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St Paul Plumbing Tips and Advice from Roto-Rooter

April 16th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

As a homeowner, you are constantly faced with a lot of responsibility ranging from the upkeep of your backyard to paying monthly utility bills. As you go along seemingly mastering it all, there always seems to be some new problem that manifests itself to you at the most inconvenient moments. For example, the plumbing in your house acts up when guests are using the bathroom or when your father-in-law is using the shower. It is in moments like these that it is nice to have someone there for you to fix the issue right away. Roto-Rooter has been that someone, that service since 1935. We’ve helped millions of customers over and over again with simple plumbing issues dealing with small leaks and backups to full on flooding and serious plumbing damage. Especially with all our plumbing in St Paul experience, we’ve compiled a small list of common issues and suggestions for handling them that you can try out at home.

 

  • Clogged toilet. Everyone has one every now and again. Especially with older toilets, backups are very common because of the heavy use that this particular fixture takes on at pretty much every home. As waste is flushed, residue is left behind on the drain wall and attracts more gunk as time goes by. Before too long, there is a decent clog in the way and you find yourself dealing with inefficient flushes. In order to combat this, always keep a good plunger close by. For all other types of clogs, make sure that no one in your house has flushed anything that wasn’t designed to be disposed of in the commode and you should be able to handle it just fine. If you are having trouble after these efforts, give Roto-Rooter a ring for more help.
  • Broken pipes are a common problem during the winter. As the water in pipes starts to freeze and expand, it pushes on the trapped air. Soon enough this trapped air bursts through the pipe with nowhere else to go making cracks or completely shattering the pipeline. Once a line is shattered, Roto-Rooter professionals must be called in order to replace the section of pipe before flooding occurs. The best way to prevent this from happening is to use enough insulation in your walls. If the pipe is outside and directly exposed to the cold, wrapping the pipe in special insulation will do that job, too.

Fore more information about plumbing in St Paul, give Roto-Rooter a call today.

 

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Need a St Paul Plumber for Faucet Repair? Call Roto-Rooter

April 13th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Are you a person who likes lists? In the morning, do you make yourself a schedule of tasks you need to complete each day? Lists are helpful reminders not to forget crucial details and can be as informal as jotting on the back of an old envelope or as high tech as color-coded entries on the calendar in your phone. For a homeowner, a yearly maintenance calendar is a great tool to ensure jobs like servicing the furnace and water heater are not forgotten. The responsibility of keeping a home in good condition involves doing things like faucet repair in St Paul and sealing your driveway every spring.

When you move into your home, go through the entire house, garage and yard, noting everything that needs upkeep or repair. Put these tasks on your maintenance calendar a month or so before the item will need to be used. For instance, if in your area lawn mowing, typically starts in May, then get the mower serviced and blades sharpened in March or April. You will then have things ready to go when you need them. Once the jobs are all calendared, you can go over things at the first of every month to see what is coming up in the couple of months. Additionally, you can then begin making an appointment with a technician if needed.

One thing you can always count on when you own a home is stuff will occasionally break down unexpectedly. In many cases it feels like a number of things cause trouble at the same time, creating mayhem. It is helpful if you are a do-it-yourself type person and have some basic knowledge of home repair. Some catastrophes, such as a broken pipe or a faucet repair in St Paul require a call to Roto-Rooter, who can immediately address your plumbing problem. Flooding or leaking water must be handled quickly to limit damage to your floors, ceilings, furniture etc. If left too long, mold and mildew will get into your home and can lead to respiratory problems.

It is always better to solve a little problem promptly and not wait for it to grow into a large expensive issue. If your dishwasher is making a funny noise, it is not just going to magically stop making it. DO some research online or call a professional, like Roto-Rooter to diagnose and fix the problem.

 

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Roto-Rooter St Paul Plumbing Repair & Care

March 15th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Believe it or not, there is a lot going on under your feet, over your head and inside your walls. You hear noises, sometimes smell odors and occasionally call Roto-Rooter to come out and deal with your plumbing problems. With plumbing repair in St Paul, a booming business, Roto-Rooter has responded to many common household plumbing issues that could have been solved with just a little know-how. With our experience in the industry over the years, we always strive to educate our customers and show them easy ways to take better care of their plumbing.

