If a pipe bursts or your toilet decides to continually overflow water onto your bathroom floor after-hours or when you cannot call a professional plumber, then these tips and tricks will help you contain the problem until help arrives or a permanent fix can be made.
Tip: Know Where Your Home's Main Water Line Shutoff Valve is Located
Whether your home gets its water from a well on your property or a local public utility, the main water line has an emergency shutoff valve. This valve will turn off all of the water to your house and should be used when working on your plumbing or when a leak breaks out in your house that you are unable to stop. The best time to locate this shutoff valve is today before you need it in the case of an emergency.
Tip: Learn How to Shutoff the Water to Your Water Heater, Toilets, and Sinks
All of your home's main water-using appliances have their own emergency water shutoff valves. For example, your water heater has a valve on top of it that turns off all of the water coming into it. Your toilets each have water lines near the floor that have shutoff valves. And, most sinks also have water lines with valves to turn off their water. Knowing where these valves are located and how to use them will help you stop your appliances from continually running water when they malfunction.
Tip: Keep a Roll of Waterproof Duct Tape in Your Tool Box
There is a common saying that you can fix anything with either a zip tie or duct tape. In reality, this is more true than false! And, when it comes to plumbing leaks or broken pipes, a roll of waterproof duct tape can be a lifesaver for any homeowner. While you clearly can't permanently repair a broken pipe with duct tape, you absolutely can wrap the pipe with it until you can fix it. The pipe may still drip a bit, but for the most part, the leak will be contained.
Tip: Understand the Concept of "Backing Off" When Working on Plumbing
Finally, if you need to remove a section of metal plumbing pipe using a wrench, you should use two wrenches and the process of "backing off". Backing off is where you use two wrenches and place one on each pipe. Turn each wrench in the opposite direction to separate the pipes while preventing excess stress on either pipe.
For more information, contact your local plumbers.
Share17 May 2018
My homes have always had either copper or PVC plumbing pipes. But when my plumbing system needed an overhaul last spring, I wanted a piping system for my home that I could work on myself when needed. There were a lot of good reasons to choose PEX piping, but my favorite thing about the PEX piping is that it's easy to work with, even if you're a beginner like me. Now I can make small repairs myself instead of calling the plumber every time I have a minor leak or other small problem. I still call the plumber for the big stuff, but it's more affordable now that I can take care of small issues myself. I started this blog to help others learn how they, too, can do DIY plumbing repairs at home.