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Spring Plumbing Maintenance Checklist for Your Southern California Home

Spring is the perfect time to think about maintaining the plumbing system in your Southern California home. A regular schedule of maintenance to your system can help avoid serious issues and prevent costly damage in the future. Here are some things to put on your spring plumbing maintenance “to do” list, as recommended by the professionals at Best Service Plumber:

• Check for Leaks in Pipes – Check for obvious leaks around faucets, under sinks, and any other places where pipes are visible in your home. Look for water spots that may have dried to spot some leaks.
• Check for Leaks Around Toilets – When checking for leaks around toilets, always look in the bowl as well as in the tank to ensure your toilet and the plumbing is working properly.
• Maintain Hot Water Heater – If the hot water heater in your California home is around 12 to 15 years old, it may be time to consider replacing it with a new, energy efficient tankless hot water heater.
• Check Appliances – Check all appliances in your home that utilize water like dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators to ensure water supply hoses are in good shape and free of leaks. 
• Outdoor Drains and Pipes – Be sure to check the different drains and pipes you have outside of your home. Drains, gutters, faucets, and pipes should be inspected for wear due to inclement weather during the winter season. 

Best Service Plumber in Southern California can help ensure your plumbing system is up and properly running as it should be, so it is ready for the upcoming spring and summer seasons. Contact us today to take care of any issue you may be having with your plumbing system, and Best Service Plumber will be there with a quick solution to your problem. 

How to Clean the Toilet Tank in Your Southern California Home

While not a glamorous job, the toilets in your Southern California home need to be cleaned on a regular basis. We regularly clean the toilet bowls, but did you know that the tanks of toilets also need to be cleaned semi-annually?

Even though the toilet tank never comes in contact with dirty water, it still needs to be maintained. In fact, often there are rust stains or sediment that needs attention. In addition, issue like rusted metal chains, mineral buildup occurs, or bacterial deposits release odors can occur.

Best Service Plumber has these tips for the semi-annual deep cleaning of the toilets in your home for a cleaner and more efficient restroom.

How to Deep Clean the Toilets in Your Southern California Home 

• Empty the Tank – Turn off the water to the tank via the shutoff valve near the bottom of the toilet. After a few flushes, the tank should be empty.
• A Good Scrub – Scrubbing the toilet tank using a tough brush can make your toilet tank look new again. 
• Attack Tough Stains – Chemical solutions often work better on stubborn stains. Filling your tank with a vinegar solution overnight will work wonders on stubborn stains. Lemon juice as well as bleach are also great solutions for stains.
• Disinfect – Popular commercial cleaners work well to clean the inside of the toilet tank. Simply spray inside of the tank to kill any existing bacteria.
• Clean Tank Mechanisms – Be sure to wipe down the float, flapper, chain, and other parts of the toilet tank and replace any worn parts at this time. 
• Refill the Tank – After cleaning, turn the water valve back on, give the toilet a flush, and refill the tank. 

Best Service Plumber in Southern California can help clean and maintain the toilet tanks in your Southern California home. Contact us today to schedule a convenient time for our technician to perform maintenance on your plumbing system. 

Why You Need a Plumber Now More Than Ever

With stay-at-home orders keeping more people in their houses, residential plumbing systems are getting more use than normal. In fact, you may start to notice problems with your home’s plumbing system now that you have never seen before. Here are some things you may notice and problems that may crop up during this time of more people using the household plumbing system. 

Toilet and Drain Clogs 

Because you are using your plumbing now 24/7 instead of giving the system a break during working hours, your toilets could experience problems with excessive use. 

While toilets have a design that should allow for multiple users, with more use, the chances of a clog happening increase, simply due to probability. 

Another issue comes from the lack of toilet paper in stock in stores. Some may think that replacing regular dry tissue with paper towels, facial tissues, or wet wipes will suffice. However, these substitutions are not designed for use in the toilet. You can experience a clog in your toilet or home drain system by flushing anything that is not toilet paper or waste. 

While most clogs clear out well from vigorous plunging, more serious issues will need help from our plumbers. 

Dripping Faucets and Other Minor Irritations 

It’s easier to ignore minor problems such as dripping faucets when you spend a third of your day away from the home. But now, with people working from home, they encounter minor issues multiple times a day. Instead of walking by a dripping faucet once, now, people are seeing and hearing it several times throughout the day. 

