Category: Kitchen

Prevent Frozen Pipes Before the Real Cold

Prevent Frozen Pipes Before the Real Cold

Prevent Frozen Pipes Before the Real Cold

There are three major causes of frozen pipes: quick drops in temperature, poor insulation, and thermostats that are set too low. Here are some important steps you can take now (before the real cold weather hits us) to prevent frozen pipes:

Insulate pipes in your home’s crawl spaces and attic; exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing. As a general rule, remember that the more insulation you use, the better protected your pipes will be.

Use heat tape on exposed water pipes to prevent your pipes from freezing. Heat tape requires electricity, but it can be used just on those days and nights when the temperature is below freezing and you’re concerned about preventing frozen pipes.

Seal leaks that may allow cold air inside near where pipes are located. You should be on the lookout for air leaks around electrical wiring, dry vents, and pipes. Use caulk or insulation to keep the cold air out. In freezing temperatures, even a small opening can let in enough cold air to cause a pipe to freeze.

Disconnect garden hoses and, if possible, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets.

Freshen Up Your Garbage Disposal

Freshen Up Your Garbage Disposal

Don’t let the smell of your Garbage Disposal ruin your holidays this year. By using common household items, you can freshen your garbage disposal without harmful chemicals, safe for the environment, safe for your family, and economical. With a few items you may already have in your home, you can naturally clean and deodorize your garbage disposal and freshen your whole kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

Lemon, Lime, or Orange
Baking Soda
Distilled White Vinegar

RECIPE 1:

To freshen your garbage disposal, peel a lemon and put the peel down the drain. Run the disposal for several minutes. The peel will naturally dissolve built up food, kill odor causing bacteria, and leave the kitchen fresh. An orange can also be used, if you have one on hand.

RECIPE 2:

Pour 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white vinegar down garbage disposal. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal. This will clean and deodorize your disposal, as well as break up built up residue. For large amounts of built up residue, you may need to follow this process more than one time.

RECIPE 3:

Make white vinegar ice cubes by freezing full strength white vinegar in an ice cube tray. Run several cubes down the disposal while flushing with cold water. It is handy to keep this on hand, for a quick freshener. While your disposer is breaking up the ice, you will be cleaning the blades while you deodorize.

Another Potential Disaster Averted!

In keeping along similar lines of our last blog, sometimes owners fear the worst when they have to call a plumber to address what could be a severe and expensive issue in their home. On Friday, we got a call from a long-term customer with inadequate hot water throughout thier home.

Jimmy and Ryan responded to the call and tested and inspected and found the problem was not their hot water heater. The problem was an outdoor bar sink faucet that had a broken stem causing a cross-connection making them lose hot water in the house. They warmed up the blow torch and installed isolation valves, fixing the problem and making hot showers for everyone possible again. This particular service call only took an hour and they were able to clear a clogged shower drain as well…

We can’t stress enough how important it is to call your plumber no matter how bad you think the situation could be- it doesn’t always mean it will be as bad as you fear.

Click here for pictures of Jimmy and Ryan on the job!

A No-Water Emergency Might Not Be Because of Your Well Pump

You’re on the other side of a lightning storm and all of a sudden you have no water. You panic at the thought of a costly well pump replacement and calling a plumber is the last thing you want to do….. Take a minute to read about our weekend.

Due to the severe lightning we had this weekend we had a record number of emergency no water calls- and amazingly enough- all of them had one common culprit…. the pressure switch….

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The pressure switch is the primary sensing device on your water storage tank which operates your submersible well pump and controls the cycling of your water system.

The first pressure switch we replaced this weekend was defective internally. The bellows diaphragm rotted, causing internal leakage and burnt out the switch control.

Another pressure switch was internally burnt out due to the lightning storm the previous evening and caused a power surge to melt the internal electrical components.

After a solid 24 hour block of dealing with what could have been our customers worst fear of having to pull and replace their submersible pump and all related equipment from their well…. we were able to give them their water service back with an inexpensive part- a primary component to their water system.

Welcome to Bee and Jay on WordPress

Welcome to Bee and Jay on WordPress

Welcome to Bee and Jay Plumbing on WordPress!

This is a place where we intend to share with you some tricks of the trade, post some how-to videos, and keep you informed on the latest and greatest plumbing & heating innovations…..

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Happy blogging!

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