Underground Plumbing Leaks
In most cities, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to maintain underground piping on the customer’s side of the water meter. This means that you as the homeowner are responsible for maintaining the pipe between the connection at the water meter and the service line. Sometimes you get leaks. If this is the case your best bet is to probably call a plumber in Atlanta. Undergrouond plumbing leaks are not for the faint of heart.
Leaks in underground plumbing can be caused by many different factors, including rusting through from age or from stray electric currents from other underground utilities that can prematurely rust metallic piping, driving over piping with heavy trucks or equipment, poor initial installation, freezing and thawing of a pipeline, leaking joints or valves, or high pressure transients from open and closing valves or starting and stopping pumps quickly. Some of the signs of underground plumbing leaks are wet spots or pooled water on the ground in landscaped areas; an area that is green, moldy, soft, or mossy surrounded by a drier area; a notable drop in water pressure (this is a sign of trouble no matter what); rusty tap water or air in thee water supply; a portion of an irrigated area suddenly dying because the water pressure is too low to read the area; cracking in paved areas; sink holes in your yard; a structure suddenly leaning; or a sudden unexplained increase in water use.
If any of these conditions appear at your home, you may have a leak. You should definitely hire a professional leak detector to deal with this unless you yourself happen to be a plumber. A professional will have the tools and know how to detect the leak without messing up your plumbing. Once the leak has been found any plumber in atlanta can deal with the underground plumbing leaks you have.
What the leak detector will do, so you know, is try to isolate the leak by disconnecting the meter. The leak is most likely in the service line. They will cap the service line just beyond the meter. Then thhey will disconnect the service line from the house and attach a pressure guage with a schrader valve and air test the line. At this time the service line is isolated and they will be able to find the leak. Once the underground plumbing leaks or leak have been identified a plumber will be able to come in and replace the service line with new pvc pipe.
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A plumber in Atlanta would just do this to fix your leaking pipes
It’s friday night, a pipe has just sprung a leak, and you cannot find a plumber in atlanta. What do you do? You don’t have to panic. The first thing you need to do is turn off the water, either at the shut off valve near the pipe or at the main shutoff valve. This will buy you some time to figure out what to do next. You probably won’t get a plumber in to do the fix for a couple days and you may or may not be able to do it yourself. However, there are a few things you could do to get yourself through the next few days.
First, you have to gather some information on the leak. Is it a small hole or has the pipe split? Then, you can try some temporary fixes that will let you turn the water back on until a more permanent fix can be put in place. You can stick a pencil point into the hole and break it off. Wrap that in electrical tape or duct tape, whichever and smear some plumber’s putty on the tape. Let it sit for about a half hour before you turn the water back on. You could also try wrapping a piece of rubber around the pipe. You could use an old inner tube or a length of garden hose. Use a c-clamp and some small blocks of wood to clamp the rubber in place.
There are some more permanent steps you can take to fix the leak and these you can do yourself so you won’t have to find a plumber in Atlanta. You can use a pipe clamp specifically designed to fix a pipe leak. They have a rubber gasket inside the clamp and are designed to fit around a pipe. All you have to do is place the clamp around the pipe and tighten the screws. This will form a permanent seal. You can get them at someplace like Lowes or Home Depot. Another thing you could try is to use a braided/flexible metal tube with compression couples on each end. This can fix not only a small hole leak but also it can fix it if the pipe is split or even if the leak is in an elbow pipe. The tubes are avaialble in many sizes.
The way to install the metal tube is to first cut out the section of pipe where the leak is. Do this by placing the repair coupling against the broken section of pipe and mark the water pipe one inch from each end of the coupling. ONce you’ve cut out the pipe, slide the compression couplings into each end of the pipe and attach the repair coupling. Tighten the compression fittings. Now you turn the water back on to check for leaks.
One really great way to fix leaks is to have had copper pipes to begin with as these rarely have any leaks. However, galvanized pipes it is much more common to leak. And, since the pipe rusts from the inside out, you have no idea what kind of condition the pipe is in but you can be sure that if one starts to leak the others will soon.
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Septic system maintenance from a plumber in Atlanta
A plumber in Atlanta does not want to be out messing with your septic tank on beautiful weekend afternoon anymore than you do. However, when you smell that overflowing tank though you know that you are in for a costly and embarassing mess.
