Plumbing Tips and Tricks

If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person who is willing to take the time to learn what you need to know about plumbing then you will be able to fix the leakage errors that occur in your home. By learning the correct way you will save yourself time, money and a tremendous amount of frustrating moments!

Nobody enjoys a leaky faucet. Not only is it annoying, especially if you have to listen to it drip as you are trying to fall asleep, but it is also wasting water and costing you money. In fact you could say that your money is pouring down the drain day after day! The good news is that if you have a leaky faucet you do not have to live with it..

In some instances you may be able to tighten the nut that is found below the hand wheel and that will correct the problem. Guard against tightening the nut more than a one quarter turn however. If you do it more than that then you could potentially damage the valve and end up with a worse problem on your hands.

You may discover that tightening the valve is not enough and that it actually needs to be resoldered. If it needs this then leave the base on while you work but take off the hand wheels as well as all of the inner parts. The next step in the plumbing process is to drain down the water in the pipe and then set about resoldering the damaged joint. A professional plumber will tell you that it is a good idea to completely remove the whole unit when you are in the resoldering process.

If there is a copper pipe that has sprung a leak then you can fix it by first draining the water and then cutting the pipe as carefully as you possibly can. Be gentle! This may seem complicated the first time you do it but the more you do it the more you will begin to feel like the plumbing expert you are on your way to becoming.

To repair the leaky copper pipe cut it with a tubing cutter where the leak is to be found. Then use a coupling or a union to repair the leak. For those who are not familiar with a union, it is a length of copper pie that has the exact same interior diameter as the external diameter of the pipe that needs to be corrected. The copper pie contains a ridge in the center of it. It is this center that you will slide the pipe through.

As you take on more plumbing jobs you will become more adept at repairing the water problems in your home. This will save you money on calling a plumber and will help you become a more efficient home fix-it person!