Winnipeg Plumber | Our Plumbing Blog

Most Common Plumbing Problems You Will Face

April 30th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Like anything else, there are plumbing problems in Winnipeg that are most commonly faced and then there are some that are a lot less common. In this world though, the majority of the plumbing issues that home owners will face fall in the most common and very few uncommon problems are ever faced by anyone. Here is a list of the most common.

Clogged Toilet – This is perhaps the most common plumbing issue that all home owners face. In many cases this is something that can be dealt with by the home owner and a plunger. However, there are times when this is not enough and Roto-Rooter or some other professional plumber will need to be called in.
Leaky Faucet – This is another very common issue homeowner’s face. While this can also be fixed by a homeowner, it is wise to call on Roto-Rooter to handle this one. We can do this repair very quickly because have all of the tools and parts on our trucks to handle this at any home.
Broken Garbage Disposal – This is also a relatively very common issue. This perhaps the most preventable plumbing issue that home owners face. This usually occurs because something was purposely sent down the disposal that it is not really meant to deal with. This can be a tricky one, depending on the exact issue, so this is definitely one that you should give us a call on.
Hot Water Heater – This is not one that occurs as frequently in individual homes, but it is still a very common issue that we face all of the time. It is important that, unless you know what you are doing and are very confident in that, you call us to repair this one for you. There are some technical things associated with this one, such as making sure you have adequate slope on the venting, that if you do incorrectly can have some serious consequences. In the case of the venting, if done wrong, you can end up with dangerous carbon monoxide in the home.

These are the most common plumbing problems in Winnipeg that we see every day. Of course, there are many more issues that we face but these are the common ones. If you find that you have one of these issues and you are worried about how much it is going to cost to repair simply give us a call for an estimate. Rather than make bad assumptions, find out so that you can make your decisions based on facts, not assumptions.

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Water Heater Plumbing Repair from Roto-Rooter

March 12th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

DIY projects around the house help build value in a property. Along with the added equity, you obtain skills that you would not have otherwise learned any other way. Not only is your house improving, you are, too! When something breaks down or needs repair is usually when knowing a skill comes in handy the most, but most of the time, it is in these situations that we are forced to put forth the effort to learn a new skill in the moment with the resources most available. Luckily for you, Roto-Rooter is here to not only respond to plumbing emergencies, we have a wealth of knowledge, experience, and great products to help you find a satisfactory solution to your problem. While plumbing repair in Winnipeg may vary slightly from a city in another region, most places have similar problems and fixes in common.

For example, water heater repair is the same across the board except for differentiation between models and water heater types. No matter what type of water heater you have though, there is an easy way to get to the bottom of the issue and perform a quick repair. You will know when you need to check out your water heater because you will all of a sudden not have any hot water. When this happens, make sure that your water softener is functioning correctly. Hard water is extremely erosive and leaves behind calcium. Between the erosion and the calcium, a water heater can get bogged down and clogged up quickly. Whether you buy a kit or have a technician from Roto-Rooter do the job, you need to thoroughly clean the water heater inside and out. Most problems and failures will be resolved with that simple step.

If your water heater continues to have troubles, double check to make sure the pilot light is lit. If for some reason it has gone out, you want to make sure that you are not in danger of inhaling fumes from a gas leak. These leaks are extremely dangerous because if too many fumes are inhaled, it can quickly suffocate a person. Aside from suffocation, explosion is also another very possible danger. After turning off the gas completely and waiting an hour or so for the fumes to clear, turn it back on and quickly try and light the pilot light again.

If for some reason your pilot light is still not working and you need more information about plumbing repair in Winnipeg, give Roto-Rooter a call today!

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Plumbing Repair With Roto-Rooter Help

March 9th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

With the exception of a few, most homeowners are excited to take care of their property and do everything possible to increase the value of their investment. Equity in a home is measured by a lot of factors that have to do with location, architecture, and landscaping. Along with these things, other factors are taken into consideration as well that cover the state of things from top to bottom. For this reason, it is important to keep up on all the different areas that need your attention. For example, when the roof starts leaking, you replace shingles or even have an entire re-roofing installation. Plumbing is a huge part of a well-oiled machine that is your house. If it is out of whack, it will directly affect a lot of other thing, too. No matter if you are dealing with plumbing in Winnipeg or Chicago, the basic mechanics are the same.

Water heaters are a great example of what can increase or decrease the value of a home. One heating unit can cost thousands of dollars to replace, so if it is on the fritz when you get your home appraised, it will certainly negatively affect the final value set by the appraiser. So don’t sit around and let the value of your home drop, do something about it!

In the case of water heaters, there is a lot you can do to make sure that they work for many years. Keeping a unit running free from issues and failure requires frequent checkups to make sure that everything is in order. One great thing that you can do to keep up on this is to have a Roto-Rooter technician perform a comprehensive inspection. While the technician can take a look at your entire plumbing layout, you can also have s/he just focus on your water heater.

