Plumbing Questions and Answers

Both. Most calls come from homeowners and landlords in Elyria, and small shops and offices call for repairs too, such as a restroom drain that backs up or a supply line that leaks.

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Water that will not stop, sewage coming up through a floor drain or a tub, a house with no water at all, or water near outlets and the electrical panel. Close the main shutoff if water is running, keep people away from wet electrics, and call. A smell of gas is the gas utility’s call first, from outside the house.

Burst Pipe Steps

Look where the water line enters the basement and along the joists. Copper is orange-brown and dull, galvanized steel is gray with threaded joints, PEX is flexible plastic tubing in red, blue or white, and old drain stacks are often black cast iron. Many older Elyria houses have a mix after decades of repairs.

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Disconnect the garden hoses, make sure the main shutoff turns, wrap pipes that run through cold spaces, and test the sump pump before the spring melt. Fall is also a good time to look over the water heater, before the cold months ask the most of it.

Seasonal Care Guide

It starts with finding the cause of the problem, then the options for fixing it, then the work itself and a round of checks before the job is called finished.

Our Process

A drain that clogs again within weeks usually still has the cause in it. A plunger or a short cable can punch through a clog and leave grease, scale or hair lining the pipe to catch the next load. Roots grow back after they are cut, and a sagging pipe collects debris wherever water sits.

A blocked vent can also pass for a recurring clog: if the drain still gurgles after it is cleared, check the vent.

Toilets are made for toilet paper and human waste. Keep out wipes of any kind, including ones labeled flushable, as well as paper towels, cotton swabs, dental floss, feminine products and cat litter.

In the kitchen, keep out grease, oil and fat, coffee grounds, eggshells, and starchy or stringy scraps such as rice, pasta, potato peels and celery, even with a garbage disposal running.

The clearest sign is water coming up where it should not: in a basement floor drain when the washer empties, or in a tub when a toilet flushes. Other signs are a toilet whose water level moves while another fixture drains, slow drains on more than one floor, and a sewer smell or a soggy patch in the yard along the line.

Until the line is cleared, use as little water as possible.

Repair makes sense when one part has failed on a tank that is still sound: an element, a thermostat, a thermocouple, the dip tube or a valve. Replacement makes sense when the tank itself leaks, when the hot water comes out rusty, or when the heater is near the end of the usual 8–12 years and the repairs are adding up.

The age is coded in the serial number on the label, usually in its first few characters.

On a gas tank, look through the small window near the bottom to see whether the pilot is lit. A pilot that will not stay lit points to the thermocouple, the flame sensor or the gas supply.

On an electric tank, check the breaker first. Past that, the high-limit switch, elements and thermostats sit behind covers on live 240-volt wiring, so they are a job for a plumber. A tankless unit usually shows an error code.

Minerals settle at the bottom of a tank as sediment. Flushing runs water out through the drain valve to carry it away, which quiets the rumbling and helps the heater recover faster.

A tank that has gone years without a flush is a different case: hardened sediment can clog the drain valve, and an old plastic valve may not close tightly again. On a tankless unit, the same job is a descaling of the heat exchanger.

These are warning signs on a gas water heater:

• Soot or scorch marks around the draft hood on top
• Melted plastic on the fittings at the top of the tank
• A yellow, lazy flame instead of a steady blue one
• A carbon monoxide alarm sounding

Any of these is a reason to turn the heater off and have the venting checked. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone outside and call 911. If you smell gas, leave the house and call the gas utility from outside.

A spot repair suits a single leak in pipe that is otherwise sound. Repiping makes more sense when:

• The same run of pipe has leaked more than once
• Galvanized pipe is already affecting the pressure or the water color
• Leaks keep turning up at the same kind of fitting
• The walls are open for a remodel anyway

A partial repipe, one bathroom or one branch at a time, is also possible.

Low pressure at one faucet is usually the faucet itself: a clogged aerator or a worn cartridge, so unscrew and rinse the aerator first.

Low pressure at several fixtures points further back: a shutoff valve that is not fully open, a failing pressure-reducing valve near the meter, or old galvanized pipe narrowed by rust. If the neighbors are low too, call the city water department.

Rusty water from the hot taps only usually comes from the water heater. Rust in hot and cold, worst after the taps sit unused, points to corroding galvanized pipe in the house. A sudden change at every tap, often next door too, usually follows work on a city water main or hydrant flushing, and it clears after the cold water runs for a few minutes.

Black specks often come from a rubber washer or hose breaking down.

Galvanized steel rusts from the inside. The rust narrows the pipe until the flow drops, colors the water, and finally eats through at the threaded joints, where the pipe wall is thinnest.

Gray polybutylene plastic, put in from the late 1970s into the 1990s, tends to fail at its fittings without warning, and older thin-wall copper can develop pinholes. With all three, one failure is usually followed by more.

