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

Plumbing Tip : When Something Goes Wrong

Monday, December 17th, 2012

Indoor plumbing is such a common luxury that we tend to not even think about the system and its many components that make life so convenient in Irvine. We expect to be able to open a faucet and get a steady supply of hot water. When we use the bathroom we expect the toilet to flush and the bathtub to drain away waste water. When something goes wrong with your plumbing in Irvine, though, you may find it difficult to stop thinking about the system that makes all of those conveniences possible. Whatever plumbing services you need, a professional, certified plumber from Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning can help.

Plumbing Installation

Whether you are remodeling or building a home or you need to replace a portion or your entire plumbing system, only a professional can handle the surface. A lot of fresh and waste water is moved throughout your home every day. These pipes are hidden in your walls and beneath your floors. The last thing you want to deal with is a problem in such inaccessible areas. Avoid water damage and schedule professional plumbing installation.

Video Pipe Inspection

Plumbing systems pose a number of challenges because so many potential problems can go unseen. A video pipe inspection allows us to take a look directly into your pipes. That way we can locate any problems and ensure that they are totally resolved. Call today to schedule service.

Slab Leaks

Few problems in your home have as much potential to do serious damage as a slab leak. These leaks occur beneath the concrete foundation of your home. They are difficult to notice, difficult to access and an all-around headache. Contact us today to learn more about the services we offer for slab leaks in Irvine and how you can tell if there is a slab leak lurking below your home.

These are just a few of the exceptional plumbing services we offer. Our Irvine plumbers have the training and skills to handle any plumbing job you may need. Remember to call Saddleback for any services you need related to plumbing in Irvine.

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The Guide for Preventing Slab Leaks

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

The Mission Viejo plumbers are here to help whenever you have a slab leak in your home. We are fully trained and certified to quickly locate and repair all types of slab leaks. We can inspect any home’s plumbing system and slab for possible signs of a leak. We have the tools and experience to handle any leaking or faulty plumbing line before any further damage occurs.

However, there are steps to take to prevent slab leaks from occurring and damaging your home.

Slab Leak Detection and Prevention

Unlike leaks in other parts of your plumbing system, slab leaks are not always easy to spot. Basically, a slab leak means any type of leak underneath the slab foundation of your home. This is why it is important to detect it early and call a plumber as soon as you can.

Whether it’s a pinhole leak or burst pipe, the water may be dispersed to other areas away from the leak. It might also be dripping or leaking into the soil outside the slab. Call the Mission Viejo slab leak detection experts at Saddleback if you are experiencing any of these problems:

  • A sudden settling or movement in your slab foundation
  • A drop in water pressure
  • An unexpected increase in your water bill
  • Puddles or consistently damp areas outside around the slab
  • Damp spots on the floors

The best way to prevent slab leaks is with routine maintenance for your entire plumbing system. Regular drain cleaning will also help. At Saddleback, we have the trained, certified staff to handle all your slab leak prevention and detection needs.

Why Call As Soon As Possible for a Slab Leak Repair

A slab leak can cause a lot of damage to your home and property. If you suspect you have one, or if you’re concerned about the condition of the pipes in home, give us a call. We’ll inspect the slab and give you an honest and accurate estimate of the cost of any repairs.

We can also give you specific recommendations for maintenance and preventive care that might help you avoid a sudden break or leak. Call the Mission Viejo plumbers at Saddleback as soon as you suspect a slab leak, contact Saddleback today!

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Getting the Most Out of Your Plumbing System in Lake Forest

Monday, November 19th, 2012

If the plumbing system in your home in Lake Forest is working right, you probably don’t think much about it when you flush the toilet or take a shower. But when your plumbing system breaks down, you start thinking about it quite a bit. At Saddleback Plumbing, our Lake Forest plumbers respond to a lot of calls for service in the Lake Forest area. We thought that it would be helpful for our customers if we put together a quick list of some things that will help you get the most out of your plumbing system.

Regular Maintenance

Maintenance is one of the best ways that you can protect your home and your plumbing system. Regular maintenance should always be performed by a professional plumber. A licensed plumber will have the experience and training to know exactly what to look for and how to fix any potential problems. Here are a few things that your plumber might do during maintenance.

