Repipe plumbing in Knoxville Tennessee

Does Your Home Need To Be Repiped?

Signs Your Home Needs To Be Repiped

Repipe plumbing in Knoxville TennesseePipes are sturdy installations. They are meant to last for years, unless a compromise had been made initially to install poor quality pipes. Plumbing installations are usually durable if the right brands and specs have been chosen at the right prices. However, everything has a lifespan and that holds true for pipes as well. Pipes are not meant to last forever. While some poor quality pipes may last just a year or few years, most pipes will show signs of ageing after several years. Also, the type of use and other external factors also play a role in determining the life of your pipes.

Ideally, you should attend to the maintenance of all your plumbing fixtures and that should include pipes. If you indulge in regular maintenance, which could be twice a year or at least once a year, then you will be safeguarded against some rude surprises. Else, you can refer to these signs that your home needs to be repiped.

  • If you find a major leak from any of the pipes in your home, then you obviously need to replace it. You can easily spot such leaks by looking for water damage. A serious leak springing a lot of water will cause damage to your property and that would be very hard to miss. A minor leak will also show signs of water damage or at least buildup of moisture in certain areas of the home which will also be hard to miss. If you find any such signs, then you should not wait any longer. Call an expert and get the pipe or pipes replaced. You should not think of repairing or sealing the leaks in these pipes. Sealing them will be a temporary solution and you will be spending money needlessly without any long term assurance that the leaks won’t recur.
  • You should keep an eye out for the water pressure in your home. If you see that the water pressure in the faucets or taps and showerheads has reduced substantially, then you may want the pipes to be checked. Leaks in the pipes, buildup of sediments, corrosion and other problems in the pipes can cause a drastic reduction in water pressure. You should also look out for water bursting through the taps in short spells. This also indicates obstructions or air gushing into the pipes, both of which are signs that you need repiping.
  • Another very helpful sign is colored water or water that tastes different. Buildup of chemicals, rusting, corrosion and sediments of various kinds will cause this problem. Repiping should be a wise choice at such a stage.

 

 

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I Only Have a Home Project, Should I Hire A Plumber?

I Only Have a Home Project, Should I Hire A Plumber?

Plumbers do have a sense of humor. One had a slogan, “We fix what your husband broke!” After a while in the business, an experienced plumber has seen it all; the broken pipes, clogged toilets, leaky faucets.

inspector-says-not-to-codeShould I call the Plumber?

For a stopped up toilet that you might be able to fix with a plunger, maybe no. Everything else, YES!

What to Say When You Talk to The Plumber

Most of the time you will talk with an experienced call taker that schedules the workload for the plumbers. She, or he, will need to know, what is the problem?

Based upon what you tell them, they most likely ask you some questions about the situation, ask your name, address and phone number, and set a time for the plumber to arrive at your home. They might even give you some hints of what you can do before the plumber gets there, so the situation does not get worse, and how you may be able to work around the problem until it is fixed.

An Experienced plumber will arrive at your home with the work-order written by the call taker, and the tools and parts that their experience tells them they will need to complete the job. Usually, the more information you can tell them when you call, the better equipped they will be when they arrive at your home.

In addition to their experience, you should observe how they treat you, and your house. Plumbing is a dirty business, and some soiling of their cloths is to be expected, but they should not be dropping dirty rags and leaving dirty shoe prints as they enter. Nobody enjoys working with someone looking over their shoulder. However, a polite question about why it broke, or how not to do it next time, should bring a nice response.

Small projects sometimes have a way of becoming a serious emergency quite quickly. When changing a faucet, the shutoff valve may break off the copper pipe and you now have gallons of water flooding your kitchen. When attempting any plumbing jobs on your own, always start the job by shutting off the main valve into the house. In any case, you should know where that valve is and how to use it.

When deciding if you should hire a Knoxville Plumber, we would encourage you to give us a call today!

Knoxville Water Line Replacement

Why Install a Water Softener?

Why Install a Water Softener?

Knoxville Water Line ReplacementIf you are tired of dealing with hard water in your home, you can have a water softener installed by a Knoxville plumbing professional that you trust. At first, you might assume that the concept of a water softener is difficult to understand, but it is relatively simple if broken down into basic terms. The fact is that some of the groundwater that flows into your home is filled with dissolved minerals. This type of water is referred to as hard water.

Why Does Hard Water Matter?

When this hard water moves through the pipes in your home it can leave behind mineral deposits of calcium and magnesium in your water supply and even result in scale and lime buildup within your pipes. Having hard water in your home is not ideal and a water softener can get rid of it. If you let your pipes buildup with hard water deposits for too long, you will be left with restricted water flow and low water pressure. This means that the fight against hard water is a battle you want to join.

Why Opt for a Water Softener?

Over time, hard water does not allow soaps and grease to dissolve properly, which can lead to clogged drains. If you are looking to not only preserve your water pressure but also keep your clothes and skin from being washes properly you might want to invest in a water softener. Having a water softener installed in your home allows the amount of lime and scale buildup to be reduced substantially. This means that taking showers and washing your clothes can become so much more enjoyable and less harmful to your pipes and drains. You can count on about 75% reduction of soap use once you invest in a water softener. The lifespan of appliances in your home that function using water will also be extended as a result.

How Does it Work?

A hard water softener is specifically designed to remove certain chemicals from your water. The chemicals that it most commonly removes includes both calcium and magnesium. A water softener works in similar fashion to an air purifier. It uses ion charges to deplete water of these chemicals and keep your water from being identified as hard. Now you water flow should be maintained and you will not have to worry about your water pressure being lowered.

 

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How You Should Handle a Plumbing Emergency in Knoxville

What To Do In A Plumbing Emergency in Knoxville

emergency-plumbers-in knoxvilleAlmost every plumbing problem is an emergency, or can soon become one. It may be as simple as a dripping faucet, or as much as a broken pipe in the wall. What should you do?

If it is clear water from the water supply, it will be under a lot of pressure and spray a stream of water.

Step #1, turn off the main supply valve, usually located outside or in the basement.

Step #2, pick up the phone, and call Knoxville Plumber.

If it is waste water, sometimes called grey water, it is only under gravity pressure from an upper floor, so there is no spray, but more of a slow rising of waste water coming up the drain, into the a tub or shower.

Step #1, quit running water in sinks and baths, and do not flush toilets. That just makes it worse.

Step #2, pick up the phone, and call Knoxville Plumber.

In either case, the important thing is to stop the flow of water, whatever its source.

In the case of fresh water, shutting off the main valve for the house will stop all flow into the house. Once done, there will only be the water in the pipes, and if you open several faucets, that will slowly drain out until the pipes are empty. With the water shut off, you will have time to consider your situation, and what your options are.

In the case of wastewater, if only one sink or toilet is plugged, use a plunger to try to free the plug. If everything is plugged, it is probably in the drain line outside the house and underground. This will require a motorized “snake” to be sent down the cleanout trap, located just outside the house.

Now is the time to call a professional. The snake has sharp cutters to cut through roots and the debris that is probably piled up behind them. With the roots cut out, and the debris removed, the house drains will suddenly flow freely. To prevent this from happening, many people have their drain line cleaned yearly, especially if the pipe is old and there are trees in the yard.

After your emergency is under control, and you are looking for a Knoxville Plumber, we would encourage you give us a Call Today!