Taking care of your home plumbing system and managing water consumption behaviors isn’t rocket science. However, you might be surprised by what fairly common, detrimental mistakes many Sacramento homeowners make daily. These mistakes can build in severity over time and snowball into significant plumbing disasters if left unattended.
Knowing these mistakes, you can better avoid their consequences and keep your home plumbing running correctly.
1.) Ignoring the Signs
Quickly, the worst thing you can do to your home plumbing stems from negligence; ignoring the warning signs of a pipe failure, or other plumbing problems will only cause those problems to develop and result in higher restorative costs later. Common symptoms of a plumbing problem you should take immediate note of include persistent clogging, lawn indents, poor water pressure, and lawn moisture.
If you notice any of these signs, do not ignore them or forget about them! By acting fast, you can mitigate damage to your plumbing and the extent of later repairs. We often see significant plumbing damages as the result of negligent care, injuries that are entirely avoidable with the proper care and attention given.
2.) Using Chemical Cleaners
One of the worst things homeowners can do to their home plumbing systems is one of the most common methods people use to “clean” their drain pipes. The fact is that these chemical cleaners can be very hazardous to your home plumbing system and may even damage your pipes. The pressurized, foaming action and unnecessary additives that make these chemical solutions work make them dangerous to your plumbing.
If you routinely use these cleaners to resolve home pipe issues, you may actually be causing the erosion and breaking down of your own pipes! Over periods of use, these cleaners will naturally begin to eat away at the inner walls of your lines. This corrosion can be avoided entirely by merely choosing alternative methods of pipe clog repairs, such as natural vinegar and baking soda cleanse solutions. These biological reactions work just as well as chemical cleaners in a pinch and are much less damaging to your pipes.
3.) Taking On Too Much With DIY
While seasoned DIYers can likely handle any minor plumbing problem efficiently, we often find average homeowners taking on massive restoration efforts to save money;. At the same time, fixing your plumbing without any prior experience is possible, but it’s unlikely to turn out well.
One of the worst things you can do to your plumbing is cause additional damage by getting in over your head with DIY measures. Call a professional for assistance if you feel uncomfortable resolving a plumbing issue. Often, professional repairs can be done much quicker than DIY repairs, and as it turns out, much cheaper. When unprepared homeowners attempt large-scale DIY plumbing repairs, they can increase costs by using the wrong tools or separating faulty pipe fixtures.
4.) Opting for Dated, Impractical Repairs
Even when homeowners finally decide to have their home plumbing professionally repaired, there is still room for mistakes; most often, these occur when people opt for outdated repair options. These techniques, which are impractical given today’s technologies, are often overly intrusive and even damaging to properties and cause more hassle than they’re worth.
This hassle is due to the physical digging, or “trenching,” of lawns during underground pipe repairs. These techniques can cost homeowners significantly in landscaping repairs and take days to complete them effectively.
Fortunately, innovative trenchless technologies eliminate this need for digging and can be finished in less than one day. In addition, using cured-in-place, epoxy-resin pipes, and pressurized applications, plumbing specialists can mend any pipe damage without excavating the line and the area around it!
5.) Abusing Your Drains and Garbage Disposal
Another common plumbing mistake in Sacramento concerns how homeowners treat their drains, waste pipes, and garbage disposals. Simply put, disposing of trash, grease, and many food products contributes to draining clogging, buildup, and long-term damage.
Under no circumstances should you try to process animal bones, silverware, plasticware, or trash in your garbage disposal; as it turns out, everyday garbage is the last thing you’ll want to put down on your disposal. Additionally, avoid running fat, cooking grease, or oils through your drains, as these substances quickly solidify within pipes, creating lasting flow problems for your plumbing if left untreated.
We recommend cleaning your garbage disposal semi-regularly with ice cubes and running water, as these can free up problem-causing food debris. You should also run your disposal regularly, as rust can develop and accumulate if left alone for too long.
6.) Letting Aged Pipes Waste Away
One of the worst things homeowners can do to their Sacramento plumbing systems, particularly those in older homes built from 1945 to 1972, is let their aging pipes decay. Mainly, pipe deterioration occurs quickest in homes equipped with Orangeburg sewer pipe, as the tar paper materials these pipes are made of absorb moisture and, as a result, easily deform with pressure.
These sewer pipe systems have a life expectancy of around 50 years; as most were installed before 1972, their time is almost up. To combat this pipe degrading, the most proactive homeowners will have these pipes replaced before costly, damaging problems develop; here at Express Sewer & Drain, we’ve found that trenchless pipe bursting is often the most effective and affordable way to do this.
7.) Skipping Routine Checks
However, avoiding all the above plumbing mistakes cannot make up for general negligence; most significant plumbing problems can be entirely preventable with routine and annual pipe inspections. For starters, you can diagnose your own pipe and drain issues from home and check your plumbing performance before you need to call a professional by evaluating your water meter and water flow every month.
However, that does not mean you should forget about professional inspections altogether. In fact, we suggest getting a specialist to look at your home plumbing systems at least once per year, as their trained eyes can catch troubling signs earlier and far more accurately than the average homeowner’s.
To learn more about what poor behaviors and water consumption habits to avoid when it comes to your plumbing, or for more information regarding drain repair and trenchless technologies, contact us today.
