Brooks Plumbing Co. Blog: Archive for the ‘Plumbing’ Category

Plumbing Items to Consider When Remodeling Your Bathroom

Monday, January 19th, 2015

People choose to remodel a bathroom for many different reasons.

While some homeowners just want a new look and feel to the room, others remodel for practical purposes, making fixtures and storage space more accessible or installing money-saving appliances. Others remodel to take advantage of upgrades that will make their bathtubs or showers seem more relaxing and luxurious. Regardless of your reasons for upgrading, you should remember to work with a trained plumber every time you make major changes to the room.

Bathroom remodeling usually involves some level of plumbing work, and, no matter how small it may seem, it takes a professional to determine the proper placement and sealing of your new fixture and to decide if any pipe reconfigurations must be made. You may decide, for example, to install a new pedestal sink, which involves reposition the pipes so that they are fairly hidden from view. Or, you may choose to switch to a single handle design over a separate hot and cold lever for the sink, another decision which involves some plumbing knowledge for installation.

Low-Flow Toilet Installation

Another plumbing item you might consider is a low-flow toilet. If your toilet is more than a couple decades old, it probably uses more water than it needs to for a single flush. Modern low-flow toilets use only half of the water needed for flushing of older toilets because they rely on a lot of pressure to get the job done instead of high volumes of water. Some toilets also have dual flush options for liquids and solids, and the single flush setting uses even less water per flush. Installing a toilet is a big job, requiring careful sealing and knowledge of valves as well as a bit of strength to pry the old toilet out.

Finally, if you’ve decided on a new bathtub, be sure to have a plumber work with you throughout the process so that you can get the right size and shape for your bathroom remodeling project. A plumber may need to reinforce the floors, reconnect drain pipes, and hook up the new tub to the main water supply, all while checking that the new installation is in compliance with local building codes.

The friendly people at Brooks Plumbing can work with you on your Olympia bathroom remodeling project and help everything to go as smoothly as possible. Give us a call!

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3 Common Bathroom Plumbing Issues

Friday, January 9th, 2015

Ah, your bathroom. It can be an oasis from a long day (think long baths) or a trip to Hades if you’ve got plumbing problems. The good thing is that many bathroom plumbing repairs can be resolved rather quickly, and even if they can’t, you’ve got the experts on hand who can help you day or night: Brooks Plumbing.

Problem 1: Drain Clogs

Drain clogs are very common in bathrooms because they see a lot of use and also have to deal with two tough challenges every day: soap scum and human hair. Soap has fat in it, and when the excess soap lather heads down the drain, the soap scum clings to the piping and can harden. Combine this with hair, and you’ve got a nice clog on your hands.

Problem 2: Toilet Problems

No one really wants to think about their toilet in any kind of detail, but it is a very used item in your home and can develop problems. One of the most common problems with toilets is running. With a running toilet, the water is constantly in flow; you’ll likely hear a noise coming from the tank. The main reason toilets run is because the flush valve isn’t closing all the ways, so water from the tank keep running into the toilet’s bowl. Other common toilet problems can be clogs and slow tank fill.

Problem 3: Slow Draining Sink

Slow draining sinks are usually the harbinger of clogs to come, so if you are experiencing a slow draining sink, try to resolve the issue before it becomes a full-on clog. Slow draining sinks can be caused by objects lodged in the piping, soap scum, hair, etc. You can try to clean build-up yourself with some white vinegar and baking soda, but if this doesn’t work, call a professional.

Don’t let your plumbing problems stop you from using your bathroom. If you are experiencing plumbing problems in your bathroom, call Brooks Plumbing to schedule bathroom plumbing service in Olympia today!

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How Can I Tell that I Need Video Pipe Inspection for My Plumbing?

Friday, December 12th, 2014

Honestly, this question is best left up to the professional that responds to your home. He or she will be able to judge the situation and whether or not it needs any given solution. That being said, it’s never a bad thing to know more about your plumbing system, and the problems associated with it. Let’s take a look at what video pipe inspection is, and when it is most appropriate.

Video Pipe Inspection

Video pipe inspection is a type of visual inspected conducted by remote. It utilizes a small camera, equipped with lights and motors that allow it to see and rotate. Additional equipment may be attached, depending on the needs of the technician. These cameras are attached to a long cable, which often connects to a power source in the service truck.

During the pipe inspection, the camera is lowered down the pipe. Rollers are often used to improve the camera’s mobility. Once the camera is in place, the camera operator uses a computer to view the feed and remotely control the camera’s movement.

Why Use Video Pipe Inspection?

