An In-Depth Look at Typical Plumbing Issues: Insights

An In-Depth Look at Typical Plumbing Issues: Insights

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MOST COMMON PLUMBING PROBLEMS IN OLDER HOMES

Galvanized Pipes

The galvanic process means coating an iron pipe with molten zinc to prevent the iron from corroding. The zinc lasts a while, but not forever. As the zinc erodes, the exposed iron begins to rust. This can cause pipes to fail, but the warning signal is easy to spot: Your water will become discolored from the rust in it.

The answer is to have galvanized pipes professionally replaced by modern alternatives, such as copper or PEX (Cross-Linked Polyethylene). A well-trained plumber and assistant can perform this work in relatively short time, ensuring a constant water pressure, no odd taste or color to your water and no leaks.

Pipe Bellies

As your Phoenix home rises and falls in its surrounding soil, the pipes leading into your home will rise and fall, too. When they buckle or bow, they form a pipe belly, a low spot that defies gravity’s pull on sewage. While this settling occurs slowly, you will eventually notice poor drainage, slow-flushing toilets and, ultimately, a clogged sewer line.

Similar to pipe bellies are pipe channeling, where hard water carves its own channel in the bottom of a sewer pipe, rendering it very weak.

Polybutylene Pipe

Once thought of as a great water pipe product, polybutylene pipe (PB) was used from the late ’70s into the early ’90s because of its low cost and easy installation. It breaks down with exposure to water and water’s dissolved solids, so it is not acceptable anymore. As time goes on, homeowners experience more and more polybutylene pipe problems.

If you have an entire house piped in PB, you need the services of an experienced local plumber to replace every run, every elbow and tee, and every connection to fixtures throughout your house. Otherwise a leak could destroy furniture, furnishings, flooring and more.

Sewer Lines

Sewers and sewer lines are definitely at the top of a lot of people’s old house plumbing problems. Sewer lines take your home’s gray and black water from drains to the sewer main, where it travels on to a municipal treatment plant. Sewer lines are always wet, so they attract tree roots. Cast iron pipes are particularly susceptible to cracking and intrusion by tree roots, which can completely clog a line.

Professional plumbers can send a camera into your home’s sewer pipe to diagnose channeling and bellies, and they can find and fix tree roots that clog your pipe. This is a much more affordable option than the disgusting and expensive issues created by a sewer backing up.

Drains

Fifty years of draining water, soap scum, sewage and shampoo can take a toll on your older Phoenix home’s drains. Clogs develop in pipes in all drains, but toilet, kitchen, and bathroom sink drains are particularly prone to clogs.

Toilets are infamous targets for children, fascinated by the disappearing act. While you may never know a small action figure or toy car went down the toilet, you will know a backed-up toilet when it strikes. A small item could start a very slow-building clog.

Kitchen sink drains also tend to accept things that should not go down the drain, like kitchen fats, bits of food that should go through a sink strainer and even bone. You can do your part, of course, by keeping waste out of the kitchen sink or having a garbage disposal installed, but in an older home you will not know what others have stuffed down there before you.

Original Fixtures

While some original fixtures are notably sturdier and of better quality than their corresponding modern fixtures, many older ones simply wear out with time. Washers and valves degrade and cause leaks. Stems and handles break. If your home still has its original spigots, faucets, handles and valves, you may not notice the tiny leaks that lead to higher water bills and unpleasant smells.

A worry spot in any home is the shut-off valve for a toilet. This little-used valve attaches where the rigid pipe exits the wall, down below the tank, and a flexible metal and plastic tube connects the water supply to the tank. That shut-off valve can get stuck in its typical, open position, so any attempt to close it may actually cause it to leak. A trained plumber can replace not only the flexible tube to the toilet tank, but the antiquated or stuck shut-off valve. This means you never have to worry about turning off the water to the toilet should a bowl clog cause your toilet to back up.

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How to Fix Common Household Plumbing Issues

Doing the repair services yourselves on these straightforward plumbing troubles can conserve you heaps of cash. As a property owner, you will encounter several different plumbing troubles that sometimes make a nuisance.

Low Tide Pressure

Is somebody from your household whining that there's reduced water pressure from the sink? If indeed, after that the problem is the aerator within the sink which might have a whole lot of sedimentation resulting in reduced water stress.

Running Toilet

You might have experienced a running toilet, which can be rather aggravating because the tank won't load up. At the exact same time, leaving it alone relates to squandering water and surging up your water costs.
Commode fill valve
Leaking flush valve
Bathroom flapper

Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System

This bothersome problem is likewise high up on the list of common plumbing problems. Your device will come with a nifty key to unjam your device. If you shed it, you will certainly require an Allen wrench to deal with the issue. You have to go under the sink as well as look for the spot where you can place the key. As soon as you find it, utilize your wrench to transform the maker to release the motor. When working on your waste disposal system to prevent nasty mishaps, don't neglect to transform off the system and also cut the circuit breaker.

Slow Draining Sink

This is one of the most typical grievance of house owners, with the sink gathering a lot of hair, oil, particles, and also various other substance in time. The only means to obtain a smooth streaming drainpipe once again is to clear the debris. You can use a plumbing device for angling out the debris. From there, you can make use of a store-bought drainpipe cleaner to cleanse the lines.

Slow Tub Drain

Just like the sink drainpipe, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, as well as various other gunk pool in the drain typically. After making use of the claw, you can put drain cleaner to rejuvenate the drainpipe lines.

If all of these audio laborious for you, you can always call a plumber to obtain professional assistance. Seeking expert assistance suggests conserving time and effort. Because you can relax guaranteed that your easy plumbing trouble will certainly not rise, you might even end up conserving cash in the lengthy run. Simply make sure you call a trustworthy company with licenses and accreditations due to the fact that you will be welcoming strangers in your home. Of course, you have to make certain that you deal with somebody you can rely on.


Some plumbing concerns are a lot more typical and also can be conveniently dealt with. Doing the repair work yourselves on these simple plumbing problems can save you lots of money. As a house owner, you will certainly experience numerous various plumbing issues that occasionally make an annoyance. You can use a plumbing device for angling out the debris. You may also end up saving money in the long run since you can rest guaranteed that your basic plumbing issue will not intensify.

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