Clogged and leaking Drainage? Isn’t hiring a professional plumber quite expensive? Are you afraid that you’re going to spend some money on repairs? Nothing to worries, here are some homemade ways, tips, and advice that can help if you are tight on budget. Also, here are some things that you should avoid having trouble with your drainage system. It can also help you to not spend too much on maintenance for your drainage.
Let us start first with the kitchen sink. When preparing a meal and when washing the dishes, always avoid doing these to avoid leaking and clogging the drainage.
- Avoid pouring grease, and oil into your sink and use a strainer
You’re famished, and you just finished cooking your meal. We have all been there, excited to eat, and just putting the dishes into the sink. Next, the used cooking oils will be poured directly into the drainage. It will create severe problems for your drainage system. Due to the cooking oil’s viscosity, the pipe walls will be coated with it. As a result, the flow for the drainage will no longer be smooth; it will start up collecting food crumbs from leftover foods, drinks such as coffee and milk, and also other ingredients that might be accidentally poured into the sink. This is where the strainer will become handy, as it segregates the solids from the liquids from being poured into the sink. The solution is to permanently separate the used cooking oil before throwing the dishes into the sink to avoid clogging up your drainage with it. To avoid this problem, wait for the cooking oil to cool down and place it under a sealed container before throwing it into your thrash. By disposing of the used cooking properly, we have already avoided one severe problem to our drainage system.
- Fix or replace immediately if your tap starts to drip
If you hear water dripping one by one from your tap even though you have already closed it, fix it. It can usually result in a much bigger problem if not handled immediately then hire pvc fencing brisbane. So to avoid spending too much, fix the tap. Sometimes, it just needed to be tightened up to stop the dripping even if it is closed.
And now let’s proceed to our bathroom
- Avoid throwing tissues, and papers, and regularly check the flush is working properly
Going to be late for school, work, or meetings? Then suddenly you feel the urge to go the bathroom. As you’re in a hurry, you just tossed the used toilet paper, or tissues into the toilet bowl. These materials are used to absorb liquid but not dissolve into liquids. It will probably be clogged, or block the drainage in the toilet bowl. Then, if you go to the bathroom again, it will be probably clogged and won’t flush smoothly. You can always use a plunger to push out the clogged toilet but doing it from time to time is a major hassle. So next time, make sure to properly throw your toilet paper in the trash bin and not into your toilet bowl, and keep in mind to never flush these items again in the toilet. You can also use some toilet bowl cleaners so it can clean not only your toilet bowl but also will help avoid the drainage from being clogged. Furthermore, by checking your flush regularly, you can always be prepared and be certain that when using your toilet, the flush will always work. And a reminder; do not use your toilet bowl like a trash bin, it cannot dissolve everything even if we flush them. Not only the pipes can be damaged but also the valve of the flush.
- Clean the shower drain
During showers, we can not avoid hair falls. And these hair falls sometimes build up and cause our shower drainage to be clogged up. What’s the solution? Simple, use a wire hook, or an old toothbrush to clean the build-up. Sachet of shampoos and soap can also clog the shower drain so make sure to have a nearby trash bin in your shower area.
- Use water bucket
If the water is shut down, and you are cleaning the toilet bowl, you can always use a bucket of water as a temporary flush to flush down the dirt or the residue of what you just cleaned. This can also save you time, instead of after cleaning, open the water, and then flush it. What if there are still some left? So when cleaning the toilet, it is better to use a water bucket.
- Be aware of your surroundings
Before making a hole or pounding a nail into your wall, make sure that it doesn’t have any pipes that can be damaged during the process. Getting a pipe pierced by something can be quite expensive to replace and it may take a long time to be replaced. So, it is better that you are aware of the structure of your home to avoid pipes getting pierced. If we are living in an apartment, for example, it might take a lot of processes before we can able to fix the pipes since it is behind the wall.
- Locate the main source of your water or water main
By locating your water main, you will be aware of where your water comes from flowing into your house. There are two (2) common places where it can be found. The first one is on the heater and the next one is outside your house, and it is usually beside the pressure meter. You might be wondering, why do I need to locate the water main? The reason is if an accident happens and there is a leak in your pipes, the first thing that you are going to do is turn off the water valve in order to stop the water from flowing and you will now have time to locate the leakage and get it fixed.
- Always check if the pressure is correct
Again, you are wondering. Why do I need to check this? The reason is, that if the water pressure is not set properly, it can burst down the pipes and can cause them to tear up and have a leakage.
- Understand how to solve the basic problems yourself in regards to plumbing
The internet is free. We can learn everything through whatever media we choose. For example, YouTube Tutorials, reading e-books, and blogs, or watching articles online. Just type what you need, search it on the internet, and there will be a ton of solutions that will be presented to you. Knowing the basic or minor problems in plumbing will save us a lot of money. Why? Because we now know the source of the problem, we already have an idea of what is the problem, and we got the solution that we are going to do in order to solve the minor issue. We can just follow the guides and instructions that can be found on the internet.
- Be equipped with plumbing tools
Plumbing equipment is very essential to our home, it will be a big help, especially in emergencies. Plus, it will give us experience on how to fix our drainage system by ourselves. Tools can be pricy, however, hiring someone to fix your drainage system is much more expensive, even if the problem is just some minor issue. Since you have already studied the minor issues that may occur and you already got the tools for repairs and maintenance, then you can probably do it yourself.
- Plumbing Tape is your friend
This small white piece of tape will help you with everything that is related to plumbing. This tool is a must for every household that wants budget-friendly maintenance. For example, if your tap is starting to leak, remove first the top part of the faucet and put plumbing tape around it before putting the top part of the faucet again. This will help the faucet tighten up without the need of replacing the whole faucet instead. You can also use plumbing tape when doing repairs to your pipes. As well as the faucet, the pipe will help you repair the pipes while avoiding any leaks during the process of repair.
- Always have a spare for emergencies
Buying new equipment again for your home is quite expensive, but these little sacrifices will save you in the long run. For example, there is a small area or a part of a pipe have signs of leakage. Since you have the spare pipe, you can now replace it. However, if it just needs some plumbing tape or seal, replacing the pipe immediately is not recommended. The spare will be used if the pipe has been worn out already and you have already fixed these parts of the pipe before. This is for you to avoid spreading or increasing the pipes that are worn out. It is just like an apple, if there’s a rotten one, you throw it immediately before it spreads to the other apples.
- Regularly check for leaks
Nothing is more important than making sure that there is no problem. By regularly checking your pipes, you can look for signs, if this pipe might leak after a few days or weeks. It will help you be prepared and have an idea already of where the pipe should be fixed if there’s a leakage.
These are sometimes unforeseen events and we cannot avoid these kinds of problems to appear in our daily life, and we all want to save some money and not spend too much on repairs for repairs. Our problems can be solved when we study them. Understanding the cause, looking for a solution, and solving the problem is an achievements. The best way to avoid spending a lot of money on maintenance for your plumbing is by preventing your drainage system to broke down and having some problems. Following the tips and advice that were stated above, it will decrease the probability that your drainage might experience some clogging. Keep in mind that even the smallest food crumbs and residue can have a large impact on our drainage if not treated immediately.