Land & Property Archives - Page 8 of 17 - B&L Plumbing and Heating

Identifying Problems With The Hot Water Heater

3 Ways to Identify a Malfunctioning Water Heater

If a home plumbing system has a heart, it is not the toilet or kitchen sink but the water heater. It helps with the everyday chores of keeping the home clean and comfortable and assisting with cooking. Problems with the hot water can upend a whole routine and easily cause disgruntled feelings among the household members. Like most appliances, a water heater shows signs that it needs maintenance and repair before it stops working. These indicators for water heater repair or replacement are discussed below.

Banging and Popping Sounds

If a homeowner has neglected their water heater maintenance or the home has hard water, then sediment can build up in the tank. This can result in poor recovery, that is, how quickly the tank of water comes back up to the optimal temperature after being depleted, and unpleasant sounds can result. Since the water heater is normally quiet, a loud noise from it can certainly be alarming, but it can also indicate a couple of different issues described in the following list.

Anode Rod Replacement: One of the reasons for sediment buildup is the need to replace the anode rod. This is a special piece of equipment that attracts positive ions in the water to prevent corrosion. This leads to a breaking down of the anode rod instead of inside the water heater tank. Because it breaks down, it needs to be replaced occasionally to have a fully functioning water heater.
Hard Water: Around 90% of the homes in the United States have hard water. It is not harmful for human consumption, but its high mineral content can leave calcium and magnesium deposits in pipes and hot water tanks. Flushing the hot water tank can solve this problem.

Professional maintenance is needed to lengthen any appliance's life, including water heaters. Even tankless water heater maintenance is necessary.

Water is Discolored or Smells Bad

If water comes out of the tap discolored or metallic smelling, this can point to a corroded water heater. This can be due to a lack of maintenance or just age. If the interior lining of the water heater gets damaged, it can expose the tank's metal to corrosive elements. This can cause a host of issues throughout the house.

Laundry that doesn't come clean
Foul tasting water
Spotty dishes
Stinky laundry
Tank Leaks

If the tank is corroded, repair is not an option. Water heater replacement is needed.

The Hot Water Tank is Leaking

A leaking water heater can sometimes be repaired by simply tightening the plumbing connections or replacing the pressure release valve. These repairs should be assessed and performed by a plumbing professional. As previously stated, certain problems, such as corrosion, cannot be repaired; only an entire replacement will work.

About B&L Plumbing and Heating

When homeowners need a plumber with no after-hours fees, they should call B & L Plumbing. They serve Colorado Springs, CO, and the surrounding areas with 24-hour emergency water heater service.

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Use Less Water, Spend Less Money, Save On Summer

Save Water and Save Money This Summer

In this area of the US, people are in great debates about the future of the Colorado River and all the people, animals, and farmland it supplies. While everyone may not be able to join in drafting laws on how to conserve water, every homeowner and household can do their part to lower their water bill. Summer is a particularly hard time for water conservation, and this article will share a few ideas on how to make saving water more feasible with new technology and a few tried and true conservation methods.

Replace Old Fixtures With Water Saving Devices

While this tip takes spending money to save money and water, the items listed here will eventually pay for themselves. Installing new fixtures that help the household use less water is a no-brainer. Once the item is installed, the homeowner can forget it and watch their water bill decrease. The following list contains some of the most common water conservation devices.

Low Flow Showerhead: These devices look like the average showerhead, but they reduce the amount of water coming out of the pipe when turned on. This is engineered to reduce the water flow without sacrificing much water pressure, so it is a win-win situation.
Water Saving Toilet: Regulations on how much water a toilet can use have grown stricter over the last 20 or 30 years. Whereas toilets used to use up to 5 gallons of water, they now tend to use less than 2 gallons. Dual flush toilets can use as little as .6 gallons for a flush.
Touchless Faucet: This can be installed in the kitchen and the bathroom. The touchless faucet conserves water, prevents germ spread, and keeps surfaces cleaner because dirty hands don’t have to touch it to turn it on.

Schedule Watering the Lawn in A Precise Way

Everybody likes green, healthy grass in their yard. Watering the lawn is often a point of contention for those who want to conserve water, but a happy medium can be found. If a homeowner waters their lawn early in the morning, that will give the plants the best chance at absorption and keep them healthy. Allowing rainwater to be a source of watering is also recommended. There is no need to water from the hose if there has been rain.