If you have a dripping faucet, water that doesn’t heat up enough, or a running toilet, call us at Best Service Plumber at 951-520-8557. We can respond to emergencies at any time of the day or schedule an appointment to evaluate and repair less-severe issues. Keep our number handy for the next time that you have a plumbing problem in your home. You can also message us through our online contact form. 

Toilet Problems and What to Do About Them

You expect your toilet to perform as expected with every flush. However, even this simple fixture can have problems. Here are some basic ways to fix these issues and tips for when you should contact a plumber for toilet problems. 

Running Toilet 

After you flush a standard tank-type toilet, the tank empties into the bowl. Water should flow into the tank to refill it for no more than a minute. After that, you should no longer hear running water. If you return to the bathroom later, and continue to hear your toilet running, you may have a problem in the tank.

The flapper may not properly close to seal off the bowl from the tank or the fill valve does not work. You may need a new flapper or fill valve because both can wear out over time. If you have hard water, the flapper will have a higher chance of losing its seal. 

While some people feel confident enough to replace these parts on their own, consider contacting a plumber to get the job done properly. 

Clogs 

If you have a toilet that does not flush properly, you may only need to plunge it out to get the clog to more through. Never pour chemical drain cleaners down the toilet because these can damage the delicate porcelain of the bowl. If plunging does not clear the clog, contact a professional before you experience an overflow. 

Overflowing Toilet 

Overflow from your toilet creates a hazard in your bathroom from the waste that backs up into the room. You likely have a clog that is keeping the toilet from flushing or a more serious problem in your plumbing. Contact our emergency line at 951-520-8557 to get help with this problem. 

Leaks 

A leaking toilet can lead to water damage in the bathroom and inefficient operation. Because leaks can happen in several places, you should contact a professional to find and stop all the leaks around your toilet. You may want to upgrade to a more efficient toilet if your model is inefficient or has leaks in its structure. 

Keep Our Emergency Repair Number Ready 

The emergency number for us at Best Service Plumber is 951-520-8557. We have someone on hand 24/7 to answer this line. Whether you have an overflowing toilet or need a small leak repaired, contact us for service. 

Did Someone Say Plumbing Coupons?

Often, you don’t get to choose when a plumbing problem occurs. However, even if you cannot choose to get a plumbing repair the day after you get paid or between paychecks, you can decide on some ways to save money. At Best Service Plumber, we offer coupons for some of our most popular services to help our customers to save money while getting top-notch plumbing. 

Coupons for Plumbing Services and Products

We look at some of our most popular services and choose those to offer discounts for. Because we change our coupons regularly, always check our coupon page before contacting us to see if we have a discount for the service you need.

Discounts that we have featured on this page in the past have included lower water heater costs, decreased fees for drain cleaning, and money off the total cost of plumbing fixtures.

If you want to use a coupon, mention it when making your appointment, and show us the coupon when we come to your home. We can only take one coupon per visit.

Free Estimates 

In addition to our coupons, we also offer all customers free estimates. If you have a problem, call us at 951-520-8557 to make an appointment for an estimate. Our professionals will come to your home, evaluate the problem, and give you a price for the service. If you agree, we can set up a time to come fix the problem or begin work the same day, depending on the situation.

At Best Service Plumber, We Put Our Customers First 

At Best Service Plumber, we always strive to put our customers first. While we always give quality service, we also provide discounts on our coupon page to help our customers to save money on their plumbing repairs and more. Contact us online or call us for answers to your questions about our discounts, services, or products. 

Plumbing Problems in Older Homes

Living in an older home presents problems not found in new constructions. While you get to enjoy the comfort of a well-lived in place, age can take a toll on the plumbing system. If you live in a home that is more than 20 years old, you should watch out for some of the most common plumbing issues in older houses. 

Rusting Pipes 

If your home was built between the 1930s and 1980s, you may galvanized steel pipes in the walls. While durable and long-lasting from the outside, this type of pipe will rust from the inside, producing discolored water. If you live in an older home and have orange or rust-colored water coming out of your pipes, you may need repiping with a non-rusting PEX piping. 

Sewer Line Settlement 

Older homes may have experienced soil settling around them. When this happens, the pipes that take waste away from your home to the sewers may shift, reducing the flow of waste. Additionally, tree roots that may have been far from the line when the house was built could have grown into or around the line. Roots can break through older clay or crush some plastic lines. If you have drainage problems throughout your home, you may need to replace the sewer line. 