Never flush anything down the toilet you are unsure about. Only toilet paper, certain cleaning products, and waste is meant to be flushed. Even in these cases clogs are common. These clogs, however, are usually easily remedied with a plunger and some cleaning products. If you keep your plunger close by and use drain cleaner regularly on your toilet bowl, you should never have a clog that is too serious to fix in about 5 minutes. For clogs that cause serious backups and flooding, you need to call a Roto Rooter professional for in order to arrive on the scene with the appropriate tools and know-how to pull out the junk that is causing the problem. In most cases, someone in the residence flushing plastic, garbage, foods products, stone, metal, or anything of that kind causes these clogs. What ends up happening is that the minute these things start to pass through, they get caught and don’t let any water pass by.

Water quality. One great way to make sure your water quality is well-maintained is to have a yearly inspection done on your property by a trained Roto-Rooter professional. They will come out and take a look at everything from top to bottom and make sure your plumbing is running properly. One thing you can make sure they check is the water quality in your home. Sometimes, older plumbing or broken pipes outside can cause water to be contaminated. Finding these issues quickly can help protect you and your family from ingesting dirty water, but also prevent additional problems from developing in the future.

For more information about plumbing repair in St Paul, give us a call today.

 

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St Paul Plumbing: Tips &Tricks from the Roto-Rooter Pros

March 12th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Not every homeowner is the same. Some are very hands on and on top of things, ready to get the chore done right away. Other owners are hands on, but only get the job done when necessity requires. Others are less than vigilant and let things slide as long as it is livable. Wherever your homeowner habits fall onto this spectrum, there is always something more you can do to take better care of your house. While DIY projects can be big and involved, most small efforts go a long way towards effective solutions to most problems. With plumbing in St Paul giving plenty of owners headaches, Roto-Rooter is always on call, ready to come out and help get things back in order again. Here are a few things that anyone can do to take better care of their plumbing and save a little trouble along the way.

  • Water heaters are important for comfort. They are working ’round the clock so that you always have enough warm water to take a shower, wash dishes, clothes, and even cook with. With this constant use, water heaters take a beating and experience failure due to lack of attention. Make sure during your yearly Roto-Rooter inspection that the technician takes a good look at your unit and makes the appropriate repairs so that you aren’t left high and dry with no hot water. One way to take good care of your unit is to always make sure that your water softener is functioning properly. Without soft water, the calcium residue will do a number on the inside of your heater and break it quickly. This one single habit will go a long way and even increase the life of your unit.
  • Leaky faucets are a drag. They drip drip drip in the middle of the night, keeping your awake for every second of it. Surprisingly though, you get up the next day and completely forget about it. Not only should you get your faucet repaired for noise, but for the cost of wasted water. It is worth your time. All you have to do is replace the sealant washer inside if it is warped or damaged. In a lot of cases if the leak is caught soon, you can just adjust the washer and it will fix the leak just as well.

For more cool tips and information about plumbing in St Paul, call Roto-Rooter today to speak with one of our great technicians.

 

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St Paul Plumbing Advice for Water Heater Repair from Roto-Rooter

March 9th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

One of the best things about having your own place is waking up in the morning to a nice warm shower. It relaxes and massages your sore muscles and helps you get a great start to your day. On the other hand, there’s also nothing like waking up, stepping into the shower and getting demolished by a barrage of icy-cold water. Your water heater is important. You use it all the time, even when you’re not thinking about it. That big noisy thing in the basement makes sure there is plenty of hot water to go around for your showers, laundry, dishwasher and more. With water heater repair in St Paul on the rise, take these tips from Roto-Rooter and your heater will last a bit longer.

All water heaters break down after about 11 years, on average. They can potentially need to be replaced sooner than that if you don’t maintain them properly.  Even when you’re not around, these heaters are working around the clock to ensure warm water is available. With this kind of strenuous performance, it’s a good idea to have your heater checked out once a year by a technician from the manufacturer or a friendly Roto-Rooter professional. They will come out, take a look at your water heater and perform the maintenance needed to keep it clean and working. If you have this done often, you can double the life of the unit and save yourself a lot of money in the long run.

Water heaters will break down very quickly if you are not using water softener properly. You have probably already seen what hard water will do to plumbing. Calcium build-up can ruin faucet heads and stain your shower tile like nothing else. Imagine all that inside of a water heater clogging up all the mechanisms. As long as you keep your softener full of salt and running always, you will cut your heater problems in half.

If you do have to replace your water heater because this information comes to you too late, consider an on demand water heater. On demand water heating units are tank-less and heat the water as it passes through. This saves you money by using  less energy to heat your water.

For information on water heater repair in St Paul, give Roto-Rooter a call today.