Video pipe inspection is commonly used to gain more information about blockages in your home’s pipes. Without knowing what exactly is causing the blockage, the technician is operating at a disadvantage when trying to remove it. It could be a tangle of hair, or food waste, or lime scale. It could even be a tree root that’s grown into the pipe. If the technician tries to remove a tree root, believing it to be hair, he or she can damage equipment and waste time. For this reason, video pipe inspections are used to verify what exactly the problem is before a solution is decided.

Video pipe inspections are not limited to blockages. In areas where the pipe is inaccessible any other way, video pipe inspections can find leaks and other damage that would otherwise be difficult to address.

If you need help with your plumbing, call Brooks Plumbing to schedule professional plumbing services in the Olympia area.

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Repairs You May Need for the Kitchen Sink

Friday, December 5th, 2014

It’s pretty hard to do anything in your kitchen without a properly-working kitchen sink, which is one of the reasons why problems with your kitchen can be such a nuisance. Unfortunately, problems don’t resolve themselves, so if you experience any of the following kitchen plumbing issues, call a Brooks Plumbing expert for help:

Leaky Faucets

Leaky faucets can waste a great deal of water and if left to drip for a long period of time, can erode and/or rust the area on which it is dripping. You can check the faucet aerator yourself by unscrewing it; if there is debris in the aerator, wash it out and screw the aerator back on. If your faucet continues leaking, call for an expert.

Clogged Drain

It isn’t unusual for food to lodge in your kitchen sink, or for grease to build-up inside the piping. These things and other issues can cause your kitchen sink to clog. You can try to plunge your sink, but if that doesn’t resolve the problem, call for help. Note: do NOT use chemical drain cleaners. These products have very harsh chemical that can damage your plumbing and many times do not resolve the issue.

Issues with Garbage Disposal

Garbage disposal can be misused, with items like plastic and glass being flushed down the sink. Garbage disposals are not for garbage; they are made to reduce food waste only, so only food should be washed into them. Most garbage disposals have a reset button on the motor, so if your disposal isn’t working, you try that first. If your disposal still doesn’t work after pressing the reset button, it’s best to call for assistance.

Trained and experienced plumbers have the right tools, knowledge and expertise to fix your plumbing problems quickly, correctly and efficiently. If you are experiencing problems with your kitchen sink, or have any other kind of plumbing problem, call Brooks Plumbing today and schedule plumbing repair in Olympia with one of our expert plumbers.

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Reasons for a Sudden Increase in Your Water Usage

Friday, November 28th, 2014

If you keep track of your water bills from month to month, you should have a general idea of how much you pay on average. You can expect fluctuations during certain seasons, or times when you have extra people staying in your home. But if you notice a rise in your water usage that seems unusual, you may have a serious problem with your home’s plumbing.

Below are some reasons that you might see water usage and water bills suddenly increase. In many of these cases, you will need to call for professional plumbers to investigate the issue and see if there are repairs that will solve the problem. Do not hesitate when it comes to repair issues; much more could be at a stake than just high water bills. To reach superb services for plumbing in Olympia, WA, call Brooks Plumbing today. We take pride in putting quality into everything we do.

Hidden Pipe Leaks

This is the most common reason for an unexplained spike in water bills in a home—and in this case, you should be thankful for the rise in your bills, since it’s a warning sign that you need to have professionals take care of leaking and prevent it from causing expensive water damage to your home. Leaking pipes in a home are difficult to notice since they usually occur in areas that are hidden behind drywall and floorboards. It’s very important for you to pay attention to signs that leaking is occurring, such as a water usage rise.

Busted Water Main or Slab Leak

If the water use rise seems remarkably high, the issue may be in the water main that brings fresh water from the municipal supply into your home. A burst water main will result in large volumes of water waste. Check the lawn of your home to see if there are puddles showing up unexpectedly; this is a strong indicator that you need professional repairs or a replacement water line. Another possibility is a slab leak where the water main runs beneath the foundation of your home. These are tricky to locate and require excavation to repair, so call for plumbing experts to handle the problem.

Leaky Toilets

See if any of the toilets in your home are running for long periods of time after being flushed. This indicates a toilet with leaky flappers or a similar problem that is allowing large amounts of water to run. This is often an occurrence with older toilets. When you call on professionals plumbers, they can advise you on whether the toilet needs repairs or if replacing it with a newer, more water efficient unit is the best solution.

If you decide to “settle” on having higher water bills, you could end up with significant damage to your plumbing and your home. Call on Brooks Plumbing in Olympia, WA today to look into those mysterious increases in water usage and find out how to remedy them. You’ll save money not only on water bills but also on future plumbing repairs and fixes to your home due to water damage.

