Clear Plumbing Red Flags That Might Be Risky to Ignore
By Brian Sodoma, for Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning
As we head into winter, many homeowners tend to prioritize checking their boilers and any other HVAC systems, potentially forgetting about other important systems. While maintaining your heating is always a good investment, your home’s plumbing system may need help now and then too.
You and your family will want to consider a yearly plumbing maintenance appointment. After all, plumbing problems are often only found when something breaks, but it’s also probably true that your system may have been trying to alert you to the trouble. To minimize your risk of needing serious repairs, here are several often overlooked signs that your plumbing system needs immediate attention.
1. A Drop in Water Pressure
If the plumbing’s water pressure drops suddenly, that’s often because there’s an issue with your water main. It may be a failure somewhere along the main line to your home or a pipe within it, explained BJ Richardson, a Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning plumbing manager.
However, if your water pressure problem is restricted to one room, like the bathroom or kitchen, it may be a fixture problem. It might be a simple fix, like replacing your faucet aerator or addressing a water heater issue. Or it could possibly be something a little more complex, like a supply line leading to that room.
“I always encourage families to keep an eye on their water bill too. If you notice these drops in pressure come at a time when you suddenly see a higher bill, there may be a deeper problem,” Richardson said. “It’s helpful to check your water meter to see if it’s running even when no appliances are turned on. That’s another way we determine you have a leak somewhere.”
In certain situations a sudden change in pressure can be related to the municipal supply – in these cases, that is easily corrected with a booster pump.
2. A “Sewer” Odor That Won’t Go Away
“While a clog in a plumbing fixture like your sink can sometimes produce unpleasant odors due to trapped remnants, a persistent rotten egg smell suggests a more serious issue. Drains include traps and vents inside them and one of these components can clog. If the smell never goes away, you could be dealing with a blocked sewer or even a sewer gas leak. Diagnosing and fixing these problems should be entrusted to the professionals, Richardson said.
Don’t forget that although propane and natural gas possess a distinctive smell, those leaks are often mistaken as a sewer smell. When in doubt, consult with a professional.”
3. Discoloration in the Pipes
Discoloration and visible wear on exposed pipes represent other signs that can be easy to overlook. If you’re in your basement, outside or anywhere in your home, it’s useful to examine the pipes in plain view. Noticeable wear and discoloration usually points to the presence of a leak.
Most discoloration happens in sections where two pipe pieces are joined together. Ignoring such discoloration is risky when it comes to supply lines because they are pressurized, Richardson explained. If the plumbing breaks, it can release a substantial amount of water into your home very quickly.
For some sections of the piping, discoloration is in fact caused by different chemicals local authorities have to sanitize and treat the water.
4. Poor Drainage
It is tempting for homeowners to fix this issue with liquid drain cleaner, but those chemicals are usually only a temporary solution that could backfire and damage your plumbing system. While we’ve all heard of clogs caused by hair, the truth is hair is not the clog’s culprit. Household products including cleaners, toothpaste, hand soaps and even the oil produced from our skin create an adhesive scum on the drain walls that accumulates hair and other foreign objects, which most liquid drain cleaners won’t remove. The use of a drain machine or snake will be the most effective approach to tackle this type of entrenched clog. Often, if there is considerable debris inside the pipes below the sink, clearing it out usually clears up the problem. But when this doesn’t work, it could mean you need to look for a more significant issue.
“The thing you ought to monitor is if multiple drains are clogged, and the problem doesn’t resolve itself after cleaning the drain under those sinks,” said Brian McMasters, a Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning division plumbing manager. “The sewer line may need to be cleaned, but in some cases, the issue comes from tree roots that grow into and crack a sewer line. Fixing this kind of damage is obviously more complex to perform and requires trenching down into the ground until we find the exact location of the leak to repair it.”
5. Standing Water in Your Front or Back Yard
Regularly examine the exterior of your house, including your yard. It’s advisable to do so every week. Many times, a broken underground water or irrigation line leak, or even a sewer main line leak, shows itself gradually, after a lot of water has already leaked underground. Look for soft, sunken spots in the grass as these may suggest a hidden issue.
“You also want to be vigilent for things including sudden green patches in typically dry or yellow areas of the lawn,” said McMasters. “Sometimes, that’s a sign there’s a problem a trained plumber can solve.”
Find out everything you need to know about avoiding common issues with plumbing systems and receive expert help at Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning.