Our plumbers have assembled a short list of essential affordable plumbing tools to save you from some minor plumbing miseries. It may be that you temporarily hold off a major issue or you repair a minor issue. Know that your local plumbers can take care of the rest.

Home Plumbing DIY Toolkit

1. Plunger (or two)

Plungers are considered more of a safety net than an actual tool such as a snake. Plungers work for toilets and drains. There are two main varieties of plungers that should be around your home at all times; a cup plunger and a flange plunger.

The cup plunger works best for cleaning out drain clogs where the drain rests on a flat surface like skins, tubs, showers etc. whereas the flange plunger with the long handle is best for toilets.

2. Hand Auger

If the plunger fails to clear any clog, you next best bet is a hand auger. Hand augers are designed to easily move through a drain to hook onto any potential clogs and pull out the impediments. This can be used for tubs, showers, sinks, toilets and drain lines. As opposed to a plunger which applies force with a thrusting motion, the hand auger is a tool you rotate to enter the clogged area.

3. Basin Wrench

Having a wrench allows you to tighten a pipe or turn off the water main. It is a staple tool in any plumber’s tool kit. It has a long shaft and a swivel, claw-like head at the end. It is made to be able to access deep and narrow spaces behind sink faucets. It is a handy tool to help with leaks in such areas.

4. Adjustable Wrench

Be sure to keep at least one adjustable wrench in your kit. This wrench is a multi-purpose and multi-functioning tool essential to a plumber’s tool kit. It has a jaw with adjustable width which can be used to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts of compression fittings, supply lines, and other plumbing parts that have hexagonal-shaped nuts; you may find yourself reverting to it more often than you anticipate.

While shopping make sure you purchase an adjustable wrench with a good grip and the jaw that holds firm. You may want to include both a six-inch and a ten-inch adjustable jaw wrench for your tool box.

5. Pipe Wrench

A pipe wrench is usually heavier than an adjustable wrench as it‘s intended to tighten or loosen parts that are difficult to grip with other tools. It has backwards facing teeth that help you better grip when water and waste are present on connecting pipes while tightening and loosening, removing or replacing them. This makes them an ideal home plumbing tool to have on hand for plumbing emergencies.

6. Plumbing Tape

All licensed and DIY plumbers should have plumbing tape handy for leak emergencies quick fixes. Plumbing tape’s ability to withhold significant amount of pressure and resist water makes it a perfect rough and ready solution between finding a leak and a permanent fix for both gas and water leakages.

The 6 tools for your toolkit will help you be prepared for minor plumbing repairs that surface in your household from time to time.

Call or text our Nashville plumbers if there are plumbing issues you cannot fix immediately. Remember, with one call, we fix it all.

Fix It All Plumbing is committed to providing you with premium plumbing services at fair rates. We are glad to help you with any questions or issues.

Call or text our Nashville office at (615) 568-5051

Kevin Sipes, Master Plumber

The post Six Essential Plumbing Tools to Have on Hand first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

The plumbing in your house is a complex network of water and sewer pipes that work together and run through your walls to deliver hot and cold water and eliminate your waste upon the flush of a lever. Paying attention and looking for plumbing warning signs can make your plumbing systems and units last longer and potentially save you and your family from a plumping disaster that could cause significant costly damage.

Here are some plumbing warning signs and symptoms to pay attention to and some ways to avoid or resolve major plumbing problems before they even surface.

Five Plumbing Maintenance Tips to Avoid Costly Repairs

Keep an Eye on Water Pressure

After a hard day at work, many family members enjoy a nice long high-pressure hot shower. The thing that we do not know is that if the pressure is too high, our interior pipes can receive excessive impact, which makes our home’s pipe joints, faucets and appliance valves work harder. In order to avoid this, you can measure your water pressure with a hose bib gauge which is readily available at Lowe’s or Home Depot, or Amazon for under $10. Normal pressure should register between 40 and 85 pounds per square inch (psi). If pressure is above the normal range, consider installation of a pressure reducer and give our plumbers a call or text

Prevent Clogging Beforehand

Clogs obviously prevent water from draining and your sink or tub from being used. The backed up water also places unnecessary stress on your water pipes. Such pressure will eventually shorten lifespan of your home’s water pipes.

