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Spring is a time when many homeowners engage in maintenance tasks like spring cleaning and home renovation. It’s also a good time for homeowners to check up on their plumbing system to protect their home from clogged drains, leaks and water damage. Keeping up with this basic maintenance on a yearly basis can help keep your home functional throughout the year. Perform a Water Heater Check Up You may have turned up the temperature on your water heater when the weather got cold this last winter. As a general rule, professionals recommend keeping your home’s water heater set to 120 […]
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It may be winter now, but spring will be here soon! When the weather changes, the experts at Terry’s Plumbing recommend checking and maintaining your home’s plumbing. Many of these suggestions are best done when the winter is finally over and temperatures are almost certainly not going to drop below freezing again. Test Sump Pump Functionality Your home’s sump pump may have been inactive in recent weeks or months. When spring arrives and rain starts to fall, sump pumps tend to see more action. Now is the time to test your sump pump and ensure that it has lasted through […]
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At Terry’s Plumbing, we talk to a lot of homeowners who have misconceptions about plumbing. Belief in some of these myths can cause breakdowns, leaks and other plumbing problems. We do our best to educate our customers about these problems. Understanding how your home plumbing system works can help prevent maintenance problems and plumbing emergencies. It’s a Good Idea to Put a Brick in Your Toilet Tank It’s true that putting a brick in your toilet tank can displace water, saving water with every flush. However, bricks deteriorate with time, especially when submerged. As the brick in your toilet tank […]
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Do you find the holidays stressful? So does your plumbing. The arrival of holiday guests means that the plumbing in your home will be used more often. Heavy use of your plumbing can cause problems like leaks, clogs and breakdowns. These issues can ruin your holidays, so we want you to be prepared and proactive. Following these tips can help you avoid plumbing problems this holiday season. Keep Your Drains Clear Slow drains can be a big problem when visitors come to your home. With extra people using your sinks and showers, slow drains can quickly become completely clogged. Clearing […]
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The rumors are true: the day after thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for plumbers. At Terry’s Plumbing, we spend the day after Thanksgiving unclogging drains in households all across Pittsburgh. Why Do So Many Plumbing Problems Occur at Thanksgiving? Too many people using the facilities. Often homeowners don’t realize their drains are slow until extra people start using the bathrooms, showers and sinks. House guests don’t realize there’s no garbage disposal. Sometimes house guests trying to help with cleanup make problems by putting food down the drain without realizing there’s no garbage disposal. People overload […]
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Smelly bathroom drains make life unpleasant for everyone, so fixing this problem will no doubt be a priority for you. Unfortunately, smells in bathrooms can come from a variety of sources, so finding the cause of your smell may be a challenge. Starting with the simplest fix and working your way up to more challenging solutions may be the best way to combat this problem. Check the P Traps Look under your bathroom sink. The pipe that runs from your sink drain into the floor or wall should be curved in an S shape. This curve is called the P […]
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Buying a new home is a big investment, so it’s important to inspect a property well before signing on the dotted line. When looking at homes to purchase, we recommend inspecting the following parts of the plumbing system. Good plumbing inspection practices can help you avoid falling in love with a property that has major flaws. Toilets Toilets have a way of developing problems like leaks and clogs over time. You can determine whether or not a home’s toilets are functional and in good condition by doing the following: Flush the toilet. When a toilet is flushed, the water should […]
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With school starting again, your home’s schedule will soon be in an uproar. In a family of school-aged children and working adults, competition for the bathroom in the morning can be fierce. Shower backups, humidity and mold can all be a problem when the bathrooms see heavy use by multiple people day in and day out. At Terry’s Plumbing, we think it’s a terrible shame when bathrooms lose functionality because of scheduling problems. These back to school tips will help you get the most use out of your bathroom without creating problems for your plumbing or your family. Stagger Shower […]
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Many renters live in blissful ignorance of their rental home’s plumbing system. Still, unless your landlord lives next door and responds to all phone calls within milliseconds, knowing a thing or two about the plumbing in your rental home could save you a lot of trouble and expense in the event of a plumbing emergency. Some types of plumbing problems are so urgent that they must be dealt with immediately. Having the ability to prevent these problems or stop them when they start can save your home from a flood. Know Where the Shutoff Is For the sake of convenience, […]
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Your home’s water pressure regulator is attached to the main water pipe, not very far from the main water turn on valve. You can see an example of a water pressure regulator here. The regulator slows down the flow of water inside your pipes, so that the water pressure inside your home will fall below a certain limit, measured in pounds per square inch (PSI). A typical water pressure regulator will keep your home’s water at around 60 PSI. Without the water pressure regulator, your home’s water pressure may be as high as 90 or 100 PSI, or higher. Leaks […]
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