Category: Plumbing

Plumbing Emergency Tips and Tricks

Piping emergencies can happen anytime. Taking immediate action can help prevent further damage before a plumber arrives. Handling emergency damages or situations with your home’s pipework will, however, require some simple tools and a few skills. Therefore, it’s important to ensure there is an emergency kit that you can use to deal with any situation.

The following are some of the tools you must have in your plumber Chico kit:

-A five gallon bucket that will be your tool holder
-A plunger and a forced cup
-A multi bit screwdriver
-You must have a few wrenches. Medium sized slip joint pliers together with an adjustable wrench will come handy
-A few blind caps to deal with a broken valve.
-An assortment of Allen keys is also highly recommended
-Ensure you also have heavy duty paper towels or some rags to clean up overflowing water

Emergency Tips to Keep In Mind

Once you have collected all the tools you need, handling Chico plumbing emergencies should be an easy task.

But there are a few things you must keep in mind.

-The first thing is to understand where the main water shut off valve is. You cannot work on any emergency if you don’t turn off the water.
-There are also isolation valves that are found in each fixture in your home. The valves are going to stop water from going into the affected pipes without stopping water flow in other parts of the home. Know how to locate these valves.
-If you are dealing with a drain line, your joint pliers will come handy. Most of the time, they will be used for loosening the collar nuts.
-Supply tube breakages should be dealt with very fast in order to avoid flooding. You can screw in a blind cap around the area leaking until the problem is permanently fixed.
-Cracked pipes can be handled using normal duct tape or even pipe sealing tape. The tape can pull together a cracked pipe. While it may not stop the leak entirely, it will reduce the intensity until a permanent solution is found.
-Clogging is a common issue too and it can be solved using a cup plunger. However, this would be ideal for smaller drains such as showers and bathtubs. If you are dealing with bigger drains such as a toilet, a force cup plunger will work just fine.

These are all basic emergency tips that will help solve the situation at hand on a temporary basis. But you will still need to call in a plumber to deal with the issue further so that a permanent fix is found.

plumbing Chico CA emergencies are very common in any home and dealing with them as soon as they happen can save you a lot of money in repairs. It doesn’t take a lot to fix emergency issues with your pipework and the simple tips above will come handy. Give them a try and you will be glad you did.

15 Pool Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Pool Clean

If you have a swimming pool in your house, you will have to spend on Scottsdale plumbing from time to time. This service can eventually become costly for you, and most people end up reducing the frequency of cleaning and maintenance so that they can save money. However, there are a few things that you can do to maintain the pool without having to spend a lot in the process.

Below are some useful ideas to work with:

Check Your Water Level

Make sure the water is neither too high nor too low. For the best performance, the water level should be at the center of the pool skimmer. If it runs too low, the pump will dry and burn up. If it’s too high, your skimmer door might not be efficient.

Check the Inline Chlorinator

In case you have an inline chlorinator or an in-deck chlorinator, you must check them frequently. You should be looking for clogging, loading and the level of chlorine tablets. Depending on the features, this unit is supposed to add some chlorine to the pool.

Clean the Tile Line

You have to clean or wipe the tile line once a week. This is done to reduce the deposits that build up when the water pH is high.

Use Pool Chemicals

Make sure all pool chemicals are stored as far away from direct sunlight as possible. Acid and chlorine components should never be stored together.

Check for Cracks

Pay attention to cracks between the deck and the tiles or around the perimeter of the pool. Caulk these as soon as possible, or hire an expert to assist you.

Monitor Your Pool

Take the chemical readings of your pool from time to time, and make sure they are within an acceptable range.

The following are some of the ranges that you should be monitoring:

– Chlorine residual
– Combined chlorine
– Conditioner or cyanuric acid
– Calcium hardness
– Level of alkalinity
– pH level

Clean the Hair and Lint Pot

There should be a hair and lint pot at the front of your pool pump. Make sure you clean it as frequently as necessary. To do this, turn off the pool pump. Depending on the model you have, you might only need to clean the leaf basket or the debris catcher. A multi-speed pump will eventually be a worthy purchase.

Shock the Pool

In case you have an ozone system, the pool does not need to be shocked regularly. If necessary, do this only at night, using a non-chlorine shock, especially if you want to use the pool soon.

Keep Plants and Animals Away

Make sure you keep your pets and plants away from the pool.

Check Protective Barriers

Another important aspect of plumber Scottsdale AZ is to keep the gates and barriers safe and in place, especially for children. Your top priority must be safety.

Clean Out Skimmer Baskets

The skimmer basket is supposed to be cleaned every week, or as often as necessary. It’s found at the side of your swimming pool, and its task is to make sure contaminants and debris do not float to the end of the pool. Make sure the skimmer is cleaned all the time, because the more effective it is, the cleaner your pool will be.

Check Pool Chemistry

It’s advisable that you check the pool chemistry at least once a week. The readings should be no less than 7.2 and no more than 7.8. The lower the readings within this range, the lower the amount of chlorine you will need. This is because as the level of pH rises, the chemical action makes chlorine weaker so you might end up adding more. Besides, with the reading at 7.0, chlorine in your pool is 50% active, while it is only 10% active if the reading gets to 8.0.

Make Sure the Ozonator is Working

In case you have an Ozonator, you should ensure its light is working. The combination of UV and the ozone reduces the quantity of chlorine needed.

Check the Salt System

In case you have any salt system, or if yours is a no-chlorine pool, make sure the cell is always clean. The thing about salt systems is that they tend to push up the pool pH. As a result, you end up using more acid.

Clean the Pool Filter Regularly

The pool filter is supposed to be cleaned regularly. You should consider getting a cartridge filter which will provide a low rate of flow and very little water will be subject to wastage.