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Keeping your plumbing system healthy and running efficiently is a complex job for a plumber. We may spend a lot of time on common jobs like drain cleaning services and clog clearing, installing new appliances, and repairing fixtures such as sinks and toilets, but there’s much more. We have to go up on the roof to check plumbing vents, and down under the concrete foundation to check for leaks in the water supply and even hot water pipes if they run underneath. If there’s anyone who knows houses inside and out, it’s our expert plumbers at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth and Arlington, TX. Whether we’re arriving to perform scheduled work or rushing over to handle a plumbing emergency, it’s work we’re proud to do, reaching out to our community with award-winning service and both residential and commercial plumbing expertise.

Pressure Brings Water In, Gravity Leads It Out

Our plumbing service team deals with two basic types of plumbing systems in your home, the water supply that comes in under pressure and uses that pressure to reach the highest points in your home, and the drains that use gravity to encourage wastewater to flow down and into your sewer line. That means we have two different principles in effect, depending on which system we’re working with. For example, pressure can cause all sorts of water leaks from your pipes and resulting messes, while the failure of your drains to drain can cause backups from the drains and resulting in even nastier messes. Our job is to install plumbing so that it prevents these problems, and provide plumbing services in Arlington, TXthat repair problems that develop.

The Strange Ways That Drains Can Operate

Understanding how your plumbing works gives us insight into the strange behavior you sometimes see with your drains. When you drop something in that gets stuck, you have a clog and we can come and remove the item, breaking it up and removing the pieces if necessary, even if it has traveled far down the pipes. That’s pretty straightforward, and we have the right equipment to do it. We also have video inspection gear to look inside your pipes and see if you have a more complex problem, not caused by a simple object dropped in and maybe not even caused directly by a clog in the line. For example, have you ever seen a situation where you flush the toilet and wastewater comes up your shower or tub drain, or nearby sink? It might even be the sink in another bathroom, which can get pretty strange. The issue is that the drains are connected, and when you flush down into a clog, the nearby drain is the only way out for the water until that clog is removed. This is also a good reason to avoid using your plumbing when you’ve got an overflow emergency plumbing situation, since you can make things worse, even by using other sinks and toilets.

Birds Can Cause Backups

When water flows down your drains, air flowing in rooftop plumbing vents balances the system. Without that connection, it’s like when you put your finger on the end of a straw in water, then lift it up. The water is suspended in the straw until you remove your finger and let air in. When our plumbing service is dealing with what looks like a clog, we have to also wonder whether it’s a problem with the vent that’s keeping your drains from flowing. One clue can be the presence of sewer gas in your home, a dangerous situation, which can indicate that the gas is not escaping out the rooftop vent as it normally would. If you smell the foul odor of sewer gas, whatever the cause, it’s time for an urgent plumbing service call. If the cause is a blocked vent, you might have also solved the apparent drain clog situation as well. If the vent blockage is not complete, you may hear a gurgling sound as small amounts of incoming air allow wastewater to slowly escape down the drain, and that’s another clue that there’s actually a problem up above, where no one but an experienced plumbing service provider would expect a plumbing problem, right?

Getting the Drain Flow Right in the Pipes

Well-trained plumbing service personnel install horizontal runs of drain piping so that it has a specific tilt to it, not much more, not much less. This is the right amount so that wastewater keeps flowing sideways to the pipe that leads downward, and doesn’t pause, dry up over time, and leave debris that eventually becomes a clog. Too much tilt separates the water from the debris with a similar effect: the water zips down to the pipe between floors and disappears, while the weight of the debris keeps it in place in the horizontal pipe, building a clog. This situation gets worse when pipes get older and degrade or get corroded since the rough internal surface causes more problems with wastewater flow and makes clogs more likely as well. This is why an expert plumbing service can take care of your drain problems, were simply operating a plunger might not.

Creating Your Own Clogs Without Meaning To

Sometimes people try to protect against backups and sewer gas problems from old, unused drains by pouring cement into them. That’s where they really run into trouble with the principles of drain operation since there’s a chance the concrete won’t go down and harden, but actually flow back up into another drain that’s currently in use, blocking it too. It’s a nasty situation, but many people do the same kind of thing when they put rice, pasta, and similar foods into the garbage disposal, toilet, or sink drain, especially in large quantities. Wherever the material winds up, which is usually in the P-trap below, it absorbs water like crazy and swells to fill the pipe, creating a block that’s not as hard as cement, but tough enough to remove. Use plenty of water and a small amount of food at a time, or just put it in the trash or compost and be safe from clogs.

