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3 Signs Your Water Heater Is In Trouble

Many homeowners don’t truly appreciate the importance of having reliable hot water until something goes wrong. Hot water has a wide range of daily uses within a home including washing dishes, laundry, taking a relaxing bath or shower, and so on. However, for you to have a constant flow of hot water, you need to ensure that your water heater is in good working condition.

In this article, we will take a look at three telltale signs that you need to call a plumber to have your water heater inspected and serviced.

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If Your Sewage Line Is Blocked, You Need Professional Help

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Digging a trench for a main drain pipe, sewer line to a sewer or septic tank. Sewer line replacement or repair.

Home or business owners in the Columbus area can, if they encounter a minor plumbing issue, resolve the problem themselves with a bit of effort and the right tools. Poor water flow from a single tap, for example, can often be solved by unscrewing the tap and emptying an aerator blocked by sediment.

However, while some plumbing issues are minor and can easily be handled by property owners, others are real emergencies that professionals should only tackle. A blocked sewage line falls into this category.

A Health Threat

Most homes and commercial properties will have single dedicated sewage or drainage pipe that handles the outflow for everything. Bathwater, shower water, dishwashing water, laundry water, and even toilet water flow through this line and into a town or city’s central sewage system. This means that if this line gets filled or even blocked, everything—including used toilet water—can flow back up through toilets and sinks.

This presents a severe health risk. Human and animal waste are filled with bacteria, and even physical contact may be enough to transmit an illness to a person.

Get Your Sewer Line Fixed

A blocked sewage line can result from sediment built up over time, tree roots invading a line, or even a child’s toy flushed down the toilet, or too much oil or grease poured down a drain. However, in all of these cases, only a professional with the right tools can safely address the issue and restore proper flow and drainage to this critical part of a home’s plumbing.

If your sewage line is backed up, get this fixed as quickly as possible, this is a serious plumbing emergency, and we can help. Contact us today, and let our 24-hour service promptly assess and address your issue regardless of the time of day.

Don’t Put That Down Your Garbage Disposal

Garbage Disposal under the modern sink, waste chopper concept

Many homeowners can’t do without their garbage disposals. They enjoy having the devices because they chop foods up and send them away, down, and into the main sewer where they belong. However, it isn’t a good idea to put just anything down a disposal. Why? Because that could cause the unit to jam and clog, that’s why.

The last thing anybody wants is to have to call out an after-hours plumber to fix a stoppage. Yet, that could be what a person’s future holds if they put particular items in their disposals. Don’t fret if you find yourself in need of an emergency plumber. Instead, contact us at any time, day or night, to schedule service. Now, let’s look at some ways to prevent kitchen sink stoppages from coming to fruition in the first place. 

Avoid Placing Cooked Pasta In The Garbage Disposal

Pasta noodles absorb water and expand. They get compacted tightly inside J-bends or continuous waste arms and stop sink water from draining. Bread is similar to pasta noodles in that it will soak in H2O like a sponge and expand. Small amounts, like a few spaghetti noodles, here and there, should be all right. However, if you aren’t looking for a date with an after-hours plumber, don’t get in the habit of dumping mounds of pasta or bread down the disposal every night. 

Never Put Pits Or Seeds In A Disposal

Seeds and pits are usually small and hard. They are difficult to cut or grind by hand or machine. When pits and seeds are introduced to the inside of garbage disposals, they bounce around and make terrible rackets. Rather than getting chopped into little bits, they get lodged between blades, leaving them unable to spin. That is when stoppages can come to light. 

Keep Non-Food Items Away From The Disposal

Last but certainly not least, those that don’t wish to deal with after-hours plumbers should keep non-food items away from their disposals. What kind of non-food items? Well, we are glad you asked. The list could go on and on, but we will narrow it down a bit. Anyone that wants to avoid a kitchen sink stoppage will find it in their best interest to keep coins, buttons, and paper clips away from disposals.

Paper towels and plastic wrappers should be recycled or put in the trash, not the disposal. By keeping these and other things out of disposals, people may be able to avoid plumbing emergencies. However, if you aren’t quite so lucky, please, don’t hesitate to give our after-hours plumber a call. 

A Water Heater Problem Can Be Serious

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Plumber repairing an hot-water heater

For most home and business owners in the Columbus area, a water heater is not just a luxury; it’s a necessity. Few people on the lookout for a home or business property, for example, would buy a building with no hot water. From cooking to cleaning clothes to bathing, hot water is now an essential part of daily life and work activity.

However, the convenience of having hot water on a property does mean a responsibility to maintain that equipment. Water heaters make things incredibly convenient, but with enough neglect, they can fail to function, which is irritating. In the worst-case scenario, they can threaten the lives of residents or staff on a property.

A Bomb Waiting To Happen

For properties that use a traditional water heating system of a tank with a heating mechanism, this simple but effective system carries risk. In the same way that an automobile can catch fire and even explode under certain conditions, the same is true of a water heater that is not adequately cared for and has all safety precautions ignored.

If a water heater does explode, this can just as—or more—destructive than a car explosion. A water heater may effectively become a rocket. It’s only capable of exploding but having enough “thrust” to break through floors, ceilings, and even the roof of a building to cause catastrophic damage to a structure.

