Water leaks from toilets are a common plumbing problem. Unfortunately they are 1) often hard to detect at first, 2) capable of causing major damage to flooring, even leading in extreme cases to the floor collapsing, and 3) not easy to diagnose, since there a multiple reasons for them to start.
Red Rock Mechanical, LLC Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Plumbing Repair’
Why Your Plumbing May Develop Pinhole Leaks
Monday, August 3rd, 2015
In a recent post, we approached one of the major problems that can hinder a home’s air conditioning system: refrigerant leaks caused by corrosion linked to chemicals in the air. In this post, we’re going to look at a similar problem that can negatively affect your home’s plumbing: pinhole leaks.
3 Signs of Sewer Line Damage to Watch For
Monday, June 1st, 2015
The sewer line that serves your home is a part of the plumbing that you won’t think about very often: it does its important job—the removal of collected solid waste and waste water from the home and out to the municipal plumbing system—underground and out of sight. That’s just as it should be. But this does create the problem of making it difficult to know when the pipe has suffered from damage causing a leak or blockage. Corrosion, tree root infiltration, and construction can create problems in sewer lines, and the sooner you can detect the problem and call for plumbers, the better off you’ll be. Below are three signs you can watch for that will warn you that you may have a sewer line in trouble.
Signs You May Have a Slab Leak
Monday, May 11th, 2015
Slab leak is a professional plumbing term used for leaks that occur in water lines under the foundation of a home. The name can also apply to any leak that starts under a hard rock surface, but with homes it almost always means leaks in the cold and hot water pipes down in the concrete under the house. About 80% of slab leaks happen in the hot water lines, and the rest in the cold water lines.
Leaky Faucet? Don’t Wait for Plumbing Repair!
Friday, April 3rd, 2015
The drip-drip-dripping sound from a leaky faucet can be quite an annoyance. However, many homeowners don’t see this as reason enough to call a plumber. While a leaky faucet is an inconvenience (and it may stain the bottom of the tub or sink), it often does not seem like a severe enough issue for immediate plumbing repair. However, when you keep in mind how much water a leaky faucet can wait over time, it becomes apparent that plumbing repair should be completed sooner rather than later.
If you need plumbing repair of any sort in Stowe, VT, call the experts at Red Rock Mechanical. We can repair your leaky faucet or provide leak detection services if you’re worried about leaks in your water line.
The easiest way to see how a leaky pipe affects you and your community is by looking at the numbers. At a leak rate of one drop per second, your faucet will waste 5 gallons of water a day, which is almost 2,000 gallons over a year’s time. Still think this isn’t a lot? Now consider what would happen if every home in the United States had a leak to this extent. That’s a lot of water! And, as it turns out, according to the U.S. EPA, American households waste almost 1 trillion gallons of water a year in leaks alone.
Your faucet may not be the only part of your home that leaks. You may have a leaky pipe somewhere in your plumbing system contributing to your water waste and high utilities. If you want to lessen your impact and prevent plumbing problems from worsening, you might consider having your plumber perform a full pipe inspection.
Besides, for a skilled plumber, fixing a leaky sink should not take a very long time at all. You may be surprised at how quick and painless the process is, as long as you choose a reputable plumbing company for the job. Red Rock Mechanical is committed to providing quality customer service to our customers, no matter how small of a leak we’re dealing with. Trust in our skilled team of experienced technicians for any plumbing repair you come across in Stowe, VT.
Why Pinhole Leaks are so Damaging
Monday, February 16th, 2015
Pinhole leaks are one of the most dangerous kinds of pipe leaks that can occur in your home. They also happen to be one of the most mysterious. Despite years of research, the EPA has yet to determine the cause of pinhole leaks. This makes them difficult to predict or prevent, with regular professional examinations being the only reliable way to identify and fix them before they cause too much damage. Let’s take a look at what pinhole leaks actually are, and why you should have your pipes checked for them periodically.
What are Pinhole Leaks?
Pinhole leaks are small leaks that exclusively affect copper pipes, which are resistant to almost all other types of corrosion. The type of corrosion that causes pinhole leaks is called “pitted corrosion,” where the pipe inexplicably begins to degrade from the outside in. Eventually, this opens up tiny holes in the pipe, no larger than the end of a pin. The leak is large enough to allow water to drip from the pipe, but not enough to cause a noticeable drop in water pressure. This makes pinhole leaks very hard to detect.
