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Plumbing Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Living in a world brimming with any service you can imagine, while convenient, can get a bit expensive if you rely on them. Sometimes you will have plumbing issues that will genuinely require a professional. But there are other times that equipped with a little bit of knowledge, you can be your own plumbing hero. Prime Custom Builders wants to help you be prepared with this list of plumbing related things everyone should know.

Know Where Your Shut Off Valves Are

When you move into a new home, take time to familiarize yourself with where the essential components are. Breaker box, hot water heater, and main water valves. Knowing where the main water valve is can prove crucial if you are ever working on your plumbing and need to cut off water flow. Sometimes this valve is located inside and sometimes it is outside.

Know Before You Go

Do yourself a favor, do not treat your toilet as a trashcan. Basically, you should not flush anything other than toilet paper. “Flushable” baby wipes and feminine products are common culprits to a clogged system and clearing that out is a nasty task that you can save yourself from by only flushing appropriate items.

In the same vein, never put coffee grounds, grease, or rice down your garbage disposal either as these will surely clogs those pipes as well.

Watch Out for Pipes

If you are planning on putting any holes in your walls with drills or nails, make sure you have a stud finder on hand when you do it. Afterall, there are a lot of integral components held behind your home’s drywall, including supply and drainage pipes. If you have never had the misfortune of puncturing a pipe, you can keep it that way by making sure the area is clear before you drill.

Use Plumber’s Tape

Plumber’s tape is an extremely useful tool you should always have on hand. It is used to prevent leaks by sealing pipe threads around joints and fittings. Wrap the thread three times around with the tape before putting back into place.

Do Not Over-Tighten

When a leak occurs, it is all too common to over-correct the leaky joint by over-tightening it. You are just making sure that it does not become loose again anytime soon. What is so wrong with that? The problem with doing this is that you can easily strip screws or break bolts. As long as the fitting can be loosened by hand, it should be tight enough to work properly.

Hopefully with these plumbing tips you can save yourself some headache and dough. For more useful tips and tricks for homeowners, have a look around our Prime Custom Builders blog page.

By Prime Custom Builders 12-26-2019