For many homeowners, broken sewer pipes are one of the most stressful plumbing problems they will encounter. These breaks, often difficult to detect and even harder to prevent, can be tended to much easier when you know the right techniques and repair options available. By following our simple sewer pipe renovation tips, you can save yourself from the costly labor and inefficiency of traditional pipe repairs.

Know The Warning Signs

Before you can effectively deal with a broken sewer pipe, you?ll need to know how to identify one. As your local plumbing service professional will tell you, there are several revealing and obvious signs to look out for; by catching these signs early, you can prevent extensive water damage and further pipe corrosion from developing.

• Frequent water backups or significant clogging
• Strange water noises from fixtures or within walls
• Foul or musky odors
• Decreased water flow and pressure
• Sludge or debris from sinks, toilets, bathtubs or other fixtures

If you detect any of these warning signs from your home?s sewer pipes, you?ll want to contact a plumbing professional for a more exact analysis of the damage. The sooner you call for help, the better. Broken sewer pipe damages can develop over time into much more severe problems if left untreated.

Get A Professional Evaluation

Contacting a plumbing service professional to inspect your sewer pipe damage can inform you not only of where damage lies, but also its full extent and cause. A wide range of factors can contribute to a sewer line break, and knowing the potential causes can help you prepare for and prevent future breaks.

While it may be difficult for you to detect these causes, a professional plumbing evaluation can reveal all contributing factors to your pipe break, which can include:

• Root penetration or underground animal activity
• Rusting, or other corrosive elements
• Burst seams or faulty joints
• Poor installation quality
• Old age
• Debris buildup

Professional plumbing inspectors take the signs and indicators of your home?s broken sewer pipes and use them, along with their technical expertise, to create a fuller picture of your sewer pipe damage.

Additionally, sewer pipe professionals can diagnose problems in both modern PVC sewer pipes and the clay pipes in systems built before 1980. This is important, as these clay pipes begin to decay and lose functionality after a small number of decades, and almost never last beyond 50 to 60 years.

Plumbing specialists diagnose broken sewer lines most accurately with video inspection technology, specifically a video camera ?snake,? not unlike those used by doctors or surgeons.

These video cameras can precisely identify any number of sewer pipe damages, such as:

• Recessed taps
• Chemical corrosion and blockages
• Root intrusion
• Pipe cracks, offset joints and off-grade pipes
• Protruding lateral pipes

If your sewer pipe is backed up by a clog of hair, oil, food product or grease, oftentimes a plumbing professional can use a similar drain snake to disrupt and clear the clog on-location!

Consider the experts at Express Sewer & Drain for all of your plumbing inspection needs!

Consider Trenchless Repair: Pipe Lining

After professional inspection of your home?s broken sewer pipes, you can begin to consider repair options for your sewer pipe. At this stage, you?re likely dreading what will come next: unsightly and expensive digging, tedious sewer replacement and home damage. Fortunately for you, technical innovations have provided homeowners with an inexpensive and efficient alternative: trenchless technology.

Trenchless pipe lining is most commonly used to repair broken or cracked sewer pipes, where damage can be controlled and practically fixed. Trenchless professionals apply an epoxy Perma-Liner to the inner walls of damaged pipes, and cure the liner in place using air pressure (the result is commonly called ?cured-in-place pipe,? or CIPP).

Plumbing professionals can also use these liner solutions to repair manhole-to-manhole pipe lines, lateral lining and more focused, segmented pipe repairs, called ?sectional point repair.?

These innovative solutions eliminate the need for large-scale digging, and can be fully completed in a single day! This unmatched efficiency limits extensive labor, and saves homeowners valuable time and money.

Consider Trenchless Replacement: Pipe Bursting

For sewer pipes fully deteriorated or damaged beyond repair, there are trenchless solutions available that can your pipes, without the extensive digging or lawn damage of traditional replacement.

Called pipe bursting, this technique uses a conical bursting head to fragment and clear away your existing pipe. A replacement pipe is attached to the wide end of the bursting head, and led seamlessly into place as the bursting head fractures your old pipe.

Pipe bursting shares much of the same benefits as epoxy pipe lining and other trenchless technologies, but also provides solutions where sewer pipe repair would be impractical.

Know How To Protect Your Pipes For The Future

You can avoid the troubles of broken sewer pipes altogether by taking simple proactive maintenance measures, such as annual professional inspections and monthly self-inspections. Once a month, check your sewer pipes for poor performance, adverse effects such as smells or water color, or any of the other pipe damage indicators listed in this blog. If you notice any of these signs, contact your local plumbing service professional right away.

