Plumbing Maintenance Tips in Warm Weather

Summer is for fun; it’s the perfect time to grow your backyard garden, spend poolside family time, or relax the day away. However, what isn’t fun is having an unusually high water or repair bill due to leaks, irrigation problems, flooding, drain problems, etc. Here are a few tips to help you prevent these common plumbing issues that typically arise during the summer, and Plumbing maintenance you should do before the summer rainstorms hit.

Clearing residue from drains:

Clearing the residue from your drains can be gunky and build up residue over time due to daily tasks such as washing your hands and taking a shower. It is pretty simple; you can put commercial grade chemicals into your drains, such as Drano. A more environmentally friendly and less harsh type of cleaning is putting half a cup of baking soda down the drain and then add half a cup of vinegar to the drain. The chemical reaction will help clean the residue off, but after about 10 to 15 minutes, you want to pour in hot water slowly; this helps to clear it all away.

Inspect for leaks:

Warm weather is the best time to check for leaks; inspect your faucets, pipes, and any element that uses water inside and outside your house. Here is a quick tip place a paper towel behind your toilet and leave it overnight. If it absorbs water, you might have a leak that may require professional attention.

Check your sprinkler system:

Summer is your sprinkler system’s busiest season. Sprinklers are noted for wasting water because they sometimes spring leaks underground. A faulty sprinkler can also harm your grass because it can’t survive on too much or too little water. Clean your sprinkler heads often and replace them if they’re leaking or rusted. Consider investing in a timer for your sprinkler system or a weather-based irrigation controller that uses weather data to adapt your irrigation schedules.

Clean Gutters:

Clean gutters before the summer’s rainstorms come throughout the year. Drains can be clogged with debris such as sticks, twigs, leaves, and even flying debris such as plastic bags. If you don’t unclog your drains, then you might have issues with overflowing gutters. It can cause issues on the home’s foundation and the basement walls, creating cracks, and those cracks can become larger over time. It also Has issues with pooling water on the roof, which can cause damage to the shingles or even the edges of the roof. So you’ll want to clean those out. You can either do it by yourself with a ladder and some gardening tools, or you can hire a professional to come out and clean them for you.

Test your toilets for leaks:

Now the likely culprit in a leaking toilet is the rubber flapper because the piece is just rubber. Over time it can degrade, wear out and potentially get cracks in it which causes leaks. To identify if you leak your toilet, just put a few drops of food dye into the tank and then flush the toilet. If any food dye gets into the toilet bowl water, you leak. You can either replace this piece by yourself or call your local friendly plumber.

Flush your water heater for any sediment that has built up :

The task is relatively easy, but you will probably want to have someone come over as a professional and do it for you. Calcium and magnesium can accumulate throughout the year in your water heater, solidifying and potentially mixing with dirt and other debris to cause a buildup at the bottom of your tank. It can potentially lead to cracks and leaks in your water heater or not heating the water efficiently or effectively in your system.

Suction Tank inspected:

If you have a suction tank, you’ll want to maintain and inspect the tank. You can get a professional to make sure that it doesn’t have any leaks, structural damage, or buildup because you don’t want Party and the septic tank backing up into your yard or your home. So make sure that you get your septic tank inspected, and having regular maintenance on that will help relieve some of those issues.