What is the easiest way to avoid clogging your pipes? The answer is simple: prevent clogged pipes in the first place. You can perform these simple actions for clogged pipe prevention:

1. Pour waste cooking grease into a used soup can or pickle jar and scrape as much grease out of the pan as you can with a piece of thin cardboard (such as from a cereal box) or a spatula.Wash the pan with hot soapy water to make sure the grease dissolves and flushes out of your drain. You can also pour a little ammonia down the drain to help clean any remaining grease out of the pipe.
2. Use a basket strainer for your kitchen sink if the drain does not go through the garbage disposal. Larger pieces of food can be collected and discarded.
3. Periodically remove the plug in the bathtub and remove any hair that has accumulated on the cross members of the drain.
4. Pour an enzymatic cleaner in your drains several times a year. Enzymatic cleaner is a solution of bacterial cultures and enzymes that slowly deteriorates organic material inside pipes. Such solutions should only be used as routine maintenance to help keep your drains clean.These products are recommended because they are not corrosive and are safe for pipes, plumbing equipment, and septic systems. Use enzymatic cleaners for your garbage disposals, showers, bathtubs, toilets, and other household drains.
5. Fully turn on the cold water and then the garbage disposal before dumping coffee grounds or eggshells (or anything) down the drain. If you do not have a garbage disposal, or if you have a septic system, do not put coffee grounds or eggshells down the drain. These materials will build up over time and cause drainage problems.
6. Once a week, fill each sink in your home to the brim and then pull up the stopper. The volume and weight of the water will fill the drain pipe completely with water. It will do a good job of flushing the drain line.

   Once every three months fill every sink and tub in the house with water. With the help of friends or family members simultaneously pull all of the drain stoppers up and flush all toilets in the house. This large volume of water will help flush out the larger sized drain stacks and underground building drains.

7. Contact your local San Diego plumbing company for more information on more plumbing tips for clogged pipe prevention.

Our San Diego plumbers want to help you and your family with your everyday plumbing needs. When we move into a community, whether our home is old or in a new development, we want to acquaint ourselves with our new neighbors. We familiarize ourselves with schools, transportation and look for friendly faces at the local market. Often we don’t meet our local repairmen until disaster strikes.

Our San Diego plumbers want you to know they are people on your side in the community. Most don’t offer 24 hour plumbing service and wont be there when you need them, so why wait? Call us now at 858-200-1180.
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Any plumbing problem is a nightmare for all homeowners. It usually means there will be a big mess and a big bill to follow. Although I cannot fix the problem of money, I can help you quickly solve some common plumbing problems. For most plumbing disasters, there is always a temporary fix to prevent any further damage. Read the rest of this entry »

A warm and welcoming shower is one of life’s little pleasures, but choosing the wrong showerhead can make a shower anything but enjoyable and welcoming.  Just about everyone has had the unpleasant experience of using a substandard showerhead, and it is important for homeowners to choose this important appliance with care.

One of the most important factors to consider is the flow rate of the showerhead, and it can be difficult to determine which type of showerhead provides the best flow rate with the greatest energy efficiency.  Many homeowners enjoy the energy savings provided by low flow showerheads, and these energy saving appliances can save a great deal of water and save homeowners a lot of money as well.

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Q: I have a bit of calcium buildup at the usual spots, washing machine, faucets, etc.

A: First step would be to install a water softener. Installing a basic water filter won’t help much with dissolved solids (like calcium). A properly sized and set softener will effectively eliminate your hard water problems.

You can also try to flush the water heater out, and then turn off the water and open up the hot water valve of the shower valve and flush out the supply line.
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Any plumbing problem can happen with any plumbing pipes in your house. Like all building materials, your plumbing pipes will eventually wear out and have to be replaced. If you find yourself repairing leaky, corroded pipes every few months, it may be time to consider replacing the old system entirely – and soon. A corroded water pipe that bursts while you are away can cost you many thousands of dollars in damage to wall surfaces, framing members, and furnishings.

Identifying the materials used in your plumbing system can also tell you if replacement is advised. If you have galvanized steel pipes, for example, it is a good bet that they will need to be replaced in the near future. Most galvanized steel pipes were installed before 1960, and since steel pipes have a maximum life expectancy of 30 to 35 years, such a system is probably living on borrowed time. On the other hand, if your system includes copper supply pipes and plastic drain pipes, you can relax; these materials were likely installed within the last 40 years, and they are considerably more durable than steel, provided they were installed correctly.

Unless you live in a rambler with an exposed basement ceiling, replacing old plumbing nearly always involves some demolition and carpentry work. Even in the best scenario, you probably will find it necessary to open walls and floors in order to run new pipes. For this reason, replacing old plumbing is often done at the same time as a kitchen or bathroom remodeling project, when wall and floor surfaces have to be removed and replaced.

Partial plumbing replacement involves replacing only those sections of your plumbing system that are currently causing additional plumbing problems. This is a quick, less expensive option than a complete renovation, but it is only a temporary solution. Old plumbing will continue to fail until you replace the entire system.

Complete plumbing replacement of all plumbing lines is an ambitious job, but doing this work yourself can save you thousands of dollars. To minimize the inconvenience, you can do this work in phases, replacing one branch of the plumbing system at a time. If you are inexperienced with plumbing repairs, we suggest calling your local San Diego plumber for more information.

Need more help? Read through our most common plumbing questions with guides on how you can repair any plumbing problem yourself!

At Anytyme Plumbing and Drain we’re doing everything we can to keep our prices low and at the same time help to keep our planet a safe place for our children and theirs. To this end we’ve made a commitment to driving the most energy efficient service vehicle fleet in the County.

We don’t need a big, powerful, heavy, gas guzzling truck just to shuttle a technician to and from a job in progress or to the town hall to pull a permit or to show up and take a look at a job site. That’s why you’ll love our Smart Car! It’s not just “cute”, believe it or not it fits two technicians and enough tools and parts to do most common repair jobs.
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