Plumbing Maintenance and Repair in 2023: Tips and Tricks for Preventative Maintenance and Emergency Repairs

The plumbing system is an essential part of every household and commercial building, as this is responsible for the water in and out of these establishments. Owning a plumbing system means you know how to perform maintenance and emergency repairs in those unforeseen problems to your plumbing system.    

There are existing maintenance and repair techniques known worldwide, but as time goes by, new tips and tricks are discovered by or passed to plumbing repair and maintenance professionals. Thanks to those tips and tricks, most people know what to do once they open their ‌floor access door and proceed to fix the plumbing problem.  

Here’s a list of those tips and tricks for preventive maintenance and emergency repairs for the year 2023:  

Create a Plan  

Before anything else, you must prepare for the upcoming maintenance or repair job. Write down on paper or save a memo in your gadget the specific things to do in a single job because plumbing systems can experience various fixable problems.  

Common plumbing problems:  

• Running water on the toilet  

• Leaky pipes  

• Leaking hose  

• Dripping faucet  

• Clogged drains  

• Sump pump problem  

• Water heater problems  

• Low-pressure water  

Inspect the Pipes  

Inspecting your plumbing system’s system is one way to prevent emergency repairs in the long run. It would help if you watched for cracks, especially on the old pipes in your house or commercial building, as these cause leakages. Leakages might not sound threatening, but they will in the long run as this slowly affects the water bill and the area where it leaks.   

The recommended schedule for inspections is at least once a week and see if there are existing cracks and brittleness and determine whether it needs fixing or a replacement.  

Here’s a list of what areas or appliances to inspect:  

• Sink  

• Toilet  

• Water Heater  

• Dishwasher  

Keep a Clean Drain  

Keeping a clean drain is another way to prevent emergency repairs. To achieve this, you must watch out for what comes into the drain, which means sorting out harmful elements that can cause irreparable damage—installing filters or strainers on your sinks and bathroom to filter out debris such as food and oil in the sink and hair along with hair buildup on the bathroom drain. 

Oil and grease are two of the most harmful substances for your drain because these can solidify inside the drain and sticks to it, which will block the drain and causes sewer backups. Sewer backups are very alarming because they can affect neighbors with the same water supply as you do.   

To keep a clean drain, pour a mixture of vinegar and baking soda into your drain, as this mixture can clear any buildup inside the drain. Doing this once a week is enough to keep the drain clog-free. The toilet is another thing you should look for when it goes. Besides human wastes, avoid flushing anything else on, as this, too, can also cause sewer backups.  

Avoiding Using Chemical Cleaners  

Most of the time, chemical cleaners do the job of cleaning the drain, but these chemicals cause harm to the drain, especially PVC pipes. The most alarming damage that chemical cleaners do is that it affects living things. Human exposure to chemical fumes is hazardous for their skin, eyes, and respiratory system, and the substances that go out of the drains can affect the animals near them.   

Use the baking soda and vinegar mixture mentioned above for a clean drain. This way, you and your drain are clean and safe.  

Final Thoughts  

Emergency repairs are very time-consuming and can have you spending a lot of money, especially when you have to get the services of a professional. Doing weekly maintenance will help you get out of that situation, and with the help of this article, performing maintenance is now a breeze.  

Guest Contributor: Chris Jackson