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Services You May Need to Schedule for Your Drains

Friday, November 14th, 2014

One of the most common reasons people call on professional plumbers is to schedule drain services. Drainage systems are something that no homeowner wants to deal with on their own, as these are responsible for carrying wastewater out of your home. When you need professional drain services in Olympia, you need a quality experienced plumber with the right tools for the job, like the folks at Brooks Plumbing. Give us a call to schedule any of the following services.

  • Video Pipe Inspection: In general, it’s a good idea to have someone check your pipes from time to time to inspect for any leaks or major clogs that may end up causing backup to infiltrate your home. Leaks can be tough to detect on your own, as they won’t always cause a noticeable effect right away. By the time you discover a leak, it may be too late, as wastewater and sewage may have already infiltrated your property. What better way to inspect for leaks then with modern video inspection technology? A small video camera is fed through the pipes at the end of a cable, so that plumbers can locate the exact source of a leak as they view live footage of the camera’s path. You can do this as part of annual plumbing maintenance, or with drain cleaning service.
  • Drain Cleaning: When you have a major drain clog, sometimes a plunger just won’t do the trick. And those liquid drain cleaning solutions advertised on TV and in hardware stores can be toxic to the skin and eyes and may actually damage your pipes. Professionals know the tricks for clog removal and have tools that are safe for your drains, removing clogs completely and preventing future blockage from forming as well.
  • Drain Replacement: Unfortunately, no plumbing component can last forever, and this is certainly true of your drain pipes. A major block in the pipes can cause a pressure imbalance that allows a sewage pipe to burst. Tree roots or standard corrosion may also be responsible for a pipe’s demise. Whatever the case, don’t wait for repairs, as a drain pipe leak can mean severe consequences for your family’s health.

Call Brooks Plumbing today to speak with an experienced Olympia plumbers about drain services for your home today!

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Tools Professionals Use to Clean Your Drains

Friday, November 7th, 2014

Chances are, you’ve had the misfortune to encounter a drain clog at some point in your life. If this happens in the shower, you’re left standing in a pool of dirty water. And if a drain clog occurs in a sink, even a small task like brushing your teeth becomes quite a chore. A lot of the time, homeowners rush out to buy anything that will make the clog disappear, including plungers and drain cleaning liquids.

While plungers are a great way to knock clogs loose from the drain and send them down the pipes, blockage further away from the drain opening may be too far for a household plunger. And chemical drain cleaning solutions are not safe for your pipes and are toxic to humans. Professional drain cleaning is the way to go for a particularly tough clog, using tools that won’t harm your pipes and take care of any type of obstruction. Let’s take a look at some of this equipment.

Small Drain Augers

For some clogs, a plumber will simply insert a drain auger into the drain opening in order to pull out the clog. These are long pieces of metal or plastic with a rigid or coiled end that will latch onto most types of clogs.

Large Motorized or Hand-Cranked Drain Snakes

Drain clogs that are located deep down in the pipes can affect multiple drains. Most plumbers are also equipped with large drain augers (or drain snakes) that can be fed through the pipes either via a crank or automatically with a motor. These may have a coiled end for clog removal, or additional detachable components. A plumber may decide to switch out the coiled end for a sharp tool to try and break up tougher clogs like tree roots and send them down the pipes.

Video Pipe Inspection

One of the most important pieces of equipment that professionals use is video pipe inspection. Before a plumber can begin to decide which type of tool to use, they must know the location and type of blockage. Technicians feed a long wire with a fiber optic camera at the end so they can view a live feed and decide on an appropriate course of action.

Looking for a quality plumber in Olympia? Call Brooks Plumbing for thorough professional drain cleaning services.

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How to Prevent Kitchen Plumbing Repair

Friday, October 31st, 2014

Waiting for a repair technician to fix your kitchen plumbing can be an unpleasant situation. Your plumber may try to show up as quickly as possible, but your dinner plans are already ruined, as you cannot properly drain wastewater, or because your kitchen sink does not provide adequate water pressure.

There are a few things you can do to keep things running smoothly in your kitchen. If you do find yourself in need of kitchen plumbing repairs in Olympia, call on the expertise of the skilled plumbers at Brooks Plumbing right away.

  • Dispose of F.O.G. in a separate trash receptacle. Fats, oils, and grease (F.O.G.) can cause a lot of problems for your plumbing even though they may appear to be harmless. When grease cools down it solidifies, and it may become stuck to the insides of your pipes. As you add additional F.O.G. and food of the garbage disposal, they can become caught along with the sludge, until a major drain clog forms.
  • Don’t use chemical drain cleaners in case of a clog. Any plumber will tell you that chemical drain cleaners are dangerous and can have disastrous effects for the skin and eyes. Also, these liquid cleaners are simply incapable of dissolving every type of blockage that may affect your drain pipes. If a plunger does not dislodge a kitchen plumbing clog, you need professionals with drain augers and other tools to clear away blockage for good.
  • Do not throw non-food items, hard food items, or fibrous foods in the garbage disposal. Plastic, paper, glass, metal, and hard-food items such as meat bones do not belong in your garbage disposal. Your unit simply cannot process these types of items and may break down in the process, so that you’ll need to replace your entire unit to avoid clogs. Additionally, fibrous foods like corn husks and celery can wrap around the blades, impairing your unit.
  • Schedule plumbing maintenance every year. Finally, be sure to schedule plumbing maintenance every year for a thorough inspection of your pipes and fixtures. Plumbers will look for any leaks that could reduce the water pressure of your kitchen sink and will clean and adjust components of your plumbing as needed.