To avoid clogs, do the following:

• Watch carefully what goes down your drain
• Install screens or guards over drains in showers and tubs.
• Scrape food into the trash before doing dishes and never put liquid grease down the drain. Pour it into a sealable container for proper disposal.

Keep Tank Clean

When you flush your toilet, water travels from the tank at the back of the toilet to refill the bowl. You need to make sure that your water tank remains clean in order to avoid any buildup like metal stains, bacteria, mold, mineral deposits, and mildew over time. When your tank is dirty, the unclean water feeds directly into your toilet bowl, making it difficult to clean and maintain. You can avoid this problem through cleaning beforehand. Draining the tank and using vinegar is a good way to combat the buildup in your toilet tank.

Toilet Maintenance Check-ups

Toilets like any other plumbing fixtures are prone to leakages and the hard part in the equation is that it’s not always easy to detect. The tank is a good place to start you maintenance check-up. In most cases the culprit for leakage is a faulty flapper. The flapper is a rubber cover at the bottom of the tank that permits the tank to fill and release water. Being in water all day long eventually wears down the rubber and loosens the seal.

One way to check that whether the flapper is faulty or not is to add a few drops of food coloring in the tank and leave it overnight. If you find color in your toilet’s bowl next morning then make sure you have your local plumber replace the flap. For do it yourselfers, you may buy a kit from Amazon or your local hardware store. Fixing the flap will save on your water usage and associated bill.

Keep the Bowl Clean

It’s always a good idea for hygiene and germ prevention to maintain a clean toilet bowl but it should not be the only reason that compels you to do this job regularly. Cleaning the bowl keeps it free of corrosion and prevents clogging. The best way to clean a toilet bowl is to focus on the siphon jets. These jets are best cleaned with a mixture of vinegar, baking soda, and water.

Fix It All Plumbing is committed to providing you with premium plumbing services at fair rates in the Nashville area. Our plumbers are glad to help you with any plumbing questions or issues.

Call or text us at (615) 568-5051

Your Nashville Plumber,

Kevin Sipes

The post 5 Easy Ways to Prevent Plumbing Problems first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

One of the best ways to comply with this program and save water is to install low-flow plumbing fixtures like showerheads, faucets, and toilets.

The program calls for conservative methods to reduce water usage, by encouraging the use of low-flow plumbing fixtures in both our homes and businesses.  Installing low-flow plumbing fixtures in your home offers several benefits, which are outlined below.

For more information on the program and saving more water, check out Start Saving at EPA.gov.

Shower Heads

A great place to start saving inside your home is with a low-flow showerhead.

They reduce water consumption by more than 40%, and help you significantly lower your monthly bill.

Showers also use energy to heat up water, and cutting down on water usage saves energy. This can save you up to $50 on heating costs every year.

Another great attribute of low-flow shower heads is carbon dioxide emissions reduce as a result of the lower amount of energy being used.

Faucets

Another plumbing fixture that can greatly reduce water consumption is the low-flow faucet.

Water flow can be reduced by up to 75%, by upgrading regular 2.0 gallons per minute (GPM) faucets to 0.5gpm for wash hand basins. Using low-flow faucets reduces water usage, energy, and sewers costs because of the lowered water usage and reduced cause to heat up the water.

Also, the amount of water removed from water bodies is decreased thereby protecting the water cycle and alleviating the stress on the water supply for public consumption. In addition to this, low flow faucets decrease energy use emissions linked with treating, distributing, and heating clear water.

Infections can also be prevented because the risk of splashing associated with hand washing is removed.

Toilets

It is estimated that by replacing old toilets with low flow toilets, you can save as much as $100 on general utility bills.

A low flow toilet will use an average of 1.6 gallons of water per flush when compared with standard toilets that use as much as 3.5 gallons.

They are designed to drain more effectively, thereby improving its flushing capabilities.

In a typical home, conventional toilets make up as much as 30% of the water usage monthly. With the use of low flow toilets, however, they use 60-80% less water than conventional toilets.

Toilets are usually the largest water drain in most households, so saving this much water will definitely have a huge impact on your finances.

