Plumbing advice
Drains, leaks, pipes, fixtures and everything else on the water side of the house. Practical guidance from licensed plumbers working in North Texas homes every day — including the checks worth running yourself before you call anyone.
Plumbing
Polybutylene Pipe in North Texas Homes: How to Identify It and What to Do
If your home was built between the late 1970s and the mid 1990s, there is a real chance the supply lines are polybutylene — and it fails at the fittings, usually without warning.
8 min read
Plumbing
The Cheapest Part in Your Laundry Room Causes the Worst Water Damage We See
A rubber washing machine hose is under full house pressure every hour of every day, whether the machine is running or not. When one lets go, nothing stops it.
6 min read
Plumbing
Sewer Smell in the House: The Six Causes, Easiest to Hardest
Your drain system is supposed to be sealed. If you can smell it, something has stopped sealing — and two of the six causes you can fix yourself in a minute.
7 min read
Plumbing
Is a Water Softener Worth It in North Texas?
Hard water is the single biggest factor in how long plumbing equipment lasts in this region. A softener is not a luxury purchase here — but it is not automatic either.
7 min read
Plumbing
Cast Iron Pipes in Older DFW Homes: What Fails and When
Cast iron drain lines do not fail all at once. They corrode from the inside for years first, and the early warning signs are easy to mistake for ordinary clogs.
7 min read
Plumbing
Drain Snaking vs Hydro Jetting: Which Do You Actually Need?
A cable punches a hole through the clog. A jetter scours the pipe wall clean. Knowing which your drain needs saves you from paying twice.
7 min read
Plumbing
Why the Same Drain Keeps Clogging (It Is Not the Clog)
A drain that clogs once is a clog. A drain that clogs every few months is a defect in the line, and clearing it again will not change that.
6 min read
Plumbing
Garbage Disposal Humming, Jammed, or Dead: A Homeowner Guide
A humming disposal, a dead one, and a leaking one are three different problems. Here is how to tell them apart before you spend a dollar.
6 min read
Plumbing
Adding a Gas Line for a Range, Grill or Pool Heater
Running a new gas line is straightforward work when it is done right — sized, permitted, pressure tested. Here is what actually goes into it.
7 min read
Plumbing
Hard Water in North Texas: What It Costs You Every Year
Hard water does not break anything overnight. It shortens the life of everything it touches, a little at a time, and the bill arrives years later.
7 min read
Plumbing
Water Bill Suddenly Spiked? Here Is What to Check
A bill that jumps with no change in habits is a leak until proven otherwise. Here is how to narrow it down in about twenty minutes.
6 min read
Plumbing
How to Find a Hidden Water Leak Before It Wrecks Your Home
Most hidden leaks announce themselves quietly long before they show damage. Here is how to catch one using your water meter and about twenty minutes.
7 min read
Plumbing
Failing Pressure Regulator: The Problem Behind Your Other Problems
A bad pressure regulator does not usually announce itself. It shows up as five unrelated-looking failures around the house, all at once.
7 min read
Plumbing
6 Signs Your Sewer Line Needs Replacing, Not Just Snaking
A cable clears the blockage. It does not fix the pipe that keeps causing it. Here is how to tell the difference before you spend money twice.
7 min read
Plumbing
Dripping Shower, Wandering Temperature: What Is Actually Wrong Behind the Wall
Most shower problems get diagnosed as "we would have to open the wall." Most of them are a cartridge, and the cartridge comes out from the front.
6 min read
Plumbing
Toilet That Keeps Running: The 4 Usual Culprits
A toilet that never quite shuts off is almost always one of four parts. Here is how to find out which one before you buy anything.
6 min read
Plumbing
How Tree Roots Get Into a Sewer Line — And How to Get Them Out
Roots never chew through solid pipe — they slip in at joints and hairline cracks, chasing moisture. Here is how root intrusion works, which trees cause it, and what each removal method does and does not accomplish.
7 min read
Plumbing
Low Water Pressure Through the Whole House? Start Here
When pressure drops at every fixture at once, the cause is upstream of your plumbing. Here is how we narrow it down without guessing.
7 min read
Plumbing
Why Your Kitchen Sink Smells and Why Cleaning It Never Works
You cleaned it, it smelled fine for a day, and then it came back. That is because the source is coating the inside of the pipe, not sitting in the basin.
6 min read
Plumbing
Galvanized Pipe: Why Your Water Pressure Has Been Falling for Twenty Years
Galvanized pipe does not fail suddenly. It closes up slowly enough that the household adjusts, and nobody notices until a shower feels wrong.
7 min read
Plumbing
Just Bought an Older North Texas Home? Check These Ten Things
The home inspection told you the condition of what was visible. This is the list of what to check yourself in the first month, before anything surprises you.
8 min read
Plumbing
Adding a Gas Line for a Grill, Fire Pit or Pool Heater
The mistake is treating the new appliance in isolation. Every BTU you add draws on a supply that was sized before any of it existed.
6 min read
Plumbing
Filtration vs Softening: They Solve Different Problems
These get sold as though they were the same category. They are not, and buying the wrong one means paying for equipment that does not touch your actual complaint.
7 min read
Plumbing
Bathroom Remodel: The Plumbing Decisions to Make Before Demolition
Everything on this list is straightforward while the walls are open and painful once the tile is on. Decide it before the first swing.
7 min read
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