Whole-house plumbing inspections should be scheduled once every year. Although much of the plumbing in your Boise, ID home is hidden away, it has a major impact on the health, safety, and all-around usability of your living space. These visits give plumbers the chance to catch and correct minor problems early on. They’re also key to maintaining the all-important protections provided by your home insurance plan and other policies and warranties. Read on to find out why you should never skip these appointments.
Identify Slow and Hidden Leaks
Not all leaks cause visible water damage. In fact, most fester for months at a time behind drywall or at the backs of water-reliant appliances. Whether behind your dishwasher or washing machine or in one of your crawlspaces, a hidden leak can leave you struggling with pervasive mold problems, flooring issues, foundation issues, and more. Scheduling a plumbing inspection each year ensures that slow and hidden leaks are always spotted and resolved within a timely fashion.
Maintain Compliance With the Requirements of Your Home Warranty
Home insurance plans and home warranties that cover plumbing systems are both mutually binding agreements. Just as companies promise to pay for covered damages, you agree to do all that you can to prevent them. Annual plumbing inspections enable plumbers to identify and replace worn or missing parts before they lead to floods and other costly events. They limit the likelihood of water damage and minimize the amount of property damage that does occur. If you check all relevant insurance policies and warranty documents, you’ll likely find that you’re required to schedule a whole-house plumbing inspection every year that you’re covered. If you don’t, you could be at risk of having your coverage voided.
Identify Water Pressure Issues
When you turn your water on, does it come gushing out of your taps? If so, most of the water that you’re paying for is probably flowing down your drains unused.
Although excessively high water pressure might not seem like a major problem, it actually is. High water pressure takes a toll on dishwashers and washing machines, and it can significantly reduce the lifespans of these and other appliances. It also drives up your water bill and wears down your plumbing fixtures. During your next plumbing inspection, your plumber can install a pressure reducing valve or use other mitigation strategies to limit damages and losses and cut your utility costs.
Whole-House Inspections Could Be a Covered Service
When you consider the amount of building damage that regular plumbing inspections can prevent, investing in these services is more than worthwhile. However, you may even discover that these yearly inspections are a covered service. To help homeowners remain compliant with the terms of their agreements, many insurance companies and home warranty providers include one covered plumbing inspection as part of their products. Before paying out of pocket for your next inspection, read through your policy documents to find out if this benefit is available.
Get Rid of Unpleasant Odors
Have you been struggling with drain gnats or unpleasant drain odors? There’s likely a good reason why. Surprisingly, these are issues that many homeowners neglect throughout the year. They aren’t always pressing enough to schedule urgent plumbing service, and they’re fairly easy to adapt to as long as they remain minor annoyances. What many people don’t know is that these drain issues can also set the stage for rodent infestation. Dirty drain catches and hidden leaks give rats and mice an accessible source of water and food.
When a plumber visits for your yearly inspection, they’ll identify the underlying cause of your drain problems. They can also determine and implement the correct solution. It may be time to have your drains cleaned or to have certain drain elements replaced. No matter what the case may be, you’ll have a cleaner, fresher-smelling home and a living environment that you actually enjoy being in.
Ensure the Safety of Your Water Heater
Plumbing inspections cover all water supply pipes, wastewater pipes, commodes, plumbing fixtures, drains, and outdoor sewer pipes. They also include in-depth examinations of water heaters. Plumbers perform water temperature checks, pressure relief valve inspections, and pipe testing. They finish by flushing water heaters to ensure optimum performance and limit the rate of ongoing wear. If you’ve ever had a tank water heater suddenly rupture in your home, these services can help you avoid the stress, hassle, and property damage that these events commonly cause.
Improve the Efficiency of Your Drains
Are you tired of showering while standing ankle-deep in your own gray water? Does your bathtub take forever to fully empty? Issues like these could be the result of a simple buildup of soap scum, body oils, and accumulated hair. However, they can also be an indication of an impending, whole-house backup. This is especially true when a house has multiple slow-moving or blocked drains at once.
Your plumber can use basic visual inspection techniques to find out why your drains aren’t working. When needed, plumbers can use noninvasive camera line inspections for complex issues that prove difficult to diagnose. They can also share tips for ensuring that drain problems don’t reoccur.
Address Sewer Line Problems to Prevent Whole-House Backups
Nothing is worse than having raw sewage back up into your home. This happens when sewer lines leading to the municipal sewer system are broken or obstructed. Sadly, there are a number of things that can lead to sewer line issues, and there’s always the potential to have unseen blockages form.
The underground pipes that travel away from your house are rich with nutrients and moisture that aggressive tree roots and weeds are constantly on the lookout for. If these pipes develop age-related cracks or other tiny openings, these growths will take advantage of the resulting ingress and enter them. Worse still, tree roots and weeds can experience exponential growth once they’re tapped into their nutrient-rich center. As they expand, the outlet for wastewater will diminish. Your drains will move slowly, and over time, they might not move at all.
Another common cause of whole-house backups is the use of “flushable” self-care wipes. These products don’t break down in water like toilet paper does. Their fibrous makeup also causes them to get snagged on worn areas at the interior of residential pipes where they form mini blockages. “Flushable” wipes are additionally prone to attracting fats, oils, and other “flushable” products. The results are fatbergs or smallbergs, which are hard obstructions that must be manually broken down and removed.
Plumbers can identify and resolve problems like these during an inspection, before pathogen-filled blackwater comes rushing into the building. Timely interventions often mean cheaper repairs. You’ll spend less to have your sewer fixed, and you may even avoid additional property damages.
Stay Up to Date With Your Plumbing Replacement Needs
Another important benefit of scheduling annual plumbing inspections is being able to sidestep costly surprises. Your plumber can let you know the age and expected lifespan of your home’s pipes and other plumbing elements. This way, you can budget and prepare for major plumbing projects long in advance of the need for them.
At Express Plumbing Heating & Air, we proudly serve homeowners throughout Boise, Idaho and the surrounding areas. We offer plumbing, heating, cooling, and duct cleaning services. We also provide preventative maintenance plans. To schedule your annual whole-house plumbing inspection, give Express Plumbing Heating & Air a call today.
