Calgary Plumber | Our Plumbing Blog

Call Roto-Rooter Before Buying Your Dream Home

May 14th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Are you looking for your dream home? Has your realtor found you a list of homes to check out? When you decide upon that one home that has everything you have always wanted, before buying, you should do a complete house check over. Things like plumbing fixtures and appliances should work flawlessly. Remember, for a tub, toilet, or faucet repair in Calgary, you can trust that Roto-Rooter is only a phone call away.
Buying a new home is a dream of every person at some point in life. You want to get a place in a nice neighborhood with a good view if possible. You do your homework and find where the best places in town are located. You make sure there are no burdensome property easements that might cause problems down the road. You settle on one place and you have informed your agent that this is the place! Now is the time for a complete home check over.
Remember, your friends at Roto-Rooter can help. We know plumbing and can see potential problems that others may not. Here are some simple tips that may be helpful as you inspect your future home.
• Appliances: Modern refrigerators often have ice and water dispensers. Make sure that the water line plumbing into your refrigerator has not been crimped or damaged. Follow the water line all the way to where it is plumbed into a main water source. You will probably see a small saddle mounted valve attachment to a bigger copper line. Make sure that this valve will turn off and on and does not leak.
• Faucets, tub, and toilet: All plumbing fixtures should be properly caulked and free from damage. Turn on each fixture and make sure there are no leaks. For toilet or faucet repair in Calgary, give us call. All faucets should have normal water pressure. The toilet should refill with no leaks around the tank. When flushing, check the base of the commode for any water seepage. Check all caulking around the tubs. If you see any signs of dark mold behind the caulking, it will need to be replaced.
• Pipes and drains: Run the water from all fixtures. If you notice any slow drains or water backup of any kind that is one sign that there is improper draining in the lines. Also, turn on the bathtub faucet and the kitchen faucet at the same time. See if water pressure drops considerably for either fixture. If so, you may have some issues.
Of course, we will be delighted to assist with your home check over. Our technician will arrive and work with the realtor or original homeowner to make sure that all plumbing and fixtures are in great working order before you make that purchase. Call today!

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Roto-Rooter Will Fix Your Sprinkler System

May 8th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

In early spring, it is a good time to check the outside sprinkler system. It is a good time to check all outside hose valves (hose bibs) from your house, too. During the cold season, many outside plumbing fixtures freeze and sometimes break. Problem is, we don’t usually know that there are any problems until the lines are pressurized and/or used again in spring. That is why it is a good idea to be ahead of the game and check those fixtures early. In cold weather, plumbing problems in Calgary do happen. Roto-Rooter can help with any outside plumbing repairs if that is necessary.
A full check of your sprinkler system will only take a short time and is well-worth the effort. Having surprises is no fun. If you live in an area that requires secondary water to be turned into the lines by your city, you may have to wait until the day that occurs to check some parts of your sprinkler system. Check with your local water ministry for the exact time that will take place. If you can pressurize your system yourself with culinary water, do that on the first series of warm days in spring.
• Check all valves on your system and make sure they are closed. Visually examine each of the valve manifolds for any obvious signs of damage.
• Pressurize your system by opening your stop-and-waste. This is buried deep enough in the ground that there is seldom any freeze problems, but linger for a moment and make sure there is no water leakage coming up the access sleeve.
• Do a quick check of all valves attached to your sprinkler system. Make sure there is no leakage coming from any of the valves. Often, valve manifolds are installed at low points on the system which makes them prone to freeze breaks if they are not opened properly and allowed to drain back. The water collects on the high side of the valve and freezes on the first cold night of winter. The ice expansion will crack the pipe and/or the valve housing. If you notice any leakage around valves, immediately turn off your system and call Roto-Rooter.
• Check each sprinkler lateral on your system. Manually run each valve, either from the valve itself or at the sprinkler control box. Check each sprinkler head and make sure it has normal pressure. If you notice any laterals with low pressure, that is a sign that the line may be broken.
Call us for any plumbing problems in Calgary related to your landscape sprinkler system.

