Here at Guin Service, we want nothing more than to make sure that your home is prepared for the winter season. And with New Year’s comes new resolutions! One we like to stick with is perfect plumbing.
Sure, when people make New Year’s resolutions, they tend to list exercising, eating better, or saving money. Well, it might not help with the first two, but shoring up your home’s plumbing will sure help out your wallet. Few things are as costly as a flooded basement in the middle of January. That’s why, today, we’re going to help you make some New Year’s resolutions to ensure that your plumbing stays in perfect condition as the cold months continue to batter the pipes.
Tuck in your pipes to keep them warm
Just because your pipes can’t tell you they’re cold doesn’t mean they’re not!
Frozen pipes are the bane of any homeowner’s existence. They’ll turn what seemed to be a mildly annoying task–like pipe insulation–into a total nightmare. Moreover, without insulation, you’re essentially leaving your money out in the cold. That is, your hot pipes fail to retain as much heat, and it costs that much more to keep your shower running hot.
So please, take the time this year to get those pipes tucked in. Better yet, give us a call here at Guin to have one of our professionals check out your plumbing.
Make sure to flush…your water heater
Speaking of help from a professional, one of the top problems Guin’s professional plumbing workers encounter is an unflushed water heater. No, it’s not just a sentiment of ours, it’s sediment, which is a real problem.
Unflushed water heaters are at high risk of malfunctioning. Malfunctioning is a broad term though. More specifically, when sediment builds up, your water heater begins to have trouble filtering out the continued onslaught of still more sediment. You’ll start to see dirty water come out of your faucets and shower heads, or worse, a buildup such to the point that your pipes burst.
Yes, it might sometimes seem like all plumbing roads lead to the same place: burst pipes. But it’s true when it comes to water heaters, which should be flushed once a year. So be sure to have one of Guin’s plumbers flush out your water heater this winter.
Stop using your plumbing for trash disposal
It’s kind of confusing that us plumbers talk about not using your sink’s garbage disposal for, well, garbage. But, again, it’s all too true: outside of scheduling an appointment with Guin, throwing your trash into the disposal is the fastest way to get a plumber over at your house.
And it’s not just the disposal, though it’s often the biggest culprit. (Check out some of these garbage disposal do’s and don’ts from The Washington Post.) It’s also your toilet, bathroom sinks, and shower drains. Clogging these pipes can lead to myriad problems (yes, including burst pipes!). So please, for the love of plumbing, throw those Q-tips in the trash!
One of the best ways to deter yourself is to get a drain guard. For just a few bucks, you can save yourself a world of trouble by covering up your sink and shower drains.
Stop overlooking the little problems
Us human beings sure are resilient. We can cope with a litany of problems. But this can backfire on us when the problems start piling up so fast that we can’t keep up. When it comes to plumbing, this is a problem we see time and time again.
Sure, your sink’s little hiccup doesn’t bother you much now. Jangling toilet handles are just an aesthetic problem. How tough can it be to wait the extra two minutes it takes for the water to get hot?
But what happens when all three strike–and get worse over time? That hiccup can turn into a pretty nasty cough. What about when the loose handle stops flushing altogether? Or when that water never gets hot? No, these problems won’t fix themselves. The best thing to do is keep pace with them, whether by trying to do so yourself or, better yet, scheduling with Guin to get a professional’s take on the issue(s). At hand.
….Schedule an appointment with a professional
In the end, the only way to guarantee the integrity of your plumbing is to schedule an appointment with a professional. So schedule an appointment with Guin today, and make sure that your home’s plumbing is prepared for not only the winter, but the entire year ahead.
Better yet, sign up for our GuinGuard program, which provides regularly scheduled maintenance checks and repairs. GuinGuard is the best way to ensure the integrity of your plumbing and save money!
Contact Guin Service, LLC, serving Birmingham, Hoover, and Mountain Brook, AL, to prepare your home for the winter season. We’ve been in business for 60 years because we do what’s right for our customers. You can always trust us to be honest and have your best interest in mind. Just give us a call today at 205.407.1737.
(205) 595-4846 
