You may already understand that your heating and cooling equipment needs seasonal HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you know that you also need to call an expert for annual plumbing maintenance? R & M Climate Control Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Knoxville homeowners to help them uncover issues before they result in big problems. While you should always call for plumbing problems and arrange for your plumbing maintenance yearly, here are a few ways to get your home in great plumbing shape for spring.
Look at both your faucets and toilets for any leaks. Make sure there isn’t any water dripping out of or around the connections when you turn off your faucets. If there is, replacing the fixtures or repairing the leak could help better the faucet’s function and may even reduce your water bill.
Once you’ve checked the faucets, scan any accessible pipes for evidence of leaks. You can often find visible pipes in basements and below sinks. In extreme weather pipes can freeze and crack, so springtime is great to make sure the winter weather didn’t damage anything that could cause plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some long overdue TLC
Inspect your toilet for any fractures or leaks in both the bowl and tank. If everything seems to be in good working order, go ahead and put about six drops of food color into the tank. Wait 30 minutes and then look at the bowl. If the bowl is not colored with the dye, you’re in the clear. If the color appears in the bowl, you might have a leak and will want to call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If an unpleasant odor seems to be drifting up through any of the drains in your home, it be an indication that plumbing maintenance is necessary. A properly functioning drain shouldn’t release a stench into the air. Check to make sure there are strains placed in all your drains to stop hair and other waste from spoiling in the pipes and causing them to clog. Once you’ve treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour eight pints of water down drains that are not used frequently. This will fill the trap and help to prevent odors from getting in and smelling up your home.
Your water heater takes excellent care of you so make sure you’re returning the favor. Remember that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is over 15 years old, it is probably about time to purchase a new one to be sure you don’t have that unexpected burst of cold water for multiple days. Regardless if you plan on purchasing an upgraded water heater, there are a couple things you can do to help keep it running properly.
Make sure the temperature setting on the equipment is not set higher than 120°F. This will help lower your energy use (and help decrease your bills) while also evading scalding. For the purpose of safety, you will want to relocate any items from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance agreement includes a water heater maintenance; and it may actually help your water heater run more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems moving forward.
These are just a few ways of how you could help get your plumbing ready for spring, but if you are not comfortable performing any of these tasks, always feel free to call R & M Climate Control Service Experts and we can come out and perform your annual plumbing maintenance and rectify (or help stop) any plumbing problems.