Why Regular Plumbing Maintenance Saves You Money in the Long Run

Many of us don’t think about the plumbing at home, until we get a water bill that is extremely high or a pipe bursts and turns our kitchen into a wading pool. By this stage, it’s probably an expensive operation to fix things. If you’re lucky, there’s a plumber available now. If you’re unlucky, it’s after hours.

However, doing some regular maintenance and regular checking of your plumbing can save a lot of time and money. A little effort put in can prevent many potential plumbing disasters. Getting in and unblocking your blocked drains, or plugging your leaking tap in Bundaberg can be easier than you think.

The team here at Plumbcall want to help you with the regular maintenance of your water works. As we’ve said, it’ll save you money and you’ll learn some great handyman skills along the way.

Why is Regular Maintenance Good

There are many good reasons for regular checks and maintenance of your plumbing. We do it with our cars, checking the oil regularly so that the engine does not seize and cost us an arm and a leg. So the same applies with your plumbing. Changing a washer in your tap that costs thirty cents can save an enormous water bill from a leaking tap.

Here’s a list of the advantages of regular plumbing maintenance:

1. Prevent Costly Repairs: Like the small issue of a worn washer, or using a solution to unblock some slow drains, doing this can prevent a build up, resulting in an expensive plumbing emergency.
2. Reducing Utility Bills: Fixing that leaking tap can dramatically drop your water bill. Making sure none of your water-using appliances are leaking, or stopping that constant hissing sound with your toilet, can save you huge bucks on your bills.

1.  Extend the Lifespan of your System: Regular maintenance can prevent the failure of some systems. This means they last longer, and you don’t have to replace them as often. This saves you money, and gives you the convenience of knowing everything is working fine.
2. No Water Damage Repairs: If you have a catastrophic plumbing emergency, there can be significant water damage once the plumbing has been fixed. Water damage to floors and walls, potential for post-repair mould growth. Water can rot your wooden frames leading to structural damage and major repair costs.
3. Maintain Efficiency: Regular maintenance keeps the water flowing smoothly throughout your home. Consistent water flow and pressure means no peaks and troughs in your water bill, and no surprises.
4. Learning Handyman Skills: Working on the plumbing in your home and solving the small problems can fill you with a sense of accomplishment and pride that you fixed the problem. You researched it, fixed it and all is well. It helps you be more house-proud.

Time for your next round of regular plumbing maintenance? With licensed plumbers in Bundaberg, Hervey Bay or Gladstone, we’re Queensland’s number one plumbing service. It doesn’t stop there! If you’re in VIC, NSW, SA, WA, and NT, you can find a local PlumbCall team in all corners of Australia.

What Can I do, and How do I Fix Any Problems

While there will be times you’ll need a licensed plumber, you can fix the smaller problems yourself. Here are some common issues you can routinely check for and what you can do to correct them.

1. Check for leaks: Check under any sink in your house for leaks, small pools of water or other moisture. Any exposed pipes you can see, outside or under the house. Look for water stains, mould or moisture.

> Fix leaks by tightening a loose connection, or using pipe tape you wrap the area to stop the leaking. Alternatively you can use epoxy putty or other leak sealant to stop the drips.

2. Clear clogged drains: If you notice water not draining very quickly, it is likely a blocked drain. Clear any hair or debris that you can see from the shower and sink drains.

> Use a plunger or a small drain snake to clear blockages. If that doesn’t work, pour a mixture of baking soda and vinegar down the drain. Wait a few moments and then pour hot water down there. Let the reaction clear the drain for a few minutes before testing the drain again.

3. Constantly running toilets: If you can hear the hissing or whispering sound of water constantly running in your toilet cistern, you may have a problem. Check the flapper, this is the rubber stopper at the bottom of the cistern.

> If it is worn or dirty you can replace it. Then you can also adjust the fill valve to the correct limit. Your toilet may just be over-filling.

4. Inspect and clean tap aerators: Mineral buildup from hard water can reduce tap pressure. Unscrew the tap to check for mineral build up.

> Soak in vinegar for a few hours to clean away the minerals. Rinse in a bucket of water (prepared earlier) to clean off the vinegar.

5. Maintain hot water service: Sediment can sometimes build up in the tank and damage it.

> Drain a few litres of water from your tank to get rid of sediment.

6. Maintain outdoor drains: Regularly clear drains, gutters and downpipes of leaves, dirt and debris.

> High pressure hoses are good for this.

> Using a ladder to clear them manually is also effective.

Preventative Tips

There are some things you should not do when it comes to your pipes and plumbing.

1. DO NOT pour garbage down your drains. Grease, fat and oil leftover from cooking does not go down the drain. When they cool down they solidify and cause major blockages.
2. DO NOT flush anything besides toilet paper down your toilet. Other products such as those antiseptic wipes, sanitary products or even cotton buds, do not get flushed. They do not decompose and can cause blockages.
3. DO use a professional check-up annually, or when something gets too tricky for you. It is best to get a licensed Plumbcall plumber in to fix something that is niggling now, rather than a burst pipe and flooding later.

When do I call a Professional

While some plumbing tasks are DIY friendly, the vast majority should only be handled by a licensed professional. If you have burst pipes, gas leaks, faulty hot water units, blocked drains, or clogged gutters, get on the line to a qualified plumber and let them handle the rest.

Why Call Plumbcall

We value our customer experiences highly. We encourage people to have a go themselves so they understand what is going on, but we do encourage you to call us if it gets too much, or before you break something important. We want to prevent something big from happening.

Best of all, you get 25% of the bill if we don’t arrive when we say we will! Our reputation is important to us, and we want to ensure you like us and will recommend us to your friends.

We have years of experience, loads of qualified plumbers available nights and days and weekends to help you. Give us a call today for highly reliable plumbing maintenance work!