A flood in your South Columbia home isn?t always caused by a flood outside of your home. Often flooding inside your home and water damage is caused by a failure of some kind of appliance or plumbing within your own home. Appliances will fail from time to time, however, you can easily avoid many problems that could crop up with your plumbing if you maintain it regularly. Here are some tips on avoiding plumbing related flooding in your home.
Winterize
If you are a new homeowner or live in a fairly warm climate, you may not know what winterizing is, but it is a very important thing to do to make sure you don?t have any damaged pipes. Even if you live in a warm climate, you can get frosts from time to time, and before that happens, you will want to turn off the water that goes to the sprinkler system outside. If a pipe should burst, the water could leak after it thaws and flood your basement as well as your yard.
You should also set your thermostat at 50 degrees Fahrenheit if you are going out of town during the winter. This will ensure that the pipes within your home won?t freeze and burst, causing water damage within the walls of your home.
Sewer Problems
Another common and distasteful cause of flooding is sewer issues. There are many ways to avoid sewer problems, and there is a long list of things that you really should not flush down the toilet. Instead of listing all the things you shouldn?t flush, just remember this rule of thumb that will keep things simple: Do not flush anything down the toilet except for feces, urine, and toilet paper. Especially do not flush sanitary napkins or tampons down the toilet; they expand and cause clogs, and they are not biodegradable. Even flushable wipes can do a number on your sewer system, especially if you have a private sewage field. Cleaning up unsanitary messes like this really should be handled by a water damage professional because you don?t want to miss something and have bacteria growing in your home.
Sinks and Showers
You should also try to avoid putting anything down your sinks or showers that is not water and tiny particles of food or skin cells. Large amounts of food can clog the pipes within your home and cause water damage. Hair can also cause clogging of the drain, so make sure you have a hair trap or that you clean out your drains regularly.
Washers
It isn?t very common that a washing machine would go on the fritz, but in the event that it does, it is a good idea to have your laundry room equipped with a drain in the floor. If you don?t have one of these, you will likely be fine, but you probably shouldn?t run your washing machine while you are out of the house. In the event that one of your appliances does fail, immediately turn off the water to your home and call a water damage cleanup professional.
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