The big box stores are offering a wide range of plumbing products. The home handyman will find plumbing products being marketed directly to the DIY customer. Plumbers are highly skilled professionals and not everything we do is as easy as it may look. We often get called out to fix do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that have gone wrong.
Plumbing can be divided into two broad categories. Supply side deals with pipes that are under pressure, delivering water to your faucets and appliances. Drainage side deals with getting rid of waste water.
Supply side plumbing is very critical to get right. The City of London has excellent water pressure and a small leak in a supply side pipe can cause a lot of expensive damage. Drainage problems can be costly as well. Common DIY problems include improper venting and incorrect grade. This can lead to slow running or blocked drains.
The plumbing in your home is often hidden behind drywall or other finished surfaces. Quite often, a big part of the repair cost is restoring the finished surface.
DIY Plumbing Products
The DIY plumbing products being offered are designed for the homeowner that probably will not own the torches, cutting tools, etc. that a professional will carry. Manufacturers have created compression fittings and push-on fittings. If you don’t strictly adhere to the instructions, connections can pop apart days or weeks down the road. You can end up with a slow leak, some spray or a full blown gusher. Plumbing is often hidden in walls or cabinets. You usually don’t find out about leaks until it is too late. It’s critical to do it right the first time.
Home owners working with products like copper or pex pipes, really need to know what they are doing. Soldering copper pipe is a skill that professionals are trained to do properly. Improper soldering may look like it’s working, but can start leaking days later. Plastic pipes look similar but are not all the same, there are a wide variety of glues and fittings that vary from one manufacturer to the other.
At Salmon Plumbing, we use copper pipe almost exclusively for supply side plumbing. When we install a toilet or faucet, we’ll also install shut-off valves. If there ever is a problem with the toilet or faucet, you can simply use the shut-off valve to isolate the problem. Otherwise, you would have to shut down the water for the entire house.
Plumbing is an area where mistakes can be very costly. A leaking water pipe can damage walls, floors and furniture very quickly. For the majority of homeowners, plumbing is a job best left to a professional.
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