 

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Plumbers Advice from Roto-Rooter St Paul

March 6th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Are you a homeowner? Do you like to save money when and where possible? Do you like DIY or other hands-on projects to better your home? If you said yes to any of these questions, then plumbers in St Paul have some friendly advice to help you maintain your plumbing and avoid serious issues. With a little know-how and a bit more effort, you can make sure that your home is protected from water damage from slow leaks, water seepage, and flooding.

Often time’s people think that flooding is the worst-case scenario in their homes, as far as plumbing issues go. In reality, slow leaks are probably more dangerous in the long run. As water slowly leaks out of pipes in the wall, the water sink deep into the wood and starts to warp it. It doesn’t take very long until mold starts to grow. Anyone familiar with mold growth or have seen it before know that it is a serious problem. Mold spores that break off from this growth and float in the air get breathed in by people in the house and can cause sickness and lung disease. Over the course of time, this mold can turn into black mold, which is the most lethal to be around. If not taken care of immediately, black mold will cause serious lung disease and death. This is just one of the many reasons you want to have your home inspected once a year by a professional Roto-Rooter technician. If the slow leaks are found quickly, any mold can be quickly dealt with.

While slow-leaks are a huge problem, so is flooding. There’s nothing like going down to the basement and landing knee-deep in water. This type of flooding usually happens when frozen pipes burst or shatter or if somehow water starts seeping through outlets like faucets or drains unnoticed. Also, whenever people start to mess with walls and remodel their homes, it is common to thrust a nail into a water pipe and cause a problem. Whenever you notice any kind of flooding in your home, the first thing you need to do is turn off the water coming into your home as soon as possible. Usually the switch will be out in the yard or high up on a wall in the house. After this is done, call Roto-Rooter immediately to come out and help repair the waterline.

For more information about plumbers in St Paul, give Roto-Rooter a call today.

 

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Why Hire Professional Plumbers

February 24th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When you have a plumbing problem you may want to repair it yourself. However, some plumbing issues can be quite difficult to tackle on your own. There are several reasons you should think about hiring one of the many professional plumbers in St Paul. Listed below are a few to consider.

  1. Save Time – Face it, if you are not a professional plumber it is going to take you much longer to obtain the knowledge they already have. Isn’t your time worth something?
  2. Warranty – When you have a professional come to make a repair their work is typically under warranty. If something were to go wrong, they will come back to follow up with the repair. If you do the work on your own and something goes wrong, the issue can quickly get much more expensive.
  3. Peace of mind – You know as well as anyone that your wife is going to question the quality of your work and whether it was done correctly. If you hire a professional you won’t have to worry about the longevity of your repair and she will get her own peace of mind.
  4. Necessary Tools – When you try to do a plumbing repair you may run into issues because you do not have the proper tools. When you hire a professional, they all the equipment and know how to use it most importantly.

Repaired sooner – 9 times out of 10, when you are going to do your own plumbing repair, you will not get to it as quickly as a professional plumber. It is a simple matter of the fact that you are not going to have nearly as much opportunity to get it done in a very quick time frame like professional plumbers in St Paul will.

 

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St Paul Plumbing Repair and DIY Tips From The Roto-Rooter Pros

February 18th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

With the need for plumbing repair in St Paul growing, Roto-Rooter has been on call 24/7 to arrive on the scene. In our many experiences, we have found that the bulk of serious damage to a home happens during a plumbing crisis, which typically cause water damage, mold, warped wood and property destruction. Many of these situations usually could have been avoided with simple DIY care and a little knowledge to get started. In order to help you take better care of your home’s plumbing needs, here is a list of easy DIY tips for simple repair and care.

  • Experiencing the Water heater blues. The large tank in your seller, basement, or bathroom that is responsible for comfortable hot showers can hit the fritz and leave you taking icicles in the shower. One of the easiest ways to keep a water heater running properly is to make sure that only water coming from a water softener passes through the system. The working parts of a water heater erode much faster with hard water and will breakdown more frequently. Keeping your water softener full of salt will also help keep the rest of the appliances and faucets in your home in better condition.
  • A clogged toilet catastrophe. There is nothing like a clogged toilet to make you realize how important flowing drains are. As water hits the floor and the smell hits your nose, remember that these events can be minimized and even avoided if you continually keep the following in mind. For one, using pipe cleaner every now and again is a great way to strip the sides of a drain free of debris and garbage. Also, minimizing the amount of toilet paper used per flush helps considerably lower the likelihood of a clog. Although toilet paper is designed for toilet bowl use, it can quickly clog up a toilet if too much is used at once.
  • Frozen pipes. Every winter, thousands of home get hit with frozen pipes and flooding. When water in a pipe begins to freeze, little pockets of air try to escape as the pressure builds. If the air is truly trapped, it will burst through a pipe making a crack or shattering it altogether. Flooding will usually quickly follow. Using more insulation, especially in the outer walls of a home will help minimize the possibility of freezing and save you a headache or two during the winter.

