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3 Common Plumbing Problems

Plumbing problems are guaranteed to pop up in any household at any time. Here at X Factor Plumbing Pty Ltd, we are no strangers to the long list of plumbing issues that your home may experience. So, rest assure there isn’t a problem too big, or too small that we can’t help you with.

Even if you have your trusty plumbers on hand, would you know what to do and when you need to call them when an issue arises?

Not to worry, we have listed below our top 3 most common plumbing problems, some simple steps to avoid them in the future, and some DIY actions to take before you plumber arrives.

1. Blocked Drain

This can be a real issue for any household. We get a lot of clients calling saying their toilet isn’t draining properly, or their kitchen sink is backed up. This is particularly common for homes that have septic tanks. The likely culprits to cause this problem is flushing something you shouldn’t have or a build-up of grease in the drains. Many people are unaware that even when you tip liquid grease down your drain, at some point it can solidify – Blocking Your Drain!

If your plumber is en route to reaching you soon you can hold tight. Alternatively, if you have to wait a little, here are some steps to make sure you don’t have an overflow (backflow) of water.

  • Try unblocking with a plunger
  • Pour boiling water down the sink, this can sometimes flush out any debris or grease

The best tip to remember when it comes to your drains, whether you’re on septic or not, is to dispose of any grease/oil and food scraps from cooking into your garden or a proper garbage system and not down the sink.

Toilets can easily get backed up by flushing anything other than toilet paper, although too much toilet paper can also block your drains, so try to educate the whole family on what can/can’t be flushed – this can be tricky if you have toddlers!!

2. Leaking Tap

Yes, we get calls about leaking taps. This is very common. Although the likely reason is that a washer needs replacing, many households don’t have the equipment to fix this.

A leaking tap may seem like just an annoying little problem with the “tap, tap, tap” during the middle of the night keeping you awake. However, a leaking tap means wasting water, which means more expensive water bills for you (or less water in your tank).

If you have a leaking tap the first thing you need to do is:

  • Turn off the mains and wait for your plumber to arrive, or
  • Turn off the mains and fix the washer yourself
  • Call us if you’ve tried to fix it yourself and it’s still leaking

During winter a common call we get is complaints about hot water systems.

3. Hot Water Problems

With the temperature change, many people ask what can they do if their hot water is not hot enough and think something is wrong with their hot water system.

We always recommend that we come out to have a look.

We often find that there is nothing wrong with the hot water system, instead it’s the temperature valve. Hot water systems have a life span of 10 to 15 years. A temperature valve is meant to be replaced every 5 years.

So, if you don’t have a lot of hot water or it’s not hot enough, it’s most likely your temperature valve, and the only real thing you can do here is call in a professional.

And that’s our top 3 common plumbing problems. If you encounter any of these problems you can always give us a call, if it’s an easy fix we can just talk you through it and if not, we can send out one of our trusty team members.

What’s the worst plumbing problem you’ve encountered? Tell us below in the comments, we’d love to know.

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