If you really master the art of plumbing, the results will show in both your home and your pocketbook. It shows that you care about proper upkeep and that you want to keep things in working order yourself. Those are admirable traits. With plumbing you can be an expert and still learn new tricks; there is always something to be gained or improved on. Read this article to get started.
If you discover a pipe has frozen, open a tap on the line to allow the thawing ice to drain. Doing so provides pressure relief, and might spare you the damage of a burst pipe.
Don't use any colored tablets that claim to be cleaners in your toilet. Either kind of toilet tablet might break down obnoxious smells in your toilet, but they might also break down the rubber parts, resulting in malfunction.
If you have a clogged toilet and a plunger is not helping to clear the blockage, if the water level is low, pouring a bucking of boiling water from a height into the toilet bowl could resolve the problem. Once the water level is low again, you may repeated this procedure.
You should regularly check for water damage to your bathroom floor caused by your toilet in order to save money and further complications. Feel the floor around the toilet and check to see if the floor is soft, molded, chipping, etc. Straddle the toilet, then start rocking on each foot to check whether you feel softness or weakening on the floor under you. You could save yourself money but noticing that problem sooner, rather than later.
If your house uses well water and you start to see orange or pink stains in your tub and other water fixtures, you have too much iron in your water. Water softener can help this problem, and you can buy that at a store. Alternatively, you can hire someone to handle it.
Whenever you have plumbing work that needs to be done, you should schedule all problems at one time. Rather than calling a plumber every time there is a minor problem, taking care of everything at once allows you to save money for additional repairs down the road. Doing this can also save you money, since it's common for plumbers to charge hourly rates. It'll condense the total amount of time they need to spend to something you can more easily afford.
Flush your drain with a constant stream of cold water when operating your drain mounted disposal unit. Cold water helps to maintain the sharpness of the blades and makes the disposal run more smoothly. Grease will stay solid and go through your drain with cold water; you don't want gooey grease in your pipes.
Do not use your toilet to get rid of garbage. You should never flush cotton balls, sanitary pads, tissues, paper towels, diapers, or certain other materials, because these things don't dissolve and could clog up your toilet. Use the least amount of toilet paper you can when you use the toilet, too.
Frozen pipes can lead to a large plumbing bill. Fortunately, it is usually relatively easy to prevent your pipes from freezing. First, you need to check your outside pipe to make sure it has the proper insulation. When wintertime comes, disconnect and drain your hoses and shut off outside faucets. Doing so can prevent some nasty repair bills a professional plumber would charge you.
There are two ways to remove stubborn clean-out plugs. The first method is by using a chisel and hammer to try to loosen the fitting. The only other method is to take the chisel and use it right through the plug.
Though you may have no option as to which plumber comes, you can research them at any rate. Take advantage of customer feedback on your insurance carriers website. This will give you a greater level of comfort than going into it blind.
Prepare for the cold winter months by checking that your outdoor faucets are not dripping or leaking. Checking them before winter is the best time, so you can make any repairs before the temperature gets down to freezing. Regardless of whether you have steel, plastic or copper pipes, the water in them expands when it freezes and will make the pipes crack. Even the most minute crack can cause a big enough leak to create flooding or water damage and mold in your home.
Those valves will rarely get fully used but can fuse together. You can use penetrating oil to maintain them and turn the valves every once in a while so that they do not stick.
A lot of people do not know what to do about their plumbing issues so they pay a plumber big bucks! When you have a home of your own to care for, try to learn enough about plumbing to understand what you hear from a professional plumber. You will not lose any money this way.
Don't just use any drain cleaner. Some of them contain strong chemical agents that will damage your pipes. Choose a brand that claims to be easy on pipes. Your plumbing needs some forms of bacteria in order to work properly and the wrong chemicals can kill these good bacteria, as well as being toxic to people.
When installing or replacing a water heater, pay attention to the drainage pipe. The pipe extruding from the draining pipe needs to be reconnected to the water heater. This pipe, the recirculation pipe, helps keep your water heated without wasting water.
Do not buy a strong chemical drain cleaner if you want to get rod of a clog. These chemicals can open your drain but they also may hurt you if you get them on your skin. If you must use a chemical drain opener, wear a long sleeved shirt and rubber gloves.
You have the knowledge, tools, and skills to apply all three to the plumbing system. This is wonderful! The advice in this piece is meant to enhance your growing body of plumbing knowledge, and you should always continue to learn. As you put these tips in to practice, you may find that some of the ideas presented here become your favorites.
Scarlet Ibis at Sunken Gardens: St. Petersburg, Florida
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Image by State Library and Archives of Florida
Local call number: COM03374
Title: Scarlet Ibis at Sunken Gardens: St. Petersburg, Florida
Date: September 1978
General Note: The Gardens began in 1903, when plumber and avid gardener George Turner Sr. purchased the six acres that would become a world famous botanical attraction. He drained a shallow lake 10 feet (3.0 m) below sea level to create his "sunken" garden. By the 1920s, Turner was charging a nickel for tours. The Gardens eventually became widely popular, and from the 1950s through the 1970s were ranked among Florida's top ten commercial attractions. The City of St. Petersburg purchased Sunken Gardens in 1999 with funds from a voter-approved tax. The Gardens included the Sanitary Public Market. Designed by architect Albert Lee Hawes and constructed in 1926 it became the Coca Cola Bottling Company plant in the 1940s. The Turner family purchased the building in 1967 to create the World's Largest Gift Shop and the King of Kings Wax Museum. It was closed in 1995 and after restoration by the City of St. Petersburg was added to the National Register of Historic Places in on June 27, 2002.
Physical descrip: 1 slide - col.
Series Title: Department of Commerce Collection
Repository: State Library and Archives of Florida, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA. Contact: 850.245.6700. Archives@dos.myflorida.com
Persistent URL: www.floridamemory.com/items/show/93973