Your Local Plumber in Handy

Handy Plumbing Hints

Not all plumbing jobs require the services of a plumber, read through the the list below to find out some usefull plumbing infomation and things you can do to to help your plumbing systems at home.

• A dripping tap can waste up to 200lts of water a day.
• Old style toilet cisterns can flush away 10lts or more of water per flush, with a new cistern you can save up to 6lts per flush.
• Water hammer or banging pipes can cause big problems and should be attended to ASAP.
• Keep our gutters clean and free of leaves to pevent permature corrosion of gutters.
• In sea side areas like St kilda or Frankston, colour bond gutters and roofing products should be used to prolong the life of there application.
• Your sewer and storm water drains should be checked annually, plant and root growth can find there was in to your pipes and cause blockages.
• Water pressure in to your property should be checked and limited if it is to high, to higher water pressure can cause flexible connections to burst and other fixtures and appliances to not function correctly
• A leaking mixer tap is normaly not worth fixing and replacing it is almost always a cheaper option.
• The closer your hot water system is to your most used hot water tap the more water you will save.
• To cool down your house with out any running cost a wirly bird could be installed to draw hot air from your roof space, this is usefull in homes in Richmond that have poor insulation due to there age.
• Taps that are not used everyday can become stiff and jam up, make a habbit to turn on and test your taps at home that are not used everyday on a monthly basis.
• If you think there is somthing wrong with your gas heater dont delay turn it off and call a plumber today.
• Never seal up door ways window and vents in a room where a gas heater is installed, ventilation is very important, the heater or gas appliance needs fresh air to operate

How to Test your home for a water leak / burst pipe

Water leaks are easy to detect, make sure all taps are off and no water is being used for the time the line is being tested, check your water meter and record the numbers, wait one hour and check it agin, if the numbers have incresced its normaly i sign of a water leak.

Prolong the life of your hot water system.

Your pressure temperature relief valve on your hot water service should be flushed out evey 6 months to clear the line and to make sure the valve is working correctly.

How to change a tap washer

Turn off your water at the meter, remove tapware of driping tap, remove the spindle from the breach to access the washer to replace it, fully unwind the spindle from its housing to access the 8.5mm rubber o ring so it can be replaced, apply tap greese to the spindle, refit the spindle and tapware, turn on the water at the meter and check the tap for leaks.

How to unblock a toilet

buy a special toilet plunger from your local hardware store, making sure the pan is full of water place the plunger in to the pan and create a good seal with the sides, start with a few smaller up and down movements and gradualy build up to larger movements, if the toilet is still blocked after a few goes the sewer might be blocked down the line further and a special machine might be needed to fix this problem,better plumbing solutions have the right equipment and solution to fix your problem blocked drains today.

Gas heating

Cleaning of your gas heater is very important, use a vacum and new paint brush to give the heater and air vents a good dusting, also your return air grill in most cases will have a air filter that can be changed without the need of any special tools or knowledge, the grill should just simply unscrew or lift off so the filter can be changed.