  • Pipe inspections – Using a small video camera, plumbers can look inside your home’s plumbing system to find any problems. They can also discover clogs or blockages that are in the process of forming.
  • Leak detection – During regular maintenance, your plumber can look for small leaks or places where leaks might occur.
  • Drain cleaning – Having your drains regularly cleaned is a great way to keep your plumbing system working well consistently. With regular maintenance, you can stop blockages before they completely block your plumbing and your water wont’ drain.

Your Garbage Disposal

One area in your home that gets a lot of use is the kitchen. One great way to get the most out of your kitchen’s plumbing system is to be careful about what you let go down the sink. Here are a few things that you shouldn’t put down the garbage disposal.

  • Grease – We all love bacon. But the grease that forms from cooking it should never go down your sink. Once it gets into your plumbing system it will cool and form a sticky solid. This can trap other food and form a clog.
  • Stringy or starchy foods – Foods like celery, asparagus have strong fibers that can get wrapped around your garbage disposal or clog up your drains. Starchy foods like pasta, rice and potato skins expand when the get in water. As they expand they can clog up your drains as well.
  • Bones and fruit pits – These are hard and dense materials that your garbage disposal probably won’t be able to break apart.

If you would like to learn more about plumbing maintenance in Lake Forest, then call the expert plumbers at Saddleback. We would love to schedule a time to visit your home and look over your plumbing system. Contact us today!

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Plumbing Tip : New Features to Consider Before Buying a Tankless Water Heaters

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Are you considering buying a new tankless water heater for your home? Our plumbers can help you choose the right model, and we’ll make sure you get the right size and install it for you. If you’re considering a tankless new water heater or if you’re looking for ways to reduce your energy consumption, here are some things to consider:

Energy Use

There are two basic types of water heaters: traditional storage tank and tankless. Tank water heaters use a large tank of water that’s kept hot all the time by an electric or gas burner. As the hot water is consumed, more water fills the tank. Tankless water heaters convert cold water to hot water as the water is being used. In terms of energy consumption, tank-style heaters consume energy to maintain a large supply of hot water throughout the day, even if it’s not being used. Tankless heaters consume energy in short bursts, so you’ll want to take that into consideration.

Flow Rate

The other consideration is flow rate. Tankless units vary in their ability to produce hot water on demand. The amount of hot water they produce is measured in gallons per minute. Deciding which size tankless unit is correct for your home should be based on your family’s typical hot water needs. For 1 to 2 bathroom homes, look for models that can deliver at least delivers 3.4 gallons per minute. A shower and a dishwasher each consume about two gallons of water per minute. So for a tankless unit to comfortably serve both with a little to spare would probably require a capacity of five gallons per minute.

Size and First Hour Rating

All water heaters, whether traditional tank models, tankless, or hybrid, have different hot water delivery capacities. A water heater’s capacity is measured by its First Hour Rating (FHR), which is the number of gallons of hot water it delivers in an hour. Getting a heater with a low FHR could mean taking cold showers. Getting one that’s too large could mean you’re wasting energy.

When thinking a new water heater, first think about how much hot water is used in your home each day. Secondly, call the folks at Saddleback Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning. Our staff would be glad to help you calculate which size tankless unit is right for your home.

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Plumbing Tip: Why Proper Drain Installation is Important

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

The drain and sewer system in your home is a very important component of residential plumbing systems. It is the one system that is responsible for removing the waste water from your home to ensure that your home environment remains sanitary. Not only does this system include the drain lines and main sewer line, but there are other components that are integral to this process.

The plumbing experts at Saddleback Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning are committed to educating our customers about their plumbing system and why it is important to have it properly installed and maintained. We’ve included a list of the main parts of the drainage system in your home and how each of these components work together to make sure that your plumbing system is effective and worry free.

Drain Lines

The drain lines in your home should be able to remove heavy volumes of waste water from your home. That’s why it is imperative that they do so without getting clogged by materials, such as paper products or food waste. While homeowners can help by being careful about what they put down the drains or flush down the toilets, the installation of the drain and sewer system also plays a role in waste management for your home.

The plumber who installs the system should take into consideration the number of bathrooms and kitchen plumbing appliances you have, the age of your pipes for additions, and other considerations that are related to the layout of your home and local plumbing codes. These calculations will help to prevent any issues with the drain system in your home.