Open the faucet the pipe feeds first, so melting ice has somewhere to go and pressure cannot build. Then warm the pipe slowly, starting near the faucet and working back toward the frozen spot, with a hair dryer, a heating pad or towels soaked in hot water.

Never use a torch or any open flame. It can scorch the framing, start a fire inside the wall, or heat the pipe unevenly until it splits. If the frozen section is inside a wall, you cannot find it, or the faucet stays dry, close the main shutoff and call. A pipe that froze may already have cracked, and it will leak as soon as it thaws.

Leave the main shutoff closed until the pipe is repaired. Turning it back on to check usually just restarts the leak. Keep the heat on in the house so the other pipes do not freeze while the water is off.

Start drying right away: mop up standing water, move wet things out, open cabinet doors, and run fans once the electrics in that area are safe. Mold can start within a day or two in wet drywall, carpet pad and insulation, and ceiling drywall that sags or stays soft usually has to come out. A pipe repair replaces the split section, and with frozen pipe the rest of the run is worth checking for more splits.

Sometimes, for a small split in a straight, exposed run. A pipe repair clamp, or a rubber patch held tight with hose clamps, can slow a leak enough to turn the water back on for a short time. Ordinary tape will not hold against full water pressure.

Treat any patch as temporary and keep an eye on it. Do not patch a pipe inside a wall, a split at a fitting, or old galvanized pipe that crumbles when a clamp is tightened. In those cases keep the main shutoff closed until the section is replaced.

Keep everyone out of the water, and do not touch anything electrical while standing in it or with wet hands. If you can reach the electrical panel from a dry floor, switch off the main breaker or the breakers for the wet area. If the panel is wet, or standing water lies between you and it, stay away and call 911.

Leave the power to the wet area off until an electrician has checked the outlets, fixtures and panel. An outlet that looks dry can still hold water behind its cover plate.

Clear the space around the problem and the way to it. Empty the cabinet under the sink, move boxes away from the water heater and the main shutoff, and make room in front of any access panel behind a tub or shower. A plumber needs to reach the valves that control a fixture as well as the fixture itself.

Note when the problem started, which fixtures it affects, and whether it is constant or comes and goes. If the water heater is involved, a photo of its label helps, since it gives the model, the size and the fuel. Put pets in another room, and make sure someone can open the basement, the crawlspace or the garage.

Most drips come from a worn cartridge, washer or O-ring, and those parts are made to be replaced. A faucet with a sound body and parts still on the market is usually worth repairing.

Replacement makes more sense when the body is cracked or corroded, the finish is flaking, the handles stay stiff after new parts go in, or parts for an older model are hard to find. A remodel is also a natural time to change a faucet, because the shutoff valves and supply lines under it can be replaced at the same time.

Most toilet trouble is in parts that wear out: the flapper, the fill valve, the flush handle and the wax ring under the base. Replacing those is a repair, not a new toilet.

A crack in the tank or the bowl is different. It cannot be fixed reliably, and it will leak. Replacement also makes sense for a toilet that clogs often because of a narrow trapway, or an older model that uses far more water per flush than current ones. If the floor around the base feels soft, water has been leaking for some time, and the subfloor needs a look before a new toilet goes in.

A hum with no grinding usually means a jam. With the switch off and the unit unplugged or its breaker off, a hex key in the socket on the bottom turns the grinding plate back and forth until the jam breaks loose, and the reset button on the bottom restarts the motor. Never reach inside the unit.

Leaks decide it differently. A leak at the sink flange or at the drain connection is a repair. A leak from the body of the disposal means the grinding chamber has corroded through, and the unit needs replacing. So does a motor that still hums without turning after the jam has been cleared.

The lease decides, so check it before the repair is booked. Many commercial leases leave the fixtures inside a tenant’s space to the tenant and keep the water service, the main drain and the sewer line with the owner. Leases differ a lot, though, and some put nearly everything on one side.

When the cause is unclear, report the problem to the owner or manager first and let them arrange the visit. A plumber can tell you where a problem is and what caused it. Who pays for it is a question for the lease.

Leases often make tenants responsible for damage they cause, such as wipes, grease or a toy in a drain, while wear and failure of the plumbing itself stay with the owner. The exact wording is in the lease.

What comes out of the line usually settles the question. Ask the plumber what caused the blockage, and keep a photo of it if one can be taken. Roots, a sagging pipe or a crack point to the building. A mass of wipes points to how the drain was used.

To the owner or property manager, in writing, with the unit number, what they see and when it started. A photo helps. Tenants should also say whether it affects one fixture or several, and whether neighbors have mentioned the same thing.

That last detail matters in a building with several units. One slow sink is usually a local clog. Slow drains in units stacked above each other point to a drain line that serves all of them, and the fix happens in that line, not in one apartment.

Tell the owner or manager right away, and knock on the door upstairs if you can: the tenant there can close the valve under the leaking fixture or stop using it. Put a bucket under the drip and move belongings and electronics out of the way.