Roughly 25 million homes in the United States have a septic tank. Every one of them requires regular maintenance to keep performing in peak condition. Luckily, this upkeep can be pretty simple, the only hard part is remembering to do it. First and foremost is to make sure there is enough bacteria in the system. Many people forget this very simple fact. When there is not enough bacteria, the system cannot break down waste matter which will lead to sludge building up faster. This in turn means the system’s outlet pipe will get blocked and the drain will be clogged and then you have a backup.
All you have to do is once a month, use the first sunday of each month so it’s easy to remember, is remember to pour a septic tank additive down the toilet. If you are using a good additive, one that is all natural, then it will add billions of bacteria and enzymes to your septic system that will be perfectly happy to break down anything you send its way.
The reason it is important to add more bacteria each month is because the water that flows to the sepctic tank whenever you flush the toilet or run water in the sink will gradually wash away the bacteria. So it’s important to put that addtive in your tank every single month. Occasionally you might also need to pump the tank.
Pumping is another essential maintence step to take. You should have your sepctic tank pumped out about every other year. This will get the insoluble waste out of the tanke which will provide the space inside the tank needed for the system to do its job. I don’t think this is exactly a DIY job so you will probably have to get a plumber in Atlanta to do it for you. While he is getting the sludge out, ask him to take a look inside the tank to look for cracks or other damage inside.
There are also a few things you shouldn’t do in order to keep your septic system in good working order. Don’t do all your laundry in one day, the system can handle one or two loads a day better than five or six all at once. Also, use liquid detergent instead of powder, powder contains fillers that can clog your septic system. Don’t hook the drain from your garbage disposal to the septic system, food waste doesn’t break down the same way as human waste and they system could become clogged. Don’t pour grease down the drain for the same reason. Diapers and tampons may be flushable but they will clog your tank. Don’t plant anything other than grass and flowers near your tank because the roots on trees and shrubs can damage it. Finally, don’t drive over the tank because the weight will damage it even when it is underground.
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A Plumber in Atlanta Recommends to following water heater tips
Every plumber in atlanta knows that heating your water is the third largest energy expense in your home. Roughly 14% of your utility bill goes towards hot water. Think about that next time you are taking your time in the shower.
There is hope though. There are a few ways that you can keep your water heating expenses down. The most obvious is to use less hot water (again with the long showers in the morning). Another is to turn down the thermostat on your water heater. A lot of water heaters come from the factory with a high temperature setting but 115 degrees fahrenheit is warm enough. You could also increase the efficiancy of your water heater by buying a new water heater. If you invest a little money now it could pay off big in the long run. Finally, if you can’t afford a newer model put some insulation around the one you have. When doing this however, make sure you don’t cover the floor, top, thermostat, or burner compartment of the water heater. If you aren’t sure what you’re doing get the help of someone who knows what they’re doing like a plumber in Atlanta.
A family of four uses over 700 gallons of water a week if each of them only shower for five minutes a day. I know I don’t shower for just five minutes a day. In comparison, 700 gallons is roughly a three year supply of drinking water for just one person. You can cut the amount of water used in half by installing low pressure flow faucets and showerheads.
Other things you can do to improve your utility bills is to repair leaky faucets as soon as you notice them. You’d be surprised at how much water can leak out of a fucet in just one night. You can also regularly drain about a quart of water from your water heater. This will remove sediments that build up and make your water heater less efficient. This is another one of those things that you may want to consult a plumber in atlanta about. Also, if you live in the climate for it, such as Atlanta, you could install a solar heating panel on your roof to heat your water. It’s environmentally friendly and these days the solar panels are designed to blend in with your roof when installed.
One final tip is to take more showers than baths. Bathing uses more hot water than taking a shower. A bath will use 25 - 30 gallons of water while a five minute shower uses about 10 gallons. I don’t know about you but I’d always heard the opposite but I guess you learn something new all the time.
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A Plumber in Atlanta does this and so should you
A good plumber in Atlanta can be hard to find. However, a lot of plumbing skills necessary are not beyond the grasp of a competent home owner. Usually when mistakes are made it’s because of a lack of knowlege of the right tools for the job. There are a few simple rules to follow to save time on any plumbing task. Here are some tips and tricks of plumbing.
The first thing is to know your material. Make sure the material you are using is up to the standards of the codes of your locality and your mortgage. An important material to know is piping material. It comes in several varieties including: rigid copper, flexible copper, rigid plastic PVC, acrylonitile butadiene styrene (ABS), Crosslink Polyethylene (PEX) and galvanized steel. Rigid copper is used for main water lines. Not everyone has a soldering iron so this may be beyond the scope of your abilities. However, if you do have one, one good trick is: if there is a drip from water already in the line you need to solder, use a slice of bread, crust removed, rolled into a tight ball. Plug the drain with the bread. It’s that simple. When you run the water through again the bread will be washed through the drain system.
