Basic plumbing maintenance helps reduce the risk of home water damage from the most likely source: your own pipes. Dramatic events like floods and hurricanes make headlines, but most damage claims for water damage actually result from mundane causes like ruptured pipes, clogged drains, and sewer backups. Here are some basic plumbing maintenance tips to stay ahead of problems before they turn into issues that require professional water damage recovery.
- Watch what goes down the drain. Cooking fats pour like a liquid, but solidify into pipe-clogging sludge. Coffee grounds and other insoluble materials also accumulate at low points inside the drain system.
- Once a month, pour a quarter-cup of baking soda into the kitchen drain, then follow it with 1/2 cup of vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then flush the pipes with hot water.
- Toilet tissue is the only paper product certain to disintegrate in your sewer line. Any other paper flushed down the toilet may contribute to a sewage backup that contaminates your home with toxic water damage.
- Even minor leakage from household water lines is a red flag. Inconspicuous pinhole leaks in water supply lines may disguise internal pipe corrosion that could rupture and inundate your home with hundreds of gallons. Seepage at pipe joints is another potentially ominous sign that needs to be evaluated by a professional plumber.
- Have your pressure checked. Standard municipal water pressure can be too high for your plumbing's health. If the pressure regulator at the water meter is maladjusted or malfunctioning, your plumbing may be over-stressed. Get a video sewer line inspection every five years. If tree roots are invading the sewer line, or pipe segments failing, the sooner you know about it the better.
For more tips on basic plumbing maintenance to reduce the potential of water damage, contact Rytech.
