You may already understand that your heating and cooling equipment needs annual HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also need to call an expert for annual plumbing maintenance? Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for the U.S. homeowners to help them discover issues before they become big problems. While you should always call for plumbing problems and plan your plumbing maintenance every year, here are a few ways for you to get your home in ideal plumbing shape for spring.
- Check for 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, swapping out the fixtures or repairing the leak could help better the faucet’s performance and may even reduce your water bill.
Once you've checked the faucets, inspect any accessible pipes for indications of leaks. You can typically see visible pipes in the basement and under 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 much needed care
Inspect your toilet for any leaks or cracks in the bowl and the tank. If your toilet looks like it's in good shape, go ahead and pour about six drops of food dye into the water in the tank. Wait half an hour and then peak at the bowl. If the bowl is uncolored, you’re fine. If the dye appears in the bowl, you may have a leak and will want to 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 could be evidence that plumbing maintenance is necessary. A properly working drain shouldn’t release odors into the air. Check to make sure there are strains placed in all your drains to prevent hair and other waste from spoiling in the pipes and clogging them up. Once you've treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour four quarts of water down drains that are not used often. This will fill the trap and help to prevent odors from coming in and filling up your home.
Your water heater takes good care of you so make sure you’re returning the love. Keep in mind that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is older than 15 years, it may be about time to purchase a new one to be sure you don’t have that sudden burst of cold water for several days. Regardless if you plan on purchasing an upgraded water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it operating properly.
Make sure the temperature setting on the equipment is not set higher than 120°F. This will help lower your energy usage (and help lower your bills) while also avoiding scalding. As a safety precaution, you will want to remove anything from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance program includes a water heater maintenance; and it could even help your water heater be more efficient and avoid plumbing problems from happening.
These are just a couple ways of how you could help get your plumbing ready for spring, but if you are not comfortable completing any of these tasks, always feel free to call Service Experts and we can come out and conduct your annual plumbing maintenance and repair (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.