Sump Pumps

The drainage inside your home is just as important as the outside drainage, which includes sump pumps in some areas. Sump pumps remove any groundwater that gets into the lower parts of your home, and in areas prone to flooding, this is an essential part of preventing water damage. If you decide that you need an outdoor drainage solution for problems related to heavy groundwater, we install and maintain sump pumps and can create a custom plan fitted to your situation.

Proper installation applies whether you are adding a new fixture, a full bathroom, kitchen, or whether you are simply replacing any part of your existing drain and sewer system.

Call the professional plumbers at Saddleback Plumbing, Heating, & Air Conditioning for all plumbing needs in Irvine, CA!

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Plumbing Tip: What Does a Drain Trap Do?

Monday, September 24th, 2012

There are many components in an Orange County home’s plumbing system but few require as much persistent homeowner attention as a drain trap. If your drain trap is clogged or you simply are interested in learning more about that U-shaped stretch of pipe beneath your sink, here is a quick overview.

The Flow of Water into the Drain

When water enters the drain in your fixture, it goes through the tailpiece and into the drain trap, then through the main drain line out of your home. It all makes perfect sense except for that little U-shaped stretch of pipe that always seems to get clogged with food, grease and hair. Why is it there if all it does is get clogged?

The answer to this question is directly related to the way in which plumbing is designed to work. Drain pipes all lead directly to a sewer line which then exits your Orange County home and goes into the sewer. That sewer line contains all of the waste and waste water from your home and as a result, a lot of decomposition takes place here, producing large volumes of sewer gas.

Sewer gas is not only unpleasant, it is unsafe, and it must therefore not be allowed to enter your home. A drain trap is used for this purpose as it will hold water as a barrier against any backflow of sewer gasses when your drain pipes are empty. Gravity ensures that there is always enough water in the trap to keep this from happening.

Maintaining Your Drain Trap

Regular flushing of the drain trap is highly recommended to prevent clogs, and if there are any fixtures in your home that you don’t often use, it is recommended that you pour enough water down the drain to keep the trap from evaporating and allowing sewer gasses to enter your home. Do these things and your system should continue to work properly moving forward.

For more information regarding your Orange County home’s plumbing, contact Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air today!

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Plumbing Tip: Why Timely Slab Leak Repairs are Important

Monday, August 20th, 2012

Slab leaks are leaks from pipes under the foundation of your home.  Therefore, to prevent damage to the foundation, it is essential that when a slab leak is found, it is repaired quickly.  Backed by years of field experience, the Orange County plumbers at Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning can detect and repair slab leaks and other plumbing issues in your home. Call us any time you suspect a slab leak.

Slab Leak Repairs Done Quickly and Done Right

Many homes that are built on concrete foundations have soft copper piping installed either along the soil underneath or within the concrete slab.  The piping runs various lengths throughout the concrete slab foundation and then out of the slab into various plumbing applications throughout the home.

It can often be hard to identify when a slab leak actually begins.  This is because the piping is laid underneath layers of flooring and then cement.  Often, by the time a slab leak is detected, it has been leaking steadily for enough time to damage the cement foundation, saturate the soil underneath, and even made its way to the flooring and or the bottom of the walls along the first floor of a building.

By the time you notice a slab leak, a timely repair is essential; otherwise, the damage will continue to spread, not only causing cosmetic issues by damaging flooring and furniture, but eventually causing issues with the stability of your foundation.

When you live in a home located on a concrete slab foundation, it is important to watch for additional signs of a slab leak, such as higher than normal water bills, and the sound of running water when the faucets are all off.  Being alert to these symptoms can mean finding a slab leak much earlier and avoiding major water damage to your home.

The professional plumbers in Orange County at Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning use state of the art technologies to pinpoint slab leaks so that every repair is performed efficiently, and with as little damage to home fixtures as possible.  If you think your home has a slab leak, let our experts help you today!

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Mission Viejo Plumbing Question: What Causes a Dry Toilet?

Monday, August 13th, 2012

One of the strangest bathroom plumbing problems that people come across in Mission Viejo is when a toilet bowl is dry. This can be caused by a number of different problems, most of which you will need a professional to fix.

Cracked Trapway

A crack in the trapway of the toilet can cause the water to drain from the toilet bowl and into the drain pipe below it.  When cracks of this type occur they can be hard to see, especially if the crack happens directly over the drain allowing the water to flow down the drain, rather than all over the floor.  If the crack happens in another portion of the trap-way the drained water can be more noticeable as it flows all over the floor.  A slow leak of this manner might not be as noticeable since constant use will keep the bowl filled with new water, even as the cracked trap-way leaks.  Unfortunately cracked trapways do usually result in toilet replacement.

