Examining Phoenix Tub Plumbing: the Overflow Pipe

Phoenix Tub Plumbing

In Phoenix tub plumbing there are plenty of parts, large and small, that come together to make your bathtub work. Lots of things coming together and working to make sure that whenever you use your bathtub it goes smoothly. One of the more overlooked parts of your bathtub is the overflow pipe. An overflow pipe does basically what its name means, it drains overflow. If you want to take a bath in your tub, but you forget to turn off the water, it can help prevent or lessen the resulting water damage.

Phoenix Tub Plumbing

When you Phoenix tub plumbing is filled with water and the drain is plugged, the overflow pipe provides a direct route for the excess water to drain through to the sewers. This is mostly helpful when you've filled the tub too much and then get in and the water level rises above the overflow. Extra water drains without you needing to worry about it, meaning we usually forget about the process. If you depend on this pipe to keep your tub from overflowing when you leave the water running, however, you may be in for a nasty surprise.

Phoenix Tub Plumbing

Usually, the overflow pipe doesn't have a large enough hole to take in as much water as the faucet will pour out. It will drain some but won't completely stop the water level from rising, which means that if you leave the tub running, it will probably still overflow and cause serious preventable water damage. This damage can be expensive and a big pain, so don't forget to turn off the faucet, even if you're leaving the room for what you think will be just a minute. The overflow pipe will help mitigate the problem, but will not solve it completely. It can handle smaller overflow problems easily, but can not drain too much water all at once.

Phoenix Plumbing Drain Parts: The P-Trap

Phoenix Plumbing Drain

If you look at your Phoenix plumbing drain under a sink, you'll probably notice a P-shaped section of pipe. This P-shaped piece might be a bit confusing or you might just be wondering why is it shaped like that? And maybe you've noticed that it replaced an older S-shaped piece that you might have seen before. Why did it do that?

Phoenix Plumbing Drain

This piece of pipe is called the P-trap. P for obvious reasons, and trap because its purpose is to trap gasses and bacteria down the Phoenix plumbing drain so that they can't return to your home through the pipes. This is what stops some of the foul odors and viruses from coming up your drains and stinking up your home or infecting your food or family. This is accomplished by a water seal, some water that is left standing in the bottom of the curve in the P-trap. This water seal keeps out gasses and bacteria, keeping you healthy and comfortable.

Phoenix Plumbing Drain

Previously, the P-trap was usually replaced with a S-trap. Same purpose, just a different shape. The S-Trap drained directly to the floor, while the P-trap drains into a wall. Doesn't sound like a huge difference, but it can be everything. An S-trap's design was flawed because it would easily lose its water seal after the water siphoned off. You wouldn't have known this until you started to smell the sewers drains through your Phoenix plumbing drain. To address this major flaw, the shape was changed from an S to a P, which maintains the water seal much better, meaning you don't have to worry about your Phoenix plumbing drain water seal!

Some DIY Phoenix Bathroom & Plumbing Ideas That Will Cost You

Phoenix Bathroom & Plumbing

If you get caught in an emergency without the right tools for the job, odds are you can probably manage to get something together to fix whatever Phoenix bathroom & plumbing issues you are having. But when you take Phoenix bathroom & plumbing into your own hands, you've got to be incredibly careful that you don't cause more damage to your Phoenix plumbing fixtures than you are doing good. It's easy to make a mistake or use a rough object in an attempt to fix something and actually end up scratching or seriously damaging your fixtures. These damages can add up and might cost you more than it is worth!

Phoenix Bathroom & Plumbing

Probably the best example is a clogged toilet. If you're staring down a toilet without a plunger you might feel stuck. A quick internet search yields some results that tell you to take a coat hanger or something of the sort and ram it down there to try to break up whatever is causing the blockage. If you can manage to get the end of the hanger to the clog, this can work, but it is also potentially very damaging for your fixtures. Severe scratches and chipping can happen when you use something as hard as a metal coat hanger, especially if you've cut it with wire cutters and use the end with a sharp point on it! Think very carefully before you decide to shove something down your toilet, it can cause some serious damage that is hard to find because you can't see it.

Phoenix Bathroom & Plumbing

Another common issue for Phoenix bathroom & plumbing is some of the chemicals that people try to use. Chemicals can be another great way to break blocks and clear drains. Dissolving the blocks can be effective and can also work passively so you can let it sit. But you may not want to let it sit for too long. Leaving a corrosive substance in your drains can wear your pipes and may cause leaks or other pipe bursts. When you want to use a chemical approach to your Phoenix bathroom & plumbing you'll need to keep in mind that you need to flush out whatever you use so that it doesn't end up eating away at your pipes.

Choosing the Right Walls for Phoenix Shower Plumbing

Phoenix Shower Plumbing

If you are doing a remodel of your Phoenix shower plumbing then you might be thinking about choosing a new wall material for your shower. There are many choices available to consumers when choosing what to make the shower walls from, each with advantages and disadvantages.

Phoenix Shower Plumbing

The first and one of the most common materials used is tile. Tile is good for making shower walls because it is easily adjustable. Installation is simple but can be a bit of work placing and properly grouting all the tiles. Tiles are inexpensive and even the basic tiles can be used to create a quality shower wall. One of the greatest difficulties in using tile is getting it properly installed. Because tile comes in so many pieces, there are lots of connections that can fail. However, when properly used, they can create a seal that can last for around 40 years.

