Having good working plumbing is an important to having a safe and healthy home. This article can be a great database of knowledge for maintaining and fix your plumbing.

You should clean your septic tank every five years! This keeps the tank from developing a buildup of sediment, thereby preventing the septic system from backing up or failing altogether as a result. While you may find it costly to get your septic tank cleaned out, the cost is much higher to have sewage and backups cleaned up and your septic tank repaired or replaced.

If one of your water pipes freezes, have the tap closest to it turned on so the water can exit while the pipe thaws. This will help relieve pressure in pipes to prevent them from bursting, and can keep them from bursting.

If you have a clogged toilet with the water level very low, and plunging it isn’t working, it’s possible to resolve this by pouring warm water from a bucket directly into the toilet bowl from about waist level. The water needs to be at a low level again in order to repeat the process.

Check the floors in your bathroom for any give in order to be sure that there is no damage in the toilet to determine floor damage. You could save a lot if you notice these issue sooner.

Never reach into a garbage disposal that you think isn’t working. Garbage disposals can be dangerous, even if they are powered off. Try to find a diagram, or troubleshooting guide for your particular disposal on the Internet.

If you live in a home using well water and your bathtubs have stains pink and orange in color, this is no doubt due to iron in the water. You will need a water softener in order to take care of this problem, which is something you can get on your own at a local retailer, or hire someone to go to your home and fix it for you.

Every so often, inspect the floor around your toilet and see if it has gone soft. Put a foot on each side of the toilet and put weight on each side, if you have any give you may have damage. You could save yourself money but noticing that problem sooner, rather than later.

Overflow Holes

Never pour grease or anything fatty or oily into your drain. As they cool off, they can solidify and effectively create clogs and blockages in your drains. A garbage disposal can even become clogged by hardened grease and it will not run at optimum speed and efficiency. Keep a container in your kitchen that is used specifically for discarded grease.

Check your fixtures to ensure the overflow holes regularly to prevent blockage. Clear overflow holes periodically when doing your periodic checks for other problems and things that need to be repaired.

A great way to knock out your plumbing issues in one shot is to schedule everything at once. You may want to have each minor problem attended to as the occur, but having multiple repairs done at once allows you to save up for the cost. Because most plumbers charge labor by the hour on top of a flat call rate, you can significantly reduce your bill by reducing the trips they make to your home.

It is very important to to use lots of cold water whenever you run your garbage disposal. Cold water keeps blades sharp and makes the disposal run more smoothly.

If you have a shower head that needs replacing, be sure to get one that is good quality. Many times, people think it is okay to buy the cheapest shower head that they can find. Cheap shower heads can break much more easily.

Installing Shower Heads

Clean out your dryer’s lint filter. This is a good idea for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is fire safety. Inspect your lint trap often to see if there are any tears or holes. If there are, you can have lint getting into your pipes, and this will clog them and give you more problems that will have to be dealt with.

Installing shower heads could save you a lot of money when it comes to your energy head. Most households use a lot of hot water used in our showers. If you invest in purchasing and installing shower heads that are energy-efficient, you can potentially reduce your energy bill by $100 or more annually for every shower head used in your home.

If grout is stick within the line, it is likely useless to try cleaning it on your own. You could try to break up all the grout to send it down further. This works best if your pipes are plastic instead of metal. It’s up to a professional to fix this problem, though.

Be sure that the dryer’s lint trap of any debris. This will help your dryer to work better and prevents fires. Be sure you inspect your lint trap for tears or holes that could mean lint is going into your pipes, because this can cause bigger problems as it may mean that lint is escaping into your pipes.

When using the garbage disposal, do not even bother running the water. Many people make the mistake of thinking that a disposal can handle anything as long as they have water running when they turn it on. That is not true at all. The opposite is actually true. The running water can cause the disposal to clog, causing a plumbing problem.

As indicated by this article, there are many ways to maintain and repair your plumbing system. By using the tips at home, you will not only be able to fix any plumbing emergencies, but you will also be able to reduce your costs because you won’t need to hire a professional plumber.

Don’t rely on drain cleaners too much. The chemicals that these cleaners are made up of are corrosive, and will damage the pipes in your house if you overuse them. Especially in cases where you have a drain that clogs repeatedly, getting a professional plumber in to examine the situation may be your best option.