Discussion with a plumber part 2 of 4

 

Hi gang.

 

Part 2 in a 4- part series on “discussions with a plumber”

A friend of mine, Tanner Mansfield, is the owner of Damascus Road Services, LLC

https://tannermansfield.com/

804-306-2706

 

I spent 45 minutes one evening talking to him about the issues that come up in home plumbing problems, that result in him being called.

Today, I am talking about when you should call a plumber immediately (besides the obvious water spraying everywhere)

1-      If you notice mold or mildew or rotted wood around baseboards, this is an indication of a leak in your house. This means that a plumber needs to come, find the leak, and fix it.  You may also need mold remediation, and wood repairs. Talk to your homeowners insurance to ensure they cover that.

2-     Broken pipes or other water driven appliance like water heater. Yep, water spraying all over the place, is a bad thing. I came home to a water heater that sprang a leak, and we ended up not only replacing the water heater (which you should do every 7-10 years anyway), but also the entire floor in my pantry.  Very expensive.

3-      You have little to no hot water. This can indicate several possible things. A broken hot water line, or possibly the heating element or thermostat in your water heater. Let a pro do that. With an electric water heater, you can electrocute yourself. With a gas water heater you can blow yourself up. Or, if you are really lucky, just burn out the heater element, and have to start over again.

4-      If any valve in the house doesn’t work. You should be checking the valves, including the cut off valves around the house to make sure they work, not just the faucets. Every once in a while. Go around and just check that you can turn off the water supply. If it is stuck, don’t get a wrench, call a plumber.

5-      If you smell sewer gas. This could be caused by many thing, first, run some water in every sink (been there, done that) but if you still smell it, there is a problem.I will mention that the first thing you should do is determine if the water driven appliance (sink, toilet, etc) has recently been used. 

One of the things that is VERY important is the drain trap. Every sink, toilet, tub and shower has one, This prevents the sewer gasses from coming up into your house. You need to run some water in them every once in a while, because the water is what keeps the sewer gas out. You should run some water in everything at least once a month. The water in the trap can evaporate, and allow sewer gas into the house. We had that problem, and discovered that no one had used the sink in the back hall in some time. Ran some water and it fixed the problem. If that does NOT fix the problem, call a plumber.

One of the reasons you don’t want to try to run the drain line without careful engineering Is because there can be problems. If the drain line angle is too shallow, the liquid may not drain off, and take the solid matter with it. If the drain line angle is too steep, the liquid will drain off, and go too fast for the solid material.

Additionally, you are thinking the drain line should be too big. But if the drain line is too big, the resulting vacuum can pull the water out of the other traps in the area (for example from the sink) and allow sewer gas in your house.Tanner mentioned that he had worked on a house and when the toilet flushed, it pulled the water out of the trap in the bathroom sink. The solution was not so easy, but the oversized drain line was the problem.

 Jason

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snowing... Is it a disaster?

Well, I hadn’t planned to write about snow this week… it was supposed to be security cameras. But, it snowed.   Lets talk about preparation for a snow disaster.   Lets talk about what kinds of emergencies can occur in snow storms, particularly on the east coast, and then talk about how you can prepare for them.   There are 2 categories, generally of problems that you may face. The first is home. The second is transportation/cars. The second is a bit easier to discuss, so lets start there.   CAR In your car, there are only a few things that are possible issues. You get stuck somewhere due to snow. You crash, and get stuck somewhere due to snow Your car breaks down. If you get stuck somewhere, the easiest solution is to have a snow shovel or military entrenching tool in your car. Dig yourself out. This is the easiest problem to fix. You may need help, but in most cases a shove is all you need. There are also some traction support solut
Read more

Firearm Maintanence

  Hi gang.   I know, its almost spring planting time, so I am working on some of those. I have also made contact with a fire fighter, and I am planning interview him and get some fire prevention and fire fighting tips, much like the 4 part series I did on plumbing.   But I have not done that yet.   Today, I am going to talk about firearm maintenance. The information about the schedules is coming from a number of sources, the information about breakage is coming from BattleField Vegas (BFV). Battlefield Vegas is a range that rents machine guns in Las Vegas. They go through a LOT of guns and parts.   RIFLES ARs have a very specific maintenance schedule, and if you keep it up, it may well last for near infinite time and rounds. AKs have a limited lifespan, no matter what you do, but they can be fixed, its just much harder. Most other platforms are closer to the AK than to the AR.   The AK is relatively simple. Lube it up, and change the recoil spring. When the
Read more

Winter specific tools

  Hi gang.   As you recall, I wrote about snow issues a while back. (OK, it was January 2021) https://rvadisasterprep.blogspot.com/2021/01/snowing-is-it-disaster.html   But what tools do you need for your car and home?   Well, you are a bit more limited in the space you have for a car. In your car, you need the tools to get out of a problem and get home safely. These are specific tools to the car. Lets talk about that. Of course, one of the things you will want to do is keep gas in the car. I recommend keeping the tank at least half full, because that gives you some range- half the range of your car. Most cars have a range of around 300 miles on a full tank, so you should have at least 150 miles of gas in your car. If you are running an electric car (Tesla or Chevy or Hyundai or Toyota or any other all electric) you have a different problem. The cold reduces the ability of the battery to charge and retain the charge and the heat in the car is parasitic of the ba
Read more