Plumbing can cost a lot of money, so being prepared and knowing how to take care of your plumbing can be very beneficial to you and your wallet. By knowing how to take care of your plumbing, you can save time and save yourself a lot of money, in the end.

If you want to make sure your garbage disposal is going to be around as long as the house it is inside of, make sure you clean it often. Prevent unsavory disposal odors through regular use of citrus peel, cherry pits and dish detergent.

Make sure that you disconnect all hoses outside your house when the fall season hits. This is important to reduce the chance of freezing, which can cause damage to the connecting pipes. Disconnect all of your water hoses and store them safely to put your family in the best position for the fall.

One costly plumbing repair is frozen pipes. This, however, is typically preventable. Insulate your outside pipes. 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. This will keep you from paying too much to your plumber.

To be successful in any plumbing project, make sure you turn the water off before you start unscrewing pipes. This tip might actually sound insulting, but you are probably getting caught up in having the right tools and parts and being dressed right. Double check that there is not a splash waiting for you. Then triple and quadruple check.

Every now and then, you should pour a large bucket of water down your basement floor drain. This will help to keep the trap seal full and prevent certain gases from coming up into your home. Also, be sure that you have your floor drain checked by a professional every few years.

Teach kids how to shut off the toilet’s water supply. Kids are notorious for putting large wads of toilet paper and other things into the toilet, which inevitably leads to the toilet overflowing. Especially if your bathroom has carpet, show kids how to turn the water valve off if the toilet water keeps rising, to prevent the mess of an overflow.

Make sure that the temperature of your home’s water heater is not above 120F. On older water heaters, be sure it is not above medium settings. When temperatures get higher than 120, scalding can occur. Also, having the settings above 120F, tends to use more energy than lower temperatures do.

Plumbing is not just about fixing water leaks. A plumber needs a wide array of different job skills to be able to do his job well. Plumbers fix water lines, install water heaters and help customers choose fixtures.

Keep an eye on your monthly water bill to catch plumbing problems. Has your water bill gone up recently, even though nothing’s changed? This could indicate a water leak or appliance problem somewhere inside or outside of your home. Check under sinks for rusted pipes, look for water puddles under outside faucets, and consider having a plumber come out to listen to your pipes to detect running water.

Use a product like BioBen if you are planning to leave your system shut off for a few weeks. Water will still remain in the pipes and could start smelling because it is not moving. This type of product will keep the water from stagnating and from smelling too bad.

Pick the drain cleaner you use carefully. Certain cleaners have strong chemical agents which will cause damage to the pipes. Make sure you select a brand that is advertised as gentle on the pipes. Your plumbing needs some forms of bacteria in order to work properly and the wrong chemicals can kill these good bacteria, as well as being toxic to people.

Use chemicals that are designed to clean your drain with caution. Yes, these products will open your drain, but the chemicals can harm your body, particularly if you get them directly on your skin. If you must use a chemical drain opener, wear a long sleeved shirt and rubber gloves.

If you are in need of plumbing fixtures, you should strongly consider going with brass ones. For one, brass fixtures are far tougher and longer-lasting. Brass is also more attractive to the eye than typical fixtures. You can find these in home improvement stores.

Tank-less water heaters are a great space saving alternative to traditional tank units. They are available in many models, some for indoors and some models are capable for outdoor mounting. Tank-less water heaters are known as great money savers when it comes to your water bill.

By knowing your plumbing and how it works, as was stated before, can save you a lot of time and money. There’s nothing worse than a plumbing accident to mess up your day. So, using the advice from this article, you can be sure to save yourself a big headache!