Colorado N. Review 01.30.2016

This company has helped me twice (different issues).  The second time I tried to avoid calling them by doing the work myself and I was almost (so close) successful but there was a leak so I ended up calling McAdams.  They came and not only fixed the leak (which wasn’t my fault as it turned out – yay!) but replaced an old pipe and changed the handle too so it’ll be easier for me next time.  Rick is a great guy and the woman who schedules the appointments is kind and always answers the phone which is nice.  I’m glad I found this company.

McAdams Plumbing, Inc reply:

We are so glad to have you as such a loyal customer! Thank you for taking the time to write us such a great review! Those DIY jobs can be tricky but we are glad that we were able to tackle any of the loose ends with you. We look forward to working with you in the future!

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Cathy B. Review 10.29.2015

We had Joe from McAdams Plumbing fix our leaky shower. Excellent job. He was professional, fixed the leak and left the entire area clean when done. He’s obviously an excellent plumber and did his best to provide excellent service. I would recommend this company for any plumbing job.

McAdams Plumbing, Inc. reply:

We are glad to have provided such an excellent experience! We appreciate that you took the time to give us such great feedback and we look forward to working with you in the future!

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Ryan Gunderson Review 07.12.2015

A couple years back my water heater was leaking and required a replacement. Rick came out quickly and did a fantastic job at a reasonable price. I recently met another plumber, which reminded me of my great experience with McAdams Plumbing, and I thought I’d do the community a favor by sharing a positive review. I see I’m not the first, which doesn’t surprise me one bit!

McAdams Plumbing Response:

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you Ryan! We truly value your support and look forward to working with you again in the future.

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Locate Your Main Water Shut Off

As a homeowner, and even a renter, it is extremely important to know how to locate your main water shut off valve.

Why?

Because if you live in a home long enough you are bound to spring a leak somewhere, at some time. Often, that leak will appear behind a wall, in a ceiling, or on your water heater, and you may not have any choice but to shut down all your water to prevent flood damage until you can get a plumber out to help.

So in this week’s blog I’m going to show you how to recognize, find, and use your main water shut off valve so you can rest easy knowing what to do in case of an emergency.

Step One: Recognize Your Valve

There are 2 very common types of shut off valve you will find in not only Colorado homes, but most homes across the United States. They are ball valves and gate valves. They can range in size, but the most common are 3/4″ and 1″ for residential purposes. Handle colors may also vary, so don’t necessarily expect yours to be red or yellow. They could be blue, black, pink, or any other color of the rainbow.

Ball valves are very trustworthy and shut off with a simple quarter turn of the handle. When the handle is parallel to the body (as seen above) it is in the open position. When the handle is perpendicular to the body, it is in the closed position.

Gate valves take a little more effort to close and can become stiff with age. They are, however, very reliable and have a very long life. To shut off a gate valve simply turn the handle clockwise until it will not allow you to turn anymore. Make sure the handle is snug. Some gate valves require a little extra effort on the final quarter turn, but if you find yourself exhausted, hurting, or needing tools to fully close the valve it would be a good idea to have it replaced before an emergency.

Step Two: Find Your Valve

You main water shut off valve is usually in a basement or utility room of your home. In Colorado it is also common for the valve to be located in a crawl space if one exists. Due to the cold temperatures in Colorado it is rare to find a water shut off outside the home or in a garage and it is not recommended that you relocate your shut off to such a place.

Start by following the wall that faces the city street side of your home at the lowest point. If your home does not face city streets (i.e. rural properties) look toward the side of the home that faces your well. The shut off may be behind an access panel, coming off of a copper pipe that pokes through your concrete foundation, in the furthest corner of your crawlspace, near a water heater/furnace, or right in plain view. Less often the shut off is located in an upstairs mechanical room. This happens more in apartments, condo units, and multi-home complexes.

Step 3: Test Your Valve!

Once you have located your valve it is recommended that you test it to ensure it is operating properly. As with all metals in contact with water it will wear down and eventually become non-functional. If this has happened, you want to know before an emergency, not after.

In order to test your valve turn it’s handle following the directions in step one based on your type of valve. Once you have fully closed the valve go to your nearest faucet and turn both the hot and cold water handles to the “on” position. You should have a steady flow of water for a few moments which will become lesser and lesser until the water completely stops flowing. The more faucets you open the faster this process will occur.

If you have the main water valve turned off and you are still seeing water drip out of fixtures after a few minutes of waiting your valve may not be fully closing. Contact your plumber to have them come test the valve and properly replace it if necessary.

If you have a small leak coming from the packing nut (see picture below) on your shut off valve simply use a small crescent wrench first remove the handle stem nut and handle, then lightly tighten the nut and replace handle. Gate valves normally require a Phillips head screwdriver to remove the handle, however the packing nut is in the same location. Tighten only enough to stop the leak, starting a quarter turn a time time. Check after each quarter turn. If you over tighten two things may happen: 1) the handle may become too tight to turn, or 2) you may break the packing nut which will mean you must replace the whole valve.

If you are not comfortable performing the previous task contact your plumber to tighten the bolt for you. Sometimes it’s better safe than sorry, especially on older devices.

Residential homes often also have a water shut off located in a pit at the city street. You’ll recognize this by the round iron lid that is marked with your municipalities insignia. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS! This shut off is for licensed professionals and city workers only. Because this valve is city property, not property of the homeowner, you could face a fine ($500 – $5,000) from your city for using this device.