In order to repair a leak in a copper pipe, first let the water drain down. Then, using a tubing cutter, cut the pipe at the leak. You can use a union or coupling to repair the pipe. A union is a lenght of copper pipe that has the same interior diamter as the exterior diameter of the pipe you are repairing. It has a ridge inside that keeps the pipe from slipping completely through.
Today, there are many types of quick connect fasteners that make DIY plumbing easy. You won’t have to use torches or soldering irons to do quick leak repairs which will save you lots of time and money. They work well with almost any type of pipe. There are several different types of these connectors avaialble. Some can even themselves be repaired.
Learning some basic techniques about plumbing can save you from having to find a plumber in Atlanta. This can save you time and money. And it can add a small measure of sanity to your life, espeically if you can finish a plumbing fix on a saturday afternoon rather than go without water until Tuesday night waiting for an expert to show up.
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Repair your own faucet without a Plumber in Atlanta
There are a number of factors to consider before making any kind of repairs to your faucet if you don’t plan on calling a plumber in atlanta. First, you need to see what type of faucet you have installed. There are four types most often used in the US today: disc faucets, ball faucets, compression faucets and cartridge faucets the last three of which are commonly known as cartridge faucets.
Compression faucets are the kind of faucets with two handles, one for hot and one for cold. Inside of each handle is a valve. When you turn the hanlde the valve opens and water flows through wheras when you turn the handle the other way the valve closes blocking the flow of water. There is a rubber washer at the base of each valve that is “compressed” to block water from flowing out and causing the faucet to drip and leak.
Cartridge faucets come in both single and double handled varietys. There is a stem cartridge inside of the faucet that moves up and down to control the flow of water. Single handled faucets move left to right to control water temperature and move up and down to control water flow. The kind with to handles resemble compression faucets but have a different feel to them since you don’t have to compress a washer to turn them off.
Ball faucets have a single handle that is attached to the faucet base with a round base. This makes them easy to spot. The ball shaped control has chambers in it that control the flow of water and mixes hot and cold water.
The most recent type of faucet created is the disc faucet. It is similar to the ball faucet, a single, cylyndrical shaped by however, the insides cosist of ceramic disc that slide over each other to control water volume and water temperature.
There are a few simple rules to follow when doing any kind of repair to your faucet. First, make sure you turn off the water either at the shutoff for the sink or at the main shutoff for the house. Second, drain the faucet by opening up the tap. Third, make sure you put down a towel or pull the stopper in case you drop something small. Finally, whatever you are trying to replace make sure you take it with you to Lowes or Home Depot so that you can make sure you buy the right replacement part.
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Avoid hiring a plumber in Atlanta with some Routine Garbage Disposal Maintence
In order to avoid calling a plumber in Atlanta you need to maintain your garbage disposal. Garbage disposals are mostly self cleaning and almost entirely maintenance free. However, when your disposal is malfunctioning it can lead to a messy headache, a headache that can be easily avoided. A garbage disposal is designed to pulverize kitchen waste from food products, however, food particles can become trapped in hard to reach areas of the disposal and in the drain pipe. This is an ideal place for mold and bacteria to grow which will create nasty smells and spores that can make you and your family sick. There are a few things you can do to avoid all this though.
Never run hot water when the garbage disposal is running. Use cold water to move the waste through the drain lines. Fats and grease will get hard when they congeal and will be easier to flush through the system if you use cold water. Hot water can melt the fat and grease and accumulate in the drainline. Also, almost all food matter can be fed into a disposal, however, things like shells, corn husks, and material with a high fiber content are no nos. Also, and I learned this the hard way, never allow glass, plastic or metal to go through the disposal. One time a plate broke in the bottom of my sink and before I knew what was happening I was buying a new garbage disposal and learning how to install it.
Routine maintenance is very easy. Try grinding egg shells or small bones. These will scrape away deposits of pulp and other nastiness. Putting ice in the disposal will clean out deposits and help get rid of smells. You can also do an elementary school science experiment. Who here has made a volcano? Pour some baking soda down the drain. Then slowly pour some white vinegar down the drain. Put the stopper in the sink, on both sides if its a double sink, to close off the drain. It’s like magic. Give it a few minutes to do its work and then pour hot water down the drain. Do this every couple months and it will save you a lot of headaches.
