Prevent Plumbing Emergencies With Some Common-Sense Maintenance

When you have a serious plumbing emergency to deal with, feeling overwhelmed is normal. When compromises in your system cause water pipes to burst or raw sewerage to back up into your home, you may not know what to do at first. In many instances, the only thing you can do is call in a professional plumber on an emergency hotline and hope they get to you as soon as possible.

To avoid these situations, it's important to know that every plumbing emergency is the result of small compromises to the system that go unnoticed. Overtime these small, unrepaired flaws become larger and larger until a break or malfunction causes a big problem. Maintenance of your system is the number one way to avoid expensive repairs and damage costs. Here are a few ways of understanding the root of these flaws in order to avoid major emergency situations.

The most common emergency is bursting pipes. There are a couple of factors that can lead to this plumbing emergency. The first is the freezing temperatures ruing the integrity of the pipes over time. If your pipes are not insulated properly or run routes through your home that are not well heated, the expansion and retraction throughout the months and years cause flaws that eventually lead to a burst. Rust can also lead to a bust pipe.

Each fall, you should have you system inspected for flaws and also see if insulation should be updated for the upcoming winter season. This way you can avoid the expense of dealing with a burst pipe in the middle of winter. It may also be wise to have your heating system inspected to make sure that it is doing a sufficient job heating your home and, in turn, your plumbing.

System backups are also a common plumbing emergency. This is directly related to a blockage or buildup in your waste water lines. Calcium can build up or foreign items like inappropriate paper products can cause a blockage. In the bathroom, the dirt and grime from washing or an excessive amount of human hair can collect over time in your pipelines. Not only do these pipes have the potential to back up but they are also all connected to a central main line that connects to the public sewer or a septic tank. When this line backs up, you could experience sewerage in all areas of your home that utilize that main line.

At home maintenance to prevent blockages is fairly simple. The first is to ensure that things that should be going down the drain aren't. When cooking, discard oils and fats by storing them in a container until they become solid and then throw away instead of discarding them in the kitchen sink drain. In the bathroom, make sure only toilet paper is flushed. You can also regularly use chemical compounds that periodically break up plumbing build-up so that it's never enough to cause a problem.

By learning what prevents flaws and emergencies, you can properly maintain your home and protect it against serious damages. Using these simple tips, you can save your home from disaster. Remember, maintenance is key to saving your home from emergencies.