When diagnosing a problem with a water heater, the first thing to always check is the pilot light. If it is turned off, the unit will not produce hot water. If the pilot light is out, check to see if gas is coming out of the line still. If there is, you should be able to smell it. These fumes are extremely dangerous, so shut off the gas as soon as you can. After waiting a while for the fumes to clear, turn the gas back on and quickly light up the pilot again.

For information about plumbing in Winnipeg and water heater repair, call Roto-Rooter today!

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Learning about Water Heater Repair

March 6th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When you have a water heater problem we want you to call us, Roto-Rooter. We can help by repairing your water heater in most cases. In some cases it may be necessary to replace it, but we will do all that we can to repair it if that is the direction that you prefer. We have been doing water heater repair in Winnipeg for many years and we have a lot of experience from those years.

While we want to be the ones to repair your water heater, we know that there are some people that want to be educated about what is happening to their water heater, why it is having problems and how we are going to fix it. We also know that there are some people who want to fix their own water heater.

When your water heater is not keeping up with the demand there are several things that you can look at.

Make sure the water heater is not being over taxed with hot water demands. If you have not had any problems with this in the past then this is likely not the issue. However, if you have recently installed a new washing machine, a dishwasher or you have more people living at our home or taking showers in the morning, then this could be a simple math issue. Make sure that your hot water heater is only taxed 75%. (example – a 40 gallon water heater for a demand of 30 gallons of hot water)
Check the dip tube to see if it needs to be replaced. If you are not sure what this is, it may be best and easiest for your to Google it. It is simple to check and determine if it needs to be replaced.
Check for cross connections. Essentially, is there a hot water line attached to a place where a cold water line should be. One of the most common examples would be when a washing machine or a dishwasher is hooked up. The cross connection to these most often happens when you install a new one and get the lines crosses.
Check the heating elements and the power to the water heater. These may need to be replaced or power restored to the water heater.

These are some of the more common issues that we see and the most common water heater repair in Winnipeg that we do. You are likely to find that your issue falls within one of these as well.

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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 Winnipeg. Listed below are a few to consider.

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?
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.
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.
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 professionalplumbers in Winnipeg will.

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Helpful Home Plumbing Care Tips

February 18th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Your wake up and head to the bathroom…… the toilet is clogged. You hop in the shower, the faucet won’t work. You finally get water, but it is colder than the dead of winter. You go down to your basement to investigate and find yourself standing in six inches of water flooding from a broken pipe in the wall. While all of this may not happen on the same day, plumbing repair in Winnipeg happens on a large scale all over the area. Roto-Rooter has been on call since 1935 and has experienced the best and the worse plumbing has to offer. With all of the experience we have gained, we’ve decided to pass along some information to help you take better care of your home’s plumbing.

Clogged drains are no laughing matter. Clogs block off flow quickly and can lead to flooding in no time. Bathroom drains often clog because of hair build up in showers. Soap, dirt and scum also get caught in in the mix, which makes a tough clog. Try using a screwdriver, first remove all the visible gunk and grime. After, try using pipe cleaner, it should take care of the remaining gunk clinging to the sides of the drain. Kitchen sinks have the same type of clogging problem, but with food particles, soap, and dirt. While drain cleaners are a great option, boiling water is a more natural solution. Great for bathroom and kitchen drains, boiling water will help strip away gunk and grime. Do this once a week and your clog problems will continue to disappear.
Frozen pipes are a dozy. When temperatures plummet this winter, don’t leave yourself vulnerable. As water starts to freeze in a pipe, little pockets of air try to escape from the expanding ice. The increase in pressure forces the air out. If trapped, the air will burst through a pipe forming a crack or shattering the line entirely. Unfortunately, flooding is usually a common end result to a frozen pipe. To prevent this flooding from happening, make sure to increase your insulation efforts. Additionally, you can wrap pipes, which are more at risk with special plumbing insulators.

For more information on how you can perform plumbing repair in Winnipeg, call Roto-Rooter today.

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Finding a Plumbing Company

February 17th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

When you have a plumbing issue needing to be taken care of and you need to find a company who installs plumbing in Winnipeg, how do you go about finding them? How about when you need a plumbing company who can repair plumbing in your home? There are many ways that you can go about this, but some are more commonly used than others.

First, be sure to do your research. Simply do a quick Google search or use another search engine to identify plumbing companies in Winnipeg. You may also find a local phone book to check out as well. Your goal with step one is to make sure you have gotten an overall scope of what companies in your area offer.

Second, once you have compiled a list of potential plumbing companies in your area, take the time to sift through them and choose a company that fits your needs. For example, one factor fitting into this category would be their location and its relation to where you are located. Make sure they service your area before taking the time to get into contact with them. You may also eliminate the companies that do not specialize or service the particular plumbing problem you are experiencing.

Third, you may want to explore a few online reviews, their company Website, offers, etc. The more background you know about each company, the easier it will be to make a selection.

