When you purchase your first home, it is very common to discover that there is a lot more to owning a house than just being able to afford the mortgage payment. And it can be very easy to fall for some common wive’s tales and myths to try and make caring for your home a little more affordable and even less stressful. But when it comes to your home’s plumbing system, forget about any helpful hints you have heard or read on the Internet, unless they come from reliable sources, like the licensed plumbers at A Better Plumber. Below are a few of the worst ones we have heard, and why they are incorrect and can even do some damage to your home.
Put A Brink In The Toilet Tank
This is a myth that was used to save water and allegedly decrease your water bill. The brick was supposed to take up some of the space and reduce the amount of water used per flush. But there are a few problems here. This story began circulating long before Ziploc bags. So people would just put a brink into the toilet tank. And shortly, they discovered that the brick was disintegrating and damaging the flapper valve on the toilet tank, causing it to leak constantly. So they were actually using more water due to the leak. If you want to reduce the amount of water used per flush, a low-flow toilet is the only reliable solution.
Don’t Worry About a Tiny Leak
The old school thought was that a tiny drip from a faucet would never waste enough water to justify a bill from a plumber to stop the leak. But the fact is that a faucet that drips just six times a minute will waste about 26 gallons of water a month, or over 300 gallons a year. It does add up. But more importantly, a small leak or drip never stays small for very long. That faucet might drip six times a minute this week, but next week it could be up to 10 or even 12 times a minute. The secret is that even a tiny leak will always get bigger. Whatever is allowing the water to seep will continue to get eroded. In the case of a microscopic crack in a water line, it will soon be a constant leak, and someday it will be gushing. Pay for the affordable small leak repair before paying much more for a significant leak repair and fixing water damage to your home.
Beware Of A Rumbling Water Heater
The old tale of a noisy water heater was that it was about to explode, and you should have it replaced immediately. That is not the case today, nor was it ever. Water heaters have a pressure relief valve that will open and vent off steam or water long before the tank will ever rupture. But more importantly, that popping or rumbling sound was telling you that it was time to drain and flush your water heater tank.
The sound is created by sediment burning off from the heating element. And when you drain the tank and eliminate the layer of sediment, the sound disappears. In addition, you will find that your water gets hotter, and it costs less to operate your water heater because the sediment no longer insulates the heating element.
When you have any questions about caring for your home’s plumbing system, call (301) 278-8786. The experts at A Better Plumber are here to offer guidance and emergency service 24/7 if you have a rally plumbing emergency in your home.
