Fall Plumbing Tips

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Winter is almost here, but before it arrives in all its cold glory there’s a few things plumbing related you should do.

     Remove your garden hoses from outside faucets and store inside. Leaving hoses hooked up doesn’t allow water to drain out, which may freeze and burst the faucet in the wall. Then the next time you use the faucet you’ll get a nice flood in your home. Make sure faucets shut off completely, water should drain and stop dripping in less than a minute.  Also, don’t waste your money on those foam faucet insulators they are worthless. A properly functioning freezeless hydrant is all you need.  Hoses last longer if stored inside in winter.

     Look around your yard for extra wet spots.  Dry weather can cause leaks to develop in your water service due to shifting and settling in the ground. Usually these will occur near the water meter or where water service enters the home, but circumstances may vary.  Often leaks may be small enough at first that you don’t notice on your bill, until they get worse. If you suspect a leak call your water district and they will check it for you.

     Fall is a good time of year for drain stoppages.  If it’s been a number of years since you’ve had your sewer main augered it may be time to do so. Especially if you live in an older home with sewers not piped in PVC. The same dry weather that affects water lines can also cause damage to sewer services regardless of type of pipe used. The money will be well spent to avoid flooding your home with raw sewage.  On that subject make sure your homeowners insurance includes sewer backups, often it’s a separate rider.

     While your doing these things it’s a good time to check the plumbing inside your home.  Take a flashlight and look around and behind toilets, pull items out of cabinets and shine light in them. Look for wet spots and crusty looking pipes. Check top and bottom of water heater and softner if you have one as well. Small leaks left unchecked can do a lot of damage.

     As always if you find any of these problems give us a call!

Contact Brian Wear Plumbing Today

Feel free to give us a call today to schedule an appointment with a plumber in Columbia, MO, and the surrounding areas. Whether it’s doing drain line maintenance or preparing to replace sewer lines, you are going to be satisfied with our work.

If you are in Columbia, MO or the mid-Missouri area and believe you have a plumbing problem, contact us.