Welcome back to another entry here on the Economy Plumbing Services blog! Earlier this month we talked a lot about insulating pipes, doing your best to get them in shape so they don’t freeze over or cause any energy inefficiency in the home. This time around, we want to talk about a larger scale project that you should undertake whenever you’re going to be leaving your home vacant. If the title didn’t give it away, we’re going to tell you how to winterize your plumbing!

Why Winterize?

Freezing temperatures and pipes mix about as well as oil and water. When things freeze, they expand. When water that is sitting in a pipe freezes, it expands past the size of the pipes, often breaking through the material entirely which can cause leaks, and flooding. If you are in your home for the winter, using the water regularly as normal, then you don’t have to worry about the possible bursts as much, that water isn’t being allowed to sit and freeze. If you have a cabin, or are away for the winter, you need to winterize! It’s more than just about preventing water from cracking pipes and flooding, it also prevents your home’s water fixtures from being damaged.

How To Winterize Your Plumbing

First you got to start with a plan! Figure out and make an inventory of all your homes plumbing. The valves, the taps, fixtures. You want to make sure that as you go through the rest of these steps for winterizing that you are hitting each possible place water might be sitting. Once you have a full accounting of all the taps, faucets, etc., you are ready to get started in earnest.

First, shut off the main water valve to your home. Then, go to your water heater and water pumps and turn those off as well. If you leave your water heater on while there is no water flowing into it can cause damage to the heating elements and leave you with a bigger repair come spring!

With the water off, it’s time to go around and open up all the drain valves and taps throughout your home. Check each off your list as you go through emptying the remaining water left in the pipes. You’ll want to leave all the valves and taps open for the duration you’re going to be gone. Check to see if the sinks or tubs have drain traps. If so, adding antifreeze can prevent the water from freezing and cracking the traps.

Flush your toilets, removing as much water from the tanks and bowls as possible. If for whatever reason you can’t get al the water out, add a little bit of antifreeze to prevent the water from freezing and breaking the toilet.

Head back to your water heater and get ready to drain it. If your unit doesn’t have a floor drain with it, you may need to get a hose to drain the water out of the heater and your home without making a mess.

Proper Pipe Precautions

While you are working around your home, make sure to take the time to examine pipes that might be especially at risk. Any pipes on the exterior of your home, outside of walls or where they enter the walls.

If your walls have any cracks, repair them. The less cold air that gets into your home the less you have to worry about. If you there are gaps in the wall where the pipes enter, fill it with caulk or another insulating material. Make sure to follow our tips on insulating your pipes and you should be in great shape this winter!

Need help? Give us a call! Our plumbing experts are happy to help, we have the experience, know-how, and attitude to get the job done right the first time!

Remember, if water flows to it or through it, we do it!

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Sometimes plumbing issues get to such a degree that simple spot repairs aren’t enough to fix the problem at hand. When this happens it may be time to consider repiping your home. We know, we know, that sounds like a lot of work and a little scary to boot. This time on the Economy Plumbing Service blog we are going to give you an overview of the process, from the signs it’s necessary to completion.

Signs Your Home Needs Repiping

Repiping a home can be an expense and rarely is it convenient. That’s why it’s crucial to be aware of the signs your home is in need for it! Getting it taken care of before something catastrophic occurs will make the whole process a lot easier to handle, and cheaper to boot!

Your Home is Over 50 Years Old

‘They don’t build them like they used to.’

No matter how good the construction, nothing lasts forever! Older homes, we’re talking up to the mid-twentieth century, used galvanized steel as the main material in their plumbing. That might sound strong to you (and it is, when new) it corrodes and after about 50 years it needs replacement. If you’re home is heading towards retirement age and hasn’t had it’s plumbing updated, be prepared. This might be a project you have coming up for you.

Frequent Pipe Leaks

Pipes leak, it happens. Sometimes a fitting is loose, or a bunch of other possibilities, but these should still be a rarity. If your pipes are leaking regularly that can be a sign that the plumbing as a whole is in need of replacement.

Mineral/Rust Build Up

There are two clear signs that you have mineral or rust build up in your pipes: low water pressure and red/brown water coloration. Over time minerals and rust can build up in the pipe restricting the flow of water reducing the water pressure. The rust can break off and come through the water giving it that red or brown color. That’s no good!

If you see any of these signs then it’s a good bet, you need to look at repiping your home.

How Repiping Works

The first step in any repiping job is shutting off the water to the home. Replacing pipes with the water turned on is an easy recipe for flooding! Because of the need for shutting off the water, repiping is often done when the homeowner isn’t at home so they have minimal inconvenience but that’s not entirely necessary.

Once the water is off, the plumbing experts will make sure the areas are ready for the work, covering furniture and carpet to protect from debris, dust and making for easier clean up. Again, the idea here is to make this process as minimally inconvenient as possible. Repiping can be a big job, and the less headache the better.

