Expert Guide to Spring Plumbing Maintenance
You may already understand that your heating and AC equipment needs annual HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also should have an expert perform your annual plumbing maintenance? Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for the U.S. homeowners to help them uncover issues before they turn into big problems. While you should definitely call immediately for plumbing problems and plan your plumbing maintenance every year, here are a couple ways for you to get your home in tip-top plumbing shape for spring.
- Verify any plumbing leaks
Check your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. Confirm there is no water dripping out of or around the connections when you shut off your faucets. If there is, replacing the fixtures or repairing the leak could help boost the faucet’s function and may even reduce your water bill.
After the faucets, examine any accessible pipes for indications of leaks. You can typically see visible pipes in the basement and under sinks. Sometimes pipes can freeze and then crack so spring is the perfect time to make sure the winter weather didn’t cause any damage or plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some much needed TLC
Inspect your toilet for any fractures or leaks in the bowl and the tank. If it seems to be in good shape, go ahead and pour about six drops of food dye into the actual tank. Wait 30 minutes and then check the bowl. If the water in the bowl is uncolored, you’re good to go. If the color appears in the bowl, you could have a leak and should call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If a stench seems to be getting in from any of the drains in your home, it might be an indication that plumbing maintenance is needed. A properly working drain shouldn’t release a stench into the air. Verify there are strains installed in all your drains to avoid hair and other debris from spoiling in the pipes and resulting in a clog. After you’ve treated with a common drain cleaner, pour eight pints of water down drains that are not used frequently. This will fill the trap and help to prevent odors from coming in and stinking up your home.
Your water heater takes great care of you so make sure you’re returning the kindness. Keep in mind that newer water heaters have more energy efficiency, so if yours is more than 15 years old, it could be time to purchase a new one to help make sure you don’t have that sudden burst of cold water for a week. Despite whether or not you plan on purchasing an upgraded water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it functioning properly.
Check the temperature setting on the water heater and make sure it’s not higher than 120°F. This will help reduce your energy usage (and help lower your bills) while also evading scalding. For safety sake, you will want to move away anything from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance plan includes a water heater maintenance; and it may even help your water heater perform more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems moving forward.
These are just some ways of how you could help get your plumbing ready for spring, but if you are not confident performing any of these tasks, please call Service Experts Heating, Air Conditioning & Plumbing and we can come out and conduct your seasonal plumbing maintenance and fix (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.