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Plumbing Repair and All That Jazz

April 30th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

This year you can do a lot to raise the value of your home. Like any investment, it is important to not only maintain, but to build and grow equity. In your attempts to do this, taking on DIY projects and performing regular maintenance where you are able will force you to learn new skills, balance your time, and prioritize needs. With all of this going on, you might forget to check up on your plumbing until it is too late, making a small problem turn into a big one. That’s why Roto-Rooter is around, though. We have a wealth of knowledge and experience that have made us the industry standard for plumbing. Whether you using our outstanding people or products to get the job done, your plumbing will be in better shape than ever, with our help. As plumbing repair in Calgary can become quite expensive, we are excited to spread a little love through helpful tips and tricks for DIY plumbing care. Consider the following:

Clogged drains. They happen to the best of us. Bathroom drains clog quickly because of the amount of hair a normal person sheds during each shower. Add all the hair together after a week, mix it with dirt and soap scum and you have a pretty gnarly clog. In kitchen drains, food, grease, dirt, and soap scum will do the same thing, too. To get these drains clean again, pull out the gunk that can be reached with a screwdriver. After pulling out all you can, use pipe cleaner to strip away anything else lingering. As pipe cleaner is acidic, make sure to moderate your use of the product so that the drainpipes don’t become weakened from heavy use. To maintain this cleanliness, a few cups of boiling water down the drain every week will do the job just fine.
Leaky faucets are a pain. They drip, make noise, and waste a lot of water. In fact, they can waste upward of $20 worth of water a month, each. Multiply that by however many drippy faucets you have in your house and you are looking at a pretty beefy expense you can avoid fairly easily. When you first notice the leak, shut off the water to that faucet. Next, use a wrench to loosen the nut holding the faucet head in place. Once it is loosened, remove the head completely and take a look inside. You will notice a washer sitting against the seat. This holds back water and can get warped. Replace it with a new washer and you will get rid of that drippy faucet for good.

For more information about plumbing repair in Calgary, give Roto-Rooter a call today.

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Plumbing Information for DIY Care

April 16th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Just when you think that you have it all under control, your house throws a curve ball at you. Being a homeowner means constantly learning. You have to acquire skills along the way to fix things, finish projects, and maintain it all at the same time. This can quickly become quite overwhelming. It is for this reason that even the most astute and observant homeowners overlook their plumbing. In fact, so many home and business owners do forget about their plumbing that plumbing in Calgary keeps Roto-Rooter more than busy. With that said, here is a little knowhow from us passed on to you that you can take advantage of when the need arises.

Frozen pipes are extremely hard to deal with. When a line is frozen and becomes cracked or shattered, Roto-Rooter technicians have to use special tools to remove the old water supply line and replace it with a new one. Every winter as the temperatures drop, water inside pipes starts to expand and freeze. What you may not have realized before is that it isn’t the ice that is directly responsible for the damage, it is actually the air. Trapped air pockets are pushed and compressed until there is no other escape except to burst through the pipe wall, either cracking or shattering it altogether. When this happens, there’s not much you can do except shut off the water to the house to prevent flooding and then call Roto-Rooter to come out and fix things a.s.a.p. The best way to be prepared this year against frozen pipes is insulation. Beef up the insulation in your walls and wrap any exposed pipes with extra fitted insulation and you’ll be good as gold when the cold sets in.

Water heaters break down all the time. Because they are constantly running to keep your supply of hot water available at all times, the system can get bogged down if it isn’t taken care of frequently. A great way to keep your water heater working all day, everyday is to schedule annual inspections from a trained technician who is familiar with your make and model of heater. Performing periodic maintenance is key for not only keeping it running, but to also extend its life. Since a water heating unit can cost in the high hundreds and even more than $1000 to replace, it is worth the effort to stay on top of things and keep those inspections scheduled every 12 months.

For more information about plumbing in Calgary, give Roto-Rooter a call today to speak with a trained and friendly technician today!

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The Steps to Faucet Repair

April 6th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Although we love to do faucet repair in Calgary so that we can meet all of you, we understand that there are those people who are going to do it themselves because that is just the way they are. For those people, here are the steps that you need to take for your faucet repair job. These steps will apply to most all faucets, but there are some that are going to be a little different than this.

