Making Sure Your Home Is Prepared For An Emergency Plumber Visit | Oak Ridge, TN
Wednesday, October 6th, 2021
Photo By fizkes at Shutterstock
From knowing where your home’s main water shutoff is located, and making sure that it’s working properly, to providing easy access to your water heater and other appliances, there are many great ways to help our emergency plumber at My Professional Plumber in Oak Ridge, TN, get right to work when you need us. Many times, our emergency plumber calls are time-sensitive, and a prepared home is one that has less mess, less flooding, and other benefits from some simple preparations. There are also ways that you can help us work more effectively like not using harsh drain cleaners before you call us, and even putting strainers in your tub drain and sinks to make it less likely you’ll need us for some types of drain calls at all. We’re here to make your life simpler and easier with your home’s water supply and plumbing, so it’s all about helping us serve you better.
Finding Your Home’s Main Water Shutoff
This can be more of a challenge than you might think. While many water shutoff valves are located in the basement or other easy-to-find locations, some homeowners have found theirs in the yard, in a box-type compartment near the street, and even in a common area shared by several homes, away from their property. Once you verify that you’ve found the shutoff valve for your home, it’s important to make sure you can operate it! In some cases the valve is frozen shut by rust and old age, in other cases, it requires a special tool to reach into the ground and turn the valve. Our emergency plumber service can help you make sure that yours is ready in case of emergency when it can stop a potential flood from a broken pipe.
Individual Water Shutoffs
You’ll probably find a shutoff valve by your toilets and under sinks in your bathrooms, also in your kitchen. Sometimes, though, the only alternative if your toilet’s overflowing or your faucet is broken is to run for the main shutoff. Our emergency plumber can quickly add a shutoff valve to lines that don’t have one and free up ones that are present but unusable. This will allow you to take an important step as you call the emergency plumber: shut off the water to the device that is threatening to flood and cause damage to your home. This way, you’ll just need repairs, not a big cleanup as well.
Water Heater Leaks
There’s a protective valve on your tank-based water heater called a temperature and pressure valve, which normally stands guard to make sure that your tank doesn’t become dangerously pressurized and either leak or, in some cases, explode. This protective valve itself can leak, either to relieve a small amount of pressure that is normal or because it is failing and not waiting for overpressure to release water. If you see puddles of water under or near a pipe extending from this valve on your water heater, our emergency plumber can check your water heater to make sure there aren’t problems to be fixed. Don’t forget, also, that tank-based water heaters benefit from regular maintenance, which not only checks protective features but also helps keep corrosion from shortening the unit’s lifetime.
Emergency Plumbing Access Can Make a Big Difference
For many families, the places where emergency plumbing shut-offs and other emergency plumbing access points are in areas that are commonly used for storage. Keeping a path clear to these critical locations so the emergency plumber can get to work quickly can be extremely important. It’s also worth noting that boxes full of family papers and other material on the floor near plumbing fixtures and your water heater can be quickly flooded, soaked, and lost in the event of a water heater or pipe leak. At least, keep valuables raised above the floor on shelves, pallets, or other devices.
If You Have Children or Pets, Guard the Escape Routes
It’s quite possible that our emergency plumber will need to make trips to their vehicle for parts or equipment. They make sure that they keep the way clean, but each home is different as far as those who might try to escape or get curious about the repair work underway are concerned. It’s best if you have a secure way to keep young children and pets from taking advantage of the plumber’s activity to explore new areas or otherwise get into mischief or wander off. In the case of major repairs such as a water heater replacement, there may be lots of open doors while the units are being removed and delivered, and a carefully closed bedroom might be a good safe haven for those not involved in repairs.
Emergency Electrical Access Can Also Be Essential
Flooding water or even leaks in the wrong place can bring water into contact with electrical outlets or wiring and lead to shock and fire hazards. Just as it’s important to have easy access to your whole house water shutoff valve, your electrical panel or fuse box should be easy to locate and access while plumbing repairs are being performed. If there are electrical risks, it will then be easy for our plumber or another person to shut off power to ensure everyone’s safety. An electrician can then perform an inspection to make sure all is safe before restoring power to that area and make sure no problems such as corrosion are likely to develop later as a result of water damage.
Emergency Plumbers for Your Protection in Oak Ridge, TN
At My Professional Plumber in Oak Ridge, TN, we provide emergency service whenever you need us, and quality plumbing work to keep your home’s water supply and drains in good shape. We recommend regular inspections and maintenance along with a drain cleaning service to make sure your home’s plumbing is reliable and safe, and we welcome your calls for high-quality emergency care. Get to know us!