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Slab leaks are among the most serious plumbing issues we deal with at Custom Plumbing. Are slab leaks dangerous, though? Here we explore why this common, expensive problem could actually put you in danger.

Perhaps you have noticed that your water bill has gone up. Maybe the basement has started to smell damp and moldy. Whatever sign makes you realize that you might have a slab leak under your foundation, it is critical that you fix it before it becomes more than a cause for concern for your wallet—you need to repair it because it could put your health and safety at risk.

Why Are Slab Leaks Dangerous?

Slab leaks can be dangerous for two primary reasons: respiratory reactions caused by mold infestation in the foundation, and structural damage to the foundation that results in unsafe living conditions.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these issues.

Health Concerns

Clean air is important to have in the home. You spend a lot of your time there, especially if you work from home, as so many continue to do during the pandemic. When you have a slab leak, dampness can penetrate your foundation, which can lead to mold growth if left untreated.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mold in the home can cause mild to severe respiratory problems. These symptoms can range from moderate allergic reactions—for instance, red eyes, stuffy nose, and itchy skin—to more serious reactions, such as intense asthma symptoms.

When exposure is limited, these reactions are manageable, but when you have to deal with them every day, they can become dangerous.

Structural Damage to Your Home

The foundation is perhaps the most important structural element in your home. When you have a ruptured pipe beneath your foundation, the soil often erodes or expands and contracts more than it would normally. These changes in the soil can cause the slab foundation beneath your home to sag, crack, and crumble, which can weaken the integrity of the entire structure.

Homes that were built around 30 years ago often have plumbing problems beneath the foundation because of the copper pipes that were commonly used in construction. These pipes often burst because copper is relatively soft compared to the materials used today. If your home was built in the 1980s and you notice any signs of a slab leak, it is time to call a plumber who specializes in slab leak detection and repair.

Don’t Let a Slab Leak Endanger Your Family or Home

Are slab leaks dangerous? You bet they are.

Are you worried that you have a slab leak that is causing damage to your home’s foundation? It’s time to stop waiting for things to get better on their own. At Custom Plumbing of Arizona, we have the knowledge and tools that you need to find and fix your slab leak problem. Get in touch with us today so that we can talk about your needs.

Posted on Author Vince VinceCategories UncategorizedTags

We have mere weeks before the start of holiday season 2020, and for many households across Arizona, that means hosting family and friends and eating lots of delicious home-cooked meals. It’s not a holly-jolly time for anyone, however, when plumbing problems arise unexpectedly.

Just imagine—you are getting the house ready for mom, dad, and Aunt Sue and her kids to visit and the water heater goes out. Or the toilet goes on the fritz. Or your dishwasher breaks down, and you have to do all those dishes by hand.

Want to avoid this fate? Here are some tips for getting your plumbing ready for the holidays.

Make Sure Your Water Heater Can Handle Extra Use

First on the list, your water heater is one of the most important appliances in your home if you plan to have guests stay overnight. There’s nothing less pleasant than an ice-cold shower in the winter (even in Arizona). Having water heater-related plumbing problems can also leave you with dirty dishes and laundry that requires warm water.

Start by testing what your water heater can handle. If you think you need more heating power to accommodate your guests, you may want to consider upgrading to a model with a larger tank and higher heating capacity.

Know What Food Items Are Garbage Disposal-Friendly to Avoid Plumbing Problems

Garbage Disposals can come in handy when you are spending a lot of time cooking in the kitchen. Certain items, however, can leave you without a working disposal and even clog your sink’s drain.

Items you should avoid sending down the disposal this holiday season include:

  • Bones
  • Coffee Grounds
  • Fibrous vegetables
  • Grease/oil/fat
  • Potato Peels
  • Egg Shells

These items can ruin the blades on your disposal and lead to expensive repairs. When in doubt, throw it out.

Don’t Get Stuck Doing the Dishes

If you have a dishwasher, you should ensure that it is going to be able to handle more frequent use. You can begin testing your dishwasher by inspecting the dishes after they go through a cycle. Are they clean or do they appear grimy? Sometimes, mineral deposit can clog the spray holes on the dishwasher’s spray arms.

Give Your Toilets a Once-Over

When you have lots of people eating lots of food in your house, that means, well…you better have at least a few toilets that actually work. One common problem that is an easy fix is when the flapper valve on the toilet gets worn out. Check each of your toilets to see if they seem to be constantly refilling. If they are, it could be the flapper valve.

Got other toilet plumbing problems? Call us before it’s too late.

Get Your Drains Inspected

One final note on getting your plumbing ready for the holidays—we’ve been talking a lot about plumbing problems that can cause clogged drains, but what if the problem is a clogged drain?

Don’t wait until the last minute if you think you have a drain that isn’t clearing properly.

Want to Avoid Plumbing Problems This Year? Custom Plumbing Is Here to Help!

Contact us now so we can send a plumber to fix whatever your plumbing issue is ASAP.

Posted on Author Vince VinceCategories UncategorizedTags

The bathroom is supposed to be a place of peace and solitude, but when you have a toilet leaking water, scrolling on your phone is a lot less fun.

Leaking toilets are a problem for many reasons. When they malfunction, they don’t send you-know-what down to you-know-where. They can leave you with a mess. If the water leak goes unnoticed for even an hour, it can cause hundreds of dollars in damage.

Want to protect your wallet (and your sanity)? Here are a few solutions to some common scenarios.

