While we all know to do the usual: gardening, cleaning up the yard, a trip to the dump – there are a few key maintenance areas that are often neglected. Follow all six tips and keep your home in top form!
Have you ever entered your basement, or seldom used bathroom, only to be confronted with a foul smell? You look around the room but cannot seem to find the source.
Well, the foul smell could actually be coming from your floor drains. When the water in your p-trap evaporates, sewer gasses from below can creep up into your home. A p-trap is a curved shaped pipe, often found under bathroom and kitchen sinks.
It is important that you keep an eye on drains that you do not use that often – basement floor drains, guest bathrooms and laundry tubs are most often left unused. Not only will the water in the p-trap mist like have evaporated, there is also a chance that the surrounding area could be dirty. Be diligent in removing any dirt or debris from the drain before flushing water through it.
Did you know that you should be testing your toilet for water leakage? Most toilet leaks are silent and slow. These tiny toilet leaks can reduce your toilet’s efficiency and waste a lot of water if left untreated.
We recommend testing your toilet for leaks twice a year. You can use your water meter to test for leaks. This trick works for leaks throughout your home including taps and pipes. First, turn off all taps and water producing appliances Then, watch the triangle shaped dial on your meter. If the dial keeps turning, even when all water sources have been turned off – you have a leak!
Spend some time this summer thinking about your hot water tank. It might be chugging along just fine, but if it ever stops you’ll be sure to notice the difference. That’s why you should drain your hot water tank; it’s a great way to extend its life.
First, make sure to turn off the water feed to your tank. The location and procedure to do this will depend on your exact water tank make. Next, turn the dial to pilot. Then, connect a hose to the valve at the bottom of the unit. Make sure the draining end flows into a floor drain or outside, a driveway is ideal.
Remember that the water in your tank is hot, so be careful throughout this process.
Once you’ve double-checked everything, turn the drain valve open. Wait until the flow of water has stopped. After that, turn off the drain valve and disconnect the hose. The hose may have some water left so take care!
Turn the supply of water back on. It’ll take some time for the tank to fill up so don’t expect a steady supply of water immediately. Finally, turn the dial from pilot back to its original setting.
Greedy tree roots can be very damaging to one’s pipes. Attracted to moisture collecting on small cracks in a pipe, the force of the root can completely break through the pipe.
In order to prevent it from happening some basic maintenance can go far in preventing problem roots from getting worse. Keep an eye on your sewer drains; these are likely to be the main areas of interest for roots. If you have any suspicions that tree roots might be causing damage to the sewer pipes, it’s recommended to treat the problem area with herbicide.
In order to make sure that your sump pump is working you need to ensure that the float is connected. The float is an attachment on the pump’s main lever. Make sure that it is connected and working properly. A way to test this is to lift the float, once up the pump should turn on. It should also be able to move freely without getting caught on anything. After you’ve tested your pump visually inspect the discharge to make sure water is directed away from your building and off of your property.
It’s always a good idea to set aside some time to inspect your eavestrough piping whenever we enter a new season. Your eavestrough piping retrieves rainwater from your gutter and leads it away from your property, keeping your home safe from flooding damage.
Your gutter can gather a lot of unwanted debris, whether that’s an excess of fallen leaves, dirt, or other particles. If you neglect to inspect it for too long of a time period, it could clog the pipe and prevent water from leaving your foundation, leading to serious damage and substantial plumbing costs.
Need help with any of these? Give us a call and we would be happy to help. Happy spring cleaning!