Inefficient Fixtures 

Older homes built before modern water-efficiency requirements may use more water than necessary. Instead of allowing your home to continue to waste water and raise your utility bills, consider replacing some of your plumbing fixtures with more efficient models. Low-flow toilets and showerheads can still perform as needed without wasting water. A tankless water heater only heats the water that you use, saving energy. 

Bring Your Home Up to Modern Standards 

You don’t have to give up living in an older home. Connect with us at Best Service Plumber to get your home updated to modern plumbing standards. You will have a more efficient home that has a plumbing system to last for years. Phone us anytime at 951-520-8557 or send us a message online. We can’t wait to help you with making your home more livable. 

How to Save Money on Plumbing Services

Maintaining and repairing a plumbing system can be expensive, especially if you have high-end fixtures or live in an older home. However, you can save money on some plumbing repairs and services in several ways. The best ways to save money on plumbing services include getting the job done well the first time, preventing the need for repairs, and using discounts to lower your repair costs. 

Getting the Job Done Well the First Time 

To avoid excessive plumbing costs, you should only pay to have the repairs done once. If you call a plumbing company without licensed professionals, you have no guarantee of the job getting done correctly. Eventually, you may need to contact a second plumbing company to fix the mistakes made by the first. 

At Best Service Plumber, though, we feel strongly about our ability to get the job done right the first time we attend to it. In fact, if you do not have full satisfaction in our work, we will send out our plumbers to set things right. 

Preventing the Need for Repairs 

While getting repairs done correctly is important, you want to minimize the number of repairs your home needs. For instance, you may need to have an inspection of your plumbing if you live in a home with aging pipes. Hidden leaks can cause internal damage to your slab or inside the walls. 

If you have hard water, as most in southern California do, you may consider water treatment to reduce the buildup of scale that can reduce the efficiency and longevity of your water heater. 

Using Discounts to Lower Repair Costs 

Should the need for repairs happen, you should also find and use coupons or other discounts to reduce your costs. Not every plumbing company offers discounts, but we do at Best Service Plumber. 

Check Off All These Boxes With Best Service Plumber 

No matter your home’s age, eventually, you run into problems with your pipes. Make sure that you save money on plumbing services with one call to us at Best Service Plumber. Reach us at 951-520-8557 at any time of the night or day. 

Plumbing Pipe Materials That You May Have in Your Home

Most homes today have one of five types of piping in them. Due to their average lifespans, some types of piping may be reaching the end of their usefulness. Find out the types of materials commonly used for pipes and if your home may need new pipes installed through repiping. 

1. Galvanized Steel 

Older homes typically have galvanized steel pipes for both supply and drain lines. While long-lasting, this type of piping will rust on its interior surface. When this happens in water supply lines, you may notice discolored water coming from your cold-water faucet if your supply pipes have rust in them. Rusty hot water could indicate bad pipes or an aging water heater. 

2. Copper 

While still in use today for water supply lines, copper piping is very expensive. In fact, the rising cost of copper may make this pipe up to three times more expensive than PEX. Additionally, it requires extra skill and a propane torch for installation. 

3. ABS 

The acronym ABS stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. This type of piping has a plastic texture, similar to PVC. The two types of piping have many similar uses. You can distinguish ABS piping because it often is black compared to white for PVC. Plumbers typically use ABS in waste, vent, and drain pipes, but rarely in supply lines. 

4. PVC 

PVC (polyvinyl chloride) cannot be used for hot water supply lines, but it can be used for low-pressure cold water lines. However, since it cannot support high-pressure or heated water flow, most plumbers will reserve this type of piping for drain, waste, and vent lines. 

5. PEX 

PEX (polyethylene cross-linked) piping is one of the most popular choices today for water supply lines. It has a flexible nature, which makes installation easy, and it can last for decades. For new construction, 99% of builders choose PEX piping for their plumbing supply lines. Because this type of piping offers cost-effectiveness, durability, and longevity, we use it in our repiping services. 

What to Do About Older Piping 

If you have older galvanized steel piping or need to repair leaking pipes in your home, contact us at Best Service Plumber for repiping. Through our specialized methods, we can replace the pipe you currently have with new PEX piping with as little impact on your home’s appearance as possible. 

For repiping or any plumbing needs you have, remember us at Best Service Plumber. Call us 24/7 at 951-520-8557 or message our office online. We’d love to hear from you.