Plumbing
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Your plumbing has been installed by a professional and generally should need only minimum maintenance for a number of years if you care for it properly. If any problem does arise, tend to it promptly to prevent a bigger, and often more costly problem.
You and your family should become familiar with the various water supply shutoff valves in your plumbing system. A good practice is to label each one for easy reference with a tag. Toilet and sink valves are located under the appropriate fixture. The main shutoff valve is normally located adjacent to the front hose bib or the water heater. Plumbing connections should last the lifetime of the home, but if a joint should loosen, your best response is to call in a professional for repairs. If any water-using appliance appears to be leaking, check the drain before calling a repairman. A partially blocked drain can cause overflowing. (See “Drains.”)
Faucets, like all plumbing fixtures with moving parts, are apt to require more repair than non-moving fixtures. The less strain you put on your faucets, the less frequently they need repair.
Cleaning the aerators will be the most frequent task in maintaining your faucets. This attachment to the faucet adds air to the water as its leaves the faucet, reduces splashing, and provides some savings because less water is used. To clean an aerator, unscrew it from the mouth of the faucet, remove any debris, remove and rinse the washer and screens, replace them in their original order, and replace the unit on the faucet mouth. These should be cleaned every three or four months.
Leaking faucets generally can be fixed by replacing the faucet’s washer or washers. If you have a washerless fixture, you may still have to replace the control cartridge from time to time, although this occurs with much less frequency than washer replacement. Plumbing pipes can and will make noises at times. It is not unusual to hear water running through the drain pipes between your walls. Expansion and contraction of the water supply lines can make a clicking noise. A loud banging noise when the water pipes are in use is a situation that would require the attention of a professional plumber.
