You may already know that your heating and air conditioning equipment needs annual HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but were you aware that you also need to call an expert for annual plumbing maintenance? Midland Air Service Experts offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Columbia homeowners to help them locate issues before they become big problems. While you should definitely call immediately for plumbing problems and schedule your plumbing maintenance annually, here are three ways to get your home in ideal plumbing shape for spring.
Look at your home’s faucets and toilets for any leaks. When you turn off your faucets check around the connections for water dripping out; if there is, installing new fixtures or repairing the leak could help enhance the faucet’s function and may even lower your water bill.
After the faucets, examine any accessible pipes for evidence of leaks. You can typically see visible pipes below sinks and down in the basement. Extreme weather can cause pipes to freeze and sometimes crack so spring is the ideal time to make sure the winter weather didn’t cause any damage that would result in plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some long overdue care
Examine your toilet for any leaks or cracks in both the tank and the bowl. If everything seems to be in good working order, go ahead and add about six drops of food dye into the tank. Wait for about 35 minutes and then look at the bowl. If the water in the bowl is clear, you’re in the clear. If the color appears in the bowl, you might have a leak and need to call a plumbing expert.
- Remember your water heater maintenance
If a stench seems to be coming from any of the drains in your home, it be an indication that plumbing maintenance is needed. A properly running drain shouldn’t release a stench into the air. Verify there are strains placed 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 eight pints of water through drains that are not used often. This will fill the trap and help to avoid odors from getting in and stinking up your home.
Your water heater takes excellent care of you so ensure you’re returning the kindness. Keep in mind that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is more than 15 years old, it is probably about time to purchase a new one in order to ensure you don’t have that sudden burst of cold water for several days. Despite whether or not you plan on investing in a new water heater, there are some things you can do to help keep it running properly.
Check the temperature setting on the water heater and make sure it’s not higher than 120°F. This will help decrease your energy use (and help decrease your bills) while also avoiding scalding. For safety sake, you will want to move away any objects from around the water heater. Your 12 month Plumbing PLUS Maintenance program includes a water heater maintenance; and it could even help your water heater run more efficiently 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 comfortable performing any of these tasks, you are welcome to call Midland Air Service Experts and we can come out and perform your annual plumbing maintenance and repair (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.