You can prevent numerous plumbing issues by carrying out regular maintenance tasks. Here are some general tips to help remind us.

Clean Your Shower heads

Shower heads can get blocked with water minerals, especially if you live in an area with hard water. The clogged holes in the shower head decrease pressure and can cause issues in the piping system.

Carefully detach your shower head and soak it in a container full of vinegar. Or else, you can fill a bag with vinegar and tie it up tightly around the shower head without detaching it, making sure all the holes are immersed. Allow the shower head to soak for some hours or overnight.

Check Your Water Heater

A water heater is a vital plumbing unit that you need to keep running. Look for signs that it is getting aged or whether it has an issue that needs repair.

Begin by inspecting the floor around the water heater to look for leaks and puddles. Inspect the pipes and the fixture for moisture or additional leaking. Strange noises out of the setup or rusting can also be a sign of an issue.

If you use a conventional tank water heater, drain it once a year to help remove sediments. The sediments make the water heater run harder, increasing energy consumption and reducing your water heater lifespan. If you aren’t comfortable draining the tank yourself, you can schedule routine plumbing maintenance to handle the work and inspect other issues.

Check for Water Linkage

Toilets often cause most home leaks. A simple way to look for toilet leaks is to place some drops of food coloring in your toilet bowl. Leave it an hour or two. Inspect the toilet bowl to see whether the food coloring has gotten into the water. If so, you have a linkage, you may need to replace the flush seal.

Clean Your Drains

Even when you are careful, drains can get clogged with soap scum, shampoo, grease, or other items that run through the pipes. To prevent serious problems, clean the drains before they completely get blocked. However, avoid using clog removers or chemical drains because they are made of hazardous chemicals that can cause severe damage to your piping.

Protect Your Garbage Disposal

Garbage disposals are awesome components to have in your home, but they can’t hold everything. Some food items can cause damage to your garbage disposal or make it block.

Avoid specific food in your garbage disposal, such as:

• Coffee grounds

• Fat and grease that can coagulate

• Bread, rice, pasta, or starchy items that enlarge when wet

• Pits, nuts, and seeds

• Potato peels

When you are not sure whether an item should go to garbage disposal or not, throw it in the litter instead to be on a safer side.

Fix Dripping Faucets

Leaking faucets are not only annoying, but they waste a lot of water. A drop or two every minute can sum up to a large amount in a year and lead to additional dollars on your water bill. Leaking faucets are often caused by high water pressure or a broken component in the unit.

Insulate or Cover Plumbing Components

Although we don’t need to worry about freezing weather often in South Louisiana, we should be informed and ready for when we do. Covering your bare pipes, particularly those in cold parts or close to exterior walls, can prevent water from freezing. It can also protect your piping system and help them to run more efficiently. In addition, insulating your hot water pipes allows keeping the water heated by preventing heat loss, which can reduce your utility bills. For easy installation, perfectly fit pipe sleeves or foam pipe wrap around the pipes. The sleeves have a cut on one side to wrap around the pipes easily. Use duct tape to cover the sleeves.

Plumbing Maintenance and Repairs

Performing simple plumbing maintenance tasks during the Fall can potentially save you money and time down the line. If you find yourself in a plumbing issue beyond your reach, it may be time to reach out to our office. Give Richie’s Plumbing a call if you have any questions.