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Blog Posts

How to Improve Furnace Efficiency in the Winter

Maximizing furnace efficiency during the winter helps you save on heating bills and ensures your home stays comfortable and warm.

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Why You Should Replace Lead Pipes: Health Risks & Solutions

Is your home at risk? Discover the hidden dangers of lead pipes and how they affect your health. Learn solutions for a safer home!

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How to a Fix Water Hammer in Your Home Plumbing System

A water hammer can cause loud banging or thumping noises in your pipes, potentially leading to damage if left unresolved.

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Transform Your Bathroom with Expert Shower & Bathtub Installation Services

A. McKenna Plumbing does all the dirty work so you can keep clean. Our plumbing experts have worked with all shapes, sizes, types, and brands of showers and tubs.

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Do I Need a Water Heater Flush?

Maintaining your water heater might not be the most glamorous household chore, but it’s a crucial one. Flushing your water heater at regular intervals can improve efficiency, prolong its lifespan, and ensure your home continues to have reliable hot water.

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Signs Your Air Conditioner Needs Repair: Don't Ignore These Red Flags

There is no doubt that air conditioning systems are essential for maintaining comfort in our homes. They can, however, present themselves as a dual-edged sword, occasionally developing issues that require prompt attention.

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Creating Accessible Bathing Solutions 

Creating accessible bathing solutions is essential for supporting the independence and well-being of the elderly aging in place.

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Rough-Ins: The Understated Foundation of Your Basement's Plumbing

Admittedly not the most glamorous aspect of a finished basement, plumbing rough-ins are crucial to the function of your basement's plumbing.

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Can I move my Washing Machine to a New Floor?

Moving a washing machine out of your basement to a new floor is possible, however, it does require a lot of preparation with a focus on safety. Learn more!

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What Is Poly B Plumbing and Why Replace It?

Polybutylene pipes, commonly referred to as Poly B pipes, were once popular among homeowners due to their affordability. However, over time, these pipes have become infamous for their tendency to fail unexpectedly.

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Plumbing Considerations for New Home Construction

Understanding all that new plumbing considerations entails is imperative to the success of your new home construction.

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Childproofing Your Plumbing

Childproofing your plumbing is crucial in creating a safe environment for your curious explorers. Here's a comprehensive guide with essential information on ensuring your home's plumbing is child-safe.

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Energy Efficient Plumbing Upgrades for Oakville Homes

Your home's plumbing system plays a significant role in energy consumption. Learn how smart upgrades can save you money on your next water bill.

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Why Is My Toilet Bubbling?

Understanding why a toilet at your Oakville property is bubbling will help you know when it’s time to seek professional attention.

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What Qualifications Should a Plumber Have?

To guarantee top-notch service and avoid plumbing disasters, it's imperative to understand the qualifications a professional plumber should have.

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Residential and Commercial Plumbing: Understanding the Key Differences

The plumbing needs of residential and commercial structures vary significantly due to differences in scale, usage, regulations, and complexity.

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How Often Should I Clean My Sump Pit?

When left unattended, a full sump pit can cause numerous issues for your property, and result in costly fixes that could have been avoided if the appropriate preventative measures had been taken.

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What to Do When Your Water is Brown

Brown water can occur when sediments get into your water. This can happen when there is a disturbance or surge of water in the main water lines.

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Choosing the Right Toilet for Your Bathroom

Thinking about getting a new toilet? Learn what to look for and how to save money with the best toilet for your home.

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Should I Repair or Replace My Air Conditioner?

Is your AC unit not turning on this summer season? Here are a few things to consider before deciding to replace or repair your Air Conditioning unit.

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How do I diagnose water pressure problems in my home?

When water pressure is too low or too high, there could be a problem that needs to be fixed. Here is a guide on how to diagnose water pressure in your home.

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Do I Need A Water Softener?

If the hardness of the water in your home is greater than 7 grains per gallon you should consider getting a water softener. Learn why!

