You may already understand that your heating and AC equipment needs annual HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you know that you also require annual plumbing maintenance by an expert? Rob's Albertan Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Edmonton homeowners to help them discover issues before they result in big problems. While you should definitely call immediately for plumbing problems and plan your plumbing maintenance yearly, here are a couple ways you can get your home in great plumbing shape for spring.
Check your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. When you turn off your faucets check around the connections for water dripping out; if there is, replacing the fixtures or repairing the leak could help improve the faucet’s performance and may even reduce your water bill.
After the faucets, inspect all accessible pipes for evidence of leaks. You can usually find visible pipes in the basement and under sinks. In extreme weather pipes can freeze and crack, so springtime is great to make sure the winter weather didn’t damage anything that could cause plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some long overdue care
Inspect your toilet for any fractures or leaks in both the bowl and tank. If it appears to be in good shape, go ahead and put about six drops of food dye into the actual tank. Wait half an hour and then look at the bowl. If the bowl is not colored with the dye, you’re good to go. If the dye appears in the bowl, you may have a leak and will want to call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If a stench seems to be getting in from any of the drains in your home, it could be a sign that plumbing maintenance is needed. A properly running drain shouldn’t release smells into the air. Check to make sure there are strains installed in all your drains to avoid hair and other waste from spoiling in the pipes and resulting in a clog. Once you’ve treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour a gallon of water down drains that are not used regularly. This will fill the trap and help to stop odors from coming in and smelling up your home.
Your water heater takes good care of you so ensure you’re returning the favor. Don’t forget that newer water heaters are going to be more energy efficient, so if yours is more than 15 years old, it may be about time to start looking into a new one to be sure you don’t have that unpredicted burst of cold water for multiple days. Regardless if you plan on investing in a new water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it functioning properly.
Make sure the temperature setting on the equipment is not set higher than 120°F. This will help reduce your energy use (and help reduce your bills) while also avoiding scalding. For safety sake, you will want to remove any items from around the water heater. Your annual Plumbing PLUS Maintenance plan includes a water heater maintenance; and it could actually help your water heater run more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems in the future.
These are just a few ways of how you could help get your plumbing ready for the season, but if you are not comfortable performing any of these tasks, you are welcome to call Rob's Albertan Service Experts and we can come out and perform your yearly plumbing maintenance and repair (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.