Taking Care of Your Plumbing System | Tips from Your Costa Mesa, CA Plumbing Service

One of the most important things you can do as a homeowner is make sure you’re staying on top of regular maintenance and repairs to prevent major problems. If you don’t keep up with maintenance on things like your plumbing, you could end up having to replace major components that cost you a lot more than maintenance would have. If you’re looking for tips for taking care of the plumbing system in your Costa Mesa, CA, home, we’ve got you covered. Stick to doing these things and you’ll have a lot less to worry about in terms of hiring professional plumbing services.
Treat Drains Right
There are a lot of mistakes homeowners tend to make when it comes to plumbing, but a lot of those mistakes are related to the drains in your home. If you don’t educate yourself about what should and shouldn’t go down the drain and how you can keep yours clean, you’ll have to call a plumbing service more often.
For starters, you should use drain grates or screens everywhere you can. These screens simply sit over the drain and catch things before they go down the drain and create a clog. When the drain grate is full, you can simply lift it out of the drain and empty it in a garbage can. This is especially important in the bathroom where there tends to be a lot of hair and soap scum buildup.
Another thing you need to understand if you want to avoid hiring frequent plumbing services is that traditional drain cleaners simply aren’t the way to go. The popular drain cleaners such as Drano are made with harsh chemicals that not only do a poor job of getting clogs out of your drains, they can also cause a lot of damage to your pipes over time. To avoid this problem, make sure you’re using an enzyme-based drain cleaner that’s recommended by a plumber. These drain cleaners are a lot better than Drano and chemical-based cleaners because the enzymes can eat away at whatever is causing the blockage without damaging pipes.
Understand Lifespans
When it comes to some of the fixtures and appliances in your Costa Mesa, CA, home, many of them have life expectancy ratings. While these aren’t concrete ratings and you don’t have to get rid of things as soon as they pass their life expectancy, this gives you a good idea of how long you can expect things you last.
For example, modern water heaters are designed to last anywhere from about 8 to 12 years. If you’ve had your water heater for 15 years and it’s starting to have problems, the best thing you can do for yourself and your plumbing system is replace it with a new model. One of the big benefits to this is that you don’t have to worry about paying a plumbing service to diagnose problems and buy parts to fix them if you simply have someone install a new water heater.
You should also understand how long the pipes in your home are designed to last, since pipes also have a sort of life expectancy. Pipes are arguably the most important parts of your plumbing system, so you should have a plumbing service re-pipe your home if your pipes are well past their life expectancy. Copper pipes can last 50 years or longer while galvanized steel lasts between 20 and 50 years. Brass supply lines, on the other hand, can give you as much as 40 to 70 years of life. Lastly, cast iron drain lines last between 75 to 100 years and PVC drain lines never need to be replaced unless there’s a specific problem.
Maintenance and Repairs
If you want to keep the plumbing system in your home in good shape, you need to make sure you have a plumbing service that’s helping you stay on top of routine maintenance and repairs. Not only is this important when it comes to keeping things in good shape in general, staying on top of repairs can also save you a lot of money on bigger repairs.
For starters, you should have a plumber come to your home at least once every year to do a little bit of maintenance. A plumber can check your home to make sure there aren’t any leaks anywhere, flush your water heater to remove all the sediment, and test various fixtures and appliances to make sure everything is working properly. Another thing you can have a plumbing service help with is preparing your home for the winter. Making sure none of your pipes freeze and burst is a big deal when it comes to preventing major plumbing problems, so it’s not a bad idea to have a professional help you do that.
However, maintenance is only half the battle. If you really want to make sure you’re keeping your plumbing system in good shape, you need to fix problems as soon as you notice them. It can be tempting to neglect plumbing problems because fixing them can be expensive and time consuming. However, leaving a small leak to fester means it will only get worse over time, all the way up until the point where you have a massive leak in your home.
Stay Vigilant
The best thing you can do if you want to keep the plumbing system in your Costa Mesa, CA, home in good shape is hire a plumbing service and stay vigilant. You have a lot to keep up with in the way of maintenance and repairs, so it’s important you keep a close eye on your plumbing system.
If you do have any problems, bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Costa Mesa, CA can help you get them fixed. From plumbing maintenance to emergency plumbing service, we do it all. If you need help taking care of your home’s plumbing, give us a call at (949) 775-4682.
Photo By Calamity Jane at Shutterstock