Rentmeister Total Home Service Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Plumbing Repair’

Winter Plumbing Woes: Protecting and Thawing Frozen Pipes

Monday, February 27th, 2017

prevent-frozen-pipesPipes can freeze in a matter of hours, which is something that many homeowners don’t realize. And given that we still have plenty of chilly weather ahead—particularly at night—this is not something you should dismiss. It’s first important to know how to prevent such an incident from occurring.

However, if you’ve found yourself already facing this winter plumbing woe and it hasn’t yet led to a plumbing emergency, then you’ll want to act quickly to avoid one. Keep reading for some great tips on how to avoid and how to resolve frozen pipes.

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Does Your Bathroom Plumbing Need Repair?

Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

When you come home after a long day of work, or even after an enjoyable weekend with your family, the last thing you want to deal with is a plumbing problem—especially in your bathroom. However, even well-maintained plumbing systems run into issues. These problems must be resolved quickly in order to avoid larger problems later on. We’ve provided a few indicators below that might signal you need bathroom plumbing repair. Being prepared now may mean avoiding a catastrophe down the road.

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How Water Softeners Prevent Plumbing Repair

Friday, June 20th, 2014

Hard water is a condition that affects the water supply entering some homes through the municipal system. Hard water contains an excess of minerals, usually calcites and magnesium. This is rarely dangerous for your health, although it can reduce taste quality and make it difficult to form soap lather.

The major problem with hard water is what it can do to your plumbing and fixtures if left untreated. Installing a water softener in your home’s plumbing will counteract water hardness and help you avoid needless plumbing repair in Salt Lake City, UT. Contact Rentmeister Total Home Service for water treatment solutions that will help you with water softener installation.

How a water softener helps your home

The large amount of minerals inside hard water can cause numerous issues inside your plumbing. One sign that you have hard water is the appearance of off-white flaky substances along faucets and edges of drains. These are the calcite deposits from the minerals in the water. They are unpleasant to look at, but imagine what kind of problems they can pose for the inside of your pipes, where they will start to build up.

Excess calcite deposits inside a pipe will start to reduce the space within the pipe. Although it is extremely rare for these deposits to close off a pipe entirely, the lessened space in the pipe will cause a spike in water pressure. High water pressure will inflict damage throughout your plumbing and will lead to numerous leaks springing up along connection points. You can expect to call for many plumbing repairs to seal leaks when you have hard water.

Hard water is also a serious problem for your home’s water heater. The high temperature inside a water heater tank will turn the minerals in hard water into limescale that will develop along the interior of the tank. Limescale acts as an insulator, and this will cause an imbalance in the tank’s heat and create overheating. A water heater will need regular de-scaling to fix the problem… unless the hard water can be counteracted.

How does a water softener deal with hard water? This whole-house treatment system balances the minerals in hard water with salts. Calcium and magnesium ions in water will switch places with sodium ions. A water softener only needs to add a small amount of sodium (12.5 mg per 8 ozs.) to the water supply to make this switch, which is well below the minimum set by the Drug and Food Administration for “very low sodium” levels.

You need to have professionals handle installing a water softener. Call Rentmeister Total Home Service today to arrange an appointment to look at your home’s issues with hard water and come up with a solution. Should you need plumbing repair service in Salt Lake City, we are available 24 hours a day for emergency service.

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3 Signs That You Have a Plumbing Leak

Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

Your first reaction to reading this blog title might be, “What? Aren’t signs of leaks obvious? It’s water dripping from pipes!” You’re right about that—but think about the piping in your home: how much of it can you actually see? Only a few sections of your home’s plumbing are visible; your house wouldn’t look attractive with bare copper and PVC tubes running through living rooms and dining rooms. When leaks begin, they often start in places you either can’t see, like inside walls or in floors and ceilings, or places you don’t visit often, such as the basement.

But you can learn about leaks from other signs. Here are three important ones you should know about.

Because most of the pipes in your home are difficult to reach, you should get the services of a professional plumbing contractor to seal leaks and find any other problems that might afflict your home’s plumbing. Rentmeister Total Home Service is available to help you in Salt Lake City, UT with plumbing repair.

1. Unusually high water usage

Your daily habits will mean a steady water bill that will only fluctuate, up or down, in minor ways. However, a steady leak anywhere in your plumbing will quickly add up, resulting in water waste and higher bills. Pay attention to your water usage each month. The EPA estimates that 10% of homes in the U.S. have leaks that waste 90 gallons a day—enough to fill a swimming pool in only three months. The EPA offers this benchmark: for an average family of four, usage of more than 12,000 gallons per month is unusual.

2. Damp/stained walls or ceilings

Because many of the pipes in your home run through the walls and ceilings, pay attention to unexplained moisture along them. Even a small leak will start to seep into wall and ceiling plaster and turn it damp. Rusty colored stains on walls or ceilings will also warn you of pipe problems.

3. Warped and buckled wood flooring

Leaks in the floor will cause wood beams to warp. If you notice rises in wood floorboards, or spots where the beams no longer seem to fit together as they once did, the likely culprit is a leaky pipe.

You’ll need plumbing repairs done fast if you have leaks in your pipes. Call a professional plumber to seal the leaks and find the source of the trouble to prevent it from recurring. For excellent plumbing repair services in Salt Lake City, hire Rentmeister Total Home Service. We’re on duty 24/7 and offer same-day service that will clear up your worries from leaky pipes.

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Common Plumbing Repair Services in Salt Lake City

Thursday, August 29th, 2013

You probably don’t give much thought to your plumbing system but it works hard every day to bring you fresh water and safely dispose of your waste water. All of the near-constant use can lead to a variety of problems that require professional services. We get countless calls every year for plumbing repair services in Salt Lake City and we wanted to share some of the most common issues that we see. Give us a call if you have any questions or if you’re having any problems with your air conditioning system.

Most Common Salt Lake City Plumbing Repair Services

Here are a few of the most common Salt Lake City plumbing repair issues that we get called to fix.

  • Clogs – Usually, clogs don’t develop overnight. Instead, they tend to develop slowly over time as your plumbing system operates. If you start to notice any slow drains in your home it could be a good idea to get ahead of the problem by calling early for Salt Lake City plumbing repair services. This will help you avoid complete clogs where you lose function of any critical drains in your home. In particular, the kitchen sink is highly vulnerable to clogs because of the large food waste that it has to deal with. Avoid putting things like animal bones, starchy foods and melted grease down your drain as these are common causes of drain clogs.
  • Leaks – Another common problem that we get called to repair is a leak. Leaks can be caused by a wide variety of things. It could be that your pipes are old and are at the end of their lifespan. For copper water pipes, small dents in the pipe can cause pinhole leaks that allow a small amount of water to leak out over time. Cracks from tree roots, stress, shifts in the ground and deteriorating seals can all lead to the development of leaks. If you notice water spots on the floor or ceiling, if you notice a drop in water pressure or if you hear water running even though all your appliances are off, call for service immediately.
  • Plumbing pressure – Finally, one common cause of plumbing problems is an imbalance of pressure. Your plumbing system operates on a delicate balance of pressure. As water flows through your pipes it pushes air ahead of it and produces a vacuum behind it. In order to accommodate both of those pressures, your plumbing system has a series of vent stacks. If your pipes weren’t installed right or if there is a clog somewhere in the system it could cause an imbalance of pressure which could manifest as smelly drains or slow drains.

For quality plumbing repair services, make sure that you call the professional Salt Lake City plumbers at Rentmeister Total Home Services.

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