You may already know that your heating and cooling equipment needs annual HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also require annual plumbing maintenance by an expert? McElroy Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Grand Island homeowners to help them find issues before they turn into big problems. While you should definitely call immediately for plumbing problems and arrange for your plumbing maintenance annually, here are a couple ways to get your home in ideal plumbing shape for spring.
Look at your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. Confirm there is no water dripping out of or around the connections when you shut off your faucets. If there is, replacing the fixtures or repairing the leak could help boost the faucet’s operation and may even save you money on your water bill.
Once you’ve checked the faucets, check all accessible pipes for evidence of leaks. You can typically find visible pipes in the basement and under sinks. Extreme weather can cause pipes to freeze and sometimes crack so spring is the ideal time to make sure the winter weather didn’t cause any damage that would result in plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some seriously overdue TLC
Check your toilet for any cracks or leaks in both the tank and the bowl. If it appears to be in good working order, go ahead and put about six drops of food coloring into the actual tank. Wait 30 minutes and then peak at the bowl. If the bowl water is clear, you’re good to go. If the food coloring appears in the bowl, you could have a leak and should call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If an unpleasant odor seems to be coming from any of the drains in your home, it could be evidence that plumbing maintenance is needed. A properly functioning drain shouldn’t release smells into the air. Check to make sure there are strains placed in all your drains to prevent hair and other debris from spoiling in the pipes and causing them to clog. Once you’ve treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour a gallon of water through drains that are not used often. This will fill the trap and help to avoid 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 have a higher efficiency, so if yours is more than 15 years old, it is probably about time to start looking into a new one to be sure you don’t have that unpredicted burst of cold water for a week. Regardless if you plan on replacing your water heater, there are a few things you can do to help keep it operating properly.
Make sure the temperature setting on the equipment is not set higher than 120°F. This will help decrease your energy usage (and help lower your bills) while also evading scalding. For safety sake, you will want to move away anything from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance plan includes a water heater maintenance; and it could actually help your water heater run more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems from happening.
These are just a couple ways of how to help get your plumbing springtime-ready, but if you are not comfortable completing any of these tasks, please call McElroy Service Experts and we can come out and complete your annual plumbing maintenance and rectify (or help avoid) any plumbing problems.