It is important for your home’s safety and also your wallet that you learn a little bit about plumbing. If you do understand the current plumbing system in your home, are you thinking about revamping it? How much experience do you have? If you are unable to answer each of these questions satisfactorily, keep reading.

Use the sounds you hear from your pipes to help you to determine what they problem is. Certain sounds mean the water pressure is too high. Other sounds can signify loose pipes or slight clogs from calcium or iron build up. Listening to your pipes can save you a lot of money hunting down the problem.

If any water pipe that you have freezes, be sure to turn on the faucet that is closes to the pipe to give the water an exit as the pipe thaws. This reduces pressure to keep the pipe from bursting, which could prevent a big mess in your home.

Check the floors in your bathroom for any give in order to be sure that there is no damage in the floors. Sit reversed on the toilet (facing the tank) with your feet on the floor. Rock your weight onto each foot in turn and see if you can feel any weakness or “give” in the floor. Identify any damage and repair it before it gets worse. In the long run, you are likely to save money by not putting off the repair.

Install screen traps or drain covers on all of your sinks and tub drains. Most home plumbing calls are about clogged pipes. These can be caused by debris, especially hair, washing down the drains. Putting in a trap means that you can clean this debris off before it ends up in the pipes.

Many people deal with clogged toilets. However, if your toilet will not flush every time, the water rises to the top, and there is bubbling effect occasionally, this can be due to a much deeper blockage in the main pipe. The main pipe must then be cleaned in order for your toilet to work properly.

Enzyme based pipe cleaners should be a first choice when you are trying to unclog a pipe that is blocked or draining slowly. The natural enzymes in these cleaners dissolve the clog, turning it into liquid, freeing it from the pipes. The best these days are the enzyme cleaners.

Cold weather can cause expensive plumbing repairs if your pipes freeze. Fortunately, such damage is easy to prevent. Pipes in crawlspaces or outside your home should be thoroughly insulated. And when the temperatures start dropping, you will want to drain your hoses and disconnect them, and then turn off all of the outside faucets. Doing so can prevent some nasty repair bills a professional plumber would charge you.

When you wash your hands, be sure that you have not left any soap on the faucet handles. What people do not know is that leaving soap on these fixtures can cause fixtures to corrode. Just take two seconds after you are done washing your hands to remove excess soap from the handles.

Look online for reviews of the plumbing contractor you are thinking of hiring. If people are not satisfied with the work that the plumber preforms, many times they will go on the internet and post negative reviews. If they are happy with the plumber they will also post positive reviews.

Make sure you shut off your main system before leaving your house for a few weeks. The water will stay in the pipes, but this should prevent any further damages in case a leak starts while you are away. Check that your shut-off valve is working properly before you leave.

Always keep a trash bin in the bathroom so that you can dispose of cotton swabs, facial pads, and hair. Do not put these materials in the toilet as they can cause clogs over time and disrupt your water flow. These items will not dissolve or break down when submerged in water.

If you need to shut off your plumbing system, turning off the main valve is not enough. A leaking sink will still be supplied by the water that remains in the pipes. Make sure you check all the pipes for signs of wetness or leaks. You should do this regularly.

When it comes to plumbing, there is never an unsolvable problem. If you feel yourself becoming frustrated with the project, you should try to take a break from what you are working on. The greatest mistakes start to happen when you become angry and inpatient, so take a break and walk outside.

Do you know more about plumbing than you previously did? Are you more familiar with what type of system you have in your home? Are your skills improving? Are you now well versed in what works well with your own system? Do you know more about using the tools? You should be able to answer these questions after reading this article.