Indoor plumbing is one of the primary features of a truly advanced society. It prevents raw sewage from running through local communities and makes homes a lot more sanitary. Many people who buy new homes or have new plumbing installed in older homes and other types of residences are unaware of how to maintain their new plumbing fixtures. Here's a closer look at how to maintain new plumbing and reduce the chances of needing to pay a plumber for emergency repairs.

Schedule Regular Inspections

The best way to prevent the need to hire a plumber to handle a plumbing emergency is to hire one to handle routine inspections and maintenance. According to Jerry, an insurance information website, homeowners should have their plumbing professionally maintained every other year. Regular inspections and maintenance will help to identify any issues before they become problems while also enabling you to get the best service and return on investment for installing new plumbing.

Check for Discolored Flooring

You should keep a close eye on the flooring near any plumbing fixtures and especially all toilets in your home. Even a minor amount of seepage will create water stains that will reveal themselves over time. You might be unaware that water is leaking and causing gradual degradation of the flooring until it is too late. Paying close attention to the floor will help you to identify a potentially bad gasket, leaky fitting, or another problem that would require the help of a plumber to fix. Even if it is a minor leak, it will increase your household water usage and any water bill that you might have.

Stop an Overflowing Toilet Bowl

Sometimes, you might flush the toilet, but the water flow into the bowl does not stop, and the water level will continue to rise until it overflows and creates potentially costly internal flooding. The culprit is usually the stopper inside the tank at the back of the toilet. You can remove the lid and look to see if the stopper is in place and put it back in its correct location to stop the water flowing into the bowl. Stoppers do wear out over time, and installing a new one or paying a plumber to take care of it should restore normal flushing and water flow.

Remove Hoses From Outdoor Spigots

When the weather begins to cool, you should remove any hoses that might be attached to outdoor spigots. Many people use them to place sprinklers in their yards, but they can freeze and potentially damage your water pipes. Damaged pipes could create catastrophic indoor flooding that would need the help of a professional plumber to repair afterward.

Clear Clogged Kitchen Drains

Many people let the wrong things get into kitchen drains, and these can clog them and create a truly messy problem. You should be especially careful with the kitchen drains because of all the food, waste, and other items that wind up in kitchen drains. When a kitchen drain becomes clogged, it can be especially difficult to clear it because it is a lot more than just some hair or soap going through the drain like in a typical bathroom drain. A plumber might be needed to clear bad kitchen drain clogs by removing some of the piping beneath the sinks and clearing the obstruction.

Carefully Use the Garbage Disposal

The garbage disposal is another issue that affects kitchen plumbing. It is very easy to send something into the garbage disposal that jams it up and causes problems. When the garbage disposal is not working correctly, the sink above can back up. Worse, rotting food, bacteria, and other substances can create bad smells and present a potential threat to your health if you were to try reaching inside and expose any scratches or cuts to the dirty water inside.

Be Careful When Using Chemicals on Clogs

Drain cleaning can help to break up hair and residue that contribute to clogged drains in the bathrooms inside your home. Many chemical agents are available to break up the source of clogging in drains that might make it possible to remove the rest with a plunger. Unfortunately, some of those chemicals also might affect your plumbing and weaken or damage it. A plumber can help to recommend a less-damaging substance while also clearing an especially stubborn clog.

You can learn more about plumbing maintenance and schedule a service from our skilled and experienced plumbers at Beverly Services. Call us today!