By detecting potential sewer pipe damages early, you can save yourself much stress and money later on. It?s better to fix pipe damages early, before they develop further and irreversibly ruin your pipes.

Furthermore, you can improve your sewer pipe?s performance and lifespan by avoiding the following:

• Using your sink as a waste disposal. Paper products, thick food skins, animal bones and shells often clog sink sewer pipes.
• Running fibrous or rough food products through your garbage disposal, as it cannot properly process them.
• Use chemical cleaner solutions sparing, if at all. These solutions can actually damage the insides of sewer pipes.
• Attempting DIY repairs and pipe replacement without the appropriate knowledge, experience or professional consultation.a

To learn more about detecting broken sewer pipes, and what you can do to effectively renovate these pipes, contact the experts at Express Sewer & Drain today. With their extensive experience, our plumbing professionals can help you get your sewer pipes running smoothly once more.

With winter upon us, you?re probably going to be increasing demand on all of your appliances that provide heat. The water heater is no different. If you want your water heater to be as prepared as possible for the winter season, it?s important that you take certain steps. Read on to find out more about how to prepare your water heater for the coming months.

Schedule Maintenance

Preventive maintenance is the single most effective thing you can do to keep your water heater in good condition. Many problems that can afflict water heaters don?t have obvious symptoms until they?ve already caused quite a bit of damage. Preventive maintenance allows your technician to find and fix problems with your water heater before they advance far enough to cause issues. If you want to save money on repair costs for your water heater, you should schedule maintenance at least once a year. Now is as good a time as any, if you haven?t already had maintenance done in the last year.

Don?t Wait for Repairs

Even if you?re careful about scheduling maintenance every year, there will likely be issues that happen between appointments. If you happen to notice a problem with your water heater, don?t ignore it. Even a minor problem could rapidly become worse over time. The faster a professional can get to the problem, and repair it, the more damage will be prevented and the better off the water heater will be. If you wait to call for repairs, though, you may have to replace the entire system years sooner than you otherwise would.

The Sunny Plumber offers comprehensive water heater services throughout Tucson, AZ. Call today to schedule an appointment with one of our expert plumbers. We?ll make sure that your water heater is in top condition throughout the winter.a

When it comes to a mess, there may be nothing more efficient than repairing or replacing an ill-functioning toilet. It can be expensive, and, shall we say dirty. Not something to let fester, you will want to get on a toilet repair or replacement as soon as is possible, repair being the cheaper option. Many frequent toilet concerns exist, should you be experiencing any of the below, call us and we will be happy to see what we can do to perform a toilet repair:

-Toilet keeps running?
continuously and without an upcoming stop, your flush valve is likely not closing within the toilet. The problem could also be that your float ball is not in the right place. Peek inside the toilet tank, verify that the achain that connects the flush valve is not caught on itself. Adjust the float ball so it is 50% below the surface of the water.

-Flush that ends early?
may indicate that the flush valve is not opening fully. There may be an overall lacking of water in the tank. Look in the tank to see if the chain is broken or is just loose. Make sure to adjust the float ball and to get the water level roughly an inch above the overflow pipe. Should this not provide for the desired full flush, call at Gander Plumbing.

-The clogged toilet?
is often a sign that the drain pipe or trap is obstructed, which, of course, may lead to a very messy situation. aBreak out your plunger, covering the bowl bottom. If plunging does not remove the blockage, throw some adishwashing liquid accompanied by a bucket of hot water into your bowl and let it fester for a few hours. If this solution does not work, ask a professional for help.

-Sluggish filling of tank?
shows a likely loosening of the shut off valve. Check your valve handle to ensure its connected to the wall, allowing the toilet to fill to the line. If your filling grows slower, replace your fill line.

-Water under tank?
may be leaking from your feed line or tank bolts. The repair may be as simple as replacing the washers and/or other accessory pieces.

The goal is a toilet repair and not a toilet replacement. If you experience a cracked bowl or trap jam (something stuck in the trap that can not be reached), you may have to accept the cruel fact that a replacement may be in order.

Are you interested in learning more about toilet repair in Byron and places nearby? Call Gander Plumbing at 507-282-7540, or you can contact us to Schedule an Appointment.