If you need a plumber in Olympia, call the friendly technicians at Brooks Plumbing today!

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When Is a Grease Trap Necessary?

Friday, October 24th, 2014

Experts advise that you throw out any type of grease, fat, or oil in a separate trash receptacle instead of pouring it down the drain in your kitchen. This is because these substances can cause major problems for your plumbing system and for the environment. Of course, when you rinse dishes and put food down the disposal, some fat and oil will undoubtedly make its way into the pipes. This is why many homeowners choose to install a grease trap and why most commercial kitchens are required to do so.

Why Is Grease Such a Problem for the Drains?

Fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) seem rather innocuous, don’t they? However, these substances can solidify as they begin to cool down. And as they do so, they can cling to the insides of drain pipes. As food scraps and other debris move through the pipes, they may become stuck on to the sludge that lines the pipes and cause blockage that will require a professional to remove. Furthermore, these oils can create problems in the septic tank or sewer main and allow sewage to release into the environment and pose a risk to public health.

What Types of Structures Require a Grease Trap?

Many cities require a grease trap in order to keep grease out of the sewer system. In many cases, you will be fined if you are found to be responsible for any sewer backup caused by a lack of grease interceptors in your commercial kitchen. The fact is that your commercial kitchen disposes of large quantities of FOG daily, and you need a system that can separate these substances from the wastewater. However, many experts also recommend grease traps for use in homes, especially if you do a lot of cooking and cleaning or if you tend to put greasy dishes in the dishwasher.

Choose Professionals for Grease Trap Installation

Grease trap installation is a job best completed by professional technicians. There are a couple of reasons you should not try this on your own. For one, a grease trap must be properly sized so that grease does not accumulate too quickly. Furthermore, an expert is the best person to keep you informed about how often to clean out the trap.

Need a plumber in Olympia for quality grease trap installation? Call Brooks Plumbing today!

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How to Avoid Repairs for Your Sewer Line

Friday, September 19th, 2014

The sewer line is one of the most crucial parts of your home plumbing. The sewer line collects and removes all the waste water from the drains in a house out to the municipal sewer line in the street. If the sewer line develops leaks, blocks, or sustains damage, it will not only stop the drains in your home, but it could lead to a sewage back-up into the basement or the foundations, causing extensive damage. Making the situation worse is that repairs for sewer lines are often costly and time-consuming: you want to avoid these repairs if at all possible.

There are some ways to take care of the sewer line in your home to make repairs less likely. If you need plumbing services in Olympia, WA, call Brooks Plumbing. We handle multiple drain and sewer services that will help keep your sewer line in the best shape possible.

Ways to Avoid Sewer Line Repairs

  • Replace older galvanized steel pipes: This is major job, but as a preventive measure it is one of the best things you can do for your home’s plumbing. If your house is older than 1970, it may have galvanized steel pipes, which are prone to corrosion and will eventually fall apart. If the sewer line is an older steel pipe, you should arrange to have it replaced with a corrosion-resistant copper line and prevent numerous future problems.
  • Avoid planting trees and plants near the line: Tree root infestations are one of the principle reasons that sewer lines sustain damage and become clogged. The roots of trees grow naturally toward the moisture around the pipes and then seek the nutrients inside, forcing their way through gaps. The root growth is often enough to cause the pipe to break. To help avoid these problems, landscape your yard so that trees with deep roots are planted far from the sewer line area (you can ask a plumber to show you where this is) and the plants that are near it have shallow roots.
  • Do not dispose of oil, fat, or grease down kitchen drains: These food products look innocuous in liquid form, but when they cool down inside drains they turn into waxy solids that will quickly form tough clogs. If enough fat, grease, and oil coats the inside of a sewer line, it could end up cause a serious clog that will require extensive sewer cleaning services to eliminate. To help prevent this, place all fat, grease, and oil in a separate receptacle and remove them to the trash.

At Brooks Plumbing, our motto is “Quality in Everything We Do.” We have stood by this promise since we started in business in 1994. When you need professional plumbing services in Olympia, WA, make us your first call.

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