Why Should I Worry About Pinhole Leaks?
Pinhole leaks are a problem both because of their size and location. Most of a home’s plumbing pipes are located in the walls and ceilings, surrounded by insulation and support studs. A pinhole leak in such a location will cause severe water damage to the insulation and even rot out the studs, if given enough time. Wet insulation also provides an ideal environment for mold growth, adding a health hazard on top of the structural damage to the wall.
Most leaks have symptoms that are visible to the homeowner in some way, either through a loss in water pressure or water discoloration from rust travelling up through the pipes. Pinhole leaks have neither of these indications, as the corrosion is from the outside in and the leak is too small to cause a drop in water pressure. As such, the only way to protect your home from pinhole leak damage is to have a professional investigate your plumbing at least once every year.
If you haven’t had your home’s plumbing examined in a while, call Red Rock Mechanical to make an appointment. We provide professional plumbing repair service throughout Burlington, VT.
The Facts about Water Hammer
Friday, January 30th, 2015
Have you ever been disturbed by a loud knocking noise in your pipes? When this happens while you are comfortable resting at home, it may come as a bit of a shock. In fact, when homeowners believe that paranormal activity has occurred in a home, they often list knocking on the pipes as one of the reasons. But this noise actually has a far more probable explanation: water hammer.
Get the facts about water hammer in today’s post, and be sure to schedule plumbing repair in Essex, VT with the friendly technicians at Red Rock Mechanical at the first sign of pipe problems.
“Water Hammer” Describes a Particular Plumbing Event
Many people use the word “water hammer” to describe any strange noise in a plumbing system, assuming it’s a fairly universal term. But it turns out that water hammer is actually a specific event caused by changes to your plumbing system or an imbalance in the pipes. Water hammer occurs when there is a sudden change of pressure. If water is forced to stop suddenly, a wave of pressure forces it to change direction and knock against the pipes. This may happen because of a waterlogged air chamber or a valve that shuts too quickly.
Water Hammer May Severely Damage the Pipes
This change in momentum can actually cause some detriment to your pipes. The vibration that follows from the pressure wave may knock fittings loose and could even force a pipe to burst. This will result in costly renovations, an enormous mess, and the potential for mold growth.
What Works In Some Plumbing Systems May Not Work for Yours
Although many plumbing systems are fitted with air chambers that work to provide a cushion of air to protect against water hammer, these may become waterlogged and will need to be purged. In other cases, there are not enough protective features in your plumbing to safeguard against water hammer, and a technician may recommend any of several solutions. A new air chamber may not be possible because they are quite large, so your technician may prefer to install an arrester part. Sometimes, plumbers choose instead to install slowly-shutting valves or even new pipes.
Your best bet is to call an expert, like the plumbers at Red Rock Mechanical, to check out your pipes and decide on the optimal course of action for plumbing repair service in Essex, VT. Call us today!
Ways to Avoid Plumbing Repair Problems
Wednesday, December 17th, 2014
You don’t have to be a plumbing expert to do a few things that can help reduce the incidence of plumbing problems in your home. While you should leave repair work to a trained and certified professional, there are some simple steps you can take to help maintain your plumbing:
Schedule Annual Plumbing Maintenance
Just as your heating and cooling systems need annual maintenance, so does your plumbing system During an annual plumbing maintenance appointment, your entire plumbing system is inspected for problems, safety issues and performance. This includes all water-using appliances, faucets, toilets and sinks. Water pressure will be checked, and if any problems are found, you’ll be given a written report and recommendations on how to repair the issue. Annual plumbing maintenance can get you ahead of potential repairs before they can become large problems.
Fix Faucet Leaks
The vast majority of faucet leaks occur because the seals and/or rubber around the faucets wear out and break. Leaks do not repair themselves, so while a leak may be quite small at first, it’s best to have it taken care of right away.
Don’t Put Everything Down Your Drains
It can sometimes be pretty amazing what will get flushed down a toilet, dumped down a drain or put into a garbage disposal. Plumbing is made to remove liquid and items that easily break down in water; things that can clog, like plastic, large amounts of paper and hard items like metal or glass, should never be put into any kind of plumbing.
