Common Plumbing Problems

Common plumbing problems are the bane of every homeowner, business owner, or property manager in Phoenix, Arizona. There are several ways for plumbing to mess up your home or business, which means that there are some common plumbing problems you should watch out for. If you’re ever in doubt and need professional assistance, feel free to reach out to Mr. Rooter of Phoenix, your local, friendly, and professional plumbing service. We’re always happy to consult with you about issues with your plumbing, including repairs, replacements, or installations and send a technician to you for free to diagnose and quote your repairs.

Mr Rooter employee greeting a customer

How to Solve Clogs and Blockages

Clogs and blockages are one of the main plumbing problems that anyone can encounter. These clogs and blockages can be made from a variety of materials. This can include fat, grease, food, hair, skin, soap scum, sediment, corrosion, rust, and erosion (though those things can affect your pipes in other ways, too). Clogs and blockages can cause a myriad of issues, including fractures, leaks, joint leaks, and other complications.

Clogs are challenging in of themselves, since the clog has to be removed in addition to inspecting the pipeline to see if there’s issues with leaks or fractures. If untreated slow or clogged drains can easily escalate to other issues, which requires more money, more time, and more energy to be spent on your plumbing.

Blockages such as fat, grease and food from kitchens can require a new garbage disposal system, or a new sink and plumbing system leading to the main line. Old pipes can cause issues, which is often times the case with kitchen plumbing. Since plumbing is an unseen system, it can easily become neglected.

In terms of bathroom clogs, it can cause issues such as a blocked toilet, slow drains, and dysfunctional toilets, sinks, bathtubs, or showers. It can be difficult to correctly diagnose these issues, which is why you should rely upon a professional’s opinion.

Understanding Tree Root Invasion

Tree root invasions are another kind of blockage. Tree roots naturally seek moisture, which means they’re oftentimes drawn to plumbing systems. These tree roots can easily infiltrate your pipes, creating cracks and fissures along the entirety of your pipeline. This can cause major issues, including leaks, spilled waste, and a nonfunctional plumbing system.

Older pipes are at a higher chance of infiltration than newer systems. Old pipe materials can cause issues plumbing-wide, not just with tree root invasions. Newer pipes are made of new materials that do not corrode as easily.

Problems with Old Pipe Systems

Older pipe systems can cause issues with your entire plumbing, not just in certain areas such as tree root invasions or susceptibility to clogs, blockages, and fractures. It can be difficult to correctly assess if your plumbing is older than it should be, so a general guideline is if your pipes are older than forty years, it’s time for a complete inspection and complete repairs, and replacements.

Old pipe systems are oftentimes constructed out of cast iron, PVC, or clay. These pipe materials are not necessarily the safest to use for plumbing. Cast iron, for example, is likely to fall apart due to corrosion, rust, and erosion. It can also cause clogs and blockages due to the buildup of rust, and sediment. In terms of PVC, it’s like to fall apart because of extreme temperature changes. PVC can crack easily if it experiences cold or heat that it isn’t used to, which can cause issues with spillages and waste leakages. With clay pipes, the material can fall to water pressure, tree root invasions, or general wear and tear.

Pipes older than forty years are more challenging to work with than newer systems. Due to poor construction, wear and tear, and old age, old pipes can be a real hassle. That’s why most plumbing companies suggest repairs and replacements for old systems.

Take Care of Corrosion, Rust and Erosion in Your Phoenix Pipes

Corrosion, rust, and erosion are huge challenges in any pipe material, especially in cast iron pipes. Corrosion, rust, and erosion can easily wear away at stubborn pipe materials and cause them to collapse completely.

Rust can narrow the pipeline down to a fine point, not allowing any more water, waste, or other processed materials to flow. Corrosion and erosion can make the pipe collapse, as well as making weak points in the pipes to allow tree root invasions to occur.

These issues can cause plumbing-wide complications due to the spillage of waste. Waste spills can make it so that the city comes down on you, challenging your ability to have a safe home. Waste spills can cause sickness, issues with health, and other complications.

Luckily, leak detection services, inspections, and pipe cleaning can help you with resolving these issues. Leak detection services can alert you to presence of weaknesses, while inspections allow a plumbing company to see what’s going on and pipe cleaning can scrub off the rust, clear up space for a repair, or make room for a replacement.

Tackling Costly Repairs with Trenchless Solutions

There’s nothing worse than realizing there’s an issue in your plumbing, and then having to get a expensive repair, replacement, or installation completed.

Most of these expenses may come from the traditional approach to plumbing solutions. Traditional approaches include digging a trench the length, width, and depth of your pipe to get access to the entire pipeline. This costs a lot of money to dig, what with labor costs, time, and damage to landscaping and hardscaping such as trees, shrubbery, flowering bushes, patios, driveways, decks, fencing, and more. That’s why some plumbing companies offer trenchless solutions.

Trenchless solutions don’t come with near as many costs associated with them. With innovative tools, equipment, and technology available at the hands of plumbing companies and their employees. With camera-guided inspections, no spot is missed in your pipeline. Things like hydro-jetting and hydro-scrubbing allow plumbing companies to easily scour the inside of your pipes and clean them spotless. With pipe lining and pipe bursting, we can repair and replace sections of pipe seamlessly, without disturbing aboveground areas.