Basic Practices for Minimal Water Usage

The oldest tricks for water conservation still work. A bit of mindfulness can go a long way. Listed below are a few tried and true methods of saving water.

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving
Turn off the tap while washing and rinsing dishes by hand
Limit the use of the hose
Consider a soaker hose installation in a garden

About B&L Plumbing and Heating

Veteran-owned B&L Plumbing and Heating offers 24/7 emergency plumbing service to Colorado Springs, CO, and the surrounding communities with no after-hours fees. Call today for peace of mind and competitive pricing.

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Reasons to Install a Water Softener This Spring

How Do Water Softeners Work?

A water softener is a device that is engineered specifically to treat hard water. How can water be hard? Water becomes hard when it dissolves certain minerals in its journey through the water cycle. These minerals become part of the water and are hard to remove on a municipal scale. They can, however, be removed on a smaller scale, like in a home, for a low cost. This is good news for the 85% of Americans with hard water in their homes.

Why is having soft water a good thing? Water is the basis for so much of modern society. While hard water is fine to drink, with the possible exception of having a bad taste, it can interfere with every other use for water. Water carrying a high mineral load can interfere with cleaning, ruin plumbing, and cause negative health effects. Here are three ways that installing a water softener can help every home.

Makes Cleaning Practices More Effective

Remember the adage, “Oil and water don’t mix.” This is a true statement that is easily illustrated in a grade-school classroom. The secret to getting oil and water to mix is chemicals known as soaps and detergents. These chemicals are special because they can interact with water, oils, and even dirt.

When minerals are present in water in the form of hardness, the ions interfere with water’s ability to interact with soaps and detergents. This leads to several problems:

Faded clothing
Deposited stains and soil on clothing
Spotted dishes with no luster
The dull sheen on cleaned surfaces
Soap scum buildup on bathtubs and sinks

Using soft water in the home can be more effective in sweeping away dirt. Consider installing a water softener for brighter clothing, cleaner dishes, and a cleaner home in general.

Keeps the Plumbing Safe

A second problem associated with hard water is higher plumbing bills. When water carries extra minerals around, the minerals tend to deposit themselves into piping and plumbing fixtures. This leads to unsightly scale as well as problems with water pressure. This scale can be particularly harmful in water heaters, lowering efficacy and volume. Installing a water heater can protect plumbing and restore the water heater to proper operation.

Improves the Health of Hair and Skin

One of the more annoying consequences of hard water’s diminished capacity to remove soils is its effect on health. When water can’t effectively wash away soaps and soil, the grime stays on the hair and skin, leaving a dull film that adversely affects its health and appearance. This is most evident in dry hair and skin.

Instead of letting hard water take a toll on the health and appearance of the family, why not look into water softener installation? Installing a water softener can allow the water in the home to completely wash away soap residues and grime, leaving the home healthier and cleaner.

About B&L Plumbing and Heating

B&L Plumbing and Heating has the plumbing solutions every home needs. With residential and commercial water softener services, they can help every home or business get the most from their water. Call today for a plumbing service in Colorado Springs, CO.

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Common Problems That Cause Leaky Faucets

Pay Attention to Leaky Faucets

A leaky faucet may not seem like a huge problem compared to everything that could go wrong with the plumbing. However, the EPA estimates that over a trillion gallons of water are wasted annually in the US from leaks alone. This means that, on average, every household in the US has at least one plumbing leak that wastes many gallons of water a day. Many of these leaks are dripping faucets.

With all of that wasted water, leaky faucets are a big liability. Instead of paying for wastewater, homeowners should take the initiative to repair leaks when they become apparent. Compared to the severity of the problem, leaky faucet repairs are cheap and easy. Here are some tips to help homeowners repair their faucets or, at the very least, understand how a plumber will perform repairs.

Symptoms of a Damaged O-Ring

The inside of a faucet is a mystery to most people and an overwhelmingly complex device to others. But the principles of what makes a water faucet work are fairly simple. Since each valve is the same, one only has to understand one valve to properly troubleshoot faucet leaks.