If the water is heavy, someone has to close the shutoff for that unit or the main shutoff for the building. Every building needs a clear note of where those valves are and who has the key to the room they are in. If water reaches light fixtures or outlets, keep clear of them, and switch that circuit off only from a dry spot.

Galvanized steel supply lines are usually replaced with copper or PEX, and so is polybutylene. Cast-iron drains are replaced with PVC, joined to the cast iron that stays with shielded couplings: a rubber sleeve under a stainless steel band.

The pipe that brings water in from the street deserves a look too. If it is dull gray, soft enough to scratch to a shine with a key, and a magnet does not stick to it, it may be lead. Ask the city water department about the service line before the house is repiped.

Yes, with the right transition fitting. Most older houses already mix materials after years of repairs, and what matters is the joint between them.

• Copper to galvanized steel: a dielectric union or a brass fitting, because the two metals in direct contact corrode faster.
• PEX to copper: a crimp, clamp, press or push-fit adapter made for both.
• PVC to cast iron: a shielded coupling.
• PVC to ABS: a mechanical coupling, or a transition cement where the local code allows it.

Plastic pipe cements are not interchangeable either. PVC, CPVC and ABS each have their own, and a joint made with the wrong one can fail years later.

For supply lines, PEX is often the practical choice in a house with plaster walls. It can be fished through walls and floors with fewer openings, and it copes with a freeze better than rigid pipe. Copper suits exposed runs along the basement joists and the connections near the water heater. For drains, sound cast iron can stay, since it is quieter than plastic, with PVC replacing the sections that have failed.

Check one thing before metal pipe comes out. In many older houses the electrical system is grounded or bonded through the metal water pipe, and replacing it with plastic can break that path. Have an electrician confirm the grounding after a repipe.

Keep room heat on the pipes and keep water moving in them:

• Leave the heat on in every room with pipes, including rooms you are not using, and keep the garage door shut if water lines run through the garage.
• Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls, so warm air reaches the pipes.
• On the coldest nights, let the faucet farthest along a cold line run a thin, steady trickle of hot and cold.
• Block drafts that hit a pipe directly: a cracked basement window, a gap at the rim joist, a loose dryer vent.

For a winter trip, keep the thermostat at about 55 °F or higher. For a longer absence, closing the main shutoff and draining the lines removes most of the risk.

Lift the pit cover and pour in water slowly, a bucket or two, until the float rises. The pump should start on its own, lower the water to its usual level and shut off. Then look outside at the end of the discharge pipe: the water should come out there, away from the foundation. Keep your hands out of the pit while the pump is plugged in.

Call a plumber if the pump hums but moves no water, starts and stops every few seconds, keeps running with the pit empty, or lets water run back into the pit each time it stops, which usually points to a failed check valve. Test it before the snow melts and again before a stretch of heavy rain.

Once a year suits most tank heaters, and early fall is a sensible time. The tank then goes into the cold months clean, just as colder incoming water makes it work longest. Spring works too; doing it every year matters more than the month.

A tank that has gone years without a flush is a different case. Sediment can clog the drain valve, and an old plastic valve may not close tightly again once it has been opened. For a heater past about ten years old, or one that rumbles as it heats, weigh repair or replacement before draining it.

A pipe can freeze and crack in January and stay dry until the ice in it melts or the line is used again. Outside faucets are the usual case: a hose left on over the winter keeps water in the faucet’s long stem, the stem splits inside the wall, and the leak starts the first time the hose is turned on in spring.

The first time you use each outside faucet, run it for a minute and check the basement wall or ceiling behind it for drips. Water that seeps in along the foundation walls after a thaw or heavy rain is groundwater, a drainage and sump pump matter rather than a pipe leak. A split pipe or faucet calls for a leak repair before the water soaks into the drywall.

Ask the local office that issues plumbing permits: the building department, or in some communities the health department. The rules differ between cities and townships, but new or moved piping, a water heater replacement and a sewer connection are the kinds of work that tend to need a permit. A like-for-like repair, such as a new faucet on the same lines, often does not.

Where a permit is needed, it is usually taken out by the plumbing contractor doing the work, since the inspection checks that work.

The inspector checks the work against the code: the pipe and fittings used, the slope of the drain lines, the venting, how the pipes are supported, and on a water heater the relief valve, its discharge pipe and the vent. New piping is often inspected at rough-in, with the walls still open, and again once the fixtures are in.

For the homeowner, an inspection mostly means letting the inspector in and leaving the work uncovered until it passes. If the inspector asks for a change, the change is made and the work is looked at again before it is closed up.

Plenty of faults work on the first day: a drain with too little slope, a missing vent, a relief valve piped where it cannot drain, a gas fitting with a slow leak. They show up later as slow drains, sewer smells, water damage or worse. An inspection is a second look while the work is still easy to reach.

Permit records can also come up when the house changes hands, so keep the paperwork with the house records.