Tackle any sign of a leak at the first opportunity.

A leak doesn’t have to be an active drip. It can be something as simple as a crack or hole in caulk around the plate that backs a shower control. Water will inevitably move into that hole, where it then gets trapped. Some will evaporate. But some will remain behind, leading to weakened drywall and mildew build up.

Eventually, the damage will spread. When that happens, what could have been a minor caulking job now requires removing the shower control and maybe part of the wall in order to repair the damage. In most cases, procrastination does lead to larger expenses.

One common place for water leaks or drips is at the joints or bottom of pipes under the bathroom and kitchen sinks. Improperly applied compound or plumber’s tape leaves a small hole. Water seeps out anywhere it can. It oozes out of the joint and gravity carries it down to the bottom of the U-shaped pipe, where it drips onto the cabinet floor.

From there, the mildew starts to develop. The cabinetry, usually some form of pressboard or treated plywood, starts to rot and weaken. Over time the surface will bow. Eventually the wood fibers develop a hole, allowing the water to seep down to even more critical areas.

Feel your pipes from time to time. Make sure they’re dry around the joints and at the bottom of the ‘U’. That’s especially important right after any small plumbing job. That’s the time – when pipes have been newly installed or freshly cleaned – when the evidence of your plumber’s tape application skills are tested.

Look for water leaks that start higher up, too.

Kitchen faucets are notorious for having cracks or small holes in the caulking or sealant. Water tends to sit behind the plate that attaches to the sink at the base of the faucet. When homeowners clean behind there it’s common to use the hard metal surface of a steel wool pad or layered sponge. The caulking gets scraped.

A couple of years go by and little by little that caulking is scraped off, dries out and gets accidentally removed by repeated water exposure and cleaning. Temperature changes near the window speed up the process. Winter temperatures keep the surface cooler than the rest of the room. Summer sun coming through the window bakes the caulk. That causes small contractions and expansions that help weaken the seal.

Give your plumbing a good inspection, the way a home inspector would when you buy or sell the house. Find any drips, leaks or just holes where plumbing attaches. Fix them now before you have to tear out a floor or wall. A little maintenance now is a lot less costly than a huge repair later.

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Under-the-sink water purifiers to the rescue!

For a modest cost of about $50, you could have clean water instantly in the kitchen or bath. Installation is no more difficult than putting in a garbage disposal. The savings in not buying so much bottled water will quickly erase the cost.

For most models, the installation is pretty much the same.

Just disconnect the cold-water supply line underneath the sink. Be careful to use only the cold water line. Filters are not designed to work correctly with hot water.

Sometimes it’s attached with screw-tightening clamps similar to car water hoses. Sometimes, it’s a squeeze clamp that will require strong fingers or a good pair of pliers.

But that’s usually the easy part. If the hose has been attached for a long time, it will probably stick. Take care not just to jerk hard. You’ll split the hose off, requiring a lengthy and difficult removal of the remainder with a knife. Or, worse, you’ll bust off the nib the hose attaches to. Twist and pull moderately, and if necessary squirt something in the hose lip that will dissolve calcium carbonate and/or aluminum or copper oxide.

Clean off all the fittings really well. Sometimes ordinary cleaning solvent is enough. Other installations will require a little bit of gentle sanding. A clean surface is key to a dripless finish.

Now wind ample Teflon plumber’s tape around the nib. Never secure a hose with PVC glue or other adhesive. Someday you’ll have to replace the hose and it will be nearly impossible to get off without damaging the pipe. In any case, it would make the job ten times harder and longer.

Now for the filter.

The water filter fits between the cold-water supply and the faucet. Filters often use some kind of activated charcoal, a type of carbon that grabs the minerals, chlorine and other molecules on the way to the spigot. They sit inside a canister that opens up or pulls down so the filter can be changed every six months to a year. So, make sure to face the cannister in a way that doesn’t prevent that.

Flexible hose attaches to the cannister/filter housing and then onto the nib where the previous line was removed. They’re typically included with the water filter kit. Make sure not to kink them or even have too sharp a bend. That leads to blockage or cracking over time. Trim off the ends of the hose to prevent that.

