Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning Blog

Plumbing Maintenance

drain cleaning

With the holidays coming up, and the additional cooking and cleaning that come along with them, you can count on your drains taking a beating. It can be tough to ensure that nothing that shouldn’t go down your drains actually doesn’t go down your drains—especially when you’ve got extra help in the kitchen. But the holidays are not the only time you should be thinking about your drains. They’re also not the only time when things go wrong.

Today, we’ll talk a bit about what can cause drain problems. We’ll also talk about why you should really leave the resolution of those problems to the professionals. We know, we know. They sell drain cleaners at the hardware store. But we also know that that’s not the quick-fix that so many people seem to believe. In truth, nothing beats a good drain cleaning from a professional plumber in Loveland, CO.

 

What Clogs Drains?

So. Many. Things.

We spoke about the kitchen dilemma up above. Failure to drain off fat and grease, or putting starchy materials that can absorb water and swell up down the drain, often account for kitchen drain clogs. However, there is also the bathroom. That’s where hair winds up in the tub drain, where parents mistakenly flush baby wipes, etc.

Put covers over your drains, empty them regularly, and make sure that everyone in your house, resident or visitor, knows the expectations when it comes to your plumbing system. It may seem intrusive to tell someone not to flush wipes or to put rice in the garbage disposal, but it’s a heck of a lot better than needing professional plumbing services!

Why Is Professional Drain Cleaning the Way to Go?

Two reasons. It’s the most effective way to handle the issue, and it can give your plumber the chance to recognize more serious problems brewing. We aren’t saying that you’re not allowed to try and plunge your toilet or anything. That’s totally within reason. However, if you can clear a clog with that simple procedure, you should really stop and think before dumping a bunch of harsh chemicals down the drain—or trying to snake out the drain yourself.

Those harsh chemicals are not easy on the environment or on your plumbing system. And they will most likely just clear enough of the clog to allow the cleanser to pass through. That leaves enough behind that the problem will probably pop back up before long, anyway. And if you try and snake the drain out yourself, you may well just force that snake through the clog. Again, that may give the illusion of having solved the problem, but it’s only a matter of time before you’re dealing with it again.

Let Us Clean Your Drains the Right Way

Our professional plumbers have the tools and training that they need to get your drains cleaned out properly. That way, you won’t have to worry about what’s left behind or how much time you’re buying yourself. Yes, it’s a professional service that comes with a charge, but you’ll be saving money in the long run thanks to the lasting results that a professional provides.

Schedule your plumbing services with Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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professional plumber

Would you cut away at the walls in your home in order to service—or attempt to service—your electrical wiring? We’re betting and, frankly, hoping that you wouldn’t. Let us ask you this, then. Would you feel more comfortable servicing the pipes in your home?  If you answered yes, we’ve got to ask: why? Safety is probably your first and foremost answer, but we really want to stress that DIY plumbing services come with their own inherent risks.

While there are certainly some cases in which you can handle your own plumbing needs—you probably don’t need a professional plumber to plunge the toilet on occasion—most plumbing issues are really going to require the skill and expertise that only a professional plumber can offer. In today’s post, we’ll talk about a few instances in which it’s in your best interest to contact a professional plumber. So read on, and be sure to contact a member of our team when you need any plumbing services in Loveland.

 

Your Drains Keep Clogging

Oh, I think you lost your train of thought. We’re supposed to be talking about plumbing issues that require professional intervention. Drain clogs I can handle on my own. 

Not effectively, you can’t. And no, that is not a challenge on our end. We know that there are cheap chemical cleaners you can use to clear up clogs in your drains, but the fact is that they’ll probably only do an effective enough job to allow the cleaner itself to pass through. Same with DIY-drain snaking. Yes, you can buy an auger. Yes, you may be able to free up some clogs. But you may also just push the auger through the clog. In either event, clogs will likely redevelop before too long.

Your Hot Water Isn’t Hot

That doesn’t mean that it has to be frigid, either. The idea that “good enough” is ever really good enough when it comes to a plumbing system is exactly how so many homeowners wind up in—apologies for this—hot water.

You may have a temperature control issue. You may have sediment at the bottom of your tank. You may simply need to replace an old, ineffective heater. Whatever the case, you want to have a professional resolve the problem ASAP.

Your Water Bills Keep Rising

This is an issue that way too many people overlook. In this world of automatic payments and managing different accounts, it can be easy to overlook fluctuations in what you’re paying for what. Don’t let high water bills sneaky by under your radar, though. If you do, you may wind up ignoring a pretty clear sign that you’ve got leaks in your plumbing system.

Remember, not all leaks are “major” and not all leaks are going to result in flooding. Many will trickle away for quite a while before you notice that anything is wrong.  Keep an eye on spiking water costs, and contact us if you have any reason to suspect leaks in your home.

Schedule your plumbing services with Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care

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Video Pipe

What’s the number one problem that homeowners may encounter with their plumbing system? Leaks, right? We bet you said leaks. It makes sense. After all, there are a lot of pipes in your plumbing system, and the unfortunate truth is that there is just no way to completely eliminate the risk of leaks in any one of them! The good news is that, while we can’t promise you’ll never run into leaks in your system—in fact, we can pretty much guarantee that you will!—we can help find them fast.

That’s because we offer video pipe inspection services. This is the single best way to pinpoint and diagnose leaks in your plumbing in Loveland, CO. If you have any concerns about potential leaks in your plumbing system, then be sure to call a member of our team. We’ll put our expertise and our technology to work for you. That way, you won’t have to worry about the serious problems that plumbing leaks can lead to when given the time.

 

What Is Video Pipe Inspection, and How Does It Work?

A video pipe inspection entails, well, using video equipment to inspect your pipe. Sounds simple, but it’s a bit more complicated than you may realize. We’re not just going to train a camcorder or phone camera on an active leak, show you the footage, and say “Well, there’s your problem.” No, video pipe inspection equipment actually allows us to peer directly into your pipes, finding and diagnosing problems from within.

Think of it like a drain snake but with a tiny camera on the end. The camera is affixed to a flexible rod that we feed directly into your pipes. This may be done through a drain or through an access point, depending upon the type of pipe we’re dealing with. Regardless, we feed that rod and camera in, and a live video feed is sent back to a monitor that we, well, monitor—that’s where the name comes from!

But What’s the Benefit?

Not all leaks are going to give you a clear source. Even if you see water pooling in an area of your home, for instance, the leak itself could be a long way off. That pool of water may simply be in the lowest point of the home, with water naturally following gravity’s pull to wind up there. It’s also not all about leaks.

In some cases, you may have a doozy of a clog in your drains or in your sewer line. You may have those drains or that sewer line cleaned. But how do you know that the service was effective? How do you know that there’s only one clog to deal with? It’s a lot easier when you’ve got the footage to review and you can actually see the clog and its location.

Plus, it helps with diagnostics. You know that you can trust us, but it’s also really great to be able to show you precisely what we’re talking about when we’re discussing your next steps. It’s not really so much a matter of proving we’re being honest—it’s to help you understand the potential severity of any given situation.

Schedule your video pipe inspection services with Fort Collins Heating & Air Conditioning. Big enough to serve, small enough to care.

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