Even if you haven’t had to rely on the services of a 24 hour emergency licensed plumbing company, you’ve probably experienced a plumbing emergency once or twice.
What you may not know is that a lot of plumbing emergencies are the result of people misusing their house’s plumbing system.
Everyone does it, but some mistakes are a lot more common than others.
We’ve compiled a list of the top five plumbing mistakes everyone seems to make.
If you can avoid these mistakes, you’ll save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache.
1. Ignoring small leaks
The most common plumbing mistake just might be ignoring a problem.
So your sink or toilet has a small leak.
So what?
You may think it just means is that you have to dry out the bathroom rug once in a while.
Unfortunately, that’s not quite the case.
Ignoring those small leaks can lead to larger problems in the near future.
Leaks might indicate leaky pipes (which may need to be replaced) or something more serious, like a hole in the ceiling.
If you see a small leak, you can try to take care of it yourself first.
If you can’t, though, call a professional plumber as soon as possible.
You’ll be glad you did, and your bank account will be glad too.
2. Using the toilet as a trash can
Hey, we understand.
You flush toilet paper down the toilet.
Why not flush paper towel?
Or dental floss?
It seems like a good idea at the time, especially when the trash can is full.
It’s actually a very bad idea.
Your toilet can handle the occasional shred of paper towel, but almost anything else should be off-limits.
Feminine products, plastic wrap—all of it should be disposed of in the trash can where it belongs.
Anything else could cause a serious clog that could require a house call from a professional plumber.
3. Hiring ultra-budget plumbers
You’ve got a plumbing project that needs professional expertise and you can feel your wallet protesting with each quote.
Suddenly, there it is—a quote lower than all the others.
This seems like the best of both worlds, where you can get the job done without your wallet crying in pain.
Before you pick up the phone, though, ask yourself one important question.
Does this business have the necessary experience?
If they don’t, you could be looking at complications that will cost you a lot more than that low, low quote.
Make sure that your plumber has experience in handling the type of project you need done.
4. Haphazard renovations
Wanting to renovate your home, especially your bathroom, can be a very rewarding project.
If you do it yourself, though, make sure you plan everything out ahead of time.
You’ll need to know what the steps are for each project, whether you’re putting a new faucet on your sink or installing a new bathtub.
You’ll also want to know the cost, tools and materials you’ll need.
If you know all this, your renovation should go smoothly.
If you don’t plan, though, you could find that the renovation will take a lot more time and money than you originally hoped.
5. Overusing drain cleaner
If your sink or toilet gets a clog, you could be forgiven for buying some drain cleaner instead of hiring a plumber.
The problem is that drain cleaners use some very harsh chemicals to dissolve the clog and other buildup in your pipes.
These chemicals not only eat away at the debris.
They also eat away at your pipes.
What this means is the more you use drain cleaner, the weaker your pipes can become.
If your sink or toilet clogs repeatedly, don’t try to solve the problem with drain cleaner.
It’s clearly not helping.
And the drain cleaner will damage the pipes each time.
If you follow these five tips, you can avoid plumbing headaches most of the time.
Contact London Plumbing
If you do have a plumbing emergency, though, contact London Plumbing to make your plumbing run smoothly again.
No matter what your plumbing needs are, we’re happy to help.
Contact London Plumbing for all your residential plumbing needs.
