October is a good time to reset and refocus as you enter the end of the year. Kids have been back in school for a little while, you’re settled into a more regular routine, and life settles down after the busyness of summer.
It’s also a great time to make sure your plumbing is in good shape before all the holidays hit. Few things are worse than having a major plumbing catastrophe when your house is overcrowded and suddenly there’s no hot water, or a pipe bursts, or your basement floods.
I know, I know. We always think it will happen to someone else. But I’ve been in the industry for too long to take anything for granted. And you should take my word for it: If something bad can happen, it will happen. Wait, maybe it was somebody else who said that first …
Anyway, here are a few things you can do to make sure your plumbing is in good shape NOW instead of worrying about it later.
1. Make sure your bathroom appliances all work correctly.
First, make sure your faucets aren’t leaking and everything works correctly. Leaking faucets are EXPENSIVE. That slow drip can add up to a lot of money spent on extra water every month so make sure you’re paying attention and taking care of it sooner rather than later. Read more about leaky faucets and what to do about them here.
Second, check on your shower drains to make sure they aren’t clogged. Nothing is worse than standing in a pool of water because there’s hair or something else keeping the water from draining properly. If there is something backing up the drain, you’ll want to take care of that before guests arrive or before the backup gets worse. Usually it’s as simple as lifting the drain cover and pulling out the hair (the most likely culprit). If you remove the cover and can’t see what’s causing it to not drain properly, give us a call and we’ll come take a look to figure out what’s going on. I wrote a whole different blog post about this so check it out here.
Finally, check out your toilets. Make sure you know how to turn off the water at your toilet, and make sure the water isn’t running forever after flushing. Inspect the base to make sure there aren’t any leaks, and if anything looks off or if your toilet isn’t flushing correctly, give a call and we’ll schedule a time to come out.
2. Check on the age of your water heater and make sure it’s got plenty of life in it
I wrote a blog about how to do a simple age check that you can check out here. Knowing how old your water heater is will help you plan ahead and know roughly when you’ll need to replace it.
And if yours still has some years before you need to replace it, learn how to extend the life by replacing the Anode rod and reducing the pressure. These two tricks will keep you from needing to replace your water heater for a long time, which is great for your bank account, especially this time of year headed into the holidays!
In your kitchen, the garbage disposal is an important tool you definitely want to be working well when the company and all the extra food arrives. Make sure you and your guests aren’t putting food in there that causes wear and tear, and double check that it’s working correctly now so you don’t run into problems now. I have a bunch of tips here about keeping your garbage disposal working well through the holidays!
3. Take the ultimate precaution: Install Phyn to avoid future disasters from leaks
I love Phyn because it alerts you to potential leaks via an app on your phone. You don’t have to worry about leaks causing water damage while you’re away. It keeps track of your regular water usage and alerts you to any irregularity so you know as soon as there’s even the potential of a leak.
Additionally, it allows you to turn off the water to your whole house with the tap of a button. If you’re away grocery shopping or on a trip, no worries, Phyn allows you to turn off your water remotely.
Save yourself from the headache and hit to your wallet a plumbing emergency can cause. Give us a call and we can discuss the pricing options for Phyn.
And that’s it. Follow these tips and help prepare your home and plumbing for the holidays.
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