Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding Typical Plumbing Issues: A Comprehensive Guide

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MOST COMMON PLUMBING PROBLEMS IN OLDER HOMES

Galvanized Pipes

The galvanic process means coating an iron pipe with molten zinc to prevent the iron from corroding. The zinc lasts a while, but not forever. As the zinc erodes, the exposed iron begins to rust. This can cause pipes to fail, but the warning signal is easy to spot: Your water will become discolored from the rust in it.

The answer is to have galvanized pipes professionally replaced by modern alternatives, such as copper or PEX (Cross-Linked Polyethylene). A well-trained plumber and assistant can perform this work in relatively short time, ensuring a constant water pressure, no odd taste or color to your water and no leaks.

Pipe Bellies

As your Phoenix home rises and falls in its surrounding soil, the pipes leading into your home will rise and fall, too. When they buckle or bow, they form a pipe belly, a low spot that defies gravity’s pull on sewage. While this settling occurs slowly, you will eventually notice poor drainage, slow-flushing toilets and, ultimately, a clogged sewer line.

Similar to pipe bellies are pipe channeling, where hard water carves its own channel in the bottom of a sewer pipe, rendering it very weak.

Polybutylene Pipe

Once thought of as a great water pipe product, polybutylene pipe (PB) was used from the late ’70s into the early ’90s because of its low cost and easy installation. It breaks down with exposure to water and water’s dissolved solids, so it is not acceptable anymore. As time goes on, homeowners experience more and more polybutylene pipe problems.

If you have an entire house piped in PB, you need the services of an experienced local plumber to replace every run, every elbow and tee, and every connection to fixtures throughout your house. Otherwise a leak could destroy furniture, furnishings, flooring and more.

Sewer Lines

Sewers and sewer lines are definitely at the top of a lot of people’s old house plumbing problems. Sewer lines take your home’s gray and black water from drains to the sewer main, where it travels on to a municipal treatment plant. Sewer lines are always wet, so they attract tree roots. Cast iron pipes are particularly susceptible to cracking and intrusion by tree roots, which can completely clog a line.

Professional plumbers can send a camera into your home’s sewer pipe to diagnose channeling and bellies, and they can find and fix tree roots that clog your pipe. This is a much more affordable option than the disgusting and expensive issues created by a sewer backing up.

Drains

Fifty years of draining water, soap scum, sewage and shampoo can take a toll on your older Phoenix home’s drains. Clogs develop in pipes in all drains, but toilet, kitchen, and bathroom sink drains are particularly prone to clogs.

Toilets are infamous targets for children, fascinated by the disappearing act. While you may never know a small action figure or toy car went down the toilet, you will know a backed-up toilet when it strikes. A small item could start a very slow-building clog.

Kitchen sink drains also tend to accept things that should not go down the drain, like kitchen fats, bits of food that should go through a sink strainer and even bone. You can do your part, of course, by keeping waste out of the kitchen sink or having a garbage disposal installed, but in an older home you will not know what others have stuffed down there before you.

Original Fixtures

While some original fixtures are notably sturdier and of better quality than their corresponding modern fixtures, many older ones simply wear out with time. Washers and valves degrade and cause leaks. Stems and handles break. If your home still has its original spigots, faucets, handles and valves, you may not notice the tiny leaks that lead to higher water bills and unpleasant smells.

A worry spot in any home is the shut-off valve for a toilet. This little-used valve attaches where the rigid pipe exits the wall, down below the tank, and a flexible metal and plastic tube connects the water supply to the tank. That shut-off valve can get stuck in its typical, open position, so any attempt to close it may actually cause it to leak. A trained plumber can replace not only the flexible tube to the toilet tank, but the antiquated or stuck shut-off valve. This means you never have to worry about turning off the water to the toilet should a bowl clog cause your toilet to back up.

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5 Typical Household Plumbing Issues as well as How You Can Fix Them

As a property owner, you will certainly experience many different plumbing issues that occasionally make a nuisance. Some plumbing problems are more common as well as can be quickly dealt with. Doing the fixings yourselves on these easy plumbing problems can conserve you lots of cash. Have a look at 5 of one of the most typical ones below:

Slow Draining Sink

This is the most typical problem of home owners, with the sink accumulating a lot of hair, grease, debris, and also other gunk over time. Regrettably, the only means to obtain a smooth flowing drainpipe again is to get rid of the particles. Initially, you can make use of a plumbing tool for fishing out the debris. From there, you can utilize a store-bought drain cleaner to cleanse the lines.

Slow Tub Drain

Just like the sink drain, hair, soap residue, dead skin cells, and various other substances swimming pool in the drainpipe often. After using the claw, you can pour drainpipe cleaner to freshen the drainpipe lines.

Low Water Pressure

Is somebody from your family grumbling that there's low tide pressure from the sink? First, check if this issue impacts both the cold and hot water lines. The problem is the aerator within the sink which may have a lot of sedimentation resulting in low water pressure if yes. This is extremely simple to deal with as you simply need to take it out and also scrub away the natural resource.

Running Toilet

You may have experienced a running toilet, which can be quite bothersome due to the fact that the tank won't fill up. At the same time, leaving it alone relates to drainage and also spiking up your water bills. For starters, figure out what's creating it to run. You may require to replace any one of the adhering to bathroom mechanisms:
Bathroom fill shutoff
Leaking flush valve
Commode flapper

Malfunctioning Garbage Disposal System

This irritating trouble is likewise high on the checklist of typical plumbing problems. Your system will certainly include an awesome trick to unjam your machine. If you lose it, you will need an Allen wrench to fix the issue. You need to go under the sink and look for the area where you can put the trick. Use your wrench to turn the maker to release the electric motor once you identify it. Don't neglect to turn off the system and cut the circuit breaker when working with your garbage disposal system to stop nasty accidents.

You may also end up saving cash in the long run since you can rest guaranteed that your easy plumbing problem will not escalate. Just make sure you call a credible business with licenses as well as accreditations because you will be inviting complete strangers in your house.


As a house owner, you will certainly encounter numerous different plumbing issues that periodically make a hassle. Some plumbing issues are more typical as well as can be conveniently fixed. Doing the repairs yourselves on these easy plumbing problems can conserve you bunches of money. You can use a plumbing device for fishing out the debris. You might also end up saving cash in the long run since you can rest assured that your easy plumbing problem will certainly not intensify.

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