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The Most Common Plumbing Mistakes Homeowners Make and How to Prevent Them

When it comes to the plumbing in your Oakville home, there are a few projects many homeowners feel they can take on themselves without having to call a professional plumber. However, many homeowners can also make a few common plumbing mistakes, leading to bigger issues. Here are some tips on preventing these mistakes in your own Oakville home. 

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Outdoor Plumbing Winterization 

Any Oakville homeowner can winterize their outdoor plumbing so that there are as few issues as possible in the future.

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Should I Use a Ceramic or Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink?

There are two main materials usually used for sinks, which are ceramic and stainless steel, but how do you choose between these two? Here’s what you need to know when choosing ceramic vs stainless steel for your sink.

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How to Prevent Frozen Pipes 

Frozen pipes can burst and cause massive flooding in your home, that could cost thousands of dollars to repair. Here is what you can do to avoid freezing pipes.

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How To Unclog Your Kitchen Sink 

As an Oakville homeowner, you've likely known the frustration of a clogged kitchen sink. One important piece of knowledge a homeowner can have is how to unclog their kitchen sink themself, even if it's just the basic knowledge. Here's how you can unclog the kitchen sink of your Oakville home.

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Most Common Plumbing Code Violations in Oakville & Mississauga

Plumbing that is not up to code is a nightmare waiting to happen. The plumbing code ensures that your home’s pipes and fixtures run efficiently, safely, and in a sanitary manner. When there are code violations, it can result in major repair bills.

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How to Patch a Leaky Pipe While You Wait For a Plumber

When you have a leaky pipe in your Oakville home, it can feel like you’re waiting forever when a plumber is on the way. Plumbers will get to your home as fast as possible, especially when it’s...

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What is The Best Toilet Paper for Your Plumbing 

There are certain types of toilet paper that are better for your plumbing than others, and here’s what you need to know.

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Why Is There Sewage Coming Up Through My Bathtub?

As a homeowner, you have to deal with many unforeseen problems inside and outside your home. But some issues – like sewage coming up through your bathtub drain. If you’re experiencing this problem currently at your home, here’s what you should know about it.

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Should You Adjust Your Water Heater Temperature?

With rising energy costs, you may be looking at ways to save money. Before you consider adjusting your water heater temperature, here’s what you should know.

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How Much Does Water Usage & Conservation Matter?

The small actions that we take right here in our Oakville homes to conserve water can benefit the entire world.

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Do I need a sewer camera inspection?

If you have an older home, a foul smell around your drains, a bubbling toilet, or water coming back up drains - then a camera inspection is recommended.

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Plumbing Priorities Before You Leave for Vacation

No matter how much planning you do in advance, leaving for a vacation is often stressful. Besides trying to remember everything you’ll need, you also need to prep your home for while you’re gone.

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How to Easily Remove and Prevent Rust Stains in Your Toilet

If you have rust stains in your toilet, keep reading to learn how to remove your current rust stains, plus prevent further ones from forming.

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How to Patch a Leaky Pipe While You Wait for the Plumber

Water’s been leaking from that pipe for a while now, and you’re getting tired of replacing the sopping wet towels underneath. You put an emergency call in with your plumber but are awaiting a callback. What should you do in the meanwhile to prevent further damage? Below, we’ve outlined some tips on how to patch a leaky pipe until your plumber arrives.

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The Importance of Furnace Maintenance 

Most of the homes in Oakville are heated by a furnace, and with the harsh Canadian winters we experience, it’s important to make sure the central heating source of our homes is in good working order. It’s recommended that furnace maintenance be done once a year, but many homeowners don’t do regular maintenance because of the cost or potential scheduling conflicts. It is important, though, that you do that regular maintenance – and here’s why. 

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5 Most Common Summer Plumbing Problems – and Solutions

Warmth, relaxation, and fun typically await us during the summer – but plumbing problems can arise, too. With outdoor summer activities and visiting guests, your home’s plumbing systems are getting extra wear. Below, we’ve outlined five common summer plumbing problems that you may run into this season.