Another common option for shower walls is fiberglass and acrylic. Acrylic walls are also good for making showers. They are easy to install and easy to clean. If you can find a mold that fits the shower you have, it is a good idea. However, custom showers can take much more work to install an acrylic shower wall. This material has the benefit of coming in both multi-piece installations as well as single-piece. Single piece installations are large and bulky, but they have fewer points of failure, making it more likely to keep a good seal for a long time.

Phoenix Shower Plumbing

When you're considering what material to make your next Phoenix shower plumbing project with, it's a good idea to consider all the complications and benefits that come with each material. Generally, more pieces make proper installation more difficult as there are more points of failure. But more pieces also make it easier to handle and give you more control over artistic design. Choose a product that will suit your needs and help improve your Phoenix shower plumbing.

Getting Phoenix Rooter Plumbing To Clear Those Blocks

Phoenix Rooter Plumbing

Phoenix rooter plumbing has a proud history. Rooter plumbing began back around WWI. Prior to its use when a block occurred in a pipe, it was a game of guessing where the block was and then digging up the pipe to check and then replace or clear the block. This process was a little destructive and invasive, so there was a bit of a push to find a better way to clear the drains.

Phoenix Rooter Plumbing

It was decided that you could use a length of steel cable with some blades on the end and spin it, which takes out almost any block that occurs. A very common block was tree roots, so the blades and spinning had to be strong enough to cut through and clear the roots. Originally the rooters were hand powered, but eventually made it to both gas and electrical power.

There are still smaller hand-powered devices for Phoenix rooter plumbing today, but they are mostly used in smaller or more delicate situations. Commonly a hand-powered rooter is used when a block has occurred in a toilet. The cable can snake its way through the tubes of the toilet and then helps break up whatever is stopping the water.

Phoenix Rooter Plumbing

Phoenix rooter plumbing is an important part of today's plumbing tool kit. It's an effective way to clear most blocks and is used well by almost every plumbing professional. It is something that can be feasibly done on your own, but it takes some skill and knowledge not to cause more damage to pipes, especially if you are using a motorized version. Electrical and gas motors attached to blades can cause severe damage, even in copper pipes, if they aren't used right, so it is important to always be careful in whatever you try with Phoenix rooter plumbing.

3 Easy Things to Help Keep Your Phoenix Home Shower Plumbing From Clogging

Phoenix Home Shower Plumbing

If your Phoenix home shower plumbing has gotten clogged or backed up, you know it can be a real pain. Having to call a plumber to come out and get rid of the block or to get the water flowing again is a real hassle, one that most people would rather do without. Well, what can you do to try to keep this from happening? There are some simple things you can try to do that will help your Phoenix home shower plumbing stay clear and flowing.

Phoenix Home Shower Plumbing

First thing is to have a cover. Most of the drain clogs in Phoenix home shower plumbing are caused by hair. Too much hair in the drain will make it impossible for water to flow properly. A mesh covering the drain can help prevent this. If you put a fine mesh over the drain, it will probably get clogged itself, but it is much easier to pick up this piece of mesh and dump the hair out than it is to get it out from inside the pipes!

Another thing you can try doing to keep your Phoenix home shower plumbing pipes clear is to occasionally run a drain snake down to catch anything sticking to the walls or to knock gunk down. An occasional snakeing can help your drains remain clear and help improve water flow drastically.

Phoenix Home Shower Plumbing

A third option available to you is the use of chemicals. You have to be very careful when you decide to use some chemicals and enzymes, not just for your sake but to protect your pipes as well. You definitely don't want to overuse chemicals, but they can effectively break down most of the stuff that causes blocks in Phoenix home shower plumbing. So you might want to consult a plumber or contractor about whether using chemicals or enzymes will be a problem for your Phoenix home shower plumbing.

Keeping Warm With Phoenix Services Plumbing

Something we don't worry much about here in the Phoenix: frozen pipes and the problems they cause for Phoenix services plumbing. Winters here usually aren't too bad, so we don't have a lot of problems with frozen pipes. But if you're planning on a trip North for to catch some snow or to visit family, it pays to be informed on some of the issues you may face with frozen pipes.

Phoenix Services Plumbing

Why are freezing pipes so dangerous? Well, when water in the pipes freezes, it expands, which usually bursts the pipe. A broken pipe is a source of major trouble once the water starts flowing again. Flooding is a pretty common problem, and can definitely be an expensive one. For that reason, it can be super important to make sure that you properly take care of any pipes that might freeze if you are anywhere in the North for the winter.

Phoenix Services Plumbing

Most of the work to keep pipes from freezing needs to happen in advance. It mostly is getting the water out of pipes or whatever might freeze. Swimming pools and hoses are good examples of things that need to be cleared out. Right now is the time to remember this: Shut the windows and doors.

Having the windows or doors open for a time isn't the worst thing in the world. It can help you feel more comfortable, but it definitely isn't something you want to leave unattended. Many Phoenix services plumbing heaters will have a warm water heater that runs and this pipe can be frozen from cold air coming in a window if you leave the window open too long. Similarly, watch out for areas like the garage that may have water lines that you don't want to freeze. Make sure you don't let these lines get too cold for too long or you might have a big messy problem on your hands!