Did you know there are some easy and quick actions you can do at home to keep your sinks and drains healthy?
Yup. Sinks and drains need regular TLC, just like your car. By doing these super easy steps every few months, you can avoid unnecessary plumbing repair costs in the future. If you use your sinks and water lines often, you may want to do these steps more frequently. How do I “Flush” my Sink? Flushing a sink is so easy. And necessary. David, the owner of Aquality Plumbing & Heating, tells us his method:
“I “flush” the kitchen sink once a week to help keep it healthy and clean. You “flush” a sink by filling it up once a week with hot water, then pulling the stopper so it really creates some pressure to clean out any debris left behind in the pipes. What shouldn’t I put down the drain? Just because it will go down your drain, does not mean you should put it down the drain! We want you to avoid unnecessary plumbing calls for clogged drains, so think carefully before putting anything down your drain that isn’t water.
Food items that are solid, may be small enough to slip through, but they should ideally be caught by a mesh style drain cover or something similar. Even tiny stuff like the “hair” on corn or grains of rice, can make a real mess once it enters your piping system. Non-food items should not go into the piping system either. Kids paints, your paints (the City of Calgary has special drop off spots for chemicals), glue, chemicals, medicines, construction liquids and anything else that isn’t water, really should not go down your drain!
If something slips down your drains that shouldn’t, we can help. In fact, we are really good at unclogging stuck drains, but truthfully, we’d rather see you keep your drains running clear and avoid an unnecessary plumbing service call. Can I Keep my Garburator Line Clean too? If you have a garburator, you need to give extra special TLC to that drain line! It is important to keep that line running clear and it’s easy if you follow some basic guidelines. For full details, you should read this blog: “Garburator or Compost?”. To keep it clean, you can cut up a lime or lemon once in a while and put it down the garburator. This helps to keep it smelling better and cut down on bacteria forming. Flushing the garburator line is also an excellent thing to do. Do this just the same way as you flush a sink, as described above.
Always avoid coffee grinds, rice, potato peels, and large amounts of any one item down your garburator. This is very likely to clog the line. (But guess what! All those items can be composted!)
Follow these simple guidelines and you can relax knowing that you are avoiding an unnecessary plumbing call because your drain lines are properly cared for.
The beauty of a sunny day paired with the chill of crisp, cold air, is nature’s way of saying, “SHUT OFF YOUR OUTSIDE HOSE TAPS INSIDE FOR THE WINTER!”
Every year at this time of year, we have so many people calling during the first Calgary chinook of winter because their basement wall is soaking wet and their carpet has become a wet mess. They have not shut off their outdoor faucets properly, resulting in frozen pipes and a flooded basement.
Water that is not moving, freezes relatively quickly. Hose taps that are not being used have stagnant water under full pressure. They are also on the exterior of your home where freezing is most likely to occur. And yes, even if you have a frost-free hose bib, you should be shutting off the water supply inside.
Water also expands when it freezes and when there is nowhere for it to go, it will split the pipe from the pressure. If you’ve ever looked at water you make into ice cubes, it rises higher than you poured it after it is frozen. The same thing happens inside your pipe. When a Calgary chinook hits the ice, it begins to thaw and returns to the state of water.
And what’s the problem? Your pipe is now cracked and letting water under pressure run non-stop until you shut the water off. This can cause immense damage to your home in a very small time.
Aquality Plumbing & Heating is here to help you avoid this mess! Secure your outdoor taps by shutting your hose bibs off indoors for the winter. Follow these 5 easy steps below.
Find the shut-off valve inside your home for your outdoor tap. You may have more than one of each.
Turn clockwise to shut off or perpendicular to the pipe. This depends on your valve type.
Go outdoor and turn on your outdoor hose tap. Let the tap run until all the water is out and then stop fully.
Leave the outdoor hose tap open for the winter. Do not leave a hose attached outdoor.
Return back inside, find your shut off valve, find the stop & drain valve to drain excess water. This will relieve excess water in pipe through the stop & drain on the shut off to ensure that water has moved away from the exterior of your home.
Follow these steps and you will have peace of mind and save money!
If you can’t find your shut off valve, if water will not stop coming out of your outdoor faucet, or you have any other questions, give Aquality Plumbing & Heating a call at 403-205-2782 or contact us online and we will gladly come and resolve the issue.
We have been providing expert and honest plumbing and heating service in Calgary since 2004.
Did you know there are some easy and quick actions you can do at home to keep your sinks and drains healthy?
Yup. Sinks and drains need regular TLC, just like your car. By doing these super easy steps every few months, you can avoid unnecessary plumbing repair costs in the future. If you use your sinks and water lines often, you may want to do these steps more frequently. How do I “Flush” my Sink? Flushing a sink is so easy. And necessary. David, the owner of Aquality Plumbing & Heating, tells us his method:
“I “flush” the kitchen sink once a week to help keep it healthy and clean. You “flush” a sink by filling it up once a week with hot water, then pulling the stopper so it really creates some pressure to clean out any debris left behind in the pipes. What shouldn’t I put down the drain? Just because it will go down your drain, does not mean you should put it down the drain! We want you to avoid unnecessary plumbing calls for clogged drains, so think carefully before putting anything down your drain that isn’t water.
Food items that are solid, may be small enough to slip through, but they should ideally be caught by a mesh style drain cover or something similar. Even tiny stuff like the “hair” on corn or grains of rice, can make a real mess once it enters your piping system. Non-food items should not go into the piping system either. Kids paints, your paints (the City of Calgary has special drop off spots for chemicals), glue, chemicals, medicines, construction liquids and anything else that isn’t water, really should not go down your drain!
If something slips down your drains that shouldn’t, we can help. In fact, we are really good at unclogging stuck drains, but truthfully, we’d rather see you keep your drains running clear and avoid an unnecessary plumbing service call. Can I Keep my Garburator Line Clean too? If you have a garburator, you need to give extra special TLC to that drain line! It is important to keep that line running clear and it’s easy if you follow some basic guidelines. For full details, you should read this blog: “Garburator or Compost?”. To keep it clean, you can cut up a lime or lemon once in a while and put it down the garburator. This helps to keep it smelling better and cut down on bacteria forming. Flushing the garburator line is also an excellent thing to do. Do this just the same way as you flush a sink, as described above.
Always avoid coffee grinds, rice, potato peels, and large amounts of any one item down your garburator. This is very likely to clog the line. (But guess what! All those items can be composted!)
Follow these simple guidelines and you can relax knowing that you are avoiding an unnecessary plumbing call because your drain lines are properly cared for.
