After many years in the plumbing business, we find that we have seen some unusual plumbing situations that required some ingenuity to solve. From that bothersome plumbing fixture that you use everyday to that plumbing emergency that you don’t expect, we have seen our share of surprising situations. We have also learned a few tricks over the years. These are a few of the best tips your experienced San Diego plumber has discovered while helping people solve some of their plumbing headaches. Hopefully, you won’t need to use them, but they can be really handy if you do.
1. Plumbing Disaster: Kids Do The Darndest Things
Some emergency plumbing service calls involve the curious youngster who decided to see if their Hot Wheels car could float in the toilet bowl. Unfortunately, they don’t. If you, or your child, drop something heavy in the toilet and you cannot just grab it out or maybe it was flushed by mistake, try grabbing the shop vac instead of the plunger. A wet/dry vac can suck out the obstruction when a plunger might force it further into the pipe.
2. Plumbing Alternative: Another Way To Flush
Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a home plumbing job, with the water shut off, only to find you need to use the facilities? Maybe your young child does not understand the concept of “hold it”? You don’t have to bug the neighbor and ask to use their bathroom because you can still flush toilets when the water is shut off. Simply stow a bucket of water near the toilet before you shut off the water and dump it into your toilet if you need to flush. It works just like normal except for refilling the bowl.
3. Plumbing Frustration: Kitchen Water Wars
Do you fight with your kitchen sink sprayer hose as you try to use it? If you find that your sprayer hose is getting hung up and needs to be yanked out of its hole, there is a trick that you can use to keep the hose from being snagged on the shutoff valves under the sink. Wrap the pipes and shutoff valve handles in some foam insulation you can buy your local hardware store. This will keep your sprayer hose from catching and ensure a smooth operation. These are just a few of the little gems of knowledge we have collected through the years. You may never need to use them, in fact, you can always just contact San Diego Plumbers for help, but they are good to know, especially in an urgent situation.