3 Times You Need The Help Of A Residential Plumber
You may go for years without needing a residential plumber to help with your home's plumbing. However, there's a good chance you'll need a plumber at some point. Here's when it's a good idea to call a plumber and why you don't want to put it off.
1. When You Have A Leak You Can't Find
If you have a small leak, it may not drive up your water bill too much, but it could leak enough to cause moisture damage to your wall, carpet, or floor. The problem with some water leaks is that they are hidden, so you don't even know where they are.
You can always verify that you have a leak by reading the water meter to see if your usage goes up even with the water off. If it does, there is a leak somewhere, and it could be under the floor, behind a wall, or even under the ground.
A plumber can bring leak detection equipment to your home to pinpoint where the leak is located so it can be repaired by patching the pipe or putting a liner inside of it. Even if the leak doesn't drive up your water bill, you want to get it fixed so your home doesn't sustain water damage and so the excess moisture doesn't attract bugs.
2. When You Plan To Remodel A Kitchen Or Bathroom
If you plan to update a room that has plumbing in it, you'll want to call a plumber to help with planning changes to pipes, drains, and fixtures. The plumber may need to come back at specific times to install plumbing when other work is complete and ready for the plumber to work.
When changes are made to plumbing, the work has to be done according to current codes even if your old plumbing was grandfathered in and is not current with codes. Your plumber will need a permit to do the work, and the work has to be inspected by a codes officer, so unless you have experience installing plumbing, it's a good idea to call a residential plumber when you're remodeling your house and plan to involve parts of your plumbing.
3. When You Have A Bad Clog That Won't Budge
You've probably cleared many clogs by yourself with a plunger or drain snake, but sometimes, a clog gets so bad, you can't get it to budge. When that happens, a plumber can bring commercial equipment to your home to power through the clog and clean your drain.
A hydro jet is a common tool for clearing out drain clogs, even a sewer drain that's clogged with roots. However, a professional hydro jet is dangerous to use, so a plumber has to do the work.
You can rent equipment to do the job yourself, but it may not be as strong as what a plumber uses. Plus, you should do a camera inspection first, so you'll need to rent a sewer camera too. You may not save a whole lot of money by attempting to clear the clog yourself, and you might even be harmed if you're not careful. For that reason, it's a good idea to let a plumber use a water jet on your drains.
Visit a local plumbing website to read more.
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