Ken's Plumbing | Blog

Let's say you're at a friend's dinner party when you excuse yourself to quickly use the bathroom, and while you're in there things take a turn for the worst and you find yourself face-to-face with a clogged toilet. After a moment of panic, you look about and discover that this dear friend of yours does not keep a plunger in their bathroom, leading you to panic further.

Fortunately, you regularly read plumbing blog articles and you know there has to be a way to get yourself out of this plumbing predicament — and you're right! So, if you see the water rise after an attempted flush, just stay calm and learn...

There's something just so refreshing about water; we drink it to stay healthy, we bathe in it to stay clean, and we even flock to the water of pools and beaches to relax. We all rely on water, so we definitely understand your concern when you turn on the faucet and are met with anything other than the perfectly clear liquid you were expecting.

Different discolorations of water have different meanings—some of which are harmless, others of which are dangerous. If your dirty water is a cause for concern, check out our list below to see what you're dealing with:

Many households end up putting plumbing problems on the back burner when it comes to calling in a professional to help. Either other expenses come up and eat away at money saved to help take care of that plumbing bill or they just can't afford to take time off work to let the plumber in the house.

By getting caught up in every day responsibilities, it's easy to believe other chores take precedence over a leaky faucet. However, if you continue to neglect "small" repairs, you may find yourself looking at a much larger and costlier repair in the future.

We bet you didn't know that the plants you choose to landscape your yard with could have an affect on your plumbing, but they definitely can! Now, we aren't saying planting marigolds around your mailbox is going to cause your water heater to quit on you, but some larger plants like trees and bushes can actually affect how your toilets, sinks, and showers drain.

To help you avoid problems down the road, here's a list of trees, bushes, and plants that you should keep out of your yard (no matter how pretty they'd look):

You've finally found your dream home! Not only is it beautiful inside and out and the perfect size for your family, it's also close to your work, it's in a great school district, and there are plenty of children in the neighborhood for your kids to play with!

But before you finalize the sale, do yourself a favor and check the plumbing throughout the house to know for sure whether this great house is too good to be true. To help you out, we created this plumbing checklist so you'll know exactly what to look for:

You learn a lot in the course of your lifetime, and, of course, some of the facts and information you pick up along the way are more important than others. For example, we're sure you learned the Pythagorean Theorem at some point, which was useful only to pass the test you had on it. Meanwhile, you likely never learned about maintaining your pumbing, which is useful from the very moment you move out on your own through the rest of your life.

We're here to help you close the knowledge gap and learn some useful plumbing information that can help you identify small problems before they become huge disasters, and maybe even help you stop an occurring disaster before it can go from bad to worse!

If your home was built before the 1990s and you're still using the plumbing that was built into the house, it's safe to say you're wasting both time and money. You need to install WaterSense labeled products which will allow you to save dozens of gallons of water per year, which means you can save hundreds of dollars, too!

If you've made a conscious effort to turn off lights in rooms you're not in, set your thermostat to more efficient temperatures, and do larger loads of laundry, it's time for you to make high-efficiency plumbing a part of your eco-friendly lifestyle as well. Discover the difference it can make:

Seasonal plumbing issues reach far beyond clogged toilets at Thanksgiving and frozen pipes during an ice storm. Just as many things can go wrong in the summer, but with the added stress of some of them occuring while you're out on the beach and won't be home to discover them for another 3 days.

To help keep your Summer as carefree as it should be, we've made you a quick plumbing checklist to help you and your family prevent disasters before they strike:

Listen, we get it. We know you want a DIY solution to your hot water heater problem because it means you save a couple of bucks, but we can assure you this is a situation where the cons are downright dangerous and outweigh the pros of saving some money.

Your water heater is one of your more dangerous home appliances because of the dozens of gallons of extremely hot water, gas lines, pressure-controlled tanks, etc. Discover why you need to put away your toolbox and pick up your phone to schedule an appointment with your professional plumber when it comes to water heater replacement:

One of the best things about modern plumbing is that it just kind of works. You don't necessarily have to think about where your water goes when it drains or how a faucet can produce hot and cold water, but when you start thinking about those things, it can be hard to figure out how everything actually works.