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Hydro Jetting: Sometimes You Just Need to Call a Professional

As one of the most thorough methods to clean plumbing pipes, hydro jetting can tackle even the most stubborn clogged drains.

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Should I Go With Hydronic Heating, In-Floor Heating, or a Traditional Furnace?

When it comes to heating, we need to make the right decision for ourselves, our families, and our budgets. Here’s the difference between hydronic heating, in-floor heating, and a traditional furnace.

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What Type of Faucets Should I Install?

We need to consider the most suitable faucets for our water needs, including kitchen taps, bathroom sink faucets, wall-mounted faucets, bathtubs, showerheads, laundry sink faucets, compression faucets, and industrial applications.

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What Does a Plumbing Rough-in Include?

Are you building a new home or home addition in Oakville and require a qualified plumber to complete your plumbing rough-in?

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How long does it take to install plumbing in a new house?

While installing the plumbing in a new home only takes a few days to a few weeks, if you are just adding up the hours, there are things that need to happen first, which can delay the work.

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Install In-Floor Heating and Keep Your Toes Warm This Winter

What’s cozier than crawling out of bed on a chilly morning and stepping onto your warm bathroom floor? Once you experience the comfort of in-floor heating, you’ll want to have it in every room of your house! Here’s what you need to know about installing underfloor heating in your home this winter.

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How to Avoid Loss of Water Pressure in Your Shower - A. McKenna Plumbing

There’s nothing better than getting into a hot shower, with the water pressure massaging your shoulders. What happens, though, if you jump into the shower and there is barely any water pressure? Here are a few ways you can avoid loss of water pressure so you know you’ll always enjoy your shower.

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DIY Drain Cleaning: Why It Can Be a Bad Idea

You may think you’re saving yourself money or the inconvenience of contacting a professional, do-it-yourself (DIY) drain cleaning may not always be the best solution. Here’s why!

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How You Can Prepare for Emergency Plumbing Situations This Winter

It’s always good to be optimistic, but as a homeowner, you should be mindful that plumbing emergencies can and do happen – especially during the colder seasons. The following plumbing emergencies can happen at any time; however, some are more likely to arise during the winter.

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What You Need to Do to Prepare Your Home’s Plumbing for Winter

Before going full-steam-ahead and enjoying everything Canadian winters have to offer, there are some matters you should tackle first. One of the biggest obstacles you’ll have to deal with before enjoying the season is getting your house ready for it – particularly when it comes to its plumbing systems.

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Bathroom Renovations and Your Plumbing

Most Oakville homeowners think about how a bathroom renovation will look when it is completed, but they forget to think about the plumbing behind the scenes.

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What is a Backwater Valve? And Do I Need One?

A backflow preventer, or backwater valve, is a plumbing term that most homeowners should know. You might not believe you need a backwater valve, but here's what it does for your home, and why it's important...

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Insurance Coverage for Leaks and Flooding

As a homeowner, leaks and floods are some of the scariest things that can happen to your home. Water, where it isn’t supposed to be, can cause a whole lot of damage to the interior of any house and that can result in some very large repair bills. In some cases though, the cost to repair water damage in your Oakville home may be covered under your homeowner’s insurance. Here’s what you need to know

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Reasons you might need an emergency plumber during COVID-19

With many Oakville businesses being shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are often left confused as to which services they can and cannot access.

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8 Plumbing Supplies Every Homeowner Should Have

In order to fix minor plumbing issues you'll have to have some essential tools handy. Here's a list of plumbing supplies every Oakville homeowner should have.

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Why Should I Clean My Drains Before Spring?

Once the temperatures begin rising, thoughts turn to spring. Here’s why cleaning your drains before spring is important as well as tips on how to do it right.

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How Much Does Plumbing Cost?

There's never a convenient time to have a plumbing problem, but getting plumbing issues fixed early should be a priority for homeowners in Oakville and Halton.

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The 8 Most Common Plumbing Problems in Oakville

Wondering if the plumbing issue at your home is something that commonly occurs to other homeowners? Here are the eight most common plumbing problems.

