Checklist For Home Plumbing Maintenance

After purchasing your home, you will soon find out that maintenance quickly becomes a part of your everyday life. There are so many things that need to be completed in order to keep your home in tip top shape. Your plumbing system is one of the most important parts of your home as it is like the circulatory system of your home. If any one problem arises in this system, you will soon find yourself in a disastrous position. The following checklist will help you to keep a close eye on your plumbing system and recognize any issues before they become too large to handle through simple repair. Take the time to go through each of the listed care items and familiarize yourself with their placement in your home.

• Look for signs of leaks including puddles of water and watermarks.

• Look for signs of corrosion like green stains around brass and copper fittings and on shutoff valves.

• Test water pressure. Low water pressure can be a sign of sediment building up in the faucets or shower heads. It can also be a sign of a major problem with the water line.

• Check each sink, shower and tub drain for the speed of drainage. Slow drainage usually indicates a clog in the drain or a blocked vent pipe. Your drains should have a full swirl when draining. If bubbles appear when water is draining or the speed of the water slows down, this is usually a sign of a problem. Blocked drains are not a game and can quickly escalate to an emergency situation.

• Check the flushing handle and inside parts of the toilets. Flush each toilet to make sure that it is flushing properly. Check the parts inside the tank of the toilet to see if any parts are broken, rusted, or missing. Make sure the toilet water does not continue to run after flushing and make sure there is no sign of water on the floor around the toilet. Check to make sure that the hose connecting to your toilet is securely fastened and there are no leaks coming from the hose or either of its 2 connections.

• Look inside the burner chamber of your home's water heater. Be careful to notice if there are any flakes of rust inside of the chamber. Be sure to check the flame of the water heater, which should be a blue color with no variation in colour. If you see a yellow color, this probably means that your jets need to be cleaned.

• Turn on all of the faucets in your home to see if there is any water coming out of the handles and valves. Although the leak may appear to be minor, a minor leak from multiple faucets can easily add extra dollars to your monthly water bills.

Take the time to check your home for plumbing problems or potential plumbing problems at least every few months. Identifying these problems early can help to prevent the problems from becoming worse, which will of course save you big bucks in plumbing repair bills.