There Is A Lot To Know About Pipes

Keeping Your Plumbing In Good Order

Did you know that faulty air chambers might be why you are hearing a hammering sound in your pipes? The noise is known as water hammer and it may mean that water has entered your air chamber. Here are some tips to help you fix your problem.

You always want to solder correctly, the biggest mistake most people make when soldering is failing to get the interior of the fitting and the exterior of the pipe clean and shiny. Polish these surfaces with a fine emery clot until bright. When soldering, never heat the pipe, but instead heat the fitting. Doing so allows the solder to be drawn into the fitting by capillary action.

The next time you have a clogged drain, avoid the simple solution of dumping drain-clearing chemicals into the pipes. While this method involves the least amount of effort, the chemicals in these liquid cleaners are destructive to your piping. Instead, consider using a little bit of elbow grease with a plunger, snake, or other device designed to clear your clog without chemicals.

Check how well your toilets are flushing. If the handle needs to be played with in order to keep the water from running constantly, or if it needs to be held down several times in order to flush, you may need to switch out some of the parts in your tank. This is not expensive, and it could help reduce your monthly water bill. It could also mean that you avoid the embarrassment of the flushing system breaking when you have visitors!

Do not pour grease or oil down any of your household drains. Put them in containers and place in the fridge until they are solid, then throw them away. If you pour them down the drain, they can solidify in cold pipes. These solid masses will clog your pipes and are very difficult to remove.

If your garbage disposal is giving you problems, never stick your hand in it to fix it yourself. Garbage disposals can be dangerous, even if they are powered off. Hire a professional, or at least find your owner's manual to look at a diagram of the disposal. Many owner's manuals are available online, and may even contain interactive troubleshooters.

Avoid using hard cleaners on your toilets, such as drop-in cleaner tabs in the tank. When these tabs are almost completely dissolved, what's left of the tab gets washed into the bowl. This can then end up clogging the toilet's port holes, preventing the toilet from flushing properly. It can take months for this debris to finish dissolving in those holes.

Taking preemptive action to fix a strange smelling kitchen sink can be a good way to keep your kitchen smelling great. Make sure not to throw hair or grease into your sink. Use baking soda if you have a strange smell coming from your drain. Make sure you use your garbage disposal if you have one to grind up any food and use water while doing this to prevent damage to the blades of the garbage disposal.

Shower Heads

Save money by getting better shower heads. Most of the hot water used in the home is used while showering. By installing energy-efficient shower heads for a few extra dollars, you can save up to $100 or more a year per shower head in your house.

When replacing your shower head, pay attention to the quality of the replacement head. Many times, people think it is okay to buy the cheapest shower head that they can find. The problem about this is they aren't sturdy and they tend to break a lot easier.

Is your shower pressure weak due to clogging of the openings in your shower head? Here is a simple and cost-effective tip to take care of that problem. You can remove unsightly mineral buildup from your shower head by soaking it in vinegar overnight. This loosens the deposits, and in the morning you only need to wipe off the residue with a rag, or for more stubborn residues, use an old toothbrush to scrub off the mineral deposits which are clogging the openings.

If your shower head is high up an not removable, place vinegar in a plastic bag, slip the bag over the shower head and hold in place with a twist tie. This will help to restore water flow and increase shower pressure.

You know what can cause that hammering noise, plus a lot more plumbing information. You just saved yourself a lot of money if any of those issues became unbearable or resulted in broken parts. Take time to read back over this article periodically to make sure that you are on top of your plumbing skills.