When you happen across an issue with your home’s plumbing, it can be tempting to write it off as a problem that you can tackle yourself. And while it’s true that some plumbing problems are indeed easy DIY fixes, others require the services of professional plumbers in the Southwest Florida community like Best Home Services. To that end, we’ve put together this quick guide on diagnosing plumbing problems and deciding when it’s time to call on the pros.
No Running Water
One of the most common plumbing problems that homeowners commonly run into is a lack of running water. The worst-case scenario is this: you get out of bed on a Monday morning and find your faucet unable to produce anything beyond a drip or two of water. Sounds pretty, bad right? If you’ve ever experienced a similar situation, you know how frustrating this one can be.
Is it an area-wide outage, or just your home?
So, first thing’s first: you’ll want to give your neighbors a call to see if they’re dealing with the same problem. If they’re in the same situation, you can at least get in touch with a plumbing professional right away to see who you should be calling for your property.
If it’s just you who’s got no water at all, though, then that’s something else entirely: if you’re the only one in the neighborhood without water, something isn’t right.
Possible culprits
The culprits behind a cessation in your water can vary—you may be dealing with frozen-over pipes, backups, and leaks, or a problem with your water main—but your solution should remain the same: immediately get in touch with plumbing professionals like ours at Best Home Services to quickly and efficiently diagnose the issue you’re having so that you can work toward a solution as soon as possible. Give us a call at (239) 323-1546.
Make sure it’s a plumbing issue
If you’ve got cold water but no hot water, you may have a heater-related issue on your hands. Check to see whether your water is running on some floors but not others inside the house. If you’ve got water flowing on one floor but not another, there’s a good chance that you’re actually dealing with a pressure-related issue that you can address yourself with DIY solutions and equipment available at your local hardware store. If you need more help, don’t hesitate to give Best Home Services a call at (239) 323-1546.
Low water pressure
Another common plumbing-related issue is low water pressure; water that isn’t forcefully flowing typically points to an issue with pressure, and pressure-related issues are best addressed by plumbing pros like those at Best Home Services.
Clogged aerator
If, for instance, you’re dealing with one of your bathroom’s faucets with water that isn’t flowing forcefully, your issue may lie with an aerator that’s gotten clogged. This one’s simple enough to fix: just unscrew your aerator and clean out all the gross sediment that’s built up—all you’ll need to take care of this problem is a little vinegar and some elbow grease.
Possible pipe issues
With that said, if you’ve tried your best to clean your aerator and still notice that water isn’t flowing properly, then you may have a much more serious problem that you need to address. Unfortunately, if you’ve gotten this far, then you’re probably experiencing low water pressure due to a pipe that’s cracked or even broken.
Cracked and broken pipes will cause leaks that can seriously damage your property. Always contact the plumbing professionals at Best Home Services if you’re dealing with low water pressure that’s located in more than one fixture.
Overflowing Toilet
It’s an inevitable part of life: your toilet’s overflowing and you don’t exactly know why. Clogged and overflowing toilets can sometimes be pretty simple to take care of — other times, if the root issue is apparent, an overflowing toilet can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Check the flapper
You’ll first want to check to see whether your toilet is simply constantly running since you can usually take care of this by just switching out the flapper (this saves you a ton of money, by the way.)
Shut off your water
Replaced your flapper to no avail? It’s time to switch off your water. Keep your water off for the time being and use your other facilities until you can get a professional plumber to come and inspect the issue for you. You should be able to locate the water shutoff for your toilet by looking under the bowl at the back or near the left side.
Professional plumbers like ours are able to arrive quickly to see what’s going on with your toilet, after which we can quickly unclog it, figure out what the root cause is, and make sure that you don’t run into the same issue again down the road.
Keep your septic tank clear
Before we wrap up, it’s good to remember that you’ll want to make sure youclean out your septic tank once a year, especially if you’ve dealt with an overflowing or clogged toilet in the past.
Need help diagnosing your plumbing problems? Call the pros at Best Home Services!
We know how frustrating dealing with plumbing problems can be, especially if you aren’t sure how to quickly identify the root cause of your issue. If you’re a resident in the Southwest Florida community and are suddenly dealing with an issue related to your plumbing and aren’t sure how to proceed, we at Best Home Services have got you covered. Contact us today for help with plumbing problems big and small or give us a call at (239) 323-1546!