First, make sure that you have shut-off the water to the faucet before doing anything. If you are working on a bathroom or kitchen sink, or any other sink for that matter, there should be some valves under the sink that you can turn off to shut the water off to that faucet. When dealing with a shower you will need to turn the water off to the whole house. Remember, rightie-tighty, lefty-loosey.
After the water has been shut-off, confirm this by opening the faucet and letting it run until there is no water coming from it. This should be relatively quick in most cases.
Once you have the water off, remove the handle on the faucet. This is usually done with a small allen wrench on the underside of it, though some will be different.
Once that is removed, you will need to use a smooth clamp adjustable wrench to remove the cap assembly. The reason for the smooth clamp style wrench is to make sure that you do not mar the chrome finish on it.
Now remove the stem ball assembly. This is done by removing the cover and pulling the stem ball out.
Now that the cap assembly is off and the stem ball assembly has been removed, use a dental pick or something similar to remove the seats and springs. Be sure to inspect them as you remove them for any signs of wear.
You can then remove the O-rings from the body of the faucet. Be sure to inspect them as well for wear. The reason you are doing this is to find any signs of anything abnormal that you need to be aware of right now.
Replace all O-rings with new ones. No matter how they look, be sure to replace them.
Replace the springs and seats in the body of the faucet no matter how good they looked.
Use stem grease on the stem ball assembly and place that back into place and put the cap back on.
Use some stem grease on the O- Rings on the body and on the faucet spout before placing it back on.
Place the cap on and tighten it all down again.

If this sounds like too much hassle, call us. We know how and do a lot of faucet repair in Calgary and are happy to come to your place and introduce you to our services.

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Finding a Water Heater Repair Specialist

March 23rd, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When you have your water heater goes down you need to find someone to fix it and you need to find them fast. You cannot wait for someone to come in the next day or two. You will need and want them to come to your home as quickly as possible. Here are some tips on finding that specialist for water heater repair in Calgary.

Do a search on the internet to find all of the companies in the area. This is going to give you the most comprehensive list of potential plumbers that can help you with your water heater repair.
Ask neighbors, family and friends for some input. Some of them will either have used one of the local companies or they will have heard about them. They will be able to give you some invaluable feedback.
Do a search online for reviews. It is helpful to have some concept of the feedback that others are giving them. Of course, you will need to be careful with this because most reviews you are going to read are going to be negative because people are more likely to write a negative review than a positive one…anger is a big motivator. If you can read between the lines and eliminate the emotions and look for only the facts, you will do better with this tip.
Visit the website of each of the plumbers in the area. Whatever is the most obvious on their site is going to be what they really pride themselves in. See if you can find some that are boasting about hot water heater repair.
Call some of the companies that you are most interested in and ask some questions. Among other questions, ask if they could come out same day. This helps you know if you will have it taken care of in a timely manner. In addition, just finding an excuse to talk to them for a minute can give you some insight on how they might treat you as a customer.

Finding the right company to come out and take care of the water heater repair is crucial to a good experience for you. Of course, we think we are a perfect fit for you. Roto-Rooter can usually be at your home or business within two hours of your phone call. We have been doing water heater repair in Calgary for over 50 years now and we have seen a few water heaters in our day. We know how to repair them in the safest, fastest and most efficient way. This helps us with our pricing as well.

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Plumbing repair in Calgary

March 9th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When it comes to the plumbing repair in your home some people take the time to do their own repairs. However, when it comes to a professional plumbing repair in Calgary, it may be best left up to professional plumbers to handle.

Commercial plumbing is a bit different from the residential plumbing. There are a lot of other issues that must be looked at and considered in order to make sure that it is done right and follows the plumbing code. In particular, the plumbing in a commercial restaurant, for example, can be a lot trickier because there are a lot more parts and fixtures. For instance, restaurants are equipped with grease traps and kitchen floor drains, commercial sinks and water heaters or boilers. This means that there are many more problems that can occur in the plumbing. Even for a professional this can be tricky. For the casual do- it-yourselfer, this is not the environment for you to experiment and learn as you go.

Often times you will see plumbers who do nothing but commercial work. This is because there are enough differences in the commercial work that plumbers can specialize in commercial plumbing work.

Plumbing is an art unto itself. For those who work in it on a day-to-day basis, understanding how things function and the principles behind it will make for a better plumber. It is much like doing math homework. When you know the rules and the reason behind why something is done the way it is, you can then use that understanding to come to the right answers. You can also diagnose why someone else’s work did not solve the problem and have a full understanding of how you are going to fix it.

If you want to see some real professional work going on, watch a plumber who understands plumbing principles inside and out. These are usually lifers or Master Plumbers who have practiced their craft for a decade or more. It is fun to watch these professional plumbers go to work and do a plumbing repair in Calgary. These are the guys who teach the journeymen plumbers and pass along their vast knowledge to the less experienced guys. These are the experts training the plumbers who come to your business or home – and if you are lucky enough to have them come to do a repair at your place, take the time to watch! It is fascinating to see how they think and work with their hands.

