Purchasing your first home is one of the most exciting and pivotal moments in your adult life! From the flexibility and freedom of being able to make upgrades, to building your credit and finding community, homeownership is an all-around rewarding experience. With this excitement, however, comes responsibilities you have not yet faced. Dealing with your own landscaping and maintenance are some of the major changes that occur when you go from renting to owning, so it’s important that you learn quickly and keep up with the responsibilities at hand. You’ll likely have questions that come up as you deal with certain circumstances for the first time. ASAP Plumbing knows that dealing with your home’s plumbing is not the most glamorous of changes, so we’ve put together some tips for those first-time buyers out there.
Have a Plunger in Every Bathroom
Aside from the obvious use of a plunger for unclogging your toilet, having one handy in each of your bathrooms can be useful for a variety of reasons. These convenient tools are equally successful at unclogging sink, tub and shower drains, so make sure to try it out before giving up or using harsh chemicals to unclog pipes.
Take Care of Your Garbage Disposal
Common myths like the idea that using hot water helps grease flow more easily down the drain and that eggshells help sharpen blades are actually harmful and negatively affect your disposal. Make sure you do the proper research before putting anything down your disposal, or call our friends at ASAP Plumbing for assistance.
Clean Out Your Drains Often
Cleaning out our drains periodically prevents unpleasant odors, standing water and bugs. Make sure you have a plan to schedule a drain cleaning at least once a month to ensure your pipes are well taken care of.
Know Where Your Main Water Shutoff Valve is Located
In the event of a plumbing emergency, knowing where the shutoff valve is located is crucial. Make sure you know where to find your valve and that it is easily accessible. Furniture, appliances or other items should never be placed in the way of this valve.
Get to Know Your Home’s Plumbing on Day One
The first weekend in a new home is the right time to walk through the whole plumbing system before anything goes wrong. Open every cabinet under every sink. Find the shutoff valves at each toilet. Locate the access panel for the water heater. Take photos as you go and label them on your phone with the room. The half hour you spend doing this once gives you a head start on every plumbing issue you’ll face for as long as you live there.
Pay extra attention to the water heater. Note the brand, model, capacity and the year it was manufactured, which is usually printed on the label. Many tank-style heaters last 8 to 12 years, so knowing the age of yours tells you whether replacement is something to plan for soon or something you can put off. Take the same approach with the dishwasher, washing machine and refrigerator water line. The age of each tells you what to expect.
Read the Inspection Report One More Time
The home inspection from your closing is a useful document, but most buyers only look at it once. Pull it back out a few weeks after move-in and read it carefully. Inspectors usually flag minor plumbing items as informational rather than required repairs, things like a slow drain, a faucet with a small drip or a toilet that takes a long time to refill. Those weren’t dealbreakers at closing, but they are still real issues that get worse if ignored.
Make a small list of everything plumbing-related the report mentioned. You don’t have to fix it all at once. Knock items off as you have time, starting with the ones that pose risk of water damage if they fail.
Watch the First Few Water Bills Closely
Your first three or four water bills set a baseline. If usage is steady around the same number each month for similar household activity, you’re probably leak-free. If one of those early bills jumps without a clear reason, treat it as a warning sign and start looking for the source. The most common culprits in newer homes are running toilets and outdoor faucets that didn’t fully shut. In older homes, the supply line from the meter to the house is also worth checking.
The simplest leak check is the meter test. Turn off everything that uses water, walk to the meter, note the reading and wait 30 minutes without using anything. If the meter has moved, water is leaving the system somewhere.
Keep a Basic Plumbing Toolkit at Home
You don’t need a workshop. A few items handle most small jobs:
- A flange plunger for toilets and a cup plunger for sinks
- A small pipe wrench and an adjustable wrench
- A roll of plumber’s tape (Teflon tape) for any threaded connection
- A bucket large enough to fit under a sink trap
- A drain snake of about 25 feet for clearing simple clogs
- A flashlight, since cabinets are usually dark
- A handful of supply line replacements in standard sizes
Most of those items live in a single small toolbox. With them on hand, you can handle a clogged toilet, a slow drain or a leaky supply line on a Saturday afternoon without making a service call.
Know What’s Worth a DIY and What Isn’t
The line between “I can handle this” and “call a pro” matters more than people realize. A clogged toilet, a leaky faucet washer, a sticky shutoff valve, a shower head that’s lost pressure to mineral buildup, all of those are reasonable first-time-homeowner projects. Anything involving the gas line, the main supply, the sewer line or any work behind a wall is a different story. The cost of a bad repair on those usually runs into thousands of dollars in damage on top of the original problem.
If you’re not sure where a job falls, the safer move is a call to a licensed plumber. The diagnostic visit gives you a clear answer, and you can decide from there whether you want to take it on yourself or have the work done.
Build a Relationship with a Local Plumber Before You Need One
The worst time to start looking for a plumber is during an emergency. Take a few minutes early on to identify a licensed local plumber in your area, save the number and read the recent reviews. For homes across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including Gulfport, Biloxi, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis, having that contact ready is the difference between a calm fix and a stressful scramble.
While it’s tempting to call someone the minute you have a problem, some plumbing issues require simple solutions. We are here to help make sure your time is well-spent. For more severe plumbing problems, call ASAP Plumbing! We’re here to help you with anything from leak detection to water heater installation; call us today at (228)-865-ASAP.