Don’t Do Repairs Yourself
Unless you are a trained and certified plumber, it is never advisable to conduct plumbing repairs on your own. Plumbing systems can be complex and come into contact with other systems in your home; a mistake made in your plumbing repair can affect other parts of your home, including the sewer and septic.
There’s no way to guarantee that you’ll never need plumbing repair service in Williston, VT, but taking the steps above can help reduce your incidence of it. If you do experience problems with your plumbing, call the people you can count on: Red Rock Mechanical.
What to Do if the Toilet Starts Overflowing
Wednesday, November 5th, 2014
One of the most common phone calls we get here at Red Rock Mechanical is the call from the frantic homeowner panicking because the toilet has overflown. If this ever happens to you, don’t fear; there are steps you can take to fix the problem and keep the flooding under control. However, you may need to call a professional to get your toilet up and running like normal. In this guide, we’ll go over how to stop a toilet from overflowing, what to try first to fix it, and how to prevent this from happening in the first place.
How to Stop the Water
Of course, the most important step to protect your home is to find a way to shut off the water. Look for the shutoff valve which shuts off the water to the toilet, usually located by the bottom of the bowl. If you cannot locate this valve, try carefully removing the tank cover and lifting up the float until the water stops. Shutting off the water stops it from overflowing any longer but won’t correct the cause of the overflowing.
Fixing the Problem
To fix the problem, there are a couple of steps you should take. Your toilet is most likely affected by a drain clog that allows water or sewage to back up into the house. If the backup occurs right after you flush, the clog may be localized to the toilet, in which case you may be able to clean up the area a bit and use a plunger to move the clog into the sewer. If this won’t seem to work, the problem might be further along in the drain pipes or the sewer line. In this case, you need a professional to come in and use drain cleaning equipment like motorized drain snakes that will pull out the clog or send it into the sewer.
Preventing Overflowing
An overflowing toilet can be quite an ordeal for any homeowner, and cleanup may feel like a nightmare. Keep this from occurring again by scheduling plumbing maintenance once a year with a skilled contractor. During plumbing maintenance, many of the components of your plumbing system are cleaned and inspected, so you can learn about clogs before they become a disaster.
Call Red Rock Mechanical if you need quality plumbing repair in Burlington, VT.
There Is No Such Thing as a “Small” Plumbing Leak
Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
Most homeowners know to call a plumber when there is severe damage to their pipes. But occasionally, leaks in your plumbing system are so small that they go unnoticed for some period of time.
At the first sign of a leak, no matter how small it may seem, you need to call for immediate repairs. This is because what seems like a minor leak can actually spiral into something much bigger, causing major plumbing repairs and affecting your daily activities. When you need plumbing repair in Burlington, VT, call the experts at Red Rock Mechanical to prevent major problems from occurring.
First, a leak can reduce your water pressure. Your water is kept pressurized so that it can easily flow from your faucet. Small leaks reduce water pressure, and, if a leak becomes larger over time, you may only feel a trickle just when you need a hot shower. Keep your family happy, clean, and healthy by calling a plumber at the first indication of low pressure.
Second, leaks can attract mold and mildew that seriously affect the living conditions in your home. As water pools in often-hidden areas of the home, mold forms and spores can move into the air. These spores can trigger asthma, allergies, and other respiratory problems which may affect some of the members of your household. Pools of water can also damage the structure of your home.
But perhaps the most important reason to repair issues now is that leaks will not fix themselves. Any leak can develop into a larger problem over time, flooding your yard or house and costing far more in repairs, which is why early intervention is key. Homeowners sometimes have a hard time detecting minor leaks. But if you notice any water spots in your home or yard or reduced water pressure, it could be an indication. Catch leaks even earlier by scheduling plumbing maintenance every year to make sure the most important components of your home are free of leaks and other problems.
Remember: any plumbing leak may become an emergency plumbing repair later on. Why wait for a costly fix? If you need plumbing repair in Burlington, VT, call Red Rock Mechanical today. We offer 24-hour emergency service so you can get that “small” leak repaired right away!