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Kitec Plumbing Replacement – January 9, 2020 Deadline Claim

If your Oakville home has Kitec plumbing products you may be entitled to a portion of a US$123 million settlement that was won in a class action suit.

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4 Common Plumbing Emergencies and How to Avoid Them

Your home’s plumbing is relied upon for washing, drinking, preparing meals and more. So when a plumbing emergency happens, it’s a big inconvenience.

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How to Clean a Sink's P Trap

Have a slow draining sink? Learn how to clean your Sink's P Trap to quickly fix the issue.

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How to Prevent a Backed Up Sewer Line in Your Basement

If a sewage backup happens in your basement, finding the root cause is crucial before any repairs can be made. Here’s how to do both!

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Do You Need a Professional to Replace a Water Heater?

When a household appliance goes on the fritz in your home, what’s the first thing you do: Phone a professional or attempt to fix it yourself?

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Common Plumbing Problems to Look For Before Purchasing a Home

Most people when they purchase a home make their offer contingent upon a successful home inspection. But some plumbing issues you can look for yourself.

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Why is Water Leaking from the Light Fixture in My Ceiling?

Perhaps you’re one of the many homeowners who has noticed a strange drip coming from your ceiling light fixture or heard a sizzle coming from a light bulb...

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Why is My Water Bill So High?

Your water bill is a major utility cost in almost any city, so it’s important we be as efficient as possible when using water in our homes.

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Why is My Water Cloudy and How Do I Fix It?

You turn on the tap to get a refreshing glass of water and notice that the water looks cloudy. Why? We’ve got the explanations – as well as the solutions!

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Avoid Plumbing Disasters

As many homeowners know, there are few things that can ruin a day quite like a plumbing disaster. Keeping your plumbing healthy will help avoid such disasters.

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Hot Water Not Lasting? Here’s Why

There’s nothing worse than getting ready for a nice hot shower or tub soak only to discover cold water coming out of the tap.

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Avoid Frozen Pipes This Winter

Winter is right around the corner and your house exterior and interior is about to get a beating. When temperatures plummet, the risk of your pipes freezing and bursting skyrockets.

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Tips & Tricks for Dealing with Plumbing Clogs at Home

Your kitchen and bathroom sinks do a great deal of work around your home. However, when they get clogged or not running at their optimum, you notice right away. Typically, clogs happen because of built-up debris in your pipes. These particles can include everything from crumbs or hair to dirt, grime or grease.

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How Often Should You Get Your Water Pipes Inspected?

The plumbing in your home is not cosmetic. It is an integral part of the overall functioning of a house. If you have a leaking pipe or clogged drain or notice the potential of a plumbing problem, the issue must be addressed before it becomes a bigger problem and major headache.

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Why is My Washing Machine Leaking Water?

Are you finding it difficult to do laundry with a leaking washing machine? Ask yourself the following four questions to find the source of your washing machine leak.

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Signs Your Toilet Needs to be Replaced

Are you keeping up with your home's plumbing? Here are some signs to watch out for in determining if it’s time for a toilet replacement.

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The Role of Plumbing in Your Summer Renovations

Now that summer has arrived! Be sure to consider plumbing during your renovations. Here’s what you need to know about including plumbing in your summer renovation plans.

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How to Hire a Reputable Plumber

Many homeowners find themselves in the situation of needing a plumber at some point to perform plumbing work in their home, but like most of us, we find hiring a plumber a daunting task.

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Saving with Tankless Water Heaters

In today’s energy efficient and cost effective market, tankless water heaters have gained a great deal of attention and popularity. There are many reasons why you should consider switching to this type of unit when it’s time to replace the old one.

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How to Maintain Your Garbage Disposal

Not properly maintaining a garbage disposal will result in decaying food remaining in the appliance, which can make your whole house smell. Maintaining a garbage disposal is relatively easy by following a few simple rules and tips

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Can Changing your Showerhead Save Money?

Not only are you saving money by using less water, you’ll be heating less water so multiple utilities are impacted by changing out the shower head.

