Ways To Handle Your Plumbing Situations

As a homeowner, one of your biggest responsibilities is maintenance of your plumbing facilities. When something goes wrong suddenly, how do you decide if the problem can be fixed by you or you have to call for the services of a good plumbing company in your area? If you reside in Pewaukee, Hartland or Waukesha, getting a reliable Pewaukee plumber, Hartland plumber or a Waukesha plumbing contractor to attend to your repair work will not pose a problem.

In order to prevent your plumbing pipes rom freezing, make sure that the temperature inside your home does not drop below the freezing point and take care to provide insulation for the external pipes. If the surrounding temperature around the pipes happens to fall below freezing, the pipes will begin to freeze and it will be quite some time before then can become warm again. As a result, you will need to wait before you can get running water. Worse still, if the pipes do burst, they shall create water damage and you will incur huge expenses to repair the damage.

Take care to have your septic tank pumped at least once in every five years for good performance. If sediments build up in the septic tank, the tank will start to back up, and this can even result in the tank failing altogether. Yes, it is a little expensive to have the septic tank pumped but is it better than having to spend huge amount on an embarrassing sewage problem.

This is one important piece of advice to any homeowner. Do not give your plumber the entire payment before the job is satisfactorily done. Paying an advance amount before starting the work is fine but do not get carried away and pay the cost of the entire job before the plumber starts the work is half way through. Once the job is finished, check thoroughly if all the agreed repair works have been successfully done and then make the final payment. This way, you can protect yourself from quick-buck making, fraudulent characters.

Having knowledge about plumbing tools will help greatly whether you are attending to certain repair works on your own or hiring a plumbing agent. You can look up online and learn about various plumbing tools. However, before planning to carry out any repair, plan very well in advance, otherwise you could be committing a serious mistake that proves really costly. Also, make a list of all your plumbing problems and call the plumber. It would not make sense to call him repeatedly and incur huge expenses.

When you are installing plumbing fixtures, do not settle for cheap ones. If you go for a bit expensive ones, they will serve better and last longer too. Cheap ones might prove expensive towards the end with recurring problems. And, having some plumbing knowledge is always useful. Apart from saving money, you shall also have many people seeking your advice before doing any major plumbing work in their homes!

When to Call the Waukesha Plumbing Professionals

Many plumbing projects can be successfully accomplished on a do-it-yourself basis, thus, avoiding the necessity of calling in one of the reliable Waukesha plumbing professionals from reputable companies.

But when a plumbing issue is beyond your DIY skills and tools, then it is time to call in a reliable licensed plumber for the job. Keep in mind that a relatively minor issue can quickly become worse when the inappropriate measures are applied and this is true for plumbing problems.


In the following paragraphs, we shall discuss the top most common plumbing issues that homeowners such as yourself encounter and that requires the expertise of a licensed Waukesha plumbing professional.

1. Licenses and Permits Are Required
The state requires licenses and permits for certain plumbing activities, said documents of which are in effect for the safety of everybody concerned. Keep in mind that many plumbing activities involve handling gas pipes, which has its fair share of risks from mishandling including explosions. You should then call in a licensed Waukesha plumber in many cases including but not limited to:

• Bathroom remodeling projects since the pipes require rerouting, replacing and repairing, all of which are beyond the capacity of an average individual
• Moving present plumbing
• Adding gas lines in and out of the house

2.  Replacement of Shower Valve

It may initially appear that the replacement of a shower valve is easy considering that it’s just a single piece of bathroom equipment. Or is it? Upon closer inspection, the replacement of a shower valve will require time, effort and skills that an inexperienced DIY enthusiast cannot provide. And there’s also the fact that a reliable Waukesha plumbing professional will lessen if not completely avoid, damage on the shower walls.

3.Replacement of Tub

Yet another job that seems easy is replacing a bathtub. Don’t be fooled because the process requires sound knowledge and expert skills that plumbers have learned during their years of education, apprenticeship and work experience, which you cannot possess in a few hours of reading books and watching instructional videos. Call in the professional!

4. Water Heater Installation and Repair

Murphy’s Law applies to water heaters – everything that can go wrong will go wrong and probably in worst ways than you can imagine. Why risk your limb and life in water heater installation, repair and replacement when you have the expert services of a reliable Waukesha plumbing professional at your fingertips? With a DIY water heater project, getting burned is the least of your problems and we all know the cost of medical care in the United States.

5. Main Line Issues

When the toilets are backing up into the showers and tubs – Did we hear “eeww”? –the issue will most likely be with the main line. Non-plumbers have no business tinkering with the main line lest the issue become worse than it already is, thus, requiring more money for repairs. Plus, there’s also the fact that main line issues require special equipment that plumbers can operate and that you cannot.

Indeed, even when a plumbing issue seems minor in nature, it is almost always best to call in a reliable Waukesha plumbing professional.

Waukesha Plumbing Tips Homeowners Should Know

Repairing problems with the plumbing and water system mean additional expenses to any homemaker. While some problems are rather easy to fix and don’t require much money for its materials, there are some complicated and dangerous problems that should be handled by a Waukesha plumber. However if you know how to handle simple problems, you can prevent more extensive damage to the plumbing system and your home, and save money.

Your toilet works less efficiently if its flapper (the part that releases water and stops flow) is corroded and has a buildup of sediments. Most of the toilets today have replacement parts available at reasonable rates in local hardware stores. So just replace the damaged flapper for increase water flow efficiency of the toilet.

Prevent clogging of drains

To maintain your drain, prevent clogging of drains and to try and unclog blocked drains, pour a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar down the bathtub drain. Once this is done, place a washcloth on the drain. The two chemicals react with each other to create expanding white foam.

Pour some boiling water into the drain after a few minutes to clear out any remaining clogs and solution. As hair, soap scum and other deposits tend to accumulate in bathtub pipes, doing this simple task at least once a month helps prevent the buildup of unwanted deposits.

Check for leaking toilets

Toilets should never leak; so if you learn a few steps to use to find out if the toilet leaks inside or its outside you will be able to save lots of headaches and your money. First, apply some pressure on your toilet’s sitting area and if you find that it seems to be unsteady or moves, a leak may eventually develop after regular use. So it’s better to call your Waukesha plumber for an assessment at the first signs of an unsteady or moving toilet.

While a moving or unsteady toilet can lead to an eventual external leak, to ensure there is no internal leakage, place a few drops of food coloring on the unit’s back. After a few minutes, if there is a change in the bowl color, it means that there is a leak inside the unit.

While these tips are very simple, they can help save thousands of dollars in possible future home repairs of your home’s plumbing and water system. This is why Waukesha plumbers believe that these plumbing tips are something that every homeowner should know about.