Cleaning Techniques Our Plumbing Service Uses for Clogs and Whole-House Drain Cleaning Service

Our Arlington, TX plumbing service tools include a number of drain-clearing gadgets including mechanical tools to grind up, break apart, and remove material and objects blocking the drains. Since this can sometimes lead to water flowing but part of the clog actually still in place, we use video inspection to check our work if needed and sometimes to plan our strategy upfront as well. If the pipe is in good shape as determined by our inspection, we also have another option that’s too powerful for old, corroded pipes but very effective: the hydro-jetting equipment. This gear is powerful enough that we can use it to not only clear your home’s drain pipes in the walls but also take it down to your sewer cleanout and use it to blast free big accumulations inside the sewer that may be causing slow flow or even backups. It’s an amazing tool when used correctly, and a great part of whole-house drain cleaning service so your pipes are nice and clean. Then if our plumbing service comes to clear a drain, we know that your home’s pipes should be in generally good shape, making our job cleaning the new clog so much easier.

Following Your Water Lines, Problems in Your Incoming Pipe

The telltale stripe of green grass or fantastic landscaping growth running above where your incoming water line goes is usually accompanied by a rapidly rising water bill. This means that somewhere along this line, there is a leak or crack in your water supply pipe. Fortunately, there are plumbing service alternatives to digging up and replacing the entire pipe, For locating the damage, high-tech equipment can listen for and target the leak, providing the information our plumbing service needs to dig in the right spot. Trenchless repair is another possibility, which provides a great option for patching buried pipes including both water supply and sewer lines. This uses a durable patch material to seal the leak of your water line, allowing our plumbing service to provide a leak resolution faster and with less disruption of your yard and family’s lives than traditional methods.

When There Are Pipes Under the Slab

Leak detection tech is also a critical improvement in locating pipe damage under the concrete slab that forms the foundation of some homes. When homeowners notice higher water bills and wet spots in the basement or pools of water near the foundation, a leak under the slab is one possible cause. You might also hear running water, under the concrete floor. In some cases, hot water lines are run under the slab as well, resulting in warm spots on the floor and a reduction in the hot water supply. With sonic leak detection and video inspection gear, our plumbing service can locate the leak and cut through the concrete in the right spot. Repairs can be under the slab or involve a rerouting of the pipes in the basement to reduce the amount of digging under your foundation that’s required.

Water Pressure Problems

Boil water notices such as the one issued here in February 2021, are the result of city water pressure reductions, often through construction, water main breaks, or fire hydrant use, that risk backflow into residential water lines bringing with it possible bacterial contamination. If you notice low water pressure, it’s important to take steps to discover the cause and boil if necessary. We can help with information about city water issues and diagnosing pressure reductions within your home.

Water Softeners and Filters

While our Arlington, TX area’s water is considered somewhat hard, it’s not as bad as some parts of Texas such as San Antonio. Still, a water softener system can help treat the water and provide for better soap performance in the shower and washing machine, along with less corrosion of pipes and water heater tanks. When considering issues with your water lines, our plumbing service will check existing water softeners and filters that the incoming water passes through in order to determine if they are affecting water pressure.

Leak Detection In Your Walls and Other Hidden Places

The same electronic leak detection that’s used to check under the slab and in the incoming water supply line is fantastic for locating leaks in your walls and other hidden places in your home. Damp spots and other signs of leaks often appear at some distance from the actual pipe hole, since water can pool, travel along pipes and ducts, and find other ways around before it drips onto your wall or ceiling, or causes your floorboards to warp. By using sonic measurement tools that listen for leak sounds and calculate the distance between the probe and leak, then verifying the location and nature of the leak using video inspection, we can target leaks fairly accurately in many cases. This is a great improvement over the past, where exploring to find leaks in the wall prevented further damage from moisture and mold only to incur damage from cutting holes to visually locate the problem.

What About Your Shutoff Valves?

No matter what your water supply line issues are, it’s important to take the time to locate your main and fixture-specific shutoff valves are and make sure they can be easily operated. This can save your home from damage and also expedite our plumbing repairs.

Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth and Arlington, TX, Your Whole-House Plumbing Service

From the rooftop plumbing vents to under the slab, our plumbing service team has the experience and diagnostic skills to solve your Arlington, TX plumbing problems correctly. We’re also your best choice for general plumbing repairs, upgrades, fixture and appliance installation, and other expert plumbing services. Call us for information, advice, and scheduled or emergency plumbing service.