Call (888) 757-7489 Today

When it comes to fixing a plumbing problem, you don’t need to be home improvement superstar, Bob Villa to solve it. Whether you live in a high-end Beverly Hills mansion or cool Hermosa Beach bungalow, every Los Angeles resident should know how to apply simple “home remedy” cures when dealing with leaks, creaks and clogs. These issues can be costly and time-consuming, sure, but they can also take a toll on your sanity. A little knowledge can go a long way to reducing your expenses and your stress as well.

Check out these common problems and their super easy solutions. 

Got a creaky pipe?

A creaky pipe can make you crazy. If you’re not particularly handy, you probably try to live with the relentless noise at first. “It’s not that bad,” you reason. “I’m sure it’ll just go away by itself.” While it’s true that sometimes fluke problems disappear just as fast as they materialized, it doesn’t always happen like this.

You don’t have to be the best plumber Los Angeles has to offer to fix a creaky pipe (although if the noise gets increasingly worse, you should probably call a professional). Instead, try a simple plumbing trick first. By applying adhesive-backed felt, you can silence that pipe once and for all. Just wrap it around the pipe in a few strategic places. The creak should cease almost immediately.

Clogged toilet driving you crazy?

It’s a miracle that toilets don’t clog more often than they do. You’d be surprised at the kinds of things plumbers pull out of them. From the normal causes that we don’t need to detail here to more unexpected problems such as loose change and kids’ toys, toilets are susceptible to any number of clogging agents. However, unlike bigger jobs such as copper repiping or water heater replacement, unclogging a toilet is a simple trick – but not in the way that you think.

Plunging is most people’s first line of defense against a clog. But did you know that it can actually make the problem worse? In particular, foreign objects that accidentally fell into the toilet can be driven further into the pipe with a plunger. To excavate the item without creating a bigger clog, try using a wet / dry shop vacuum first. It’ll suck the object out without disturbing the piping.

Wasting too much money on your water bill?

The California drought has left many Los Angeles residents searching for ways to save money on their home’s water usage. From Santa Monica to Downtown LA, homeowners water their lawns less, take shorter showers, and use low-flow attachments to their sinks and toilets. While these are important measures, they don’t always yield dramatic results.

A great plumbing hack for saving water and money is to turn off your H2O supply from time to time. During non-peak hours in your house, shut off the water main and refrain from using the sink or shower. Meanwhile, you can still use the bathroom. Simply fill up the bowl with 2 gallons of water before you turn it off. One flush equals about 1 gallon, which should keep you adequately supplied for a while.