Bruce's Tip of the Month...............


Hi, Bruce the Plumber here with an important tip!


In light of our recent quake 'n shake my tip of the month would be:

A. Make sure your hot water tank is secure and strapped to the wall. You will most likely need to conserve this water - not to mention save a huge mopping up job.

B. Find out where your main water and gas shutoffs are on your property and identify them with a fluorescent luggage tag so that your family is aware of where they are. If may be a good idea to share this information with your neighbours too. You'd be surprised to know just how many customers I go to who have no idea where their shutoffs are!

November is definitely the time to turn off all outside hose bibs from the inside shut-off and leave them open a tiny bit. BUT more important than that is to disconnect the hosepipes from the hose faucets, especially if you have a frost-free one as the ice from the hosepipe will creep into the frost-free chamber and split when you go to use it in the Spring.
The chances of this happening, if you do not disconnect, is about 95% with the frost free ones.


September is the time of the year to start thinking about servicing your furnace. This mainly consists of cleaning the burners, the filter, tightening the belt and oiling the pump. This can avoid a lot of unnecessary hassles in the bad winter months when it will be extremely difficult to get hold of somebody and, if you're lucky enough to do so, it'll cost! The most important thing is to get the heat exchanger checked because once it is cracked it leaks carbon monoxide. Make sure that the service technician is equipped with the correct sensor device to detect leaks. Once your furnace reaches 10 years old it is advisable to get it checked out at least once a year.

Having been called to replace several hot water tanks lately leads me to give you this advice:  You will have probably been told to drain your tank regularly to get rid of the build-up of sediment.  Well, in my experience most people don't do this and then suddenly after 5 years do so only to cause their tank much more harm than good resulting in having to have a new one.  It's much better to leave well alone on a tank that age. Also, do yourself a favour when replacing your tank and spend the extra $35.00 or so on a higher quality one which comes with a 7-year warranty - its well worth it!
  

This month I have a money-saving tip for those of you who have Moen brand kitchen and bathroom faucets. When your faucets start to drip you need to replace the cartridge inside the faucet so the natural thing to do is to go off to your local hardware or lumber store and spend between $26.00 and $29.00 on a fancy-packaged replacement cartridge. BUT Moen cartridges have a lifetime guarantee and these same stores keep a stock of unpackaged new cartridges behind the counter so insist on being given a new one and save yourself all that money!

 
Is your sink beginning to drain away too slowly? Before a major problem occurs resulting in having to call in a rooter service, go to Home Hardware and buy some of their own brand Drain Opener. It works like a charm and is way more effective and way cheaper than the name brands. Be careful though- don't spill any! I did and another pair of jeans bit the dust!

See you with another tip soon -- Bruce. Email Bruce at: brucetheplumber@theworkshop.net