We understand that our profession deals mostly with things that are hidden from your everyday view – out of sight, out of mind – as they say. In our years of plumbing, we thought it would be helpful to provide homeowners with the 4 things about your plumbing you should know as a homeowner.
- The main water valve. This is critical. Many times during an emergency, we need to instruct a homeowner on how to find their main water valve to stop the water from overflowing. As you can imagine, it’s not easy when we are not familiar with the home. One time, we had to have the homeowner use video chat on their phone and walk us around to quickly help shut the water off.
- Lowering or raising the temperature on the water heater. This is something that we really do not need to come to a home to do. It’s fairly straightforward. Some like it hotter than others, so you have choices! On many of the newer hot water heaters simply pushing a button is how you’d go about doing this. On the older units, there is a knob that can be turned
- Shutting down the power to your boiler. If your boiler was installed properly, there should be a switch that kills the power to the boiler. Typically, it’s on a red face-plate that and has what looks like a light switch. Sometimes when customers call us, we need to have them power down their boiler. And, believe it or not, they often do not know how to do this. Honestly, they should have been shown by the end of the install and it should be pretty clear how to do this.
- Having an accessible trap in the basement. Getting access to this trap is extremely important. In homes that have basement apartments, it may seem like a good idea to cover this – not good. As plumbers we need to access the trap to help you when you’re having an emergency like a backup in your home or need to clear out to the street connection.
Flotechs Plumbing and Heating is licensed and insured in Westchester County, New York. We serve residential plumbing customers as well as business customers that need plumbing help. Our operation is 24/7, holidays, too! Call us if you need a plumber in Yonkers, Mt. Vernon, Bronxville or Pleasantville.
