5 Plumbing Maintenance Tips for 2024

Let our experienced and licensed plumbers at Milton Frank Plumbing and Cooling assist you with maintaining the pipes, fixtures, and drains in you’re the Woodlands home. Give us your messiest tasks, such as sewer line cleaning and jobs that require specialized equipment, including camera-assisted inspections. 

We believe in thorough, periodic plumbing maintenance that prevents minor issues from growing into costly and inconvenient problems.

DIY Tips to Maintain Your Plumbing System

We also encourage our Texas customers to take an active role in maintaining their plumbing. Here are five do-it-yourself (DIY) tips to help:

1. Discarding Food
   The foods you feed your garbage disposal can harmlessly flow into your kitchen drain, or they can muck up the grinding chamber and possibly even stop the process. Some foods can clog your disposal and your drain.
   
   Toss stringy foods, including celery and asparagus, and vegetable peels into the trash, not the disposal. The same goes for eggshells, shellfish, coffee grounds, and starchy foods like rice.
   
   High-powered garbage disposals may adequately grind small bones, fruit pits, and corn cobs, but you may want to use caution with them. Follow the advice in your manufacturer’s manual while also considering the age and condition of your drains.
   
   Pouring grease, fats, and oil into your disposal or down the drain is a recipe for drain and sewer line clogs. They enter the drain in liquid form but can quickly harden into a solid that coats and obstructs your pipes.
   
   Consider exercising restraint with buttery and cream-filled foods and sauces and place them in the garbage instead of your sink.

• Toilet or Garbage Can?
  Your toilet can only serve one purpose. If you use your toilet like a garbage can, you can expect plumbing problems eventually with your sewer line or drain. You may even find yourself cleaning up after an overflowing toilet.
  
  You can prevent your toilet from becoming a garbage can by flushing only toilet paper and human waste. Everything else goes in the trash.
  
  Clean your toilet regularly and occasionally check the tiny holes under the rim for clogs. You can see the holes in a mirror held close to the underside of the rim. Use a thin wire to poke each hole and remove debris. Your toilet will rinse better and flush with more force.

• Look for Leaks
  Be aware of minor drips and leaks and fix them quickly to save on major expenses and headaches.
  
  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a leaky faucet that drips every second wastes more than 3,000 gallons per year.
  
  Look for leaks in faucets and shower heads. Check pipes under sinks. Inspect for dampness on walls and floors from a hidden leaking pipe.
  
  Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank to test for leaks. Wait about an hour. If the color is in the bowl, it has leaked from the tank.
  
  Keep an eye on your water bills and note any sudden spike in cost. Read your water meter and avoid using water for about an hour. Take another reading. If it has changed, you likely have a plumbing leak.
  
  Our plumbers at Milton Frank Plumbing & Cooling can confirm if there is a leak and repair the malfunctioning pipe or fixture. 

• Clean Your Drains
  Resist the urge to pour chemical drain cleaner and clog buster in slow-draining sinks, tubs, and showers. Drain cleaners can erode your plumbing and create an even bigger issue.
  
  A do-it-yourself cleaner made from a mix of vinegar and baking soda, followed by hot water, can help to speed up slow-moving drains. An enzymatic cleaner, available at hardware and home improvement stores, is a milder product for cleaning.
  
  Use a plunger to loosen clogs rather than trying to remove them with chemicals.

• Hard Water
  Take a closer look at your tap water. Does it leave spots on dishes and glassware and make your hair and skin dry? Is your soap failing to lather? Does your laundry feel stiff? If you answer yes to those questions, you have hard water containing an overabundance of calcium and magnesium. The minerals can cause scale build-up and can damage fixtures and appliances.
  
  Counter hard water by adding a water softener to your system. At Milton Frank Plumbing & Cooling, we can recommend the best water-softening system for you’re the Woodlands home. Ask us for a consultation.

Talk to the Experts Today

Milton Frank Plumbing and Cooling can help you maintain the plumbing in your The Woodlands, TX, home. Call us at (281) 645-9596 or request service online.