The Surge Protection Installation In Houston Homeowners

A surge protection is a sudden voltage spike that travels through your home?s electrical wiring, possibly damaging electronic appliances or causing other problems. Three of the main sources of power surges are large appliances turning on and off, power grid switching originating at the utility company, and electrical storms. Voltage spikes runathrough your home?s wiring and unprotected appliances at a level beyond their operating capacity.aRepeated power surges can damage electronic equipment to the point it may fail.a

The surge protector detects extra voltage and diverts it into a grounding wire. This is why all surge protectors have a ?grounding pin,? which is the third prong on a plug, and all surge protectors must be plugged into a properly grounded outlet for them to work as they should.

Surge Protection Installation At Home

Do you ever stop and think about how much you need your garage door opener? Probably not. Like most folks, you just naturally expect this handy little device to keep doing its job. But when something goes wrong ? especially asayou?re rushing to get to work or coming home late at night ? you could be facing a lot of hassle and unnecessary expense. If your garage door opener starts working erratically or not at all, it may have beenaaffected by an electrical power surge. What causes this problem and what can you do about it?

What is a Power Surge?

A power surge (also referred to as a ?voltage spike?) is a sudden increase in the amount of potential energy in your electric lines. It may result from a number of different causes: heavy demand from your appliances, a short circuit, faulty wiring or grounding in your home, problems with the local electric company?s system, a power outage, or an electrical storm. Whatever the source, this overload of electric power has the potential to seriously harm sensitive electronic equipment such as your computer, security alarm system, or garage door opener.

Safeguard Your Home?s Electrical System

Fortunately, you may be able to prevent or divert a substantial power surge before it does major damage. Especially if you live in an older building constructedaprior to 1960, have your home?s electrical system inspected. Verify that it is properly grounded and, in general, measures up to today?s standards of safety. Check the plugs and cords of your appliances periodically for any signs of looseness, wear, or fraying. Either insert individual outlet surge suppressors where needed (including in the outlet meant to service your garage door opener) or have an electrician upgrade your home?s main circuit panel by installing a whole house surge protector. These devices work to ensure that even if there is a power spike in your system, any electric voltage above a predetermined safe amount will be blocked. Check with the manufacturer of your garage door opening system to see whether a specific type of protector is required for your model. Read amore?

The aImportance Of Surge Protections

Electrical surges in the home can be downright scary. Regardless of what causes the surge, itacan damage electronic equipment and even spark fires. Surge protection is one of theabest means of managing power spikes and ensuring the safety of your Algonquin, IL home, family, and possessions.aCall us (713) 812-7070afor your home service and repair needs.a

For more related articles and info visit http://www.berkeys.com/category/electrical/

Tankless water heaters are the subject of much praise by the industry, and they mostly earn it. By heating water as needed instead of storing and preheating it, tankless units offer substantially more hot water and they need next to no upkeep. But hyperbole takes its toll, and ?next to no upkeep? becomes ?no upkeep at all? during the sales pitch. In reality, the energy and maintenance involved with heating, moving, and storing water doesn?t change drastically: tankless heaters suffer from many of the same problems as tank heaters, and they require a lot of the same care.

For one, hard water buildup, called ?scaling,? taxes the system either way. Whether a tank is involved or not, scaling will occur, and the burner will have to work overtime to achieve the output of a healthy heater. This problem will initially result in bigger heating bills, and eventually it will lead to the demise of the unit.

Of course, the amount of work required by a tankless heater depends on a region?s water. If you?re in the South and/or if you rely on a groundwater source, then your scaling will be extensive and your heater will have to be flushed annually. If you live in an area with softer water or if you use a water softener, then you?ll have to flush it every other year or so. In order to determine whether or not your area has hard water, inspect your faucets and shower walls for white or yellow residue. More importantly, keep an eye on your water flow. If it seems sluggish, then mineral deposits might be impeding water flow and then you might need to reassess how often you?re cleaning your heater.

Secondly, most tankless heaters run on electricity and, as such, need close attention. The heating element of these units sometimes demands replacement. Like the traditional burner, heating elements can strain under a water flow stymied by scaling, work many times as hard to produce the same amount of heat, and ultimately burn out.

If your unit is gas-powered, then you should probably contact a professional technician; gas isn?t to be toyed with by the untrained. If you have an electric unit, then the heating unit is most likely the problem and you can safely replace it on your own.

That aside, tankless heaters are still efficient in comparison to their competition. They?re cheaper to install, cheaper to replace, and have less moving parts. Because their services are ?on-demand? and don?t rely on preheating, they often lower utility bill prices. Still, ?rarely? should never be confused with ?never?; a tankless heater is subject to the same pressures as a tank. It still has pipes, those pipes still get clogged, and those moving parts still experience wear and tear.

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