Saddleback Plumbing Heating & Air Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Orange County’

A Late Holiday Gift to Yourself: Drain Cleaning!

Monday, December 27th, 2021
drain-cleaning-cutaway

Getting your drains cleaned is probably not on your holiday wish list, but making a New Year’s resolution to get routine drain cleaning is a great way to say, “out with the old!”

Drain cleaning isn’t only for clogged drains—it’s an essential preventive measure to keep them from clogging in the first place. And if you’ve had holiday parties and family visiting from out of town, your plumbing had to work harder over the holidays and may have more accumulation of food and paper products than usual. That accumulation can cause slow drains that lead to clogs, odors, backups, or costly repairs.

You may be tempted to tackle slow sinks and clogs yourself by pouring chemical drain openers down the drain, but here are the cold hard facts: they rarely work. They leave most of the clog behind and can damage your pipes. And they’re extremely toxic. You can do better!

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How Long Can You Expect Your Home’s Pipes to Last?

Monday, December 13th, 2021
old-pipes

The age of your home is a good way to tell if you have pipe material that is out of date. The plumbing in Orange County is generally younger than you would find in, say, New England, where many people live in homes originally built in the early 20th century or even the late 19th. We don’t have homes of that vintage in the OC, but there are many houses old enough to have plumbing made from outdated material. The older the pipes, the more repairs they will likely need and the higher chance your house will benefit from whole-house repiping.

To get to the specifics in the title, how long you can expect your pipes to last depends on the pipe material. We’ll go over the most common ones and which you can expect to have in your house based on the building’s age:

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The Ups and Downs of Getting a Tankless Water Heater

Monday, November 15th, 2021
tankless-water-heater

Tankless water heaters have a long history stretching back to the late 19th century. It wasn’t until relatively recently, however, that they became feasible options for homes. More and more tankless water heaters are installed in homes each year as people discover the big benefits that come with them.

But tankless water heaters are not universal in homes because they do have several drawbacks. We think tankless water heaters are great options to consider, but you’ll need professionals to help you decide if you’ll get the most benefits out of installing one. We’ll go over some of the basic upsides and downsides of tankless water heaters to help you get started thinking about a new water heater installation.

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Even in Southern California, You Need Fall Heating Maintenance Every Year

Monday, October 4th, 2021
hand-drawing-checkmark

This last week in Southern California gave us our first taste of fall weather, with temperatures cool enough for long sleeves, overcast skies, even a touch of rain and a thunderstorm. And then this week … right back to 80°F. 

It never drops below freezing here, and our winters are mild and the envy of many other states. That doesn’t mean we can ignore the heating systems in our homes. We still need them, especially during winter evenings. To ensure a dependable and safely operating heater for your house this winter, you’ll need to schedule heating maintenance in Orange County, CA. We hope this is something you do every year, and we have a way to make that easy. (But more on that at the bottom of this post.)

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The Slow Drain—It’s Not Clogged, But Don’t Ignore It!

Monday, September 20th, 2021
drain-in-silver-sink

The drain clog is one of the most common plumbing woes people run into. Everybody has dealt with a clogged drain and some point. Plungers can sometimes fix them, but if that doesn’t work, the next step isn’t to use chemical drain cleaners but to call for professional drain cleaning services in Orange County, CA. (Drain cleaners can cause damage to plumbing and leave behind most of the clog, making it likely to come back again.)

But what about the drain that isn’t clogged, it’s just gotten … a bit sluggish about draining out water? The slow drain is a plumbing problem that a surprising amount of people ignore. They may try a plunger,  but if that doesn’t clear the drain, they’ll try to work around it and hope maybe it’ll get better.

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What to Expect When You Install a Tankless Water Heater

Monday, May 17th, 2021
tankless-water-heater

Just to be clear about the title: you don’t want to do the actual tankless water heater installation yourself. This type of work requires professionals. In this post, we’re looking at what to expect when you choose to have us install a tankless water heater for you.

Now that’s out of the way … great news to hear you want to get a tankless water heater! More and more homeowners are making the decision to have their old storage tank water heaters replaced with tankless “on-demand” water heaters. There are a few things you can expect and maybe one of two things to consider. Let’s jump into it below.

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Haven’t Scheduled Maintenance Yet? It’s Not Even Remotely Too Late

Monday, May 3rd, 2021
ac-with-tools

This is going to be a busy summer for almost everyone as people try to return to normal and get around to many tasks they had to put off for months at a time. We understand if you feel a bit anxious, or even a touch panicked, at having to add yet another item onto your calendar. 

Last month we posted our annual reminder to schedule HVAC maintenance for your air conditioning system. It’s always a good idea to have this done early in the spring and avoid busier schedules. But if you haven’t scheduled spring maintenance yet, don’t think you’ve missed your chance. And please don’t decide that maybe you can skip it this year. Maintenance is a vital service, but it doesn’t have an expiration date: you haven’t missed any “cut-off.” It’s not even summer yet! 

Call us today to sign up for our Membership Value Program (MVP) for your HVAC system to have maintenance done as soon as possible. (Yes, we said there wasn’t an expiration date—but the earlier you have it done, the more value you receive from maintenance!)

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AC Maintenance Is One of the Best Services We Offer

Monday, April 5th, 2021
air-conditioner-condenser-3D-render

We’ve been in business for forty years now, and over that time we’ve offered many great services to our customers. We like to think that all our services are the best we offer. However, when it’s spring, there is one service we think rises above the others for importance—and that’s air conditioning maintenance

With the hot weather in Southern California, having a working air conditioner is critical for any home. Maintenance is the best way to ensure that a working air conditioner stays … a working air conditioner. There are many other maintenance benefits, enough that we can make a list of them (and probably still have some extras left over that we can’t fit).

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Can a Water Filtration System Solve My Home’s Hard Water Problems?

Monday, March 22nd, 2021
water-softener

You have hard water problems in your home: you’ve seen the signs or you arranged for water testing and found out for certain. Don’t worry—you’re not alone! Many homes in Orange County deal with the problems of high mineral content in their water (which is what hard water is), and there are solutions to this. A proper water treatment system can counteract the hard water minerals causing this problem.

But a standard water filtration system installation, although beneficial in many ways for a home, is unlikely to solve hard water troubles.

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What Is a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment System?

Monday, February 8th, 2021
boy-drinking-water

We offer several different types of water filtration systems in Orange County, CA that can help remove particulates, chemicals, heavy metals, and hard water minerals from the water that enters homes through the municipal system. The variety of these systems can seem bewildering to someone who has never had to go through water treatment installation.

You don’t need to worry, however, since it’s our job to help you sort through the different options and to test your water to find out what contaminants are in it that you’ll want removed. One of the most common options for homes looking for a wide-ranging solution to water quality issues is the reverse osmosis water filtration system. 

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