Dealing with Broken Pipes
Frozen pipes cause severe damage and can amount to huge expenses for homeowners during winter season. Preventing a pipe from bursting during winter can be avoided if you follow certain procedures. Although a flood mitigation company can be called and will immediately dry your home from further damage, there are certain precautionary measures you can take to prevent any unnecessary expense. To help prevent a major catastrophe from occurring, the following precautionary measures you should be able to help you out:
Before winter begins, make it a point to disconnect and drain all outdoor hoses. To drain and shut off water from pipes leading to outside faucets, try using an indoor valve and disconnect all garden hoses as well. This will benefit in reducing the pipes and faucets from freezing. Your pipes will be more protected if you use an unheated area to insulate plumbing faucets and pipes. Since they are best for protecting pipes from breaking, you may use an insulating pipe sleeve, thermostatically-controlled heat cables or heat tape to protect the pipes from breaking. Always make it a point however to purchase products recommended by the manufacturer.
To prevent the pipes from freezing, it is advisable to seal off air vents, cracks and access doors. Also, watch out for leaks around pipes, dryer vents and electrical wiring. To ensure proper ventilation, never forget not to plug air vents into your water heater or furnace. In order to keep the heat in and the cold out, you can try using insulation or caulk. In the event a leak occurs, make it a point to remind everyone where the master circuit breaker is so it can be shut off immediately. If you do not know where it is located, trace it by following the water line that leads from the outdoor street.
An essential step in order to avoid the bursting of pipes because of temperature fluctuations is to keep your indoor plumbing supplies warm. To allow the flow of heat to reach under the sinks and into the pipes, you have to keep the cabinet doors of the bathrooms and kitchens open. It is important to keep water running at both hot and cold faucets along with vanities that are in close proximity to exterior walls.
Tips on How to Avoid Plumbing Problems
To prevent any further plumbing problems, a crucial step would be to winter-proof your house. You have to make sure you switch of the master circuit breaker or the customer shut-off valve before you leave your house. Since one small hole or congested water can quickly freeze and cause pipes to break and expand, you must thoroughly drain and open all outdoor and household water lines. It is imperative that you close all irrigation and household lines right after all the lines have been completely drained.
Make sure that the thermostat should not be lower than fifty-five degrees since this is the ideal temperature. It doesn’t necessarily mean though that your pipes will not endure freezing even if you maintain low heat temperatures inside your house. To save you a lot of trouble and expense in dealing with broken or frozen pipes during the winter, make sure you maintain your plumbing works by using the techniques previously mentioned before winter starts.
When you start to notice clogged up drains, dripping faucets and broken pipes that are spraying water, it is pretty easy to figure out that you have a plumbing problem. If you understand the basics of how the systems actually work, handling minor plumbing problems are relatively easy. You can save a significant amount of money by doing the repairs yourself as much as possible since plumbers usually charge eighty dollars per hour in the United States.
Although some repairs are simple enough to handle, there are others that take a lot more time since some pipe lines are hidden under floors or behind walls, making it difficult to reach. If you need to unclog your bathtub drain or replace your garbage disposal, the best person to contact would be your plumber. However, a drain-clearing service would be more ideal if the problem you are having concerns a stopped-up drain since it will be a lot cheaper.
Plumbing 101
When it comes to plumbing basics, keep in mind that several systems work independently while other systems merge together within your house. Through a water supply system made out of copper pipes or galvanized steel that carry water to sprinklers, outdoor hose bibs, plumbing fixtures and faucets, water is delivered to your home using pressure.
Remember that what moves waste and water to a septic tank or a sewer is gravity and there is no pressure involved in waste and drain plumbing. To allow pressure equalization so you can empty out the drains, vent piping needs to be used on the drain to bring out the exhaust sewer gases. Although pipes look similar to water supply pipes, it is still completely separate from the gas piping lines and the water system. Gas pipes send natural gas from your utility to gas-fired home appliances.
The word, plumbing comes from the Latin word, plumbum which stands for lead. In ancient times, pipes were made out of lead. Plumbing is basically a trade of working that entails handling drainage waste, plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems, tubing and pipes. Moreover, a plumber is someone who repairs or installs equipment such as water heaters, plumbing fixtures and piping systems. Because of the need for the transport of wastes, proper collection and clean water, the plumbing industry is an integral part of any developed economy.
A system of fixtures and pipes installed in a building for the distribution of water and the removal of bacterial wastes is another definition for plumbing. There is a difference between plumbing and sewage systems. Basically, a plumbing system can be found in a house or a building, while sewage systems can be found around a city or town.
Chinese, Indian, Persian, Roman and Greek civilizations were the first countries where plumbing originated since public baths that needed drainage wastes and potable water were developed. Ever since the Roman system of lead pipes and aqueducts, plumbing systems did not improve rapidly until the nineteenth century. The elimination of open sewage cesspools and ditches started after the development of separate sewage systems and underground water.
Using channels or pipes often made out of stone, bamboo, lead or clay, water systems during the ancient times depended on gravity for the supply of fresh water. A network of pipes that are made out of nontoxic material, plastic, brass or copper and a network of high-pressure pumps are now used presently to supply water systems. Lead, cast-iron, steel and plastic are the common materials used to make vent and drain lines in this day and age. Due to its toxic components, lead is not used in modern water piping anymore.
Plumbing Products and Technology
A tube or a pipe is considered to be the straight sections of plumbing systems. The different between a pipe and a tube is that a pipe is commonly formed by welding or casting while a tube is made by an extrusion. Since a pipe has thicker walls, it can be welded or threaded. On the other hand, a tube has a thinner wall and it entails special techniques such as solvent welding, crimping for plastics, compression fitting and brazing. Examples of plumbing fixtures are namely: eye wash stations, fountains, crappers, air washers, ice maker humidifiers, drinking fountains, kitchen and utility sinks, bathtubs, showers, bidets, urinals and water closets.
Control systems, gauges, heat exchangers, water heaters, water softeners, filters, backflow preventers, expansion tanks, pumps, water meters are a few of the example of plumbing equipment found in pipe systems. Since modernization has been prevalent even in plumbing, there are advanced technological breakthroughs that are being used as well. One example would be the use of video cameras for inspecting hidden leaks. Also they used high pressure hydraulic pumps that are linked to steel cables for trenchless sewer line replacement and hydro jets as well.
The major categories of plumbing systems and subsystems are the following: fuel gas piping, rainwater, surface, subsurface water drainage, septic systems, traps, drains, and vents, potable hot and cold water supply. Hot water heat recycling is progressively being used through residential building sectors for the environmental benefits and the big energy savings as well. Gray water treatment and recovery systems have been gaining interest due to their ecological impact.
Because of the direct impact on the public’s welfare, safety and health, a lot of the plumbing work in populated areas is regulated by quasi-government or government agencies. To protect the residents of the buildings and to ensure the safety and quality of the construction for future buyers, repair work and plumbing installation on buildings and other residences have to be done according to building and plumbing codes. Plumbing contractors usually secure permits required for work from building or homeowner authorities.
All the things you need to know about plumbing and broken pipes have been mentioned. If you want to learn more about plumbing works and broken pipes, there are various sources available on the internet. Moreover, there are also several books out on the market that should keep you informed about the latest technology and methods concerning plumbing.
