Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Fri, Apr 09, 2010
If You Have a Plumbing Leak Let a Plumber Help You Check the Little Things Before They Become Big
It’s every Lorain County homeowner’s nightmare. You hear a steady drip, drip, drip; but you can’t figure out where it’s coming from. Sometimes finding a plumbing leak is easy. When you go searching for the source of that annoying nocturnal dripping, you find a leaking faucet or a running toilet. If giving the spigot handle an extra turn or jiggling the toilet handle doesn’t do the trick, you know it’s time to call the plumber. But often when you hear something dripping you simply can’t pin down the location of the leak. Because you don’t know what kind of damage they’re causing, hidden leaks should spur you to call your plumber right away.
When plumbing springs a leak, the problem can be as simple as replacing worn gasket but often a water leak is the sign of a more serious problem. Even a small leak in a toilet or bathtub seal can result in major damage in a short time. When plumbing leaks, the longer you wait to call your Lorain County plumber, the more water you waste (and pay for) and the greater the chance of serious damage.
Water leaking inside a wall or under a cabinet or inside a ceiling can seriously damage plaster or wall board, causing it to stain and bubble and weakening it structurally. In severe cases, structural elements can become so saturated that they fail, sending tubs or toilets crashing through ceilings into the rooms below. While that may be a worst-case scenario, damage is often great enough to force Lorain County homeowners to replace sections of wall, flooring or ceiling to repair water damage caused by plumbing leaks.
If you hear something dripping, turn off the shut off valves where you hear the leak or turn off the main valve (usually located in your basement) and call Raymond Plumbing today.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Tue, Apr 06, 2010
Lorain County Homeowners Should Know Where Water Shut-Offs Are Located
Do you know where your water shut-off valves are? It might seem an odd question to ask Lorain County homeowners, but many homeowners – especially first timers – don’t know how their plumbing systems work and where essential components are located. If you experience a water leak in your plumbing system, knowing where the water shut-off valves are located can mean the difference between a little damage and an expensive home remodeling project.
When you buy a house, it’s a good idea to have the current owner show you where water shut-off valves are located, but you can find them yourself with a little bit of sleuthing. Nearly everything in your home that uses water – sinks, toilets, tubs, dishwashers, washing machines -- will have two water shut-offs – one for cold water and one for hot water. These valves are usually located directly under or behind the sink or appliance, although they can be hidden inside a wall or cabinet.
When water shut-offs are hidden, most newer homes have removable access panels that allow your Lorain County plumbing professional to reach plumbing components for adjustment or repair fairly easily. However, in older homes, plumbing may have been walled off inside plaster or wallboard walls or between floors and ceilings. An experienced Lorain County plumber usually has enough knowledge of plumbing practices in the area to locate hidden plumbing components. While most homeowners choose to leave hidden fixtures alone unless a leak develops, plumbing access panels should be added whenever possible.
Most of the time, homeowners either see or hear a leak, but sometimes tracking down a leak requires the assistance of a professional plumber.
Next time: What to do if you have a plumbing leak
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Mon, Dec 07, 2009
Avoid Major Expenses by Calling A Plumber
It’s a wise homeowner who knows when a job is over his head and it’s time to call in the pros. Plumbing problems fall into the category of repairs many homeowners will attempt even though they lack the proper knowledge, required experience or necessary tools. Home repair books may walk you through simple repairs like replacing the snap-on flush valve inside your toilet tank, but more complex repairs usually require expert knowledge and experience to repair safely and effectively.
Delaying the call to your plumber while you fumble around trying to figure out where the problem is and how to fix it, particularly if your have a leak, allows additional damage to occur. Most water leaks happen inside interior walls or ceilings where you can’t see them. Considerable damage can occur before the problem becomes visible. By then, that annoying drip that echoes from the ceiling may have soaked, weakened and damaged wallboard, plaster, subflooring and support beams. Your minor repair has now turned into a major expense.
There are things you can do to prevent plumbing problems from occurring and we’ll talk about that sometime. But if you hear water dripping inside your walls, see a water stain developing on walls or ceiling or “bubbling” plaster, notice water collecting around the base of the toilet or tub, observe water spraying or dripping from a pipe or can’t turn off a dripping faucet, it’s time to call the plumber. Because water can run along pipes or interior structures for some length before dripping, it usually takes a professional plumber’s expert knowledge of plumbing systems to locate the source of a leak. Don’t risk expensive damage to your home. If you suspect a leak in your plumbing system, call the expert plumbers at Raymond’s Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning.
Is it time for you to call your local plumber? If you live in NorthEast Ohio give us a
call.
Posted by Raymond Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning on Mon, Nov 16, 2009
Don't Ignore the Drip of a Leaking Faucet!
Man, I hate that steady drip, drip, drip that makes it hard to fall asleep at night, but once you’re up and charging through another hectic day, a slow drip coming from a sink or bathroom may be easy to ignore. You may not even think about it again until night falls and you’re heading off to dreamland. But a leaking water faucet is something that demands immediate attention.
Even a slow leak can wind up costing you a bundle if you ignore it. For example, if your bathtub has developed a slow but steady drip, say 1 drop per second, you are wasting about 8 1/2 gallons of water a day. That’s a bit more than 259 gallons a month and a whopping 3,154 gallons a year. No matter what you pay for water, that’s expensive! And the cost goes up the longer you wait to call the plumber.
This Could Get Ugly!
If you have a faucet leak, wasted water might be the tip of the iceberg. Often leaks occur where they aren’t visually evident. If you’re lucky, you may hear dripping in a ceiling or behind a wall, but too often leaks are never discovered until damage becomes apparent. Bathtub or toilet seals can seep, water pipe fittings may weep, pinprick holes can develop in out-of-sight pipes, pipe bends under sinks or cabinet floors can corrode. You may never realize you have a plumbing problem until the wall plaster starts to blister or the bathroom floor rots through depositing your tub in the living room or termites invade your foundation drawn by the moisture caused by a leak in your crawl space. All true stories and just a sampling of the horror stories attributed to leaky pipes.
Bottom Line - Call Your Local Neighborhood Plumber
It never pays to put off calling a plumber when you have a leak. Repair costs are never as expensive as the cost of ignoring the problem and paying for extensive repairs. If you're in Lorain County, Ohio, give us a call. We can help you sleep better at night and rest easy during the day.