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.
Overtightening connections
If you overtighten the connections on supply tubes, pipes or toilet bolts, it can cause major issues down the road. Cranking too hard on a galvanized pipe or an elbow or tee, you may end up cracking the fitting. Now the crack may not appear or be evident immediately; however, over time, the excess force on the fitting can leak or even cause a flood.
So, when you’re tightening the connections, you want to ensure it’s tight enough but not more than necessary. It’s important not to overly crank the fitting and tighten it just enough to stop any leaks from happening.
Using chemical drain cleaners
When you have a clog in one of the drains of your Oakville home, it’s very common to reach for the chemical drain cleaner, but that isn’t going to be the best choice. Using a drain cleaner too often can damage the metal traps or even the material of the pipes, which will eventually cause leaks. Liquid drain cleaners can also damage rubber gaskets, so if your house has rubber gaskets, it could lead to leaks in the future.
Instead of using chemical drain cleaners, try using a drain snake, a barbed drain cleaning tool or a power auger to remove the clog you’re experiencing. You may also need to remove the P-trap and remove the clog manually. If the clog is really big, you may need to call in a professional plumber to remove the clog.
Not turning off the water
When doing a small plumbing project around the house, many homeowners may not consider turning off the water to the house, or at least in that area of the home.
You may think that you can quickly change out a valve or a faucet without turning off the water, but if you can’t really change it quickly, you may be risking thousands of dollars in damage to your house with flooding.
To be safe, it’s better to just turn off the water to that area of the house or even the whole house if you can’t turn it off by section. Those few moments of preparation can save a lot of extra work after or prevent damage to your home.
Not using the right tools
Professional plumbers have various tools they bring to a job site so that they have the right tool for whatever they may come across. Thinking one or two tools will be all you require could cause more work to be done down the road.
Instead, spend a little time researching the project you’re taking on to ensure that you have the right tools for the job and that you are aware of how to use each one for this project.
Contact McKenna Plumbing today
While there are many plumbing jobs around the home you may be able to do yourself, it is also important to admit when a job is beyond your ability or comfort level. If you have a plumbing issue that you would like assessed or repaired by a professional, contact our Plumbers in Oakville today.