Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Plumbing Repair’

How Much Water Can a Plumbing Leak Waste?

Monday, August 26th, 2024
water-splashing-into-a-hand

It’s easy to see that a sudden, gushing leak or a badly burst pipe is wasting an enormous amount of water. The thing that might not have occurred to you is that those leaks get fixed immediately—because they truly are emergencies—but slow leaks can go on for a long time. At first, they might not be noticed. Then, homeowners might not think it’s urgent to deal with them. 

Months or years could go by, with a slow leak just gradually dripping away. But if it’s just drips, it can’t be much water, can it? Is it really urgent to have slow plumbing leaks fixed promptly? How much water can a plumbing leak waste? We’ve got some information that might surprise you.

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Why You’re Hearing Weird Noises From Your Plumbing

Monday, July 17th, 2023
showerhead-hand-reaching-out

You shut off a faucet in your house one day, and instead of hearing quiet right afterwards, there’s instead a strange clang or bang noise. It might even be loud enough to cause you to jump.

This isn’t a one-time occurrence, either. You start to hear this banging sound from the plumbing more and more often. Everything else about your plumbing seems to be working fine—so what’s happening, and is it something you need to worry about?

What you’re experiencing with your plumbing is common enough that it has its own name: water hammer. As plumbers, we’ve often dealt with water hammer in Glenview, IL and our other service areas, so we can tell you what’s going on.

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How Tree Roots Can Damage Your Plumbing

Monday, March 13th, 2023
tree-root-cutaway

If you look out the window of your house, do you have a pleasant view of trees and bushes around a well-kept yard? It’s a relaxing sight to look at—but you might not be aware that those trees and other plants can present a danger to a part of your house. The growth of plant roots can wreak havoc on the plumbing for your house, potentially creating sewage back-ups. 

Tree-roof infestation is a major problem for residential plumbing in Evanston, IL and elsewhere in the Chicago suburbs. Our climate is conducive to the growth of trees with aggressive root systems: silver maples, poplars, and willows. As these trees grow, their roots can spread far and wide, seeking sources of water and nutrients, including your plumbing system. 

So although you may love having a tree-filled yard in the suburbs, you need to be aware of the ways tree roots can damage plumbing and what you can do to prevent it. 

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What You Need to Know About Finding Hidden Plumbing Leaks

Monday, July 18th, 2022

magnifying-glassHere’s the tricky part about hidden leaks: they’re hidden. A leak gushing from under your kitchen sink because the supply line broke is easy to detect. Leaks occurring in pipes behind walls and under the floor are much more difficult to detect until they start causing major damage. You don’t want leaks to get to that point, so it’s helpful to know how you can spot the signs of hidden leaks so you can have professional plumbers act on them.

Our plumbers use the best leak detection equipment available to find hidden leaks in a house so we can repair them. You don’t have the same equipment, but you can pick up on several indicators of pipe leaks so you can call us for plumbing repair in Winnetka, IL. Below are the most common ways to detect hidden leaks.

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Grinding Down Some Myths About Garbage Disposals

Monday, May 23rd, 2022

sink-drain-with-water-flowing-downIf you have a garbage disposal in Long Grove, IL, you probably don’t give much thought to it except when it fails to work. The kitchen sink disposal is a modern convenience people have gotten used to. And when anything becomes too familiar to people, it’s easy for misunderstandings to start to develop about it until they turn into full-blown myths.

The garbage disposal has several persistent myths swirling around it, and the internet has only increased their presence. We’re going to examine several of these myths today so you know more about your garbage disposal and how to better take care of it. 

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Water Stain on the Ceiling? That’s a Serious Plumbing Problem!

Monday, April 25th, 2022

stain-on-ceilingWe often talk about the problem of hidden leaks in residential plumbing. It’s easy for these leaks to go unnoticed for weeks or months while they raise water bills and inflict damage on building materials. But today we’re going to look at when a hidden leak becomes an obvious leak. Unfortunately, it’s an obvious leak that people often still overlook or delay at getting fixed. We’re looking at the water stain on the ceiling!

You’ve probably come across this phenomenon at some point; if not in your own home than in another building. A brownish-red discoloration spreading through the drywall or other material of the ceiling. Unsightly, but maybe you only need a bit of paint to touch it up…

No, don’t do this! That stain is the sign of a leak, and it means you need fast service to have it fixed. You can worry about painting over the stain later. 

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Where Plumbing Leaks Are Most Likely to Occur in Your Home

Monday, February 14th, 2022

bursted copper pipe with water leaking out, 3d illustrationLeaking pipes and fixtures are one of the most persistent of plumbing problems. When people visualize water leaks in their home, they often think about water spraying in large amounts from a burst pipe. This can happen, but the majority of leaks are much more insidious and often happen where you can’t see them easily at first. You have to watch for warning signs like water stains and a rise in your water bills.

To help you better understand where you may need leak repair in your home, we’ve put together a list of the most common spots for household water leaks. Pay attention to these areas so you can catch leaks early.

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Pinhole Leaks: A Sneaky Plumbing Problem

Monday, January 3rd, 2022

bursted copper pipe with water leaking out, 3d illustrationLocating hidden leaks in homes is an important part of our job as professional plumbers. Because so much of the piping in a house is hidden in walls and ceilings, leaks often escape detection for long stretches—sometimes until they start to cause damage to parts of the house. 

And no type of hidden leak is harder to notice at first than pinhole leaks. The name can give you an idea why these are tricky to find: they’re extremely small. But small leaks are still major problems, especially if they escape notice for long enough. 

There’s more to pinhole leaks, and we’ll go over the details below. If you suspect any type of plumbing leak in your house, call us for pipe repair in Winnetka, IL.

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Quick Plumbing Tips for an Efficient Home This Spring

Tuesday, April 17th, 2018

kitchen sink faucet with water runningWhen it comes to modern plumbing, there’s a lot we take for granted. For instance, we rely on hot water every day for bathing, cooking, and cleaning. We depend on our toilets to handle every flush with ease. We expect that our sewer lines will quickly and simply take wastewater away from our homes in a hygienic manner.

But, what about when something goes wrong? You can go from ignorant bliss to plumbing emergency in no time—at least, if you haven’t taken the right type of precautions.

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