All Things Plumbing & HVAC: The Orange Coast Plumbing Blog
Need to know what’s an emergency and which problems can wait? Which problems you can solve DIY? The Orange Coast Plumbing blog helps you understand common plumbing, heating, and air conditioning issues.
Ever found yourself with a leaky toilet and wondered what to do next?
The toilet’s wax ring is a prime suspect for a leak at the base. This innocuous little seal keeps water from seeping out of your toilet and onto your floors. When it fails, you’ll know — and so will everyone else in the house!
Water hammer, or hydraulic shock, occurs when water suddenly stops or changes direction within a pipe.
This abrupt halt or shift creates a pressure wave that travels through the plumbing system, making pipes bang against walls, floors, or each other.
Water damage from plumbing leaks affects approximately one in 50 US homes every year. It ranks as a top cause of property damage claims among homeowners.
If you have older plumbing, you’re sitting on a ticking time bomb. Unless you have a leak detection system, you will have to deal with an expensive plumbing emergency at some point.
A water leak may not kill you, but it can do a world of damage when that pinhole leak goes from trickle to torrent.
You can patch that pinhole leak with Flex TAPE, like Phil Swift on late-night TV, but you’ll want a substantial repair in the long term.
In this blog, we’ll cover the simpler PVC pipe repairs you may be able to manage DIY.
Fixing low water pressure may involve a simple solution, like cleaning a shower head, or something much more complex, like digging up pipes and installing a new main water line.
In this blog, we’ll help you assess the situation — preferably before you start losing hair or sanity.
Backflow prevention may not be first and foremost in your mind, but it’s crucial for the safety of your home and family.
Imagine the horror of a toilet exploding or contaminated water flowing back into your clean water supply. It’s a definite damper on your quality of life and a recipe for health calamities.
That said, there are ways to mitigate backflow risks, which we’ll investigate in this blog.
Backflow prevention may not be first and foremost in your mind, but it’s crucial for the safety of your home and family.
Imagine the horror of a toilet exploding or contaminated water flowing back into your clean water supply. It’s a definite damper on your quality of life and a recipe for health calamities.
That said, there are ways to mitigate backflow risks, which we’ll investigate in this blog.
Does your toilet run constantly? Is your toilet tank slow to refill?
The first place to check is the flapper, the toilet part that wears out most often. Next comes the toilet fill valve.
If you’re lucky, it may require an adjustment. Otherwise, it will have to be replaced.
Low-flow toilets can save up to 2 gallons of water per flush or up to 20 gallons per day for a household of four.
Advanced low-flow toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush or 77% less water than conventional toilets.
Low flow is good.
Slow flow or no flow is, well, problematic. A toilet is the one genuinely indispensable fixture in your home. Plus, a malfunctioning toilet can lead to health hazards.
Water is scarce during Orange County, CA’s hot, dry summers. Imagine you’re a tiny ant whose only access to H2O comes from bathroom plumbing. From an ant’s viewpoint, your moist bathroom is an oasis in the Sahara.
This explains the ants in your bathroom, with its abundant water sources like sinks, showers, and toilets. Plus, bathrooms tend to be warm, making them an ant’s paradise.
Have you ever wondered about that mysterious pipe sticking out of your roof? The one that seems to do nothing?
It performs essential work, like the office oddball who quietly keeps things running while others get the glory.
We’re talking about the plumbing vent, an unassuming but indispensable part of your plumbing system.
What are you going to do in a pinch?
Just as you should know first aid for medical emergencies, you should master some DIY plumbing fixes for household emergencies. With a solid DIY repair, you may not even need the plumber! Plus, do you want to call a professional every time Junior stuffs too much paper down the John? It adds up.