 Clogged Vent

All drains require air to function properly by relieving pressure within the pipes, and a vent provides this.  A clogged vent on the toilet drain can cause water to pull air down the drain with it, instead of pulling air through the vent.  This will result in the drain pulling a majority of the water from the toilet bowl and down the drain as it tries to find air to pull down to even out pressure in the pipes.  A clogged toilet drain vent must be unclogged so that proper air flow can return to the drain.

Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning has a team of Mission Viejo plumbers who work on all sorts of bathroom plumbing issues such as dry toilet bowls, cracked trapways and clogged drainage vents.  Contact Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning for all your bathroom plumbing needs!

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Common Kitchen Plumbing Problems in Orange County

Monday, July 30th, 2012

Below are some of the most common kitchen plumbing problems in homes.  These tend to be the kitchen plumbing problems that we get the most repair calls for, and they can be quickly handled by our professional plumbing repair or plumbing replacement services.

  • Clogged or Broken Garbage Disposals:  Clogged or broken garbage disposals are high on the list.  This is normally because of something which should not be in the garbage disposal, or possibly that the garbage disposal broke due to age.
  • Leaking or Blocked Faucets:  Faucet leaks can be because of broken internal seals or washers.  Blocked faucets can indicate an issue with an aerator that has gotten blocked with debris in the water lines.
  • Clogged Drains:  Drain clogs can occur because of foreign objects that have managed to make their way into the drain, food which was not properly cut up by the garbage disposal, or cooking grease or other oils that have clogged the pipes.
  • Noisy or Leaky Dishwashers:  Noisy dishwashers that make thumping or other loud noises tend to indicate problems with an internal part, such as an inlet valve which needs to be replaced.  Leaking dishwashers could have loose or broken hoses, or a defective pumps seal.

As a professional plumbing company in Orange County, Saddleback Plumbing has a team of licensed plumbers who are highly skilled and have years of hands-on experience in dealing with all sorts of kitchen plumbing problems.  Let us ensure that you receive quality plumbing services, from the most common kitchen plumbing problems with garbage disposals, faucets, drains and dishwashers to kitchen plumbing replacement or repiping.

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Plumbing Tip : Common Causes of Plumbing Noises

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

With something as important as your Irvine plumbing system, you want to be sure that everything is working correctly and effectively. Many people, though, will ignore the signs that something is wrong as long as the water flows when it is supposed to. Not only are noises from your plumbing annoying, they are also indicators that there is a problem somewhere in your system. Here are some common noises and the fixes that may be needed to keep your plumbing quiet.

Gurgling Sounds from Drains

This is such a common problem that people may not even consider it one. If your drains are gurgling or making sucking sounds chances are that there is some kind of blockage in the drainpipe. The obstruction is forcing the water to squeeze past it, resulting in the gurgle. Hire an Irvine plumber to snake out your drain. You’ll be surprised at how quiet draining your sink or tub can be.

Screeching or Squeaking Sounds

More often than not this sort of noise is the result of rusty or ill-fitting parts. If you have an irregular washer, for instance, it can restrict the flow of water through the pipe, and the force of the water pushing past the washer can result in the screech. Call in a plumber to pinpoint the location of the problem; often all it will take to repair is replacing a part.

Banging Sounds

If your pipes are banging when you have the water on, chances are that it is in fact an external problem. If your pipe connections are loose or improperly secured then your pipes have enough room to move around. The banging is the result of their hitting fixtures. Have a plumber inspect your system while turning the water on and off. All that may be required after locating the source of the banging is the tightening of some fixtures.

Water Hammering

Water hammering is the term for the banging in your water pipes when you turn the water off, not on. It is the result of an abrupt stop in the flow of the water in your pipes, like when you quickly turn off the water. Pressure builds behind the remaining water in the pipes and causes the hammering. If enough pressure builds, this situation can easily become a more serious problem. Call a plumber if you are experiencing water hammering.

These are just a few of the problems that are indicated by noise in your plumbing system. There are many other possible issues, and some can be quite serious. Call Saddleback Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning today if you have any concerns with your Irvine plumbing.

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