Let’s face it; professional plumbing services can be expensive! And it’s never a good time to deal with an ever running faucet or a clogged drain. Calling a plumber, especially if you have an after-hours emergency, can cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. As such, it’s important to maintain your home plumbing to save you money and hassle, and it’s easy to be kind to your pipes if you know the right steps to take.
Kitchen Tips
There are two plumbing zones in the kitchen that take incredible abuse from homeowners: The sink and the dishwasher. Many times, drain procedures are the cause of clogs and issues. I recommend using a drain screen to keep food particles out of the piping while you wash or rinse dishes. The drain screen serves to collect waste above the drain while still allowing water to flow through. They are inexpensive and easy to remove so you can pitch your remnants in the trash where they belong. Also, never put grease down a drain, where it will cool, harden, and contribute to a clog.
If your sink has a disposal, you’ll have a better time letting food in your drain, but make sure you maintain your disposal unit. To keep it in tip-top shape, avoid putting any super hard items down the drain, like bones, popcorn kernels, and shrimp shells. Also avoid too many starchy or fibrous items down the drain. If you think your disposal is getting bogged down, try running the disposal with a handful of ice cubes inside. Ice cubes will knock away debris without dulling your blades or stressing out the motor. As far as the dishwasher goes, make sure you change the filter regularly. Again, filters are inexpensive and typically easy to install and change.
Bathroom Tips
The toilet, sink, and shower, or bath are all areas that can cause problems with your plumbing in the bathroom. Make sure you use a drain screen in your tub and sink. This will keep excess body hair from building up and guard against the occasional earring or toothpaste cap that falls down the drain, never to be seen again.
In the bathroom, do not flush any waste that does not come from your body or is not safe for toilet disposal. For the fixtures in the sink and tub, make sure you are gentle when you turn them on and off. Over-tightening is a huge contributor to leaks.
For your bathroom drains, consider monthly cleaning with baking soda. Drain chemicals are expensive, toxic, and can be corrosive, so regular maintenance with ¼ cup of baking soda down the drain followed by some white vinegar is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option. Let the paste soak for a few hours and then flush with hot water and your drains (and wallet!) will thank you.
Basement tips
Your washing machine, hot water heater, and septic tank all have a role to play here and can cause water leaks in your basement if they’re not taken care of. . For the washing machine, make sure you install new filters regularly over your hose. This will trap lint and debris that may wash down a drain and clog your pipes. Hot water heaters should be checked annually and may require flushing or changing of the anode rod. A hot water heater is costly to replace and install, so annual maintenance can save you a lot of money. For your septic system, be careful on what you wash down the drains and flush down the toilet. Food scraps in the kitchen and paper products in the bathroom can overburden your septic system, so use common sense when doing dishes or using the bathroom.
If you follow the above guidelines, you are sure to avoid stressful and costly repairs. If things go seriously wrong by some misfortune and you find yourself facing a serious clog or leak, don’t hesitate to call a qualified plumber because fixing the mistakes by yourself could result in further damage.
Freelance writer, Benjamin Muskal, contributed this article on behalf of Indianapolis 24-hour plumbers, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing.