Our Favorite Plumbing Tips
By Mark and Wendell Presgrave
Owners of My Plumber and Master Plumbers
We have been in business for more than 24 years at My Plumber and we love it. We work in an interesting and vitally necessary industry and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our neighbors by helping to keep the water flowing.

The following tips are our personal favorites. They can save you a small fortune in plumbing repairs, so keep this reference sheet handy.

1. Garbage Disposal - Run ice through your garbage disposal it will keep the blades clean and sharp. Follow that up with a lemon and it will sanitize your garbage disposal. Your kitchen will smell wonderful.
2. Garbage Disposal - Before you call a plumber to repair your garbage disposal, check your breaker box and press the red, reset button on the base of the unit.
3. Toilet - Check for toilet leaks that might waste water and raise your water bill. Teach your young about water conservation by letting them help you put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. If colored water shows up in your bowl between flushes, you have a leak that is costing you money.
4. Emergency Shutoff - Teach your children where all the shut off valves are and how to use them. Even a child can prevent a lot of damage if they know how to shut off the water flow.
5. Emergency Shutoff - Don’t let an emergency be the time you have to figure out where your main shut off valve is located. Find it before things go wrong.
6. Faucet - Your faucet’s aerator (the little screen thing on the end of the spout) can become clogged with debris from your water pipes. If you have restricted water flow from one faucet, before you call a plumber, unscrew the aerator, remove the washer, wash the aerator and replace it with the washer intact.
7. Washing Machine - Check your washing machine hoses yearly. If they show signs of wear and tear, replace them. The price of a good pair of washing machine hoses is worth it for the preventive maintenance it provides.
8. Leak Prevention - Don’t clutter the area under your sink with a lot of cleaning supplies. We know that storage space is dear, but so is your drain pipe. Boxes and bottles knocked around under your sink can fall against the drain line and cause a leak.
9. Household Flooding - Stay away from water from a leak unless you are sure a stray electrical wire has not charged the water with electricity.