Broken Seal at the Base of the Toilet

If you notice your toilet leaking water around its base, it is likely that you have a bad seal. The wax seal that connects your toilet to your home’s plumbing is a critical piece of equipment, and when it gets damaged, it allows water to leak from the bowl onto the floor. If you notice water pooling around the base of your toilet, you will need to remove the toilet and replace this seal.

Broken Flapper

While this problem does not usually result in your toilet leaking water onto the floor, it can be annoying. If your toilet doesn’t stop running after you flush it, a broken flapper is the most likely cause.

Luckily, it is also one of the easiest problems to fix on your own. All you need to do is remove the top of your toilet tank, remove the faulty part, and replace it with one that you purchased from your local hardware store.

Not sure how to fix your flapper? Our plumbers are standing by.

Bad Water Supply Connection

The water that fills your toilet has to come from somewhere. The supply line feeds new water into your toilet’s tank after you flush it. Before you remove your toilet to replace the wax seal, you could save yourself some trouble by checking the water supply line. Sometimes all it takes to fix a toilet leaking water onto the floor is to tighten the supply connection. Simply find the supply line leading into the back of your toilet and try to turn the connection.

Malfunctioning Fill Valve

If your toilet sounds like it is constantly running, has a weak flush, or doesn’t flush at all, the problem with your toilet could be a broken fill valve. One way to test whether your fill valve is causing your leaky toilet is to add a little food coloring to the tank. If food coloring leaks into the toilet bowl, you will need to replace the fill valve.

Turn off your toilet’s water supply, remove the tank lid, flush the toilet, unscrew the water hose, remove the current fill valve, install the new ones, and voila — problem solved! Because toilets are not all the same size, you may need to adjust your new fill valve’s height.

Is Your Toilet Leaking Water? Can’t Solve the Problem Yourself?

Got a leaking toilet? Get in touch with Custom Plumbing of Arizona today!

Posted on Author Vince VinceCategories Toilet repair, UncategorizedTags

How Does A Water Softener Actually Soften My Water?

You’ve seen the signs. That greenish buildup around your faucet and shower head? Not good. You know it’s only a matter of time before your hard water problem becomes a flooding problem. Yet, still you hesitate to do anything about it. You’ve got to consider your options.

Well, I’m here to tell you that your first and best option is to install a water softener. If you’re like me, anytime you hear someone in the maintenance profession say the word “install,” you know it’s not going to be cheap. The truth is, a water softener can run anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. But let me tell you, the damage that they help prevent is worth it. Replacing the weak, hard-water-corroded pipes of even a 1,500 square foot home can cost as much as $10,000! And that’s not counting the damage to your house’s structure and personal belongings that come with a burst pipe.

By installing a water softener, you’re investing now to protect your home’s future.

So, how does a water softener actually soften your water? It’s pretty simple, really. A water softener is a giant filter that cleanses your water of harmful minerals before it travels into your home’s lines. The filter acts as a magnet, sucking the harshness from the water. The end result: softer water traveling through your home, leading to a much longer life of your pipes and plumbing fixtures, and more importantly, saving you from any major plumbing problems.

Want to hear more? Call us, or send a text or email, and we’ll send an expert to your home to tell you about the ways we can help.

Posted on Author webdevCategories Uncategorized

If your drain is clogged and the use of a plunger isn’t enough to resolve the issue, call a plumber to perform the drain cleaning. While there are chemical drain cleaning solutions that you can buy at the store, it isn’t recommended that you use this as an alternative. The chemicals in the drain cleaner are actually worse for the pipes than you may think. These chemical corrode the pipe, and if the chemical solution can’t get all the way down to the blockage causing the drain to clog, you’re only causing more problems than you’re resolving.

This why you should contact the best plumbers in the Phoenix area at Custom Cooling and Plumbing. We have the drain cleaning experts that you can rely on to get the job done right so that you won’t have to worry about you drain clogging for years.

The drains we clean include:

  •    Shower drains
  •    Toilet drains
  •    Sink drains

We offer two methods of drain cleaning that we guarantee to take care of any blockage causing water to overflow in the drain.

The first solution and the cheapest option is the Plumbing snake. With the plumbing snake, we can push through the blockage with the plumbing snake’s pointed tip. This pointed tip is designed to break penetrate through any grease or plastic items built up in the pipe. This drain cleaning method is great for cleaning smaller drains such as a sink, toilet, and shower drains. The use of the plumbing snake is also good for more delicate pipes such as PEX piping and older metal piping that is beginning to become brittle. The problem with the plumbing snake is that it isn’t big enough to take care of some of the larger pipes such as sewer pipes and mainline water pipe due to it being a thin rod. It also isn’t strong enough to clear the toughest of clogs that could build up in your drain.

The second solution is hydro jetting. Hydro jetting is the use of the hydro jet, which has a high power water jet to clear the blockage in the drain. Hydro jetting is the most efficient method of drain cleaning due to its powerful water jet’s ability to handle objects as immovable as a tree branch. Because of its efficiency, it is the more expensive option to choose but guarantees positive results every time. The downside to hydro jetting is its force, however. PEX piping and older metal piping may not be able to handle the amount of force that the hydro jet delivers in the pipe.

If you aren’t sure what drain cleaning solution is the best for you, contact the plumbing experts at Custom Cooling and Plumbing. We’ll help you go over the pros and cons of each option and help you decide which one works best for you. Once you’ve chosen which method is better for you, we’ll do the drain cleaning that same day to help you resolve the issue as soon as possible.      

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