One of the most perplexing faucet leaks is when water leaks around the handles of the faucet. This problem is solved by replacing the o-ring in the faucet. The O-ring is a small rubber seal around the faucet's stem. Its purpose is to keep water from flowing up the valve stem when the sink handle turns and water flows from the spigot. When friction causes it to wear out, water will dribble out around the valve handle.

To diagnose this problem, turn off the water at the shut-off valves and remove the valve cartridge. The O-ring will be around the cartridge above the washers and the handle seat.

What Causes Worn-Out Washers?

Washers are half of the mechanism that cuts off flow from a faucet. These rubber or neoprene washers press down into the valve seat to stop the water flow or pull away from the valve seat as the handle is turned for water. With every turn of the faucet handle, these devices wear down. After a few years of constant use, washers will wear out and allow water to seep past them and leak from the faucet.

In most sinks, the washer is located at the lowest part of the valve cartridge. To replace them, remove the cartridge and the screw holding the washer. Replace with a washer of identical dimensions and reinstall.

Damaged Valve Seats

Valve seats are the other half of the equation for fixing faucet leaks. After years of rubber and neoprene washers pressing into valve seats, these structures can build up corrosion or suffer from pitting. When the valve seat is compromised, the symptoms will be identical to a bad washer. Replacing the o-rings and washers in a faucet helps to replace the valve seats as well. By replacing all three simultaneously, the faucet will be as good as new.

About B&L Plumbing and Heating

B&L Plumbing and Heating is a veteran-owned business offering tailored plumbing solutions. They serve residential and commercial customers and never charge after-hours fees. Call today for superior plumbing service in Colorado Springs, CO.

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Reasons to Hire a Professional Drain Cleaning Service

Put Drain Cleaning at the Top of the To-Do List

Having seasonal maintenance tasks is a great practice to ensure that all those little things that must be done periodically are remembered. Drain cleaning, for example, is a great habit to get into once a year, and there is no better time than now to stop drain clogs before they wreak havoc in a home.

When a drain starts to clog, it will start by making gurgling noises and draining slowly. Before long, the drain will stop draining, and homeowners will face the prospect of cleaning up a nasty mess. Instead of dealing with this situation or even having problems with more severe consequences, why not look into professional drain cleaning? Here are some of the benefits of drain cleaning before problems become noticeable.

Stop Clogs and Buildup

Drains are expected to handle some of the nastiest messes a collection of humans can make. Whether that includes balls of hair and soap scum in a bathtub drain or a grease-caked drain line in a restaurant sewer main, drains must handle anything. When drains are neglected for too long, they can build up a greasy scale on the pipe walls. This greasy mess slows down the wastewater flow and begins to build faster. Eventually, the flow in the pipe will stop altogether in the form of a nasty clog.

Routine drain cleaning and hydro jetting are the best ways to prevent this buildup from closing off the pipe and leading to a clog. During routine drain cleaning and hydro jetting, the buildup is removed from pipe walls, restoring flow and drastically reducing the likelihood of a clog.

Reduce the Chance of Flooding

While a clogged drain is a pain to deal with, it is trivial compared to the damage a clogged drain can do. When drains are completely clogged, wastewater has nowhere to go. If basins keep filling up with water, the water will eventually spill out and cause a flood. Floods from clogged drains often take the form of a toilet spilling waste onto a bathroom floor or a sewage backup into bathtubs. The resulting flood can cost far more to clean up, and repair than routine drain cleaning would have cost to prevent the problem in the first place.

Save on Repair Bills and Cleanup

How can a service that costs money save money instead? Easy. Hiring a plumbing service for preventative drain cleaning comes at a fixed cost dictated by the local market. When comparing this cost to the cost of hiring an emergency plumber and paying for repairs and cleanup for the resulting flood, it's easy to see why hiring a professional before things go bad is the cheaper option. Why not prevent a clogged drain's surprise costs and hassle and schedule drain cleaning this spring?

About B&L Plumbing and Heating

B&L Plumbing and Heating is a veteran-owned, full-service plumber serving residential and commercial customers. With complete drain cleaning options and tailored plumbing solutions, they are always ready to help. Call today for a plumbing service in Colorado Springs, CO.