Is it that Halloween is in the air? Lately we’ve seen some plumbing and heating atrocities that would make Red Green look like a Master Plumber! Now, we don’t know whether it’s untrained professional plumbers, well-meaning hubbies, or just being terrified of potential plumbing bills, but sometimes these mistakes can be frightening AND have a real impact on the value and safety of your home.
Beasty Boiler Installs.
Baxi Luna 310 Boilers are really popular in the UK, and lately we’ve seen them showing up more commonly in people’s homes, when they call us for emergency service. A couple of our key plumbers, Grant and Jason, are from Scotland/the UK themselves, so they know the right way these things should be installed. But here in Calgary, they are being installed WITHOUT water softeners. What’s the deal? In Calgary, the water here is really hard (thanks to mountain minerals) and these residential boiler units just aren’t designed to handle it. The result? Corrosion, blockage, and …well, what happened to our hot water?
Shadowy Shower Repairs.
Recently a customer had used silicone to install and seal a shower valve, instead of soldering the metal together . We felt kind of bad for the guy who earnestly said, “I thought I did a good job!” Of course, it leaked, and couldn’t be saved, resulting in needing a whole new shower faucet. Silicone isn’t glue, and even real glue doesn’t measure up to legitimate soldering.
Terrifying Toilet Trouble.
Yes, toilets are often spooky for plumbers are the best of times – we get to be the retrievers of everything from lost kids toys (which sometimes bring the “rescue “ joy reaction) and uhhh, feminine hygiene products (which no one would ever want to have back again!). But do-it-yourselfers can cause their own issues without meaning to. Now while we understand how some hardware stores encourage shoppers to handle all kinds of jobs on their own, it may not always be wise. One customer recently installed his own toilet without the wax sealing ring, using silicon instead. Started using it….got water all through the floor, i.e. basement ceiling. So it was a case of bad sealing creating really bad ceiling!
Getting a professional plumber probably isn’t as expensive as you may think! And it can sure save you hundreds or thousands in replacement costs. CHECK HERE for our rates – and remember, you can CALL US ANY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT. Plumbing nightmares do tend to sneak up… when you are least expecting it.
Happy Halloween from your friends at Instant Plumbing!
