MOST COMMON PLUMBING PROBLEMS IN OLDER HOMES
Galvanized Pipes
The galvanic process means coating an iron pipe with molten zinc to prevent the iron from corroding. The zinc lasts a while, but not forever. As the zinc erodes, the exposed iron begins to rust. This can cause pipes to fail, but the warning signal is easy to spot: Your water will become discolored from the rust in it.
The answer is to have galvanized pipes professionally replaced by modern alternatives, such as copper or PEX (Cross-Linked Polyethylene). A well-trained plumber and assistant can perform this work in relatively short time, ensuring a constant water pressure, no odd taste or color to your water and no leaks.
Pipe Bellies
As your Phoenix home rises and falls in its surrounding soil, the pipes leading into your home will rise and fall, too. When they buckle or bow, they form a pipe belly, a low spot that defies gravity’s pull on sewage. While this settling occurs slowly, you will eventually notice poor drainage, slow-flushing toilets and, ultimately, a clogged sewer line.
Similar to pipe bellies are pipe channeling, where hard water carves its own channel in the bottom of a sewer pipe, rendering it very weak.
Polybutylene Pipe
Once thought of as a great water pipe product, polybutylene pipe (PB) was used from the late ’70s into the early ’90s because of its low cost and easy installation. It breaks down with exposure to water and water’s dissolved solids, so it is not acceptable anymore. As time goes on, homeowners experience more and more polybutylene pipe problems.
If you have an entire house piped in PB, you need the services of an experienced local plumber to replace every run, every elbow and tee, and every connection to fixtures throughout your house. Otherwise a leak could destroy furniture, furnishings, flooring and more.
Sewer Lines
Sewers and sewer lines are definitely at the top of a lot of people’s old house plumbing problems. Sewer lines take your home’s gray and black water from drains to the sewer main, where it travels on to a municipal treatment plant. Sewer lines are always wet, so they attract tree roots. Cast iron pipes are particularly susceptible to cracking and intrusion by tree roots, which can completely clog a line.
Professional plumbers can send a camera into your home’s sewer pipe to diagnose channeling and bellies, and they can find and fix tree roots that clog your pipe. This is a much more affordable option than the disgusting and expensive issues created by a sewer backing up.
Drains
Fifty years of draining water, soap scum, sewage and shampoo can take a toll on your older Phoenix home’s drains. Clogs develop in pipes in all drains, but toilet, kitchen, and bathroom sink drains are particularly prone to clogs.
Toilets are infamous targets for children, fascinated by the disappearing act. While you may never know a small action figure or toy car went down the toilet, you will know a backed-up toilet when it strikes. A small item could start a very slow-building clog.
Kitchen sink drains also tend to accept things that should not go down the drain, like kitchen fats, bits of food that should go through a sink strainer and even bone. You can do your part, of course, by keeping waste out of the kitchen sink or having a garbage disposal installed, but in an older home you will not know what others have stuffed down there before you.
Original Fixtures
While some original fixtures are notably sturdier and of better quality than their corresponding modern fixtures, many older ones simply wear out with time. Washers and valves degrade and cause leaks. Stems and handles break. If your home still has its original spigots, faucets, handles and valves, you may not notice the tiny leaks that lead to higher water bills and unpleasant smells.
A worry spot in any home is the shut-off valve for a toilet. This little-used valve attaches where the rigid pipe exits the wall, down below the tank, and a flexible metal and plastic tube connects the water supply to the tank. That shut-off valve can get stuck in its typical, open position, so any attempt to close it may actually cause it to leak. A trained plumber can replace not only the flexible tube to the toilet tank, but the antiquated or stuck shut-off valve. This means you never have to worry about turning off the water to the toilet should a bowl clog cause your toilet to back up.
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How to Fix Common Household Plumbing Issues
Doing the fixings yourselves on these straightforward plumbing issues can save you loads of cash. As a property owner, you will certainly run into many various plumbing problems that periodically make an annoyance.
Low Water Pressure
Is a person from your household grumbling that there's low tide pressure from the sink? Check if this problem influences both the warm as well as cool water lines. The issue is the aerator within the sink which may have a great deal of sedimentation resulting in low water pressure if indeed. This is really easy to repair as you just need to take it out and scrub away the natural resource.
Running Toilet
You may have experienced a running bathroom, which can be rather annoying due to the fact that the tank will not load up. At the exact same time, leaving it alone relates to wasting water as well as spiking up your water expenses.
Toilet fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Commode flapper
Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System
This bothersome problem is also high up on the list of usual plumbing issues. Your unit will certainly come with an awesome secret to unjam your machine. However if you lose it, you will certainly need an Allen wrench to deal with the issue. You need to go under the sink as well as look for the place where you can insert the key. Utilize your wrench to transform the device to release the motor when you detect it. When working on your waste disposal system to protect against nasty crashes, don't neglect to transform off the system and reduced the circuit breaker.
Slow Draining Sink
This is the most usual problem of house owners, with the sink collecting a lot of hair, grease, particles, as well as other substance gradually. The only way to get a smooth moving drainpipe once more is to remove the debris. You can use a plumbing tool for angling out the debris. From there, you can utilize a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to clean the lines.
Slow Tub Drain
This is an additional pesky annoyance given that the tub is just one of the most pre-owned components in your shower room. Similar to the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, as well as other gunk pool in the drainpipe often. You should pop open the drain cover and use a tub claw to clear the debris. Do this ASAP prior to the drainpipe clogs up totally. After making use of the claw, you can put drain cleaner to freshen the drain lines.
You might also finish up saving money in the long run since you can rest assured that your simple plumbing issue will not escalate. Simply make certain you call a trusted business with licenses and certifications because you will be inviting complete strangers in your residence.
Some plumbing problems are much more common and also can be conveniently dealt with. Doing the repairs yourselves on these straightforward plumbing troubles can conserve you lots of cash. As a home owner, you will certainly run into several various plumbing troubles that periodically make an annoyance. You can use a plumbing tool for fishing out the particles. You might even finish up saving money in the long run since you can rest ensured that your simple plumbing problem will not intensify.
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