Ever wonder how to save money on plumbing? Well, there are some easy hacks you can try for most minor plumbing problems. While many homeowners may prefer calling a plumber for emergencies, there is a lot of know-how involved in running a successful DIY fix.
Unclog any drain with baking soda and vinegar
Clogged drains are annoying and sometimes disastrous. If you’ve ever suffered from a blocked drain, you know it can quickly turn your entire house into a sewer with its disgusting smell and the damage it can do to your home.
Did you know that baking soda and vinegar combined can help unclog a clogged drain? Yeah, it sounds crazy, but it works. Not only do they remove the smell of sewage or other unpleasant odours, but they also have a multitude of intelligent uses in everyday life. The neat hack works well when unclogging drains without resorting to harmful chemicals that may harm you or the environment.
The trick is simple and works for most types of drains. First, pour some boiling water down the drain. Then, put a few tablespoons of baking soda into the drain and then pour a cup of vinegar — which will help draw out any grease or soap that’s blocking your pipes. Wait for 10 minutes and run some more boiling water to complete the process.
Old rag and some tape for creaky pipes
Fixing the problem of a creaky or rigid pipe can be a daunting task. Even if you’re handy with tools, it can still take several hours or days to replace the line and reconnect all the plumbing. The job requires a lot of patience and some experience working with pipes. People think pipe joints can be re-tightened or replaced in a snap of fingers, but this is not always the case.
Save yourself time and money and use an old rag and some tape as a temporary solution for your creaky pipe. Sometimes the best advice comes from the simplest of fixes.
Discover the areas where the most intense noises, fold the old rag around the pipe and wrap some tape around the cloth. This trick can help suppress the sound until you find the time to call a plumber for a closer inspection.
Use lemon juice or vinegar to remove limescale build-up
Do you have limescale deposits on your shower or bath? Is it spreading to the rest of your house? If so, you may need to remove it right away to prevent any damages. Limescale results from hard water and manifests as solid deposits of calcium carbonate on your plumbing fixtures.
There are quick and easy ways to eliminate limescale build-up that won’t cost you as much as most chemical solutions. Both lemon juice and vinegar can remove any limescale deposits and make your plumbing look brand new.
Pour some vinegar or lemon juice and some water into a spray bottle, and use it to clean your bath tiles, sinks, showers and taps to minimise limescale development. Remember to clean the areas with water once you’re done.
As another trick, soak a towel into vinegar or lemon juice for a while, fold it over the plumbing fixture, and wait for two to three hours. Once done, scrub the remaining limescale with a cloth and rinse well with water.
A quick disclaimer, try not to use these hacks on gold or silver-plated taps because the acid in the substances can harm the fixtures.
Use plumber’s tape instead of expensive sealing compounds
PTFE tape or plumber’s tape is used to seal minor breaks and joints in a wide variety of areas throughout your home, and it’s often preferred against commercial sealing compounds. Using improper sealant can prompt holes, water damage, and other troublesome issues.
We often use tape on plumbing metal pipe materials, fixtures, and plastic lines. The most common parts for plumber’s tape are shower hoses and heads, couplings, bathtub spouts, and other plumbing connections.
Also, you can use the material on specific gas-pipe joints. However, this requires a different type of PTFE tape, and we strongly recommend that you leave gas repair work to the professionals.
Protect your garbage disposal
You may not know this, but it’s pretty essential to maintain your garbage disposal so that it can work for years to come. If you’re thinking about buying one soon, follow those simple rules to ensure it works correctly and stays that way.
Being benevolent to your waste disposal is one of the easiest hacks to remember. Don’t lie to yourself that you can place anything in this valuable gadget, as that can cause blockages and many different issues.
All things considered, be mindful so as not to drop any utensils into the opening. Also, try not to put in any food material that can be harmful to any drain. Plumbers often find stuck in broken garbage disposal units, watermelon skins, celery, or the husks of corn, potato strips, and pasta.
A temporary solution for a leaky faucet
We all have leaky faucets, but you can’t just throw a few dollars in the tank and expect them to stop leaking magically. If you’re looking to fix minor plumbing problems like that, you have two main options, either do it yourself or hire someone else to do the job. Fixing a leaking faucet is never as easy as it sounds, and there is a quick temporary solution until you figure it out.
For this hack, you will only need an old washcloth and an elastic rubber band. Fold the washcloth over the leak source and secure it tightly with the elastic band to prevent overflows. This neat trick helps reduce the leaking until you handle the DIY task or a plumber comes to the rescue. Try this solution on leaky pipes, as well.
Turn the stopcock valve when overflows occur
It’s pretty challenging to find all the leaks in your plumbing system, mainly when emergencies arise, but with a bit of effort, you can keep your home safe from harm.
And a thing that every DIY plumbing enthusiast should know is the way to stop water mains. For example, if your main water pipe breaks, you must close the stopcock before applying fixes to prevent unwanted puddles of water. The most common spots to discover your home’s stopcock are: under the kitchen sink, in the restroom, kitchen or bath cabinets, by the gas meter, in a utility room, or in the basement.
Stopping the water through your stopcock should be quickly done by hand, but if the fixture is stiff, you may require pliers to make it move. Turn the handle clockwise until the water stops, and when you’re done with the repairs, turn it back on again.