You may already know that your heating and air conditioning equipment needs seasonal HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also need to call an expert for annual plumbing maintenance? A-PLUS Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Waldorf homeowners to help them discover issues before they turn into big problems. While you should definitely call immediately for plumbing problems and arrange for your plumbing maintenance annually, here are three ways to get your home in tip-top plumbing shape for spring.
Inspect your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. When you turn off your faucets check around the connections for water dripping out; if there is, installing new fixtures or repairing the leak could help better the faucet’s function and may even save you money on your water bill.
In addition to faucets, examine all accessible pipes for signs of leaks. You can typically find visible pipes in basements and below sinks. In extreme weather pipes can freeze and crack, so springtime is great to make sure the winter weather didn’t damage anything that could cause plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some seriously overdue care
Inspect your toilet for any leaks or cracks in both the tank and the bowl. If your toilet looks like it’s in good condition, go ahead and put about six drops of food dye into the tank water. Wait half an hour and then check the bowl. If the bowl water 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 an unpleasant odor seems to be getting in from any of the drains in your home, it might be an indication that plumbing maintenance is necessary. A properly running drain shouldn’t release odors into the air. Check to make sure there are strains placed in all your drains to avoid hair and other debris from spoiling in the pipes and clogging them up. Once you’ve treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour eight pints of water through drains that are not used regularly. This will fill the trap and help to stop odors from getting in and smelling up your home.
Your water heater takes good care of you so be sure you’re returning the favor. Keep in mind that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is over 15 years old, it is probably about time to purchase a new one to be sure you don’t have that sudden burst of cold water for a week. Despite whether or not you plan on replacing your water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it operating properly.
Verify that the temperature is set no higher than 120°F. This will help reduce your energy consumption (and help decrease your bills) while also preventing scalding. For safety sake, you will want to remove any objects from around the water heater. Your 12 month Plumbing PLUS Maintenance program includes a water heater maintenance; and it could actually help your water heater perform more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems from happening.
These are just some ways of how you could help get your plumbing springtime-ready, but if you are not comfortable completing any of these tasks, always feel free to call A-PLUS Service Experts and we can come out and perform your annual plumbing maintenance and rectify (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.