Get Ready for Spring with Our Plumbing Tips
Spring Plumbing Tips
Winter can be hard on your Massachusetts plumbing with freezing cold temperatures. Although winter hasn’t been too bad around Burlington and Lexington this year. Most times winter in Massachusetts makes your plumbing susceptible to freezing up, causing broken pipes and leaks. Now that spring is around the corner, it’s time to inspect your plumbing to make sure you didn’t suffer any broken pipes.
Every now and again it’s good to do a quick inspection of your plumbing around the house and the change of seasons is probably the best time to do your plumbing inspection. Below we share what to inspect this spring.
Visual Inspection – Visually inspect pipes for leaks that are under sinks, under toilets and in the basement. Especially where pipes are located near exterior walls as they tend to freeze up crack and leak.
Clean Gutters – Sounds crazy hearing this from a plumber? But keeping your gutters and downspouts free of debris to keep water away from your house. Unless you would prefer to install and maintain a sump pump.
Check Toilets for Leaks - Spring time is a good time to check for leaky toilets. Leaky toilets can be an expensive waste of water especially when it’s hard to detect a leak as toilet leaks can be very silent.
How to check for leaks in your toilet, start by taking off the tank cover and add some food coloring to the tank. After about 15-20 minutes check your toilet bowl to see if the water has changed color because of a leaking tank.
Check Your Outdoor Spigot – often homeowners forget to shut off and drain the water to outside spigots. When temperatures go below freezing around Massachusetts the water that’s been sitting in the spigot and pipes will freeze up and break. To see if you have a leak simply turn on the water spigot to the garden house, if you see water pouring out spigot you probably have a broken pipe. If you do have a leak quickly shut off the water and call a licensed plumber to get the leak fixed!
Water Heater Checkup – Start with checking the temperature of water heater. According to the Energy.gov website water heaters should be set at 120ºF
“Although some manufacturers set water heater thermostats at 140ºF, most households usually only require them to be set at 120ºF, which also slows mineral buildup and corrosion in your water heater and pipes. Water heated at 140ºF also poses a safety hazard—scalding. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, water heaters should be set at 120°F. Set the thermostat too high, and you’ll be putting yourself at risk of scalding. Plus, your bills will skyrocket.”
Source:
Check the temperature setting on the hot water heater as recommended above. While checking the temperature setting on your water heater check for any leaks.
These last steps can be done yourself, however it’s probably best to call a licensed plumber. While checking for leaks, check for corrosion and clean as needed. Sediment can build up in a water tank so have the tank flushed to remove the sediment.
For more help with plumbing and maintenance, call the plumbers at Kirkland and Shaw.
Kirkland and Shaw Inc.
5 Adams Street
Burlington, MA 01803
Over 65 Years of Plumbing & Heating Experience
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Kirkland and Shaw Inc.
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Burlington, MA 01803
(781) 272-2670
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