Why It Happens

There are a few different causes for a water heater to explode, but the one thing they all have in common is blocking the flow of water and creating a build-up of pressure within the heating tank itself. The most common causes of a pressure build-up include:

Sediment
Depending on the source, water pumped in even through municipal systems is not 100% free of particles. Minute amounts of sediment can come in with the water, and while this poses no health threat for those drinking the water or using it in cooking, it can build up. The sediment build-up can block the flow in a heating tank with enough time, leading to pressure build-up.

Faulty Parts
An anode rod is a steel core wire combined with aluminum, magnesium, or other metals, depending on the installation choices. It’s designed to protect the tank from rust or corrosion in the heating element, but it dissolves as it does this. An anode rod that is not replaced can cause a breakdown in a water heater that leads to malfunction.

Gas
Finally, some water heaters use natural gas as fuel. If anything occurs with the gas line, this is another way the heater and tank may explode.

What To Do

Fortunately, water heaters will give you plenty of warning before they do explode. If you see rust-colored water, or the water is not as hot as it used to be, don’t take chances. Get professionals to come in to inspect your unit and repair you water heater, if needed.

Contact us today, and let us handle your emergency plumbing issues.

3 Reasons Why You Might Need A Weekend Plumbing Service

Columbus residents work hard Monday through Friday. They use their weekends to relax, unwind, and prepare for the next week. Kicking back and taking it easy isn’t for everyone, though. Sometimes, people wait until Saturday and Sunday to get things done. On other occasions, like when plumbing systems act up, they are forced into handling matters.

Whatever the case may be, our weekend plumbing service has you covered. We have experienced plumbers available 24/7. Yep, that’s right; it doesn’t matter when your issue comes to fruition, morning, noon, night, or on the weekend, our team is ready to go. We offer free estimates and have competitive rates. So, what are you waiting for? Give us a call to schedule a weekend plumbing service today.

Now, it is time to check out some of the reasons why local homeowners might need an after-hours plumber. Hence, if you’re included in that category, please, don’t go away just yet. Instead, stick around and read on to learn more.

A Clogged Toilet

Let’s say that a family’s home only has one bathroom with four occupants. The toilet stops up on Friday night, and waiting until Monday for a plumber is not an option because people need a place to do their business. That is where our company can be of assistance.

After contacting the office, the homeowner will get immediate service. The plumber may need to snake the main sewer line to remove roots and debris. If the stoppage exists inside the commode, the professional might need to use a closet auger on it. Then again, it could only take a plunger to right the ship, so to speak.

No Hot Water

You get out of bed and hop right into the shower on Saturday morning. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but when you turn the knob, ice-cold water hits against your skin. Now, that’s a wake-up call. Do you want cold showers for the rest of the weekend? Nope, we didn’t think so. Give us a call when your water heater gives you fits. We’ll get it heating again so you can warm up and get clean.

A Burst Water Pipe

Is your water heater located in the attic? That’s good. You probably have loads of space downstairs. However, if a flex bursts, H2O will likely leak through the ceiling. Sure, there should be a pan beneath the tank, but if the water is spraying across the room, it won’t catch it. This is another scenario where an after-hours plumber can come in handy.

Contact us for all of your plumbing needs in the Columbus area.

Three Tips To Keep Your Pipes From Freezing

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During winter the people in the Columbus area often experience brief periods of extremely cold weather. The unusually cold temperatures often cause the freezing of water pipes from time to time. As a result, normal water flow is obstructed since the pipe becomes blocked with ice.

To prevent this from happening to you, there are some steps you can take in case your home is prone to freezing pipes.

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Four Signs That You Have A Pipe Leak

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Most often, homeowners find it difficult to track if they have a leaking pipe. Toilet blockage and dripping faucets immediately tell you there’s something wrong and you can do something about it to get it fixed. However, leaking pipes may not always have a visible sign, which is why it is often overlooked. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do anything about it – it can cost you more money in the long run, not to mention may lead to further water damage.

To help you figure out whether your home has a leaking pipe, here are the 4 signs you should watch out for:

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What You Should Do In A Plumbing Emergency

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The truth is, indoor plumbing is one of the most underrated inventions of modern society. Without indoor plumbing, we would all have to spend hours out of our day to bathe, wash our hands, and even urinate or empty our bowels. Because of this, dealing with any sort of plumbing issue can result in major inconveniences that would best be avoided.

While there are certain plumbing issues that you may be able to address on your own, there are several issues that will require immediate professional attention.

Here is what you should do when you find yourself dealing with a plumbing emergency…

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How To Shut Off the Water Supply to your Water Heater

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In a previous post we explained how to shut off the water supply to your house.  Today we have a video we found online that shows how to turn off the water supply to your hot water heater.

This is information every homeowner should know. A leaking water heater can cause a lot of expensive water damage. One way to lessen the potential damage is to shut off the water supply as quickly as possible. 

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How To Prevent Plumbing Leaks

One of the things many homeowners don’t want to deal with is leaks. This means they have to know the source of the problem then repair it. There are two main types of leaks that many homeowners deal with.

The first is costly leaks. They are less noticeable and detecting them can be hard because it is slow. They are referred to as costly leaks because if they are not dealt with, they are going to cost you a lot in water bills over time.

When a slow leak is not detected and addressed quickly enough, it can easily cause the other type of leak.

Catastrophic leaks are those that happen because of sudden events such as a rupture of the water heater or a pipe burst. They can end up causing a lot of damage to your walls and floors.

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