Now that the water is off and the work area is ready the real repiping process can begin. Making cuts into the drywall to locate and map out the piping. This might have you on edge, ‘Cutting into my walls?!’ but trust us, when you have the kind of experience Bryan has, you can practically x-ray the walls with your eyes. We know how plumbing works and how plumbers think, making the process fairly quick and painless.

With the plumbing mapped out it’s time to remove it and replace with the new piping with higher quality materials. While we’re at work in this stage, if you wanted to upgrade other fixtures or appliances, now would be the time. Installing new water heaters and such are easier done when the piping itself can be manipulated to fit the appliance perfectly.

Finally, with all the piping replaced, the last step is to repair and resurface wherever the walls were cut into. After all is said and done, we want the only change in your home to be the working water!

Ready to Repipe?

Now that you know what to look for and what to expect, you have the power to make the decision. Ready to repipe? If you’re in the Tucson area and you’re looking for the fastest service available, give us a call at Economy Plumbing Service LLC. We can get the job done in TWO DAYS and you can stay home while we do the repair work! We make the process as minimally invasive as possible, and our new pipes are made to last longer and not break. We’re so certain of it we give a 25 year warranty on new pipes.

If Water Goes Through It Or To It, We Do It!

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Hello world! That’s what the site suggests we say here on our first blog post at Economy Plumbing Services, but that’s not all we want to say. We are committed to providing our expertise and services in our jobs but also here on our blog where we can talk at length about the topics our customers are looking for answers for! That’s our goal here on the blog and we’ll start by talking about PEX tubing!

PEX Tubing

PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) tubing is perhaps the tube of choice when it comes to most building materials. Whether its heating or cooling systems, natural gas, or domestic water piping, it is a great alternative to PVC and CVC pipes.

As you can imagine, we’re pretty big fans of this amazing pipe!

The Power of PEX

The nature of PEX, the ‘cross-linking’ of the polyethylene makes it stronger, more resistant to abrasion and cracking, as well as being more resistant to heat and various other (rather scientific) benefits. For our purposes the benefits of PEX in plumbing are huge!
We use UPNOR WIRSBO PEX piping with a 25yr mfg warranty!

Flexibility

PEX pipes have incredible flexibility, are able to bend as space permits meaning that there are less joints and connections needed to pipe a home. They can’t handle a turn at a right angle so elbow joints will be needed in those instances, but in many cases a fixture or appliance can get water directly from the source with a single line. The fewer joints, splices, and other connections in the pipe means there is less risk of leaks and water pressure stays great throughout the whole flow.

Easy Install

PEX is so much easier to install than copper pipes for a few reasons. That flexibility we talked about? That helps. PEX also doesn’t require torches to solder pipes together, or adhesives for pipe fittings. Generally fewer fittings and connections are needed on a PEX job, simplifying the whole process.

We use a color-coded layout for pex pipes as well, with red tubing being used for hot water and blue for cold, and clear for hard water lines, meaning less chance for errors and mixups. No more turning the cold handle to get the hot water! This colored piping is uv protected vs clear/white piping. It is important to keep PEX pipe covered and not exposed to UV rays. We have all of our pipes stored in a warehouse away from any chance of exterior elements.

Oh, and remember how we said it doesn’t require a torch for soldering? That also brings the risk of a fire down! Installing PEX tubing doesn’t require a flame of any sort. Transitions from copper to PEX requires soldering however the use of open flame is minimal now.

Low Cost

Here’s a stat that’s bound to make you excited! Materials cast about a quarter of alternatives! The price of copper has gone up about 4x since 2000, and while it isn’t at it’s all time high, it still can’t beat the price of PEX tubing.

Durable

PEX is non-corrodible! Unlike copper pipes, moisture and minerals don’t corrode PEX. Further, the lifespan of PEX piping reaches up to 50 years making it an ideal material to replace thermoplastic and metal pipes throughout a home.

PEX can still burst from freezing temperatures but very unlikely to do so than PVC or copper piping. With PEX there is the option to add insulation to keep the water temperatures stable and help prevent freezing.

Adaptable

PEX is adaptable. If you don’t want to have your whole home re-piped (though if you do, we here at Economy Plumbing Service can do the whole job in two days!) you can begin with whatever repairs are immediately necessary and go from there. There are a bunch of fittings out there that allow PEX to interact with copper or PVC piping systems. And since the lifespan of PEX is so long, you don’t have to worry about the first sections of PEX going bad before you get to the rest of it.

PEX Tubing – All in All, an Amazing Pipe

As you can see, PEX tubing is an amazing option for homes, whether they’re used in radiant heating systems, or in water piping. It’s somehow that wonderful trifecta of cheaper, easier to work with, and more durable than other traditional pipes. We love using it in our jobs here in Tucson and can recommend it easily.

If you’re in the Tucson or Oro Valley area and you need plumbing services, whether they be installing new PEX tubing, fixing a water heater, or taking a look at gas lines, we are happy to help. Give us a call and remember…

If Water Goes Through It Or To It, We Do It!

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