The Expert’s Guide to Spring Plumbing Maintenance

You may already understand that your heating and AC equipment needs seasonal HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also require annual plumbing maintenance by an expert? Rob's Albertan Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning 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 tip-top plumbing shape for spring.

Look at your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. Make sure there isn’t any water dripping out of or around the connections when you turn off your faucets. If there is, installing new fixtures or repairing the leak could help improve the faucet’s function and may even reduce your water bill.

After the faucets, scan all accessible pipes for evidence of leaks. You can typically 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.

Inspect your toilet for any fractures or leaks in both the bowl and tank. If it looks like it’s in good condition, go ahead and put about six drops of food coloring into the actual tank. Wait 30 minutes and then look at the bowl. If the bowl is not colored with the dye, you’re in the clear. If the food coloring appears in the bowl, you may have a leak and will want to call a plumbing expert.

If a stench seems to be coming from any of the drains in your home, it could be a sign that plumbing maintenance is required. A properly running drain shouldn’t release smells into the air. Check to make sure there are strains placed in all your drains to avoid hair and other debris 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 often. 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 love. Don’t forget that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is older than 15 years, it could be time to start looking into a new one to be sure you don’t have that unpredicted burst of cold water for multiple days. Whether or not you plan on replacing your water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it running 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. As a safety precaution, you will want to remove any items from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance plan includes a water heater maintenance; and it could actually help your water heater operate more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems in the future.

These are just a couple ways of how you could help get your plumbing ready for the season, but if you are not comfortable performing any of these tasks, always feel free to call Rob's Albertan Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning and we can come out and perform your annual plumbing maintenance and fix (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.