Also, low flow toilets come in dual flush systems, saving you even more water. The dual flush system is designed in such a way that there are two flush buttons; one for liquid wastes, which dispenses a little quantity of water, and the other for solids, which dispenses just enough to flush wastes down the drain.

Summary

Installing these devices in your home is a great start to protecting the water reservoirs in your area. We can’t live without water, and it’s our job to protect it for our children.

For more information on how you can protect your family from overusing water, contact us today.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Plumber

Fix It All Plumber, Kevin Sipes

The post Benefits of Installing Low-Flow Plumbing Fixtures in your Home first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

Condensation

One of the most common reasons for toilet leaks is condensed water on the surface of the toilet and the toilet tank, which then falls on the floor. This problem is caused mainly from the temperature difference from the water in the tank and the air in the bathroom. Hence, it happens usually when you are taking a shower due to the increased hot steam. Unfortunately, this is a problem that occurs anytime of the year and can cause you troubles with excessive water, which might lead to other issues in the bathroom. Therefore, it needs to be fixed as soon as possible thanks to the various methods that are available.

Fixing condensation

The best way to fix this type of issue is to use toilet tank liners, which are basically insolators between the water and the outside air. However, if you want more reliable approach, think about getting a toilet tank valve that is specifically design to mix hot and cold water so that no condensation appears.

The tank leaking itself

Tank leaks are quite common. There are various parts of the tank that could be leaking for one reason or another. Nevertheless, it is quite easy to locate exactly which part needs to be fixed. The smartest and most accurate thing to do is to simply poor food coloring in the water tank and leave it stay like that for 10-20 minutes. If the leak is coming from the tank or one of the pipes around it, you should be able to easily spot it with the different color.

Fixing tank leaks

The most straight forward approach would be to change the whole tank. Yet, if the problem is in one of the pipes, it will be considerably cheaper for you to fix this issue rather than buying a whole new set up. Thus, take a closer look at the pipe system or ask for advice a professional.

If you live in the Nashville area, Fix It All Plumbing would love to help you with your toilet issues. Call or text our Master Plumbers at 615-568-5051.

Common Toilet Repairs

The post Reasons Your Toilet Leaks and How to Repair It first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

All of us have one main line that comes into the house with fresh water, Then we have another one that takes our used water to the sewer. A clog in your supply line means you will have low water pressure. A clog in the sewer line causes backups in all of your sinks and toilets.

If your shower and bathroom sink are backed up, but your toilet flushes just fine, the clog will be in one of the smaller lines that branch off from the main line. Before you call us, check out all of your drains to see if you can locate the part that is clogged.

The number one cause of sewer line drains is tree roots – particularly in older houses. Sometimes we will have to dig up the sewer line and saw off the tree root, or replace the sewer line around the major roots. Not taking care of this right away can lead to some major damage to your house and your landscaping.

If you suspect you have a major clog, give us a call. We will dispatch one of our expert technicians to diagnose your problem and get your drains running free again.

The post Gurgling Pipes first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

I personally have found things like broken glass, paper clips, and small metal pieces. Other plumbers have found GI Joe figures and wedding rings.  There is a common joke among plumbers that goes like this….

”What sounds like a bottle cap in a disposal, and cost $100.00?    Answer: “A bottle cap”

Adding the wrong things down the disposal can definitely be costly.

Top 5 Things to Never Put Down Your Garbage Disposal

1. Potato & Carrot Peels (Really any peels can clog it).
2. Pasta, especially spaghetti (Pasta expands when wet and will clog the disposal or fill up the disposal trap).
3. Rice (Avoid putting rice down the disposal for the same reasons as the pasta).
4. Grease (During cooling process, it solidifies and causes blockage).
5. Fruit Pits (This one may be obvious). The disposal can’t chop these up and they will damage it. Examples include peach, avocado, plum pits, and even watermelon seeds.

If you do happen to need a plumber to repair your disposal or anything else, call us at 615-568-5051

Blog by Kevin Sipes,
Master Plumber
Nashville, TN

The post 5 Things Not to Put Down the Garbage Disposal first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

So you’ve got a clog in your drain and plunging doesn’t seem to do any good. What do you do? Should you call a plumber or use that commercially prepared drain cleaner (Drano®/Liquid–Plumr®) hiding under your sink? Here are some things to keep in mind….

