5 Common Mistakes That Will Leave You In Need of a Plumber

Let’s be honest, most of us are not plumbers and possess little, if any, plumbing knowledge. That fact not only leaves us without the know how to fix any maladies that may arise, it also leaves us prone to oversight and mistakes. These mistakes often times will lead to you calling in a plumber to fix a problem that you may not even know you contributed to. Here is a list of several of those possible ‘unknown-unknowns.’

1. Being rough on your faucet: This one seems pretty obvious, but I’ve been guilty of it and I have seen the evidence that others are guilty of it when I visit their homes. That annoying leak coming out of the handle is most likely your fault. Don’t be afraid to practice a little finesse in your faucet game.

2. Damaging pipes by nailing or cutting into a wall: Another one that seems like a no brainer after you read it, but common no less. This can be a small fix or a total devastation depending on how the pipe gets breached. Do your due diligence and learn the layout of your house. There are plenty of means to avoid such an easily avoidable, yet potentially disastrous mistake.

3. Using different metals in your connections: This one is less obvious, but using two different metals on connections can lead corrosion which, in turn, causes leaks. It’s called galvanic action in science talk. It’s called don’t use two different metals for your connections in everyone else talk.

4. Over tightening of connections: Going Macho Man with your wrench is going to work against you in the plumbing world more often than not. Tightening a connection too much can strip the threads and lead to leaks. Not only that, who is going to un-Macho Man the connection when the water coming out becomes a problem? Again, finesse. It works in the wrench game too.

5. Pouring Grease down the drain: Remember that old coffee tin that mom used to store bacon grease in when you were a kid? Remember how thick and heavy it became when cooled down even to room temperature? Well, it does the same thing in your drain pipes, only they are an even cooler environment for the grease to thicken up in. You can imagine what that would do to the flow coming through the pipe.....and what will be collecting on the blockage. Do yourself (and any potential housemates) a favor and find an old coffee tin.

Remember the GI Joe cartoon? At the end they’d always have a psa and close with, ‘ Now you know and knowing is half the battle.’ I believe that applies here and you’re welcome for the nostalgic flashback. There are tons of other simple mistakes that are possible that can ruin your day or month depending on how bad you damage your plumbing system. If you are reading this your are already educating yourself on the matter so keep that path going. There is plenty of info out there. Plenty of Plumbers out there too, if you do make a critical faux pas. Happy flushing.