Most hoses can be attached with simple compression fittings that also come with the standard kit. Hand tightening is often good enough. Make sure you don’t over-tighten them. That leads to cracked hoses near the fitting.

Cannisters are attached in a number of different ways. Sometimes a small ring attaches to the U-shaped pipe under the sink. Others are designed to attach to the wall with a mounting bracket. Just follow the instructions. Take care, though, when mounting on the wall to drive into a stud or to use good dry-wall screw holders. Cannisters full of water can weigh several pounds.

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The first tip follows the old mechanic’s rule: the right tool for the right job.

Select sealant according to its proper purpose. Use plumber’s putty for securing sink flanges when installing a garbage disposal unit. Use special-made toilet bowl grease to seal the base of the bowl to the trap (the hole or pipe out which the water is flushed). Use silicon caulk for shower pipes and spouts. And so on.

Never be tempted to substitute, for example, PVC pipe glue to seal a flange or sink where plumber’s putty is called for. Don’t use it to secure hoses. You’ll never get them loose again and, someday, they will have to be replaced.

Be sparing but not stingy.

The right amount of plumber’s putty, say a 1/4 inch bead around the rim of a newly installed sink, makes for a good seal. Use too much and you have an unsightly mess. Too little and you can end up with small holes or cracks that lead to leaks.

Remove any excess before it can dry, but take care not to wipe so strongly that you take away what’s supposed to be there. Also, excess sealant, whether plumber’s putty or silicon caulk, can leave ridges that give you something to bump against with a pan or knife. That can lead to tearing. Simply wipe the excess with a finger or slightly damp sponge shortly after application. Then, carefully wipe up any smears before they dry.

Be generous with Teflon plumber’s tape.

It is possible to use too much, leading to small channels through which water can escape. But it’s rare. It’s extremely flexible and compressible. That makes it hard to overdo the job. However, if you wind on too much it can make fitting on a new hose or threading a pipe difficult or impossible.

Wind it in the proper direction.

When fitting on a hose, it doesn’t matter which way the tape is wound. But if the project calls for threading on a pipe, twisting can undo the Teflon tape. Wind the tape so that the tail points in the direction you will wind onto. That way, as you tighten the fitting, you’re stretching the plumber’s tape further. That leads to a good tight seal, rather than loosening the tape and making it useless.

Avoid torn ends.

Sometimes it will be a lot easier to simply stretch the tape until it breaks or tear it with your teeth. When you’re under the sink on your back with only one hand, the temptation to do that is large. Resist it. Sometimes you’ll get away with it. Many times, it will lead to re-doing the job after you’ve already tightened on the new fitting.

A clean end at the beginning allows the Teflon tape to seat into threads without leaving ragged high spots. Ditto on the tail. In either case, a ragged edge produces an uneven layer that will encourage small cracks. Water drips are not far behind.

Use sealants and tape according to their design and you’ll have a well-sealed hose or pipe. That eliminates water damage and messes… and the need to re-do the job.

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Leaks around the base are usually a sign that the toilet will have to be replaced. In some cases, it’s a simple tear in the wax paper that was used to seal the hole in the floor. Sometimes a kind of grease is used instead and it can dry out or acquire a hole. In those cases, the old toilet can be re-used but the steps for repair are the same as installing a new toilet.

Other problems are much more common.

When you hear the toilet water continue to run forever, a few simple things can be the culprit. Inside the tank is a large plastic ball that floats called, not suprisingly, a float. It’s attached to a rod that controls a valve. If the ball never rises enough to shut off the water, it will continue to run.

Test that by pulling up on the rod. The water flow should stop almost instantly. If it does, simply bend the rod down slightly until the ball floats high enough to shut off the valve.

In more typical cases, the cause is the failure of the small rubber stopper or flapper at the base of the tank used to seal off the hole. Water leaks through the hole and the float does its job by falling down as the water level lowers. That opens the valve and the water runs. Continuously. Very annoying.

There are two basic ways to repair that situation.

Sometimes it’s possible to simply take a rough sponge or pad of steel wool and scour off any slime on the base of the rubber stopper. If its surface became uneven due to mold build-up, small cracks open up when it doesn’t seat properly.

