Winterize Your Home

As the weeks pass by, cold weather is creeping closer and closer. If you are not a cold weather fan like me, this does not have to mean all gloom and doom. The cold weather means the upcoming of the holiday season! Don’t let cold weather freeze your pipes, and your holiday spirit, as you and your family prepare for the holidays with costumes, turkeys, and gingerbread houses!

We were able to find a wonderful article at about.com that will help you to ensure that your home will be ready when Jack Frost comes knocking at your door!

To read the article in its entirety please click here.

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The cold winter months can wreak havoc on your home’s plumbing system

if you aren’t prepared for the temperature drop. Frozen water in pipes can

be inconvenient at best and destructive at worst. As a good preventive

measure get ready for winter with this winterize plumbing checklist.

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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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“Credit Kipp J Schoen Photography: http://schoenphoto.zenfolio.com“

For this weeks blog McAdams Plumbing wants to make sure our friends and patrons are prepared for the upcoming holidays and all that they can bring.

First off, we need to let you know that like most businesses, McAdams Plumbing will be closed from Sunday, December 23rd, through Christmas day, Tuesday the 25th. We will re-open with our normal business hours (7am-7pm) on Wednesday, December 26th.

With the holiday schedule in mind we want to make sure that you don’t delay taking care of plumbing problems if you notice them. The last thing anyone needs to worry about over the holiday is having a plumbing emergency during such an inconvenient time. Here’s a list of some of the common problems folks run into during this time (Hint: use this as a check list to be sure none of these are going to sneak up on you!):

Toilets Constantly Running

Many times folks have a bathroom they use infrequently except when visitor come to stay. When the activity in these bathrooms increases it can expose bad fill valves or warped flappers that cause the toilet to run constantly or fill improperly leading to a poor flush. Test your toilets a few times before company arrives to be sure that everything is working properly.

Visitors Flushing Unflushables

Unflushables, get it? Like “Untouchables.” Anyways, as much as we wish they would, guests don’t always follow the same rules of the home as you do. Make sure your guests know that the ONLY things you should flush down the toilet are human waste and toilet paper. Even “flushable” sanitary products can present a problem so avoid it all together and make sure people put trash in the pale, not the toilet.

Clogged Sink Drain

If your sink drains slowly now, it’s only going to get worse as your kitchen activity increases over the holidays. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a situation where your drain clogs in the middle of Christmas dinner preparations, have it taken care of in advance. McAdams Plumbing can normally get in and out and have the drain cleaned in less than an hour. Check our Drain Cleaning page for deals!

Clogged Shower/Bathroom Faucet Drains

With the increased holiday activity kitchen drains aren’t the only ones that get clogged. Check your shower and bathroom faucet drains as well. If any of these drain poorly look at getting those taken care of as well. As you’ll see on our Drain Cleaning page if you need multiple drains cleaned MP gives you 50% off any additional drain cleaning with the purchase of a full price initial drain cleaning. That’s a deal you just can’t beat!

Garbage Disposal

Another common problem we run into is broken or clogged garbage disposals. Remember, garbage disposals are meant to handle minor scraps left over from food preparation and cleaning. Do not use it at a garbage can! Too much food can overwhelm the garbage disposal and jam or break it. Also make sure your running cool water down your drain when operating your garbage disposal to keep the motor cool and the waste flowing down.

Shower Leaks

Many times guests using showers forget to close the door all the way or pull the curtain completely closed. More than once have we been called out for an emergency leak repair when it turned out that someone simply left the door partially ajar during a shower and allowed water to seep into the floor. Save yourself the headache (and emergency service fee) and remind your guests to fully close the door or curtain when showering.

Hoses and Sprinklers

We covered this topic in our What About Your Sprinkler Systems? blog but it’s worth mentioning again. If you haven’t already make sure you disconnect your hoses for the winter and have your sprinkler systems blown out right away. This will help avoid major problems with frozen pipes over the winter.

And finally…

Sump Pumps

Sump pumps work to push water from under your home, that could become a problem, out to a safer area. If your sump pump fails and the increased moisture of the winter season raises the water table under your home the result could be a basement flood! Make sure your sump pump is working properly; if you are unsure feel free to call MP at 303-465-1900 and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.

Ok, I think that covers quite a bit! Make sure if you have work you’d like to have done before the holiday break call and get on the schedule. Things tend to fill up last minute and we don’t want anyone to get pushed aside. As always if you have any questions call, email, or leave a comment below. We’re always monitoring our blog so give us your suggestions or questions, we’re here to help!

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