For more plumbing repair in St Paul suggestions or information on how we can help, call Roto-Rooter today!

 

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Roto-Rooter Plumbing Tips and Tricks for Better St Paul Home Care

February 17th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Home care comes with a long list of important responsibilities. Keeping a house clean and orderly takes more than just a couple minutes everyday if you plan on doing most things yourself. In order to better take care of plumbing in St Paul, we have compiled a few tips and suggestions for maintaining your plumbing. We are Roto-Rooter and plumbing is our expertise. Since 1935 we have made it a priority to provide excellent service and great products to cover any plumbing-related job. With the experience we have gained over the years, we are more than qualified to help educate anyone who wants to take better care of their plumbing. Doing so will save time and money in the long run as serious problems can be averted. Consider the following:

  • Leaky pipes are probably the most common plumbing issue on the planet, a drippy pipe is a nuisance. It can also be easy to fix. Using an adjustable wrench and a cloth to protect the faucet, loosen the nut holding the faucet head in place. Once the head is removed, take a look inside. Notice the washer sitting against the sit; its job is to act as a switch, sealing off the flow of water, or allowing it to flow as it moves back and forth. With this repetitive motion and the natural erosive effects of water, these washers become jostled or warped. If simply jostled out of place, simply wiggle it back into place and the job is done. If there are still issues, replace the washer and your faucet will function properly once again.
  • A clogged anything is terrible, and drains are no exception to that fact. Once a week, try performing some simple 5-minute maintenance procedures to keep your drains flowing free and easy. In the shower, use a screwdriver to pull out any hair caught in the drain. In the kitchen sink, make sure there aren’t copious amounts of food sitting in the drain. Use a filter to catch the stray food from dishes and throw it out regularly. Pour several cups of boiling water down both of these drains. The heat loosens up gunk and grime stuck to the side of the drain and pushes it along. Adding a bit of vinegar and baking soda can additionally make an even more potent mix to strip away stragglers.

For more information on plumbing in St Paul and how we can help, call Roto-Rooter today.

 

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Roto-Rooter Plumbers Make a Difference: DIY Tips from the St Paul Pros

February 11th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

With the growing need of plumbers in St Paul, Roto-Rooter has the experience and manpower to rise to the occasion. The fact is at some point or another, every home and business will need the expertise that we have been known for since 1935. When things get messy and out of control, trained Roto-Rooter technicians are on call to provide a level of service other companies have to work hard to keep up with. With a dedication to great service and products, you’re in good hands. What can you do, however, before we get there? Regular maintenance at home can help prevent serious problems like flooding from happening. Here are some tips and trick for everyday plumbing care.

 

  • Clogged drains are a pain. Most clogs don’t happen all of a sudden, so it can seem mysterious when you finally notice the problem. Bathroom drains are usually easily fixed as human hair gets trapped along with soap residue and grease. Using a screwdriver to pull out the hair and some pipe cleaner, your bath and shower will be working like new again. The kitchen sink often time’s gets too much food and grease. Especially those that do not have a garbage disposal, clogs happen quite often. Boiling water with baking soda and vinegar will do the trick. The hot boiling water will loosen the gunk while the baking soda makes and vinegar with increased acidity will eat away at what is left clinging to the sides.
  • Frozen pipes. Many plumbers in St Paul deal with them every winter. What most people don’t realize is that it isn’t the freezing water that causes pipes to burst, it is the air. As the cold water turns to ice, little pockets of air get trapped and get compressed. When the air pressure gets too high, they air will actually crack and burst through the pipe. In some cases, pipes can completely shatter. To avoid this, it is important to make sure that pipes running through outer walls are well insulated. Beefing up the insulation between the wall and pipe will keep dropping temperatures from doing serious damage.
  • Drippy faucets are a headache waiting to happen. While a small drip doesn’t seems like a big deal, if left along long enough water will actually ruin a faucet head. Removing a faucet head and simply putting the sealant washer back into place will fix the issue. If it is warped at all, replacing it with a new one that fits will do the job, too.

For more help, call Roto-Rooter today!

 

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