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Being a homeowner means you’ve got a lot of different responsibilities, especially when it comes to making sure your Haslet, TX, home stays in good shape. Unfortunately, the plumbing in your home won’t last forever, especially if you don’t take good care of it. Having a plumbing service expert take a look at your plumbing every once in a while — especially when you have a problem — is one of the best ways to keep your plumbing system running like it should. If you want to know all about your home’s plumbing system and when it’s time to put in a plumbing service call, here’s what you need to know.

Water Shutoff

Perhaps the most important thing you can know as a homeowner is where your water shutoff valve is. Whenever there’s a leak or another emergency plumbing problem, you need to know where this shutoff is so you can cut water to your home as soon as possible. Not only does this save you money you otherwise would have wasted on your water bill, it also prevents water damage in your home.

The tough part about shutoff valves is that many homeowners don’t know they exist, so they don’t take the time to locate them. On top of that, there are a few different places a shutoff can be found. If you’re not sure where your main water shutoff is, you can have a plumbing service professional figure it out for you.

There are also stop valves on the fixtures throughout your home in most cases. You can use these stop valves to cut off the supply of water to a single fixture so you don’t have to worry about losing power to your entire home. This is a huge benefit if you’ve got a single toilet or sink that’s causing you problems.

Pipe Age

Another thing you should keep an eye on when it comes to the plumbing in your Haslet, TX, home is the age of both the water and drain pipes. Pipes are only designed to last a certain amount of time, and that time depends on the pipe material you’re talking about. As a homeowner, you should know what kind of pipes you’ve got in your home, how old they are and how long they’re supposed to last.

A plumbing service company can help you figure out what kind of pipes you have in your home if you aren’t sure. From there, it’s up to you to determine how old those pipes are so you can make an informed decision about when to replace them.

Water pipes vary a bit in terms of how long they last, with galvanized steel having the shortest lifespan of between 20 and 50 years. Brass pipes can last about 40 to 70 years, while copper pipes typically last over 50 years and are considered to be the most durable of all the water pipe options. It’s important that you have a plumbing service company replace your water supply lines before they break or leak because a leak in a water line can cost you thousands in wasted water and water damage to your home.

As far as drain pipes go, things are a bit trickier. In the old days, cast iron was the most popular choice for drain pipes because it’s heavy and tough. Over time, however, plumbers started to realize some of the downfalls of cast iron, including its lifespan of 50 to 75 years. Most plumbing service experts recommend PVC for drain pipes, which is considered to have an indefinite lifespan.

Burst Pipes

Of all the plumbing problems you can keep an eye out for, the most important one to watch for and try to prevent is a burst pipe. Burst pipes can cause a lot of damage in your home and lead to huge water bills, so you should avoid them at all costs.

Burst pipes are generally caused by a pipe getting too cold and freezing the water inside. When the water inside a pipe freezes, it expands and cracks the pipe. When the water thaws out again, it flows out of the broken pipe and leads to an expensive plumbing service call.

Since burst pipes are a result of the pipe freezing, it’s important to try to keep the pipes in your home from freezing in the first place. Fortunately, that’s not the most complicated job. A plumbing service expert can take a look around your home to find pipes that may be at risk for freezing. Once these pipes have been identified, they can be wrapped in heat tape or properly insulated to keep them from freezing.

Because burst pipes flow at a constant rate unlike small leaks, they tend to cause a lot more water damage than regular pipe leaks. A 1/2″ pipe that bursts can spill as much as 50 gallons of water into your crawl space or wall in the matter of a single minute. This is why it’s so important to make sure all the pipes in your Haslet, TX, home are properly insulated.

Drain Clogs

Another potentially big plumbing service problem you can face is a clogged drain. This might not seem like a huge deal since people have clogged drains all the time, but it’s when a drain repeatedly gets clogged or becomes badly clogged that it really becomes an issue. At a certain point, you might end up with a smelly odor in your home or even a sewage backup. This is why you should understand what causes drain clogs, how to prevent them and how to remove them.

Drain clogs in the bathroom sink and shower are generally caused by soap scum and hair. When somebody takes a shower and sheds a bit of hair or shaves in the sink, the combination of hair and soap builds up into a sort of thick paste that water won’t break down. Eventually, you’ll have to have a plumbing service company remove that clog manually.

