We all do things without thinking at times. Daily habits form and we repeat our actions automatically. Some of these habits can damage plumbing infrastructure and result in a great deal of frustration. Most people in Callahan, FL, have experienced a sudden, unexpected need for a plumber. No one can prevent every possible problem, but we can be aware of our actions and avoid seemingly insignificant actions that become more serious over time.
Damaging Hidden Pipes
Screwing or hammering a nail into the wall to hang a picture is fairly innocuous. That little nail or screw can lead to a very aggravating problem if it punctures a pipe within the wall. You’ll probably notice the problem as soon as water runs through that particular pipe because the water will end up spraying drywall or eventually soaking through the wall entirely. This scenario may even require an emergency call to your local plumber.
Drain Cleaner
Reaching for a bottle of drain cleaner on a store shelf is almost an automatic reaction to inconvenient toilet clogs. Some products are even advertised as clog prevention. The instructions claim the product will prevent future clogs. Drain cleaning solutions are extremely caustic and corrode pipes and fixtures. These products probably won’t cause too much damage with sporadic use, but heavy or constant use of drain cleaners can destroy plumbing. Call a professional for stubborn clogs and ask how you can avoid clogging in the future.
Joining Different Pipe Materials
Attempting DIY plumbing repairs can always have unintended consequences, but one surprisingly common mistake may not be obvious. You should never join two different metals. An example would be connecting a steel pipe to a copper pipe. The two metals corrode at different rates and in response to different things. This is true for any pipe material, and joining dissimilar metals may lead to accelerated corrosion and leaks. Call a plumber when repairs are necessary to save yourself time and frustration in the future.
Food Waste
Its tempting to assume anything in liquid form can be conveniently dumped down the drain. Unfortunately, grease is only a liquid until it cools. Many calls to plumbers have originated in a goopy, sticky mass of fat clogging pipes. Pour used grease in an empty beverage bottle and dispose of it with other solid trash.
Rinsing food waste down a kitchen drain is also an ideal strategy for clogging pipes. Finely chopped pieces or foods with very soft consistencies may go down the drain, but your plumber may need to remove it later if this is done on a regular basis. Some food gets stuck in pipes before reaching a septic tank or sewer mains. Clogs can start out with just a few tiny pieces that rapidly accumulate additional mass from catching subsequent food items traveling through the pipe.
Outdoor Hoses
The mild winters of Callahan, FL, are the envy of people in other snow-covered parts of the country. Local residents know snow is possible. Freezing temperatures can also occur, even though cold snaps don’t usually last long. Leaving outside hoses attached when a cold snap occurs generally leads to buying a replacement hose. Worst case scenario is a frozen faucet and damaged pipes in the home’s interior that need urgent attention from a plumber.
Plumbing Vents
Plumbing vents supply air to interior drains. The vents facilitate drainage by preventing suction and let sewer gases escape. Some homeowners forget what these vents are for and use them to run cables between rooms or mistakenly block vents completely. Obstructed vents interfere with drainage and may let gases build up in your home.
Hair and Hygiene Products
Toilets are the source of many plumbing problems. People tend to flush a plethora of items and substances that shouldn’t be swirling down a toilet drain. Hair is a very common offender. Don’t be fooled by the lack of mass in hair clippings or balls of hair pulled from a comb or brush.
Hair does not dissolve in water or oil. Its actually a rather durable substance, and it easily tangles around fixtures or bends and dips in pipes. Products, such as hair spray, gel, or serums, can solidify tangles and magnify the problem. These tangles grow every time more hair is flushed and the hair mass attracts other substances. Large clogs with significant hair content aren’t easy to dislodge, so a call to your plumber is almost always necessary.
Surprisingly, common hygiene products aren’t actually safe for toilets. Dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, and soap can damage the rubber seals in your cistern. Never flush shampoos, conditioners, hair treatments, body wash, and lotions either. These products contain all sorts of oils, fats, and soap. Cosmetics and exfoliators may contain plastic, beeswax. mica, sugar, or salt. None of these ingredients is good for your plumbing, and they all contribute to clogged toilets.
Indiscriminate Flushing
Cotton swabs, feminine hygiene products, and baby wipes are commonly flushed items that will clog your plumbing. It may not seem like a big deal to just flush such items once in a while, but even sporadic occurrences increase risk of clogs. Try not to flush biodegradable feminine products, wipes, or other hygiene items bearing ‘flushable’ labels.
None of these products decompose quickly and they could easily lead to hiring a plumber to pump a septic tank. Households connected to city water and sewer services may end up with clogged underground mains. Items that make it through into public infrastructure can create a mess for everyone. Public service workers have manually removed plenty of clogs made up of items that shouldn’t have been flushed in the first place.
Call Bert Norman’s Plumbing for any plumbing problems, regardless of their cause. Calling a professional plumber is almost always a better choice than trying to deal with problems alone.
Photo By Joe Gough at Shutterstock