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A Plumber in Atlanta is not needed, do it yourself instead
You don’t need to call an Atlanta plumber to get your drain unclogged. There are lots of simple ways for you to unclog the drain yourself. It’s important that you get it unclogged right away. In the winter a clogged drain could lead to a busted pipe. Also, we all know what usually clogs a toilet. You don’t want your inlaws to come over and smell that.
The simplest method of unclogging a drain is to pour hot water in. In a sink, which might just be cloggede with grease, hot water should be enough to dissovle it away. However, there are some other low cost options available if this doesn’t work.
Just about every house has a plunger either in the kitchen or bathroom. Just put the plunger in the drain and push down a couple times. This will create a vacuum that will clear whatever is blocking the drain. However, be carefule in the winter. If it is ice that is blocking the drain you may make things worse and possibly you could cause the pipe to burst.
When it is the u-section of the kitchen sink just do it like the Atlanta plumber pros. Just cut off the water going to the sink. Then remove the section of pipe and manually clear the blockage. Once it is clear put the section of pipe back in place. Make sure you create a good seal with plumbers tape.
A very popular option for an altanta plumber to unclog a drain is a chemical drain cleaner, such as Draino. This will dissolve grease, hair, and other items in a drain. Once the chemical has had time to work just pour hot water down the drain to clear away what remains. Most modern plumbing has no problem handling this kind of treatment. If you want to use something less harsh, try mixing soda and vinegar together to form a bicarbonate. It’s less harsh on the environement though it might take more than one try to be effective.
To really make you feel like an Atlanta plumber try a plumber’s snake. It’s great for larger jobs that can be more of a challenge. You can use it on blocked kitchen sinks and toilets that the previously mentioned methods are not working for.
You should definitely try to do it yourself before calling an atlanta plumber. While people often do more harm that they intend when they try to do things themselves, it’s worth learning to fix your own clogs because a plumber will expect you to pay emergency rates to come out and fix it for you. And even then, they are going to go through the same list you just read. It’s important to know how to do some simple around the house repairs when you own your own home.
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How to Hire a Plumber in Atlanta
One of the biggest jobs a homeowner faces is plumbing work. You get lost amidst the details of pipes and fixtures and it drives you nuts. Instead you should take a deep breath and call a licensed plumber in atlanta. The right plumber can make your life a lot easier. In the end you’ll wonder why you ever thought you could do it yourself.
Finding a atlanta plumber who can do quality work is not going to be easy, but then hiring anyone to do quality work never is. You need to make sure you find someone who is qualified and comes with good recommendations. You also need to ask them some solid questions to make certain that they are the real deal and not just some wannabe. You want to make sure that whoever comes in to do the work leaves your plumbing in better shape than they found it. The right plumber will work skillfully and efficiently and will make your life a lot easier.
One consideration your should have when hiring an atlanta plumber is how long they’ve been in business. If they’ve been doing it for a long time it stands to reason that they are pretty good. It wouldn’t take long for word of mouth to get around that they are a hack and put them out of business. However, everyone starts somewhere and as long as they know their stuff you shouldn’t automatically discount someone who is young and trying to make their mark.
Another consideration would be if they are insured. You want to make sure that your home is protected in case of accidents of acts of god. Also, any plumber that is not insured is very unprofessional and it would be best for you and your home if you did not hire them.
You should also ask any potential atlanta plumber is what kind of guarantee they offer. A professional, qualified plumber would be perfectly willing to offer you a guarantee because he or she knows from experience that they do good work. Refusing to offer a guarantee is not only unprofessional but also calls into question the quality level you can expect from their work. This is not to say that an offer of a guarantee is absolute. When your shower has no water pressure and your toilet won’t stop flodding and the plumber won’t return your calls, a guarantee is worth very little. It is, however, a consideration.
Lastly, you want to find out about his/her references. Any Atlanta plumber woth their salt should have some customers willing to speak upon their behalf. It’s a bad sign if they can’t provide any references. Make sure you actually follow up on those references because some companies are counting on you not doing so. I’ve found that the best references are the ones you find on your own. Whenever I need work done I just ask my friends and coworkers whom they’ve used in the past and seek out those professionals.
Hiring an Atlanta plumber does not have to be stressful. Asking some key questions and doing your homework are they key to finding the right man for the job and the hardest thing you will have to do is sign the check.
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