Meticulous Plumbing provides full-service plumbing for our Portland neighbors. We can take care of just about any and everything — from water heater installation and home repiping to kitchen remodeling and more.
It’s also important for us to provide resources for our readers so that they can familiarize themselves with their plumbing systems. There are some plumbing jobs that most people — even those with zero plumbing experience — can do on their own.
Do you DIY?
With that in mind, we thought it might be a good idea to put some of those things down in a blog that homeowners and property owners can reference when there’s a minor fix or check-up that needs to be done.
One small caveat: Please seek expert advice for even the smallest things if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of doing any of these tasks yourself. Better to consult an expert plumber in Portland, then to try something on your own and cause problems that you may not notice right away.
Still, we don’t want to worry you. There are definitely some things you can do on your own that don’t take a whole lot of know-how or elbow grease. In fact, many of these small and simple things can make a big difference. Some of them are maintenance-type check-ups that can help you keep your plumbing system functioning as it should.
We all know the old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Well, consider this little list of three do-it-yourself plumbing tasks to be your ounce of prevention.
Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Tasks
Toilet Troubles
A toilet that refuses to stop running — no matter how many times you jiggle the handle — can seem like a mild nuisance. However, over time it can lead to bigger problems, including flooding and the resulting water damage. It could also cause an increase in your water bill.
Most people can perform a DIY inspection of their toilet in order to determine why it won’t stop running. Often, it’s something inside the tank itself. For example, a chain that’s become trapped under the flapper (aka the flush valve seal.) Other times, the flapper itself needs to be replaced. Good news: They only cost a couple of bucks, and you can probably get some instruction from your friendly neighborhood hardware person on how to replace the old one. (If not, the packaging itself should explain the procedure.) Finally, the problem could be caused by the float — that big ball that sits at the end of the float arm. A float that isn’t sitting at the right height can cause the water to keep running. A simple half-turn on the screw that holds the float arm in place usually does the trick.
Clogs!
Most people are familiar with the not-so-high-tech technique of clearing a toilet clog. In perhaps the most DIY-est DIY maneuver ever devised, a plunger can do wonders at clearing a toilet, using a basic law first articulated by Aristotle: Nature abhors a vacuum. A good strong plunge will usually clear even the cloggiest of clogs in your toilet.
Here’s how Sciencing.com describes the process: “The plunger is pulled back, sucking air and water up with it, causing a vacuum. This abrupt force of air and water pressure helps loosen a clog in the pipes and gets the toilet pipes draining again.”
Just like we said! Easy peasy DIY-sey.
Slow-Draining Sinks
If you notice that your bathroom sink is draining more slowly than it should, you may not have a clog. Instead, you may need to adjust the assembly beneath the sink that controls the pop-up drain sink stopper. There’s an excellent video here for those who wanted to tackle this slightly-more-tricky DIY task.
So there you have it. Just a few things to give you a handle on some basic DIY check-ups and fixes for your home’s plumbing system. If you have any questions, contact Meticulous Plumbing today!
