Plumbing and Drain Cleaning For Apartment Buildings

Plumbing and Drain Cleaning For Apartment Buildings

Many plumbing companies offer services for residential buildings and other smaller structures, and if you were to look in the phone book you would likely find dozens of plumbers in your area who could do a competent job fixing anything in your home. Drain cleaning and plumbing in larger structures, however, like apartment buildings, nursing homes, hotels and industrial complexes, simply can’t be handled by your average mom-and-pop plumbing company.

Apartment buildings, in particular, can run into problems like main sewer lines clogged by grease and debris, and specialized, expensive drain cleaning equipment is often needed to take care of this kind of maintenance.

If you are an apartment building or rental property manager who needs to take care of maintenance for a complex with many units, it’s very important to remember that most plumbing companies will not have the equipment or experience to properly clean your drains or handle other large projects. While you have fewer options regarding which plumbing or drain cleaning company you go with, however, you will still have several local options to choose from when it comes to servicing your apartment or rental complex.

Initially, start your search by phoning local drain cleaning companies and asking them if they are equipped to handle large sewer lines that are fed by multiple lateral lines from other units. In apartment buildings, a common problem is layers of grease building up in the sewer line and causing clogs (especially if the apartments themselves are set up with garbage disposals in the kitchen sinks).

In this case, nothing less than a sophisticated, specialized high-pressure water jetting system will do when it comes to cleaning the main line. Regular sewer snakes and augers simply can’t handle these kinds of jobs.

Secondly, ask for references from other clients from any drain cleaning or plumbing company you are considering for your apartment complex. If the company is professional and does quality work, they will have no problem providing you with a list of clients who can vouch for their service. It’s also important to make sure that you ask whether the company’s employees are paid by commission or by the hour. While not all commission workers are dishonest, these type of workers are more likely to overestimate the amount of work that needs to be done in order to get a larger paycheck.

Finding a competent and professional drain cleaning and plumbing company for your apartment building shouldn’t be too time consuming. Just use common sense, research local companies before settling on one, and keep track of the work they are doing and what kind of fees they are charging. The vast majority of apartment drain cleaning companies are very competent and professional, and it’s a vital service that you can’t do without.

Plumbing Science For Non-Plumbers

Plumbing Science For Non-Plumbers

Water always seeks its own level. That is the physical law in which plumbing is based. If you are a homeowner with zero plumbing awareness, this is one fact that, at the very least, you should be aware of. Take this to heart, because this water principle, coupled with the natural law of gravity and pressure, will make or break your home, bank account, and state of mind, depending on your actions or lack of it.

Plumbing systems work in two ways; one is to take water in, and the other is to take water out. More succinctly, clean water in, dirty or waste water out. If that simple order or sequence gets mixed up, it’s time to call a plumber to fix a monumental plumbing disaster.

How does clean water come into your home? That is explained by the natural law of pressure. Pressure allows clean water to pass through pipes, travel upwards to one or several floors, move left or right into this room or that, wherever it’s needed. Those ubiquitous water valves control the way these pressurized water move in and around your home. Cold water is easily obtained from your main water supply through the process above. But if you need hot water, the cold water is first redirected to an installed water heater in your home that warms it up. The heated water then travels along the hot water line that again brings the water to all outlets in the home that requires hot water, like the dishwater, the bath tub or the shower.

If water intake is a simple science, so is water and waste outtake. But often, plumbing problems caused by waste outtake result to more costly repairs than the intake. There is a need for the skilled expertise of certified plumbers, or if you plan to repair it yourself, the right “non-leery” attitude, for obvious reasons.

Dirty waste water, after all, leaves your house following the law of gravity. Waste water goes downward to the sewer or septic tank, nice and easy. Behind this simple rule is the multitude of vents and traps to keep the process of waste removal possible. Vents allow air to fill drainpipes, precious air that allow waste water outflow. Traps are those curved S-shaped sections of the pipes under the sink drain. Traps perform a crucial role in forcing most of the water through the drainpipe, but leaving some to seal the area and prevent sewer gas from backing up.

Plumbing, as you see, is a science. Ignore the science behind it and your home will either be flooded, or you will encounter water damage of varied proportions. Undertaking any plumbing repair, particularly major damages, is best left to the capable hands of plumbers. Some areas have particular local plumbing codes that need to be checked on whether or not a homeowner is allowed to self-repair plumbing problems.

In the long run, knowing the science of plumbing can save a lot of money on your behalf and better protection for your home.

How to Fix Your Toilet in a Few Easy Steps

How to Fix Your Toilet in a Few Easy Steps

Toilets. We simply can’t do without them. One of the necessary evils of our lives is that apparatus in the bathroom that sooner than later will start to develop problems.

So when problems crop up, what are you going to do?

You have two choices. One, hit the yellow pages and find a plumber. Two, tackle the job yourself. Hint… the first choice will cost you dearly. However, there may be repairs that should be left to the experts simply because they involve heavy lifting.

Toilets are not high tech machines.

Toilets have very few parts. There is the bowl and the tank, that sits on the back of the bowl. First let’s take a look at the bowl.

The bowl sits directly on the floor. On the bottom of the bowl there is a drain hole. That hole sits right inside the drain pipe on the floor. The drain pipe has a brass ring surrounding the lip. The ring has two flat head brass bolts that fit into slots in the ring and stick upright waiting for the bowl to be placed over the drain pipe. The slots allow for the bowl to be positioned over the bolts upright. To seal the pipe and the hole there is a wax ring that is in the shape of a large donut. The toilet bowl is set on its back or side, the seal is pressed around the drain hole with your fingers and it is ready to go. All that needs to be done is to place the bowl over the drain hole, line up the bolts, press down the bowl, place the washers and nuts on the bolts and lightly tighten them down.

The tank sits on the tank. A rubber seal sits in the joint. Two bolts with fiber washers hold the tank and bowl together.

Now for the tank. Inside the tank is a filler pipe in the center. Fitted on that pipe is a rubber flapper that covers the drain hole. There are a few different flappers but basically they do the same job. The flapper is attached to the flush handle with a chain. Turn the handle, the chain lifts the flapper, it raises up allowing water to flush the toilet. The flapper can be easily replaced because it has two ears that fit over two fingers on either side of the ring that is fitted to the filler pipe.

The float system on the left of the tank is there for the job of filling the tank with water and stopping the water when the tank is filled. To replace the float system, turn the water off with the shut-off located under and behind the toilet bowl first. Drain the tank as much as possible and then dry up the rest of the water with a sponge or rag until there is none left in the tank. With a wrench, back off the nut under the float system where it is connecting the small pipe connecting the tank to the water supply shut-off. The small pipe should be now free from the float system. Now there is only one more nut fastening the float system to the tank. Back that one off. You need to get your head down so you can see the nut under the tank.

You should follow the directions that accompany the float system for the placement of the two rubber washers and adjusting the height of the float. Now you should attach the filler tube to the float system, fit the filler tube clip onto the filler pipe and trim the filler tubing and fit it onto the clip.

Now you should turn on the water but only a little. Check for leaks. Tighten things up so that all fittings are dry. Now fill the tank, check by flushing and see that the flapper does its job. Place the tank cover on top of the tank and flush it again a couple of times.

You now have completed your first toilet repair job. Congratulations!