Posts Tagged ‘Walnut’

Ways You Can Help Maintain the Sewer Lines for Your Pasadena Home

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Maintaining your sewer lines is an important part of being a Pasadena homeowner. Even the simplest preventative maintenance tasks could save you a lot of money and hassle. It’s also important to schedule routine check-ups with Ace Pelizon for complete preventative maintenance.

Clogged Toilets

A consistently clogged toilet could indicate a larger plumbing issue, such as a blockage in the main line, but you can usually prevent these clogs with a little extra effort. Never flush anything that could get trapped in your sewer lines, such as feminine products, paper towels, or cat litter. This is especially important for Pasadena homes with older plumbing systems. You can usually take care of most clogs with a plunger, but you should call a professional plumber if you continue to experience problems.

Kitchen and Bathroom Drains

Kitchen sinks without garbage disposals are much more susceptible to clogs since food waste can easily get washed down the drain. Mesh drain covers are the most effective at making sure food particles do not get trapped in the pipes. Coffee grounds are another common cause for clogged drains, so try to compost them instead of washing them down the drain.

If you have a disposal, make sure you don’t put pieces of food too large for the grinder or anything with a tough skin, such as carrots or potatoes. When food isn’t processed completely through the disposer, they get trapped in the pipes and can cause slower drains. Eggshells can help clean out any food waste that gets stuck on the interior walls, so don’t be afraid to put them in your garbage disposer.

Avoid washing grease down any kitchen drain, and try to use more natural cleaning products instead of harsh chemicals. The same applies to bathroom drains, since some cleaners can actually cause corrosion on soft metal pipes. For that same reason, avoid using drain cleaning products, such as Drain-O, for clogged drains. Use a plunger instead, and clean out your sink drains regularly to prevent further clogs.

Place hair catchers in your bathroom drains, especially in the shower. Loose hair is one of the most common causes of slow or clogged bathroom drains. Baking soda and vinegar will also help break down blockages and reduce bad odors. Make sure you let it sit for at least an hour and then pour boiling water down the drain to help clean it out.

Professional Sewer Maintenance

No matter how well you maintain your toilets and drains, you should have a professional plumber check your pipes at least once a year. Plumbers have equipment specially designed to inspect and clean your sewer lines, as well as assess any damage to your sewer lines and recommend a course of action. If you experience frequent clogs, or notice your water draining more slowly than usual, call a licensed plumbing contractor as soon as possible.

No matter what kind of plumbing issue you may have with your Pasadena home, call Ace Pelizon for any plumbing repairs and yearly inspections.

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How to Get Lime Out of Your Pipes (and Your Teapot): A Guide from Altadena

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Lime deposits are what cause that white, chalky, filmy residue that you see on faucets, shower heads and tiles in your Altadena home. Aside from being unsightly, lime deposits can also cause damage over time. Lime builds up inside the plumbing of your home, slowly degrading your pipes. Below are some tips to get rid of lime in common trouble spots.

Pipes

Lime most often builds up in pipes that carry hot water, since the water heater dissolves the lime in the water. The lime is then deposited on the inside of the pipes when it cools. Here are some steps to clear out the troublesome lime from those pipes:

  1. Turn off your water heater and drain it so it is about half full.
  2. Remove the pressure valve, being careful to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  3. Pour solvent into the heater through the open valve. There are commercial products available specifically designed to break up lime deposits, but white vinegar can be used as a cheaper and greener alternative.
  4. Replace the pressure valve, turn the heater back on and allow it to fill all the way.
  5. Turn on hot water faucets throughout the house. Let the water run until it runs clear or doesn’t smell of vinegar, depending on which solvent you used.

Kettles & Coffeemakers

Mineral deposits in a kettle or coffeemaker can cause your morning beverages to taste bitter. To clean them out, try these techniques:

  • Put 2 tablespoons of water softener in your kettle and fill it with water. Bring to a boil and rinse thoroughly. Alternatively, you can use a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water, then let it sit overnight after boiling.
  • Fill your coffeemaker’s reservoir with water plus 2 tablespoons of water softener. Or, fill it entirely with white vinegar. Either way, run it through once that way, then a few more times with pure water to rinse.

For more obvious deposits, like faucets and tiles, usually a combination of hot water and either lime remover or white vinegar will do the trick. You can get more instruction on removing lime scale at HowToCleanStuff.net.

