You may already know that your heating and cooling equipment needs seasonal HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also should have an expert perform your annual plumbing maintenance? Stark Services offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Fort Worth homeowners to help them discover issues before they turn into big problems. While you should always call for plumbing problems and plan your plumbing maintenance every year, here are a few ways you can get your home in ideal plumbing shape for spring.
- Verify any plumbing leaks
Check your home’s 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, installing new fixtures or repairing the leak could help boost the faucet’s operation and may even lower your water bill.
Once you’ve checked the faucets, examine any accessible pipes for indications of leaks. You can typically find visible pipes in basements and below sinks. Sometimes pipes can freeze and then crack so spring is the perfect time to make sure the winter weather didn’t cause any damage or plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some seriously overdue attention
Examine your toilet for any cracks or leaks in both the tank and the bowl. If your toilet appears to be in good working order, go ahead and put about six drops of food color into the actual tank. Wait 30 minutes and then look at the bowl. If the bowl water is not colored with the dye, you’re fine. If the food coloring appears in the bowl, you might have a leak and need to call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If an unpleasant odor seems to be coming from any of the drains in your home, it be evidence that plumbing maintenance is needed. A properly functioning drain shouldn’t release smells into the air. Verify there are strains inserted in all your drains to avoid hair and other remains from spoiling in the pipes and causing them to clog. Following treatment with a common drain cleaner, pour a gallon of water into drains that are not used often. This will fill the trap and help to stop odors from getting in and stinking up your home.
Your water heater takes great care of you so make sure you’re returning the favor. Don’t forget that newer water heaters have more energy efficiency, so if yours is older than 15 years, it could be time to start looking into a new one to be sure you don’t have that unexpected burst of cold water for several days. Whether or not you plan on purchasing an upgraded water heater, there are some things you can do to help keep it functioning properly.
Make sure the temperature setting on the equipment is not set higher than 120°F. This will help reduce your energy usage (and help decrease your bills) while also evading scalding. As a safety precaution, you will want to remove any items from around the water heater. Your yearly Plumbing PLUS Maintenance program includes a water heater maintenance; and it could even help your water heater be more efficient and avoid plumbing problems from happening.
These are just a few ways of how to help get your plumbing ready for spring, but if you are not confident performing any of these tasks, please call Stark Services and we can come out and complete your annual plumbing maintenance and rectify (or help avoid) any plumbing problems.