Expensive Plumbing Mistakes to Avoid at Home and in the Business Establishments

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A dripping faucet might not look like a threat to your home or business. You could probably get away with it temporarily with a quick DIY fix. Quick and easy, right?

But remember that even little things can cause the biggest problems. Unfortunately, plumbing problems that may seem minor to the average person are not an exception. 

As per the United States Environmental Protection Agency, “A leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year.” Imagine that much water and money going down the drain!

Instead of sulking over the damages, we can always prevent these plumbing mistakes from compounding over time. So, here are expensive plumbing mistakes you should avoid to protect your home and business:

1. Clogging the toilet system. You’re probably guilty of flushing items down the toilet. Over time, this could lead to clogging, making it difficult to retrieve the items that caused the obstruction.

Your pipes are just a few inches in diameter. Thus, you shouldn’t flush down items that don’t break down easily, including paper towels, dental floss, and hair, among others.

2. Running toilet. Just like a faulty faucet, an inefficient toilet can bring up your water cost as far as your water bill is concerned.

With a leaking toilet flapper, you could waste up to 200 gallons of water a day, let alone a year! 

If you’re confident that you have a serious plumbing problem, consult your local plumbing professional. It’s always better to correct the problem at the source.

3. Overuse of strong chemical drain cleaners. Whenever a quick plumbing fix is needed, drain cleaners are a common go-to solution for most people.

But you should note that these are strong chemicals capable enough to disrupt your plumbing system.

Although drain cleaners help dissolve the clog, they can also harm your pipes, no matter if they’re made of plastic or metal.

4. Ignoring frozen pipes. Have you ever seen a cracked water bottle after leaving it in the freezer overnight? Well, the same thing happens to frozen water pipes.

You should remember that the water inside your pipe expands under freezing temperatures. The best way to fix this problem is to prevent this from happening.

To avoid the high heating bill, pipe insulation is always a good alternative. 

For minor frozen pipe problems, you could locate the frozen section of the pipe and thaw it using a hairdryer, heat lamp, heating tape, etc.

5. Not hiring a plumbing professional. With the amount of ready information, we can get from the Internet, homeowners and business owners such as yourself would most likely resort to a quick DIY fix. But is it worth it?

The only problem with DIY plumbing is that there’s no guarantee! Especially if you’re tackling a complex plumbing problem.

Plumbing problems that resulted from DIY repairs (e.g., water damage) are not covered by your home insurance. If I were you, I’m not taking my chances.

To save money and avoid additional burdens on your part, it’s never a wrong idea to seek help from your local plumbing professional.

Insure your home and business from infestations

We always want what’s best for our home and hard-earned business. Avoiding these plumbing mistakes along with the help of a plumbing professional is always better than dealing with costly repairs. Remember that everything has its tipping point. By just taking small steps in property maintenance could go a long way in reducing your expenses in the future.