Metal vs. PVC Pipes

• Plumbing put in before 1974 used metal pipes.
• Drain cleaners contain chemicals that eat away at metal pipes.
• If your home was built before 1974, you must assume that the pipes are metal, unless you, yourself had them changed.

Slow Drains & Efficiency

• If you have a slow drain, a drain cleaner may help to clear the clog.
• But if your drain is completely clogged, drain cleaner will not budge the clog.

You need professional licensed plumbers.

Drain Cleaner Safety

• Drain cleaners are extremely caustic, and need to be used with care.
• Wear rubber gloves and be careful not to splash.
• If you have pets or small children having noxious chemicals around is really not a good idea.

So bottom line – if you have a slow moving drain that will eventually let all the water drain away, AND your house is relatively new – feel free to use the drain cleaner to help move things along in your drains. But if nothing is moving in that sink, or you have an older home, call for help.

We hope to earn your business and become your plumbers for life.  Call us at  615-568-5051

Blog by Kevin Sipes,
Master Plumber
Nashville, TN

The post When to use Drain Cleaner & When to Call The Plumbers first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

We hope this will help some of the readers of this page.

Where is that smell coming from in our bathroom?

Water is held in place by gravity to act as a barrier, preventing the escape of sewer gases. If a plumbing fixture is not used over a month or so, the water in the trap will evaporate, allowing odors to enter the living space from the sewer or septic system.

Most of the time a sewer smell coming from a bathroom is in that big jet tub that is never used. Most houses that we are building today will have a big drop in tub (whirlpool) and most people will use it once or twice and never again. When a tub is never used the trap under the tub will go dry and this will allow sewer gas to come back up the line. If you will run the faucet for just a minuet once a month it will stop this from ever happening.

This can also come from the toilet. This problem is a little more trouble to repair. The wax ring could have gone bad or most of the time it comes from a remodel.

To save time and money a “plumber” will not rise the flange when a bathroom floor is tiled. This will prevent a good seal between the toilet and floor. The trap for your toilet is in the toilet and not in the plumbing system like every other plumbing fixture. The plumbers at Fix It All-Plumbing would be happy to repair this problem for you.

I have put in new washers but my faucet keeps leaking, why?

This could have a couple of answers:

First would be your seats. This is normally on older faucets. You have a seat and a washer if the washer is only changed and the seat is cracked the faucet will start to leak again really quickly.

The most common problem is your water pressure. Water Pressure is measured in PSI (Pounds per Square Inch), your household PSI should be at a max of #80. The city pressure could be as high as #150, this is because the city has to be high enough for the last house on the big hill to have good water pressure. This is why it is the home owner’s responsibility. If your pressure is high only one thing can be done to repair this problem. A P.R.V. (pressure reducing valve) will have to be installed. This is not very hard or costly but should usually be done by a licensed plumber. It should also be changed out every six to eight years. I always say “the first day you put in a P.R.V. is the best day for a P.R.V.”  The plumbers at Fix It All-Plumber can make this repair for you and your home. This will help your faucets and plumbing system.

Our toilet will only flush part of the time…why?

Most of the time this is a blockage that will float it the toilet. Sometime it is out of the way, and other times it will float in the way. Sometimes the toilet will have to be pulled to remove the blockage, other times a plumber can get it out with an auger. Most of the time this will take a professional plumber, because it’s a matter of feel, doing it many times you will know how to move the auger to remove the blockage. Fix It All-Plumbing would always be happy to help you with this or any of your plumbing problems.

This is a page that I will always add too so come back often to see if your plumbing problem is listed or give us a call at 615-568-5051 to see if we can help you in any way.

Blog by Kevin Sipes (Master Plumber)

Nashville, TN

The post Common Questions a Plumber is Asked first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

I am going to try to tell you a little bit about the different between the two types of water heaters. I will compare gas (or LP) tank and tankless water heaters. The whole house electric tankless models are not very efficient and I don’t recommend anyone getting one.