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Is Hamilton’s Drinking Water Safe?

Thanks to the City of Hamilton's stringent water standards, you can count on the water flowing from your Hamilton taps to be completely safe drinking water.

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Do You Recommend Primers and Plastic Pipe Cleaners?

Wondering whether you should use a primer or plastic pipe cleaner for your next plumbing project? You’re not alone! This is a question that is frequently asked of and debated by plumbing renovators....

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What Causes Water to Leak from my Water Heater?

Most people, if they find that their water heater is leaking assume the worst and believe that their hot water tank must be replaced.

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The Causes of High Water Bills and How to Fix Them

Have high water bills? Here are a few common reasons why you may be experiencing higher than average costs and what you can do to fix them.

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Have a Noisy Toilet Flush? Here's How to Fix It

There are many factors that can cause a noisy toilet flush. Here are a few of those causes and the necessary steps on how to resolve them.

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What is the Best Way to Stop Creaking Pipes?

Does your home’s plumbing system make you feel like you are in a haunted house filled with all kinds of creaking and groaning noises? Noisy pipes are not only annoying but they can make you feel...

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Choosing The Right Plumbing System for Your Home

Copper vs. PEX pipes for your plumbing, which one is for you? Here we take a look at what these materials are, as well as their pros and cons.

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DIY: Plumbing Inspection Checklist

Before you buy the home of your dreams, be sure to inspect all of the plumbing features because plumbing areas are usually the hardest to fix. Buying a home is probably the biggest investment that you'll...

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Tree Roots and Plumbing Pipes Don't Mix

If your tree roots have infiltrated your plumbing system, you know that it doesn't take long for them to make an unwelcome home in your pipes. A tiny crack can lead to the breakdown of one of more pipes...

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How Much is that Small Leak Really Costing You?

Do you have a leaking faucet, shower or running toilet in your home? If so, you may be surprised to learn how much that small nuisance is costing you....

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How To Keep Your Drain Pipes Clean

Cleaning your drain pipes can be a chore, but learning how to keep your drain pipes clean before they get dirty can save you the haste.

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3 Tips for Cleaning Bathroom Tile Grout Fast!

No matter how clean your bathroom or kitchen floor is, if you have dark and dingy grout between the tiles, your space is not going to look and feel as clean as it could. The problem however, is that grout...

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Choosing the Right Fittings

Choosing your bathroom's fittings and fixtures is an important part of the design process. These include everything from the major bathroom items like showers, bathtubs and sinks, all the way down to the minor details such as what handles to put on a cabinet or the tap design that you are after.

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Help! My Pipes Are Frozen! Tips and Tricks to Unfreeze your Pipes

As we settle into the cold winter months, one of the dangers of the plummeting temperatures is that your pipes can freeze. Unfortunately, the result isn`t just about having frozen pipes and its effect...

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Natural Ways to Deodorize your Garbage Disposal

Even in the cleanest of homes, where there is old food there is usually a bit of a stink. And although it`s perfectly normal, it can also be pretty unpleasant! A stinky garbage disposal can be off-putting to everyone, so how can you keep it clean and stink-free but without using harsh or expensive chemicals?

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How do you know if you have soft or hard water?

How do you know if you have soft or hard water? Often the side effects will be the best indicator of which water is flowing through your taps. If you've never had any other kind, you may need a...

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Tips to Make Your Shower Head Look Like New

If your shower behaves more like a leaky tap, hard water might have gotten the best of your shower head. If you need to take a day off work to complete that shower, finding a solution is a must. The vast...

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Winterize Your Home Plumbing

With the cold winter months just around the corner, frigid temperatures can wreak havoc on your home's plumbing system.  You want to be prepared ahead of time before the temperature drops and causes...

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Repairing vs. Replacing Pipes: When to Repair vs. Replace and What's Involved

Having problems with your plumbing can not only be very damaging and expensive to fix (or to fix the damage which is caused by water), it can also be very worrying for the people inside the home. So it...