For Licensed Professional and City Use Only

When you are ready to turn your water back on, do so slowly and purge the air from your waterlines starting with bath tub spouts first. There will be a lot of bubbling and gurgling as your system regains water pressure.

I hope that’s a helpful walk though. If you have any tips or ideas to help your neighbors find their valves, post them below. Also feel free to send pictures or messages with crazy places you’ve found your main water shut off valves.

Extra tip: Occasionally when you shut down your water system small pieces of debris can come loose. This is nothing to worry about, it causes no damage, however this debris can clog the aerators in your faucets. You can avoid this in one of two ways:

1. Simply unscrew and remove your faucet aerators prior to turning you water back on to allow the debris to pass. Then re-install the aerator after purging water.

2. Open a bathtub faucet on the top floor first. They allow for unrestricted flow, therefore if you let this run for a couple minutes it should remove the debris from your system without you needing to remove faucet aerators.

All the best!

-Chris

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Careful of Spring Freeze Breaks

Spring is upon us, which means it’s time to keep an eye open for any freeze breaks in the pipes that have been dormant all winter.

As we all gear up to start watering our lawns and playing outside again, make sure you inspect your yard waterlines for leaks.

Common points of freeze breaks include:

• Yard faucet (silcock)
• Pressure vacuum breakers (yard back flow prevention devices)
• Sprinkler system shut-off valves
• Waterlines running to sprinkler heads (Repaired by Sprinler Co.)

Some of these problems will become very obvious very quickly. Other might be a little under the radar.

When you activate your sprinkler system for the first time make sure you walk through each zone one by one and look for any abnormal pooling or inactivity among the spray heads. If there is a break it may prevent water from ever releasing out of the sprinkler. Also, check your sprinkler zone boxes in the ground for water accumulation. If this is happening contact your sprinkler service company ASAP.

Make sure to check your vacuum breaker, shut-off valves, and yard faucets for leaks. These leaks could appear inside or outside of the house, so for your own sake be thorough!

Also, if you fear you may have a leak but can’t find it, check your water gauge at the curb of your home. Make sure all sources of water are shut off inside the house then watch the water dial for any movement. If it shows water consumption but you know everything is in the off position you may have a hidden leak.

In any case of a leak it’s best to have it taken care of right away to prevent any further damage to your home or lawn and also prevent water waste.

If you have any questions or are worried you might have a leak you can’t find, give us a call at 303-465-1900 and we’ll get someone out to you ASAP.

Lastly, make sure your check our Specials page before you call to take advantage of any deals that my apply to you, including $25.00 off any yard faucet repair/replacement!

As a final thought, remember that the weather is still a bit unstable right now. So if you have already started enjoying your lawns, be sure to shut down your system when not in use and disconnect your hoses from yard faucets. A quick Colorado snow can be enough to break those connections overnight.

Thanks for reading along and happy Monday everyone!

The Proof is in the Plumbing!

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Fun Fact of the Week: Water Pressure

This week McAdams Plumbing is going to discuss how water pressure can wreck havoc on your home. Got your attention? Good.

Dishwasher Flood Damage

Let’s talk numbers.

A waterline failure at 70 pounds of pressure can discharge around 650 gallons of water in an hour. That’s enough to fill an 8′ x 30″ pool! So what happens if you’re at work or out of town? That water just keeps flowing all through your home. We talked before about how destructive water can be. You can bet it will ruin floors, walls, possessions, and pretty much anything else available.

Washing Machine Waterlines

So what kind of fixtures in your home carry this kind of pressure? All of them. From your ice machine maker to your toilet supply, even your washing machine hose, they all carry the same pressure. The water in your home works in what’s called a “closed system,’ so all of your appliances and fixtures that have water running to them carry the same pressure.

So what can you do? Simply monitor your water lines. Look for signs of wear like cracks or minor leaks. If you see these make sure you replace the lines right away. For appliances like washing machines, the hoses are made from reinforced rubber, so it’s recommended that you replace them every 3-5 years due to wear.

It also never hurts to invest in a product like the WaterCop Automatic Water Shut-Off Valve. This device works remotely to shut off the incoming water supply to your home if water leaks are detected. MP is a big fan of this product so you can find information about it on our main website.

Hope you enjoyed today’s blog. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future topics please use the “Leave a Reply” space below. The Proof is in the Plumbing!

-MP

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WaterCop is one of McAdams Plumbing’s favorite devices to install. Not because it’s an easy in and out, but actually because it is a great product! You can find information about WaterCop under both the WaterCop Shutoff and Leak Management pages of our website. You can also learn all about the installation and use of the WaterCop system in our process video below!

Why do we have so much information on our site about this product? Well that’s an easy answer: because it WORKS! DynaQuip is an outstanding company with awesome customer service and a great business record. We fully trust them and they trust McAdams Plumbing enough to make us certified WaterCop installers.

If those 2 pages and that video weren’t enough to get you interested in WaterCop, how about this:

From January 1, 2013 through March 31, 2013 MP will offer you a WaterCop Automatic Water Shut-Off Valve + Installation for only $1,025.00! That’s a savings of over $400.00!

Ok, I don’t think I can do much more than that to catch your attention. Hopefully you like what you saw and read here. Please contact McAdams Plumbing at 303-465-1900 for scheduling or any further questions.

Thanks for your time!

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