The cost of owning a house isn’t limited to mortgage payments and utility expenses. You should also consider property taxes, insurance fees, homeowners’ association fees, and maintenance expenses. While the first three are set in stone, so to speak, you can still work on the fourth expense by doing any minor repair work yourself. This is particularly true when you encounter minor plumbing issues in the house.
Fixing minor plumbing issues allows you to save hundreds of dollars in professional fees. If you work on these issues, you can also prevent them from becoming worse.
Here are some common plumbing issues you can fix yourself.
Slow Draining Sink
One common plumbing issue is a slow-draining sink. This normally happens when hair and debris accumulate on the pop-up stopper, which is used to stop up a sink. You need to remove the debris to allow the sink to drain properly.
While you may be tempted to use chemicals, you should avoid doing this since it can cause galvanized plumbing to corrode over time. Instead, you should remove the stopper and clean it manually. You may have to unscrew a nut under the sink to take the stopper out. After taking it out, you can clean it before putting it back again. \
Leaky Faucet
Around 10,000 gallons of water are wasted every year for an average household. Aside from the monetary cost, the water you wasted could have been used for other things. Due to this, you should fix the faucet as soon as possible.
All you need to do is to replace the entire faucet with a new one. But before you work on replacing the faucet, make sure you have the right tools and turn off the water valve under the sink to stop the water from flowing while you’re replacing the faucet. Replacing a modern faucet requires you to remove a couple of screws in the assembly.
Dripping Showerhead
When the showerhead is dripping, the threads of the showerhead may not be connected tightly. The easiest way to fix this is to use a thread tape that you can easily buy from shops supplying adhesive and sealants.
All you need to do is unscrew the showerhead and wrap the thread tape on the threads on the pipe attached to the showerhead. After wrapping it properly, you can reattach the showerhead. But before reattaching it, you may also want to check if it’s clogged. Clean out any mineral deposits on the showerhead by soaking it in a mixture of warm water and vinegar. Using a small brush can also help remove the deposits after soaking the showerhead in the solution for an hour.
Running Toilet
A running toilet is another common plumbing issue you can fix without calling a plumber. More often than not, you have to replace one part to solve this issue. Due to this, the first thing to do is to find out why the toilet is running.
After locating the problem, take out the problem part and replace it. Normally, it’s the flapper that you need to replace. So, it’s good to have an extra flapper ready if you need to replace the one currently used in your toilet.
Low Water Pressure
If you experience low water pressure, you should check if you’re the only one experiencing it or someone else in your neighborhood also has low water pressure. If the issue is limited to your house, you should check if it affects both cold and hot water. If so, then there’s an issue with the aerator.
In this case, minerals may have accumulated and affected water pressure. Just remove the aerator carefully and clean any debris or mineral deposits in it. After cleaning it, you can put it back.
The cost of owning a house can go up if you consider the cost of maintaining it. But you can save hundreds of dollars in professional fees if you work on common plumbing issues yourself.