There are many companies that provide plumbing in Winnipeg. After you have done the research and determined who you would like to repair the plumbing in your home, feel free to share your findings and experience with others.

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Having Plumbing Problems Again?

February 3rd, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

Have you been having problems again with your plumbing? If you are and you have recently done some of your own plumbing repairs, you may want to consider hiring a plumber in the near future. As much as it may hurt to admit, the issue may be that you have done something wrong or at very least have not found the real issue and that is why you are still having plumbing issues.

If you need to find a company that can help you with your plumbing problems in Winnipeg, try taking to the internet to find that company. Of course, if you are reading this article you may already be on that course.

No man wants to admit that they do not know how to fix something. It does not matter what it is we just do not like the idea of admitting that we cannot fix something. Somehow, that is in our DNA and we feel a responsibility to be able to fix things. It is in your best interest, as a man, to fight against that natural instinct and learn to evaluate on more rationale reasoning so that you do not spend money that you do not need to spend.

Plumbing is one of those things that can be very frustrating for a man. It seems like it should be so simple, and yet that is not always the case. Because it seems like it should be easy plumbing is one of those things that we often try to repair on our own. However, if we would stop and listen to reason and determine that we should not be messing with something that we know nothing about then we would save ourselves some time, money and frustration.

The next time that you have plumbing problems in Winnipeg, don’t waste time trying to take care of it on your own. Rather, do a little research and then call a plumbing company in to handle the issue. Of course, we would recommend that you call us, but we may be a little biased in that recommendation.

No matter who you call the key is that you call a professional in to take care of things and it will save you money in the long run as well as the frustration and wasted time. You will also score brownie points with the wife because you got it handled quickly and efficiently.

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The Not So Easy Faucet Repair

January 31st, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

If you have ever had an issue with your faucet you may have tried to repair it on your own to no avail. Your faucet is made up of a lot of little pieces and if you are not sure how they are to go on the faucet you may become confused easily and have trouble getting it back together once you have gotten it apart.

There are many companies who offer faucet repair in Winnipeg and it would behoove you to find the company that you want to call on for that repair the next time that you have a faucet leak or some other issue come along.

If you have a leaky faucet you should get it repaired as soon as possible. Many people will notice a slow leak and not think much of it, feeling like the leak is going into the sink. However, almost always some of the water that is leaking from the faucet is going to travel back down the faucet and into the cupboard below the sink. I mention this because there are a lot of kitchen sinks cupboards that have been destroyed by a slow leak from a leaky faucet.

If you determine that you need to call in a repair company try giving us a call. We have a lot of experience in this area and we know just how to take care of the problems that can be causing the leaky faucet.

Many men will attempt to repair a leaky faucet on their own. In some cases, this works out fine but in other cases this causes an issue that then costs more money to fix. If you want to try to fix the faucet on your own you should be aware that you need to know where things go. Pay attention to how things come apart so that you can put them back the way they came out. You may want to even consider snapping a picture or two as you are taking things apart so that you will have that to reference back to if you get stuck in trying to put it back together after you have replaced the defective part.

If you decide to call on a company for faucet repair in Winnipeg, please be sure to consider us as an option. We have a lot of experience with this and can be very helpful and efficient in getting this handled so that you can go back to whatever it was that you were doing before the leaky faucet.

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What Causes Frozen Pipes?

January 27th, 2012 by Roto-Rooter Bloggers

If you have ever been privileged to have some frozen pipes in Winnipeg you may wonder what caused it. Although the answer may seem simple in terms of the fact that the freezing temperatures caused it is really a lot more complicated question than that. For example, you may wonder why after all of these years in your home it is now that this has happened.

First, let’s address why pipes freeze and then we will address why now and not in the past. First, pipes freeze as a result of the water in them becoming so cold that it freezes solid enough that water pressure is cut down or completely shut off. This usually happens because pipe is exposed in one way or another to the cold temperatures outside. For example, the pipes that run over the top of a garage are often at high risk for freezing. Another place is in the attic of a home when the temperatures get far colder than normal for a long period of time.

So, answering the question about why your pipes may freeze now and not all of the winters prior one of the reasons may simply be that it is much colder than it ever has been and that has been sustained. If your pipes are not well protected in insulation it is possible that they have always been in danger of freezing but you escaped the problem s until now because it just never got cold enough for a long enough period of time. Another reason that you may have ended up frozen pipes now and not all the years prior is because of mice or other pests who have messed up the insulation and have now exposed your pipe when it was not exposed before. Another potential reason why now and not before is because your insulation has simply gotten old and matted down over time for one reason or another and now it is not enough to protect your pipes.

No matter what the reason is for your frozen pipes in Winnipeg now you need to deal with the issue. The best thing to do is to call in a professional and have them figure it out. Frozen plumbing can be tough to figure out at times and it will be done much faster and easier if you call in the people who do this all the time and know exactly what they are doing.

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