Differences between Tankless and Tank Hot Water Heaters

One of the biggest different between the two heaters is the amount of gas the unit requires. If you have a tank gas water heater, it is burning gas right now, the pilot is always burning. At 2:00 a.m. when you are in bed asleep and no one is using any water in your house, and the water temp drops, the water heater will fire up to get the water back up to temperature. This allows you to have the hot water you need when you first get up.

A tankless water heater will not use any gas until the water starts to move through the unit. It does not have a storage tank so the water does not have to stay up to temperature. This is an on demand type of system. It will give you continuous hot water. I have been told by a good customer, that his gas bill was cut more than half during the summer months.

What it takes to go Tankless

So, yes, tankless units can save on your utility bills. Now this does not mean you can just take out your old tank heater and put in a new tankless. A few things are required. First a tankless requires a 110 plug at the unit to operate the thermostat and pilot. The gas pipe is bigger from a tank to tankless. Your tank water heater has a ½ inch feed where the tankless requires ¾ feed. The vent will not match up either. Every brand of tankless water heater has its on venting system. Some models will use P.V.C., but this requires two vents, one for intake and the other for exhaust.

Are Tankless Hot Water Heaters always Cost-Effective

It is not cost efficient for every house to have a tankless water heater. I have looked at some houses that I just could not recommend putting in a tankless unit. If you just have two people in your house and you never run out of hot water, a tankless hot water heater may not be ideal. The cost of a tankless plus the installation is very different than just replacing your tank water heater.

Have questions about hot water heaters? Submit an inquiry or you can give us a call at Fix It All-Plumbing and we will help you figure out if a tankless unit is a cost efficient way for you to go. 615-568-5051

When Tankless makes sense: New Home Construction & Low Hot Water Supply

I will say if you are going to build a new house I would go with a tankless unit without any doubt. It will add to the resell value of your home. Also, if you run out of hot water all the time or can’t get that big tub full of hot water a tankless would be great for your home.

As I said before a tankless is continuous hot water it will take the same amount of time for the hot water to get to your shower, but once it arrives, you will not run out. You could set the temperature at 120 degrees and it will stay up to temp as long as the water is running. You never run out of hot water. If you have a circulating pump you will need a small tanked electric water heater for the pump.

Once again you can call us at Fix It All-Plumbing for all of your water heater needs tank, tankless, gas , or electric.

615-568-5051

Blog by Kevin Sipes,
Master Plumber
Nashville, TN

The post Tankless vs. Tank Water Heaters – Should I go Tankless? first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.

Why would you need a circulating pump? If you ever stand at the shower waiting on hot water to get to the shower a circulating pump could be right for you. On a new build a plumber will run a third water line from the water heater to the last plumbing fixture in the house. We put a circulating pump at the water heater and this will move hot water all the time so when you turn on a faucet the hot water is right their. This is considered to be “green” you will use a little more electricity but you can put a timer at the pump so it will only run at time it is needed.

The plumbers at Fix It All- Plumbing are here to help. Ask us a question about your plumbing or hot water issue or call 615-568-5051

Retro-Fitting a Circulating Pump

On a house that has been build the plumbers at Fix It All-Plumbers can retro fit a circulating pump using the two water lines in your house. We will use the cold water line to circulate the hot water. This will cause you to get hot water out of the cold for a quick second when the cold is turned on. As soon as the cold is turned on it will cause a valve to close so the hot will not flow through the cold line. A timer can be added to this pump also so it run only at times that it is needed.

Pump Installation for Tankless Water Heaters

On a tankless water heater the pump has to be installed in a little different manner. On a tankless water heater, if the water is moving through the heater, it will fire up. So, a small tanked water heater should be installed behind the tankless for the pump. The tankless will feed the tank and this will prevent you from ever running out of hot water.

So if you are tired of standing at the shower or wondering if the hot water is getting to your dishwasher give us a call at Fix It All-Plumbing to get a circulating pump put in your house.

615-568-5051

Blog by Kevin Sipes,
Master Plumber
Nashville, TN

The post Why Purchase a Hot Water Circulating Pump? first appeared on Fix It All Plumbing.