Trenchless solutions have been the lifesaver of many clogged, blocked, corroded, eroded, rusted, and other plumbing systems nationwide. Our trenchless solutions are why you can trust us to get the job done quickly without losing the quality of care.

  • Sewer Camera Inspections

Most trenchless inspections are done with a camera attached to a hose that’s then inserted into your pipe. There are a variety of inspections that can occur in order to help maintain your pipes and keep them healthy; maintenance, emergency and routine inspections are an important part of keeping pipes in good condition.

Drain inspections, for example, can assess clogs and blockages inside your drains. Sewer camera inspections inspect the entire sewer system and leading pipelines, whereas leak inspections only check for weak points and points of leakages in pipes.

  • Trenchless Pipe LIning

Repairs are also important for the maintenance and health of your pipes. Repairs can serve various purposes, including upkeep, emergency repairs, and other purposes. It may seem vicious and unnecessary, but preventative repairs can be made, as well.

Preventative repairs are a great way to keep track of your plumbing and keep it running smoothly. For example, repairing a joint can ease away the possibilities of leaks; repairing a section of pipe, though mildly difficult, may save the entire pipeline.

Pipeline repairs are often times easier than replacements and take much less time. We use pipe lining, which is a relatively quick and easy process to complete. We use epoxy, which cures quickly and hardens to an impenetrable wall. First, we inspect your pipe, then clean it thoroughly to provide a smooth surface for the epoxy to grip onto. Then, we coat your pipe with wet epoxy, that is then allowed to cure over four hours, and then your pipe is ready to go.

If your pipes are not collapsed, the pipelining material is exceptionally difficult to break against tree root invasions. It’s also not susceptible to corrosion, erosion, or rust, and since it’s a smooth surface, clogs and blockages have less area to cling onto.

  • Trenchless Pipe Replacement

Pipe replacements used to be difficult; with trenchless solutions, that’s no longer the case. In the case of pipe bursting, which is the most common trenchless replacement solution, we use a hydraulic system to burst apart the old pipe and seamlessly install a new one in its place.

A large head breaks apart the old pipe, pushing its fragments into the soil and clearing the path for the new pipe. While the old pipe is broken, the new one is fed through a hole and pushed into place by the same large head, snuggling it up with the other segments of pipe.

  • Trenchless Solutions for Pipe Installation

Any good plumbing company won’t just throw away your old pipe, or simply repair an old pipeline- they’re also willing to do installations.

One way to provide trenchless installations is with pipe bursting, as mentioned above. However, other methods of installation can include: roof drain lining, tankless water heaters, efficient fixtures like sinks, garbage disposals, toilets, bathtub fixtures, and more.

Here at Mr. Rooter of Phoenix, we’re willing to consult with you about what options are best for you. Residential, commercial, and municipal properties have different demands and needs based on their sewer and drain systems. With a home, a tank water heater is fine for a certain amount of time; a business, however, should rely on the energy-saving efficiency of the tankless models. A home may need different fixtures than a business in order to function at optimal efficiency and functionality.

About Mr. Rooter of Phoenix

Our team at Mr. Rooter of Phoenix has years of experience and has been providing valley residents with plumbing services since 1996. We have always prioritized customer service and high-quality job completion services over anything else. That’s why we offer 24/7 emergency services, upfront flat-rate pricing, and never have an overtime charge. We make sure to have convenient scheduling and appointment times, and all our customer service representatives are happy to help you schedule a convenient time for your needs to be met.

We service both residential and commercial customers, so no one is left behind. Whether you own a home, a business, or simply manage a property, Mr. Rooter of Phoenix is here for you. We never hesitate to reach out and help our customers in their time of need, or just with regular maintenance and routine plumbing services.

We offer spot repair services, repair services, emergency repair services, and replacement/installation services. We work hard to keep our customers happy and serviced year-round, which is why we offer solutions for frozen Phoenix pipes. We work in our area for a reason; plumbing, during the winter, is notorious for having issues such as freezing, bursting, or simply not working at all.

Underground plumbing isn’t our only concern. We offer leak detection inspections for all kinds of pipes; underground sewer pipes, gas lines, water lines, and other pipelines are all covered under our inspections. We can ensure that all plumbing and pipes are working at top quality, and running smoothly and seamlessly without interruption to your quality of service.

Mr. Rooter of Phoenix also prides itself on our ability to maintain a clean working space. We bring all our own equipment and leave nothing on-site that’s unsightly. If we need to access underground and don’t have a pre-existent entry point, we only create small “launching pads” that are required for our services to be completed. We also ensure that those launching pads aren’t in the way of your everyday life, including landscaping and hardscaping features on your property.

Our team of industry professionals are always reliable, professional, and courteous plumbing company available for a variety of services custom-tailored to meet your needs. We never hesitate to let people come to us, and we’ll travel to you. Allow Mr. Rooter of Phoenix to be your local plumbing service- you won’t be disappointed.

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