or when it happens to you.
When any plumbing issue arises, the first and most important step is to know how to turn your water line off. Not knowing how to do this can cause tremendous damage to your home’s structure within the floor and ceiling below. not shutting the water off in a timely matter can eventually cause a weakening and collapse of your ceiling below the broken piping. When a large amount of water gets into a 2nd story floor or 1st floor with a basement below, the weight of the water can single-handedly take down your ceiling as most ceilings are not designed to handle a large amount of weight that is unrelated to the home’s structure. If the weight of the water doesn’t do it, the long term effects will. Even if you are able to survive the initial flow, the water will weaken the wooden studs and significantly increase the likelihood that mold develops. This will eventually lead to the wood rotten and encourage mold growth. For these reasons, it is important to familiarize yourself with your home’s water system and be able to quickly locate the shut-off valves. We recommend that you make a simply map to place in your kitchen or bathroom in case you forget or someone else is in your house if a situation like this happens.
One good way to protect your water pipes is to use or replace straps that keep your piping system intact. Often pipe straps can rust and erode with the frequent condensation that will occur around water pipes. This is especially problematic with the hot pipelines as hot water will produce more condensation than a cold line. If the pipe straps break, the force of the flowing water can cause movement within the pipes. Too much movement can cause the pipes to bang against each other and eventually rupture or come undone. It is recommended that you replace all metallic pipe straps and hooks with plastic ones to avoid any of these potential issues.
We would also suggest that you occasionally check the pipelines for any kind of cracks or leaks. These are pretty easy to spot with a flashlight. You can check for hard to see leaks by running a towel along the pipe and checking for any water leakage. If you do find any issues with the pipes, it is important that you contact a Newcastle plumber to fix this issue. In general, the water pressure within the pipes is too strong to fix with tape or glue. It is not recommended that you try to fix a damaged pipe. Though you may be able to create a short term solution for the problem, it is only delaying the enviable rupture of the pipe.
The two most common issues with your plumbing system are freezing and clogging. To avoid clogging a pipe, you should never pour any fats, hair clippings or tissue/cloth that will not dissolve over time. Women’s hygiene products are often a cause for drainage backups as these products are designed to absorb moisture and do not deteriorate easily. Often people will pour fats down their kitchen sink. What they don’t realize is these liquid fats will eventually cool off and turn into a solid. As for freezing, the temperature change causes the expansion and contraction of the pipes. In temperatures below freezing, you should either empty your pipes or wrap the heating tape around them to prevent this.