Do you feel that your home’s plumbing is in good condition? For the most part, it doesn’t take years of training. Rather, it requires you to know some basic information. If you just said “It’s go time,” then this article is for you. The tips in this article are full of advice on how you can do your own plumbing efficiently.

Avoid plumbing problems! Do not stop up the toilet! Some common items that will stop up a toilet include: toys, hair, paper towels, birth control items, and feminine personal products. Do not flush these items down your toilet – unless the instructions say otherwise! These can stop up your toilet – to the point that nothing else will work – except calling a plumber!

If you are paying someone else to do the plumbing in your home be sure that they are licensed in your state to do that work. Some people who have little or no knowledge of plumbing will try to pass themselves off as a pro. So you can see the importance of checking to see if your plumber is licensed. You should also see if you can find positive testimonials about the plumbers work.

You need to know your plumbing tools as well as how they are used so your plumbing efforts are always positive. Read every manual, and use the Internet and library to research the projects that you plan on doing. Before attempting any repairs, plan ahead, or you may make a costly mistake.

If you have bad water pressure in the shower, the showerhead might be clogged. Take a plastic baggie, fill it with regular vinegar, and tie it to the showerhead so that the showerhead is covered. Leave it overnight. In the morning, take the baggie off and use a small toothbrush to scrub away any mineral deposits.

Check your faucets for leaks. Check the knobs and the faucet itself. Hundreds of gallons of water a day can be wasted due to leaks and that’s not good if you’re paying your water bill. By stopping a leak now, you can save yourself a lot of money. Leaks can grow over time as well, so avoid a disaster and check all faucets for leaks!

Do not overload your garbage disposal. If you need to dispose of large items, cut them up into smaller pieces. Also, do not put too much in at a time, put one or two items in and wait a few seconds to dispose of the rest. Overloading your disposal can cause the engine to overheat.

Make sure that your tool box is ready for any project you are preparing to do. The last thing you want is to be knee deep in a job only to find that you are missing the one tool you need to finish. Be sure to have various sizes of pipe wrenches that can be used to complete any job.

Frozen pipes can cause you to incur expensive plumbing repair bills. Fortunately, you can generally prevent your pipes from freezing. The first concern is making sure that all water lines that run outside of your house are fully and sufficiently insulated. With the onset of colder weather, disconnect and drain any hoses and shut off outside faucets. This can save some serious money on pipe repairs over time.

Try to limit the amount of hair that goes down your drains. Hair can become tangled up in the pipe and end up blocking up the them, preventing water from flowing smoothly. Buy a cheap screened drain cover to put over your drain to stop any hair from going down and clean it off regularly.

Treating your drains every month is a great way to avoid future clogs and other problems, and it’s a very simple procedure. Just run one to two gallons of hot tap water down each drain in your house.

In any DIY plumbing project, make sure that you always test the drains and the supply lines before you close up the walls. It is a lot easier to find and solve problems if you look for them while you are still in the process of actively doing the job.

To get the best possible price from a plumber, shop around and keep notes. When you get a price quote from the first plumber you call, you can subtly mention that price to the second and see if they will beat it. If you keep doing this down a list, you can drive down the price considerably.

After reading the above tips, you should feel excited in the fact that you will now be able to be your own plumber. Avoid damaging your pipes by not using harsh chemicals. If one thing does not work for you, you can always try something new.