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Essential Plumbing Tools to Have on Hand in Case of an Emergency

For anyone who owns their own home, damage limitation is one of the most important aspects of looking after it. Unfortunately, water can be one of the most damaging substances that a building can be exposed...

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Tips to Keep your Garbage Disposal Running Smoothly

Our garbage disposal is likely the hardest working appliance in the house. We can't live without them and yet they are largely ignored. If your garbage disposal is fighting back and no longer living up...

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Washing machine maintenance and care for the summer

With the summer months upon us, laundry can seem to be a never ending job. The only thing worse than having an endless pile of dirty clothes around the house is having a washing machine on the fritz. Keep...

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Low Quality Water

Municipal testing doesn’t account for contamination within the pipes in your home and if you’re not on city water your wells and cisterns need to be tested.

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Leaky Toilet Troubleshooting

A leaking toilet can cause damage to the floor and subfloor around the toilet due to the dampness of the water causing rot and mould.

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What To Do When Your Sink Drain Smells

Creating a home that looks and feels good is a priority for most. Having a home that is friendly on the nose is equally important. If you have a smell that you just can't unearth, the culprit might be...

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Save Money with Water Efficient Appliances

Of all of the products that you use in your home, water usage appliances account for a significant proportion of your costs because it is not just the water being used but the electricity as well.

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Unplugging Drains Without Using Chemicals

Most of us never think about the drains in our homes until something happens to plug them up, but we should be more conscious about their function because they’re hidden heroes.  Luckily for many...

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Replacing your Plumbing Pipes

Before replacing the plumbing pipes in your home, you want to make sure you know the different types of pipes available and what would work best for you.

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Why You Should Stop Using Drain Cleaners

When you've got a clogged drain, you can't unclog it fast enough. Your drain didn't likely get that way overnight. It can take months for hair and debris to build up in our pipes or one carefully placed...

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How hard is it to move my sink, tub, or toilet during a bathroom renovation?

You can move your sink, tub, and toilet around in your bathroom renovation, but bear in mind that doing so will require a reworking of your plumbing, and that’s no small job.

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How To Fix A Slow Draining Toilet

Do you find yourself having to flush your toilet two or three times to avoid leaving nasty "presents" behind for the next person who uses it? A slow draining toilet can be the source of much...

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New Trends in Plumbing

Like never before we are seeing technology being integrated into plumbing systems. And for a good cause. Where we have needed a boost, especially in the controlling of water and energy wastage, we are beginning to see steps forward.

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Common Plumbing Myths

There are many common myths that homeowners believe about their plumbing. A home's plumbing system requires special care to run efficiently and remain reliable.

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Avoiding Plumbing Nightmares

You can you prevent plumbing disasters by following these tips in maintaining your home.

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Most Common Plumbing Questions Received by Plumbers

Here are some the most common plumbing questions, which can help you save money and reduce the chance of plumbing emergencies.

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Preventing Sewage Backups

Preventing a sewage backup is always cheaper than repairing the damage a backup can cause. Many of the things we subject our pipes to every day put our plumbing and sewer system at risk. Sewer backup happens...

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Choosing a Toilet

We hope you don't too spend too much time on your toilet, but we all know that it's enough time to consider carefully what kind of toilet we want to purchase. Whether it's for a new bathroom or a replacement...

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Where Should My Laundry Room Go?

When it comes to relocating your laundry room, convenience is the most important thing for determining where it should be located in the house.

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Low Pressure Shower Heads - Make your Hot Water Last Longer

Low pressure shower heads can help saving on energy and water bills, while making your hot water last longer.

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Handling a Plumbing Emergency

When it comes to an emergency plumbing situation, no problem should be left to chance, since it can lead to potential damage to your building and its contents.

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The Advantages of a Water Softener

There are many benefits to having a water softener installed in your home. Many people wonder if a water softener is right for their home. Here is some information on the benefits of getting a water softener....

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Frequently Asked Plumbing Questions

As master plumbers, we get a lot of questions about plumbing. So, we have put together a list of plumbing questions that we seem to get quite frequently, to answer some of your inquiries....

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