Essential Plumbing and Water Tips

Whether you’re a DIY expert or not, there are a few things that are essential to know when running your own home. Keeping up to date with these useful tricks mean that you don’t always have to pay the costs of a professional for small scale problems that are easily fixable and preventable by you.
Blocked drains are the most annoying hindrance. Keep reading below to discover how you can work your way out of a dreaded blocked drain situation:

Keeping that funky, free-flowing drain feeling

It’s almost as if drains were designed to get blocked, especially if you don’t always give them the regular and thorough cleaning they deserve.
Food debris is the most common cause for kitchen drain blockages. If this is a problem for you then it’s always worth investing in a strainer to catch the larger food pieces for you which would otherwise clog your drain.
Similar strainers can sit in your bath and shower drain to stop blockages from hair and soap build up. Make sure you pull up the dreaded hair animal from your drain as frequently as possible.

Although hot water can clean drains, sometimes you might need something with a little bit more of a kick. Vinegar is a good home remedy along with bicarbonate of soda. Leave it for half an hour in order for the magic to work before you rinse away to find a happier, healthier drain.
If you’re going on holiday or have found a leak. Turning off your hot water is an essential thing to know how to do quickly and simply.

Turning off your hot water

Although it’s different in every house, the ‘water off’ valve is most likely to be situated at the point that a cold water supply enters your home. Try under the sink? The valve itself will look like a random tap that shouldn’t do very much, located half way up a pipe. If you turn this clockwise, you’ll successfully shut your water off, anti-clockwise (yes, you guessed it) will turn your water on again for you. If no water runs from your sink, you’ve successfully shut off your water!
We don’t want to leave you to fend for yourselves though. If you’ve found yourself in a plumbing situation and need one of our experts, just call Plumbing on Tap and we’ll come round to help you!

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