Clogs in your toilet are caused by flushing things other than toilet paper down the drain. Even if you buy wipes that are called “flushable,” you still shouldn’t flush them down your toilet if you don’t want it to get clogged. Instead, stick to toilet paper which is designed to break down in your pipes as water passes by.

Kitchen sink clogs are usually the result of somebody simply putting too much food and other waste down the kitchen sink drain. A lot of homeowners think they can put all their food down the drain because they have a garbage disposal, but that’s not how it works. If you don’t want to make frequent plumbing service calls to get your drain unclogged, you should try to throw as much food in the garbage as possible. If you’re dealing with wet food, you can drain it a bit in the sink before throwing it away to minimize the mess.

Cleaning Your Drains

If you want to keep the water flowing down the drains in your home, you’re going to need to clean them every once in a while. The good news is, you don’t have to be a plumbing service expert to make sure your drains are staying somewhat clean. The most important thing is making sure you’re using the right type of drain cleaner for the job.

When most people clean drains, they use chemical-based drain cleaners like Drano to get the job done. While these drain cleaners are actually fairly effective, they can also do some serious damage to the pipes in your home. Depending on the pipe material, using a chemical-based drain cleaner might even lead to corrosion that causes leaks in the pipe at some point. Unless a plumbing service company has told you otherwise, you should always avoid using chemical-based drain cleaners to keep your drains clean.

If you want to remove small clogs and keep your drain pipes clear, you can use an enzyme-based drain cleaner to do that safely. These enzyme-based cleaners are designed to eat away at whatever is causing the clog in your drain without actually reacting with the pipe in any way. This is hugely beneficial if you’ve got older pipes that are more susceptible to damage. The good news is, most plumbing service experts agree that the enzyme-based cleaners also work better than the chemical-based ones.

Routine Maintenance

Your plumbing system is sort of interesting in the sense that there isn’t a whole lot of routine maintenance most people have done on their plumbing. As a homeowner, the most important thing you can do is keep your eyes peeled for any problems that might be developing and call a plumbing service professional when you’ve got a problem. However, there are a couple small things you can do in terms of maintenance to keep your plumbing system running better.

Having your water heater flushed regularly is a great way to make it last a little bit longer. While water heaters only last a bit more than a decade in some cases, they can easily fail prematurely if there’s too much sediment built up in the tank. If you want to prevent problems and make sure you’ve always got hot water, you should have your water heater flushed about once a year.

All the faucets in your home are equipped with aerators, and those aerators play an important role in even water flow. Over time, however, these aerators get clogged and tend to mess up the flow of water more than they help. If some of the faucets in your Haslet, TX, home are starting to act a little strange, it might be that you just need a new aerator.

If you’ve got a filtration or softening system in your home, make sure you’re having a plumbing service company take a look at that every once in a while. Water filters and softeners need a little bit of maintenance to keep working, and you don’t want to be drinking dirty water or causing excess damage to the appliances in your home.

Plumbing Upgrades

At a certain point, most people simply want a bit of an upgrade from what they’ve had for a while. If you feel like you could use some additional features or new fixtures, having a plumbing service expert make some plumbing upgrades can make all the difference.

A new water heater is one of the best upgrades you can make, especially if you find yourself frequently running out of hot water. You can upgrade to a larger tank that’s perfect for big families, or you can invest in a tankless water heater that provides hot water on demand. Either way, a plumbing service pro can help you choose the perfect model for your upgrade.

If your home hasn’t been repiped in a while, now might be a good time to invest in new pipes. A repipe lasts a long time and gives you peace of mind since you know you’re less likely to have plumbing problems.

Finally, you can invest in some new fixtures for your home. From smart faucets to toilets with bidets built in, there are all sorts of fancy options if you look around a bit. If you’re not sure what you might want to upgrade in your home, a plumbing service pro can help you figure it out.

Plumbing Made Easy

Owning a home is a lot of work, especially if you want your home to stay in great shape year after year. Fortunately, having the right professionals on your side can make a world of difference.

If you own a home near Haslet, TX, you can count on Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth to take care of all your plumbing needs. From installation and maintenance to emergency repairs, we do it all. If you have a plumbing problem you need fixed, give Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Fort Worth a call at (817) 983-7876.