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When Plumbing Problems are the Death of You

February 25th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Have you ever heard someone say something like, “You are going to be the death of me” or “This faucet is going to be the death of me”? It sounds weird, but we all know what is meant. Of course, the person that they are referring to or the particular inanimate object is not really going to kill them, but rather they are going to get the best of them and cause them to become extremely frustrated.

Rather than let that faucet, clogged drain or broken water heater get the best of you and cause you extreme frustration, call in a professional who handles plumbing problems in Calgary day in and day out. This is a great solution to for any plumbing trouble in your home. You won’t regret the decision to do this. In fact, what you will regret is all the times that you worked on the plumbing yourself and slaved over it for hours and got very frustrated before finally figuring it out – or not. Just the very thought of another plumbing problem likely caused your anxiety level to increase. That no longer needs to be the case.

One of the reasons plumbing problems can become very frustrating to a homeowner, who is trying to fix it himself, is the fact that most people do not have the right tools to get it done. Without certain specialized tools, even the most experienced plumber would find it hard to do

Another thing that makes plumbing a source of frustration for a homeowner is the lack of knowledge about what they are doing. Of course, some people can figure it out as they delve into it, but often it is by making mistakes that they finally learn how to do it. Those mistakes cost time wasting time is frustrating beyond belief. Why not sit back and enjoy some food and football while you have a Roto-Rooter professional who knows how to solve plumbing problems in Calgary, come in and help by fixing your plumbing issues.

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Why You Should Call a Faucet Repair Professional

February 24th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When you have a problem around the house you likely fix it yourself. Of course, there are some things around the house that know you cannot fix and you call in a repairman. And then there are things around the house that you may think you can fix, try it on your own and then call in a professional to fix.

You really should call in the professional when it comes to faucet repair in Calgary. Call a pro at the beginning rather than waiting until you have spent hours trying to get it done yourself. There are a lot of tiny little parts inside a faucet that could simply befuddle a novice. Taking it apart is the easy part but knowing where all of those little parts go as you try to put it back together is one of the troubles of trying it yourself. Another problem that you many have in trying to do it on your own is not having all of the proper tools. Tools can make a big difference in making it work. Without them though, the repair becomes a lot more difficult and may even become impossible. At the very least it will take longer.

You may be a lot better off calling Roto-Rooter or another professional plumber to come and fix the faucet. It will be much faster and a lot less frustrating for you – and it will be done right with a warranty too.

There are plenty of people in the industry who are more than capable of doing faucet repair in Calgary but we hope that you will choose us. We know that you have other choices but we strive to set ourselves apart with superior customer service, prompt replies to your calls and we have the resources available to take care of any plumbing issue that you have, big or small. If you have questions about our service or anything plumbing related, please call us and let us answer your questions. You will never regret asking questions, and in fact you may benefit from the fact that you did. When we come in and fix that faucet in minutes, you will be looking like the smart one to your wife and family.

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Water Heater Repair or Buy a New One?

February 18th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When your water heater goes out your first reaction is likely to call a plumber to come in and fix it. However, after some thought you may want to consider getting a new one rather than calling in someone to make a water heater repair call. There are some things that you will want to consider in making this decision.

First, how old is the water heater that is currently in your home? Obviously the older it is the more likely it is to have more frequent problems in the future and thus you should consider replacing it rather than repairing it. Keep in mind that the average lifespan of a water heater is 11 years. If yours is already 8 or 9 years old, it is nearing the end of its life and depending on the cost of repair, it may not be worth putting a lot of money into. Additionally, new heaters are much more efficient than your old one and could save you a lot of money in energy costs.

Second, has this water heater had problems in the past? No matter how old it is, if you have had issues with this one in the past you are going to want to consider a new water heater. Of course, if it is new enough that it would have a warranty you should be looking to get a new one for free under the warranty.

Third, is the water heater really a large enough water heater to do the job that you would like it and need it to do? If you are calling someone out to your home anyway, now may be the time to have it replaced if you need a better or larger one – and especially if you were already considering it anyway. There are few things as frustrating as taking a cold shower because you ran out of hot water after only a couple of people have taken a shower for the day. If this is the case in your home and the water heater has gone done, consider having it replaced with a larger and better water heater now.

Water heater repair is not necessarily complicated but it can be costly from time to time and it certainly can be annoying if you have to deal with this issue frequently. Just weigh the cost of repair of an older heater with the cost of a new one.

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