Sometimes that rubber stopper can be defective, or the hinges may break. Occasionally the small metal pins that secure the hinges to the toilet may break from having rusted then moved many times. In all such cases, just buy a kit and re-install the stopper using the simple instructions on the package.

It may take years, but the rod connected to the flush handle does sometimes break if made of plastic or corrode until it breaks if made of metal. These are inexpensive and easy to replace. Each will last about as long as the other. Just remove the clip that attaches the rod inside to the chain. Then remove the small plastic and/or metal retaining nuts and replace the part.

On rare occasions it may be necessary to replace the floating ball, water feed tube or other parts. Kits are available that contain all these parts. Installation is simple by following the instructions on the package.

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First, ensure that all water supply to the toilet is turned off. In many homes this can be as simple as closing the valve that controls the supply to the toilet. But some homes will require that you turn off the water main for the whole house. There is seldom a valve for the bathroom as a whole.

Empty as much water out of the existing toilet as possible. Some of that may be as easy as flushing well while ensuring that no new water feeds into the toilet. Even after that, some baling will be required. You could skip this step, but that carries a few risks.

Water weighs about 8 lbs per gallon. Storing a few gallons means that the toilet will be about 25 lbs heavier with water than without. Also, it’s very easy to splash water out as you lift and carry the old one away. Considering that the water usually contains mold and other contaminants, that’s not something you want to spill onto the carpet on your way out. Any cracks that prompted the replacement can easily widen and leak water out, too.

Remove the hose that is attached to the toilet. Then remove the caps covering the restraining nuts at the base on each side of the toilet. Remove the nuts and set them aside. If necessary scrape off any caulking that was applied around the perimeter at the floor.

The old toilet will be a little difficult to remove, in most cases. They’re usually installed onto a sealant that, while not strictly speaking glue, does stiffen and provide resistance. It helps to have assistance. Lift the toilet straight up with a quick tug to break the seal and counteract any small vacuum effect.

Once the old toilet is out of the way, clean out the pipe of any collected mold or grime. Clean off any old wax paper and/or sealant from around the floor where the toilet stood. It’s important to start with clean, flat, smooth surfaces for a good seal and a level toilet.

Now, most of the hard part is done.

Many new toilet installations are done with a kind of thick wax paper that lays onto the floor around the hole the toilet will fit over. Some people still use a specially-made grease sealant. Either works well. Rubber mats are generally not a good choice, since they will often warp over time from pressure and temperature changes.

Now place the new toilet carefully onto the floor, lowering it over the bolts that thread through the holes in the base. This step is critical. You want to come straight down and eliminate any need to move the toilet horizontally after it’s on the floor. That can tear the wax paper or move sealant aside, opening a hole.

Then just reconnect the hose, open the water valve and test before securing the nuts onto the bolts. Voila!

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One of the most well-known water contaminants is the all-too familiar hard, chalky compound that we are perpetually wiping off: calcium carbonate. It coats the surfaces of sinks and shower tubs. It lines the interior of shower spouts and drains. It builds up inside handles and makes its way into every other small crevice.

Wherever water is found, you’ll usually find calcium carbonate. It’s the mineral that makes ‘hard’ water hard. Though it’s not corrosive or even harmful, it can cause problems. Just as arteries don’t work as well when they build up fatty tissues, so pipes are less efficient when they clog. The culprit is usually calcium carbonate, at least in part.

Fortunately, it’s easy to dissolve with baking soda and vinegar, or any of a thousand commercial products. Sometimes, just a good scrub sponge is enough. Keeping as much of it at bay as possible helps keep your seals from suffering an early demise. Removing it keeps things sparkling.

Another common contaminant is actually a class of compounds: oxides. Whether it’s red rust (iron oxide), green (copper oxide) or white (aluminum oxide) any of them will cause more than just a degraded appearance.

Oxides form by corroding part of the metal of which a part is made. Corrode enough of it and sooner or later its function is reduced or even compromised. The oxygen that combines with the metal comes from the ever-present atoms in water (H2O). Some are free floating in the water (as ions), some are easily torn loose to combine with the metal in a simple chemical reaction. When that reaction occurs, the trouble starts.

Rusty water isn’t harmful in small quantities, but it’s distasteful. