The best way to save money on plumbing calls is to not need them in the first place. You can minimize the dollars you spend on a Fort Lauderdale professional plumbing service if you just follow a few simple, common sense tips.
Think before it goes in the drain. Don’t ask your drains to handle more than they can. Toilets are not trash cans and you should not dispose of cigarette butts, paper towels, kitty litter, coffee grounds or other non-soluble items in your toilet. The risk here is not just a clogged toilet but a clogged sewer line, which requires a truck, mounted snake or hydro-jet cleaning or perhaps even excavation.
There are some foods that just shouldn’t go down the disposal. Unless you have a wood chipper for a disposal you will never process banana peels, chicken bones, steak gristle, poultry skins, celery or fruit pits fine enough to pass easily through your pipes. Toss solid and fibrous dinner scraps in the trash. Cooking oil/grease is another no-no. Pour grease in an old coffee can and dispose in the trash.
DIY what you can. If you have leaky faucets or a toilet that continues to run the fixes are easy and cheap. Leaks are almost always worn washers and the quick fix for toilets that run is to replace the ball cock in the tank. The key to doing this correctly is taking the worn out part to a hardware store and ensuring that you are getting a replacement part that fits. These kinds of fixes require no special tools and are a snap to do.
Don’t attempt to DIY that which is beyond your skill. Trying to fish out a toy that was accidently flushed in a toilet with a coat hanger may result in a bigger plumbing problem than what you started with. Leaks that you can’t identify the source, trying to clear a toilet with anything other than a plunger are all behaviors that are asking for an expensive plumbing bill.
Make the plumber’s visit count. If you have a problem that needs a licensed plumber’s attention, inspect your home for any other nagging plumbing problem and bundle those with the principal problem. In short, you are saving multiple plumbing service call fees by having all of your plumbing needs repaired in the same call.
