3 Important Plumbing Tips and Tricks for Seattle Homeowners

Pipes, faucets, and toilets are an important part of a comfortable home environment and as such, every homeowner should know a few basic things about plumbing. Knowledge of plumbing basics can save you a ton of money in homeownership maintenance costs over time, not to mention the potential value of knowing what to do in a plumbing emergency.

Everyone who lives in a house needs to know how to turn the water off inside the house. Burst pipes can happen suddenly and the ability to act quickly to shut off the water can make the difference between having to sop up a little water off the floor with a towel and major property damage. You and everyone who lives in your house (including kids) should know where the water shut-off valve is located on the property and how to turn it off. Any time you have a leak in the house, you should first shut off the water valve to stop the leak and fix the problem.

The second thing every house or apartment dweller should know is how to manage an unruly toilet. It’s important to know how to unclog a toilet using a plunger since this is a problem that’s always inconvenient, but simple to deal with if you have the right tools. Clogged toilets can happen frequently no matter where you live in Seattle so everyone needs to have a plunger on hand to unclog a plugged toilet. For any given clog, you may have to plunge it more than once to unplug it all the way.

To fix a toilet that refuses to stop running you’ll need to figure out why the flap inside the tank isn’t closing properly. Find the shut off valve behind the toilet to turn off the water first and then, check inside the tank to see if there’s a problem with the chain or the arm that holds the chain up. The flapper, the chain, or the arm may need to be replaced.

And finally, it’s important that you know how to unplug a clogged drain. For sink and bathtub drains, Drano can be a good choice, but if you don’t have Drano on hand, a mixture of baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water can help you get the water flowing again. For drains that are clogged by hair, you may need to buy some special tools to remove the clog manually.

These basic plumbing tips can help you manage most your home’s plumbing issues. For information or assistance finding plumbing supplies to keep your pipes in great shape, contact us or come on in to Greenwood Hardware today.