The garbage disposal is one of the most useful appliances in your kitchen. Installed in roughly half of American homes today, garbage disposals have gone from being prohibited by law in many localities (New York City famously banned them until 1997) to being a common feature in newer homes in just a few decades. Given their relatively recent adoption, it shouldn’t be surprising that there are a lot of myths about garbage disposals. While some of these misconceptions are harmless, others have the potential to cause serious damage to your disposal unit or your pipes. Here are five of the most common myths:
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A residential main water line is an often neglected, but absolutely critical component of a home’s plumbing system. As the pipe that carries water into the home, the main water line undergoes constant use. If any problems develop in the line, they could disrupt service, inflict serious property damage, and, in some cases, lead to significant health hazards.
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Plumbing has a history as old as human civilization itself. While every innovation and development hasn’t led cleanly to the next one, there have been a number of important moments in the long history of plumbing that still affect the world we live in today.
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Everyone loves a good “do-it-yourself” project. Until, of course, something goes terribly wrong. While there’s nothing wrong with making a proactive effort to fix minor plumbing problems or perform simple installations around your home, many do-it-yourselfers make small, but critical mistakes that can end up costing them a lot of money to fix. Here are a few DIY mistakes plumbers encounter on a regular basis.
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Few things are more disconcerting than strange noises coming from the walls of your house in the middle of the night. While loud, repeated banging is probably the most common example, it’s far from the only disturbance you might hear. The good news is your house (probably) isn’t haunted. The bad news is you’ve got a plumbing problem.
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All homes dispose of wastewater in one of two ways — a septic tank or a sewer line. While there are advantages and disadvantages to each, homeowners are typically not in a position to choose between the two. Sewer lines connect to public sewer systems, so they are only available in urban areas. If your home is located in a rural area, a septic system is usually your only option short of an outhouse.
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Sometimes, we let things go that need to be done because we just don’t think about them. Our cars get to 6,000 miles before we take them in for an oil change, or that menial task at work keeps getting lost in the mix of all the other things we have to do. It’s an understandable oversight, but not always a safe one. In the case of your drains, you need to be aware of the risks of not cleaning them out once in a while.
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As a home settles, ages,and lasts through the years, having quality insurance becomes more and more important. Homeowner’s insurance often covers the cost of damages that might otherwise lead to financial ruin, such as water damage from a leak, damage to pipes due to poor insulation, or fire damage resulting from faulty electrical wiring. Since insurance providers typically offer several different types of policies, you should always review your policy to completely understand everything it covers. In the case of a broken sewer line, the first thing to do is to check your own specific policy.
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With the spread of smartphones and easy internet access, more and more people are using the information resources they have at their fingertips to become self-sufficient experts. After all, why would you pay someone to perform a service that you could learn to do yourself after watching a three-minute YouTube video? What does it matter if the person in the video claiming to be an expert doesn’t really know what they’re doing?
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When a failed sewage line is leaking raw sewage into your yard, finding a plumbing solution is a race against the clock. Every moment spent searching for the right service is an opportunity for the existing problem to get even worse. Fortunately, there are a few ways to speed up the search and help to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
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