So a week from today is New Year’s Eve. Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet?
If not, and if you’re a homeowner, take a look below for four resolutions we feel every homeowner should make in order to help ensure that 2016 will be plumbing-trouble-free.
Resolve to remember that your garbage disposal isn’t a trash can.
Garbage disposals really are made to only take small bits of food down in them. small as in, picture the plate of someone who just ate everything on it. There are maybe crumbs or tiny drops of food. Tiny “drops” of food.
So chunks of uneaten bread, one scoop of ice cream from a two-scoop bowl, broccoli florets – all are “too big.” They should go in your trash can or in your compost bin.
Also, never put apple cores, banana peels, chicken or turkey bones, and celery into the disposal; you could potentially “choke” it if you do.
Lastly, the tiny red reset button on the bottom of your disposal is your friend and could save you the cost of bringing out a plumber when your disposal suddenly stops working. If the disposal does stop working, push the reset button. That often will get the disposal going again.
Resolve to give your water heater an easy routine maintenance routine a few times a year.
What is this “easy maintenance routine?” First, make sure your heater’s temperature is set at no more than 120 degrees F (this helps prevent scalding water from suddenly coming out of your kitchen/sink/bathtub faucets as well as the shower head).
Next, drain the water heater’s tank about four times a year (quarterly). This helps remove debris and sediment and can help your heater run more efficiently and last longer.
To drain the heater’s tank, turn off its supply of cold water. Get a garden hose and attach it to the heater’s drain valve, then run the tank’s water into the bucket until the water becomes clear. If the water stays cloudy, open the water supply valve quickly to stir up any sediment that may still be in the tank and then drain it again.
In addition, every year test the heater’s temperature-pressure relief valve. You do this by discharging it quickly a couple of times. Once you test it, look for small leaks from the valve.
Resolve to take care of small problems quickly.
That master bath toilet that constantly “runs?” It may just be a little annoyance and doesn’t really bug you, but it could be wasting up to 200 gallons of water a day!
Routinely check for leaks, “running” toilets, faucet or pipe leaks, cracks in pipes, etc. routinely throughout your home and help prevent emergency plumbing service visits when a tiny leak becomes a big one.
Resolve to ask your plumber to perform a yearly inspection of your plumbing system.
This shouldn’t cost you much but can save you tons when it comes to preventing plumbing emergencies and/or replacing pipes, heaters, toilets, etc. when it’s inconvenient – and more costly – for you.
All of us here at Plumbing Dynamics hope we won’t get get an emergency call from you in 2016, but if do have a plumbing emergency, we want you to know that we’re here for you 24/7, every day of the year. Contact us at 214-929-3431 or drop us a via our online contact form. Happy New Year!
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