Those are the tried-and-true methods for making your pipes last by keeping lime at bay. Some plumbers will swear to you that putting magnets on your pipes will prevent lime from building up. Data to support that is inconclusive at best, although it can’t hurt to try.

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Taking Good Care of Your Garbage Disposal: A Tip from Duarte

Monday, November 14th, 2011

The garbage disposal is one of those innovations that we generally take for granted now in Duarte, but was probably absolutely amazing to the guy who first saw one in action. The convenience of having a whirring blade just below your sink to pulverize food into pipe-friendly paste is pretty incredible.

However, because we sometimes take disposals for granted, we forget to take care of them properly. Disposals don’t ask for much, just a little attention now and then to keep them performing at their peak. There are some pretty simple tasks you can do periodically to keep your disposal happy:

  • When using the disposal, be sure to run water down the drain and leave it running for 15 to 20 seconds after you turn the disposal off.
  • The smaller the pieces going down the disposal, the better. Those blades may be powerful, but they can still sputter and stall against a formidable foe.
  • Every so often, dump a tray of ice cubes down the drain and turn the disposal on while running cold water. This sharpens the blades and helps keep them clean. The noise is a little intense, but it’s perfectly safe.
  • Grease, corn husks, potatoes and anything made of paper or plastic are not suitable for the disposal or plumbing in your home. Throw them away instead.
  • To subdue unpleasant odors, throw some lemon peels down the disposal.
  • To clean your disposal and remove mineral deposits, pour in a cup of vinegar and let it sit for about an hour, then flush with hot water.
  • Never use bleach or other chemicals to clean your garbage disposal, as it can damage the machinery.

These small steps, simple as they may seem, can go a long way toward keeping your system running strong and continuing to make your life easier for a long time. You can see some of these tips in action, as well as learn how to fix some common disposal problems from this video at GMC Trade Secrets.

It’s a dirty job, so help your disposal do it right.

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How to Unclog a Kitchen Sink: a Tip from Rancho Cucamonga

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

There are lots of reasons why your Rancho Cucamonga home’s kitchen sink is clogged. And in order to unclog the sink, it is important to know why it clogged up in the first place. It is easy to suggest a simple solution but the “one size fits all” philosophy doesn’t always work.

As simple as it sounds, you don’t want to use a grease dissolving agent on a clog caused by a fork that is stuck sideways in a pipe. You also don’t want to mess around with the plumbing if the solution is as simple as using a snake or pouring some dissolver down the drain. If the clog is obvious you can save yourself a lot of time and effort.

If the drain is clogged, the easiest thing to do is to operate the garbage disposal, provided it is tied into the drain. But you don’t want to turn on the disposal until you have checked for obstructions in the drain, namely utensils. Remove any utensils before turning on the garbage disposal. Sometimes even the smallest amount of debris can stop up a drain and a simple flip of the disposal switch clears it away.

If that solution doesn’t work you may want to do the following procedures – in order – to unclog the drain.

  • Run extremely hot water in the sink. This can sometimes dissolve whatever is clogging the drain by breaking down the debris.
  • Use a plunger. A blast of forced air from a plunger can often do the trick. If the clogged drain is connected by pipe to another drain (a sink with two basins), you would need to plug the other drain when plunging. Forced air will find the least path of resistance and may bypass the clog and exit out another opening.
  • Use a liquid or granulated dissolver, poured directly into the clogged drain. There are many products on the market for this task. Make sure you read the instructions carefully before dumping chemicals into your drain.
  • Snake out the pipes. Stubborn clogs that are resistant to the above solutions may require that you use a hand-held or portable snake in the pipes leading to the drain. Again, read the instructions on how to operate the snake in order to avoid damage to the pipes, drain, or yourself!
  • If the clog persists, there may be a bigger problem going on. At this point you have to ask yourself if you feel comfortable taking the plumbing apart to find the cause of the clog. There could be other more serious problems going on further down the plumbing circuit, i.e. roots in the pipes.

The last resort may require the help of a plumbing professional. You have to ask yourself if you have the time and the knowledge to disassemble your drain and pipes. It may cost you more in the long run if you damage any parts during the procedure or create other “add-on” problems.

Remember to try the easiest solutions first and if you are still unable to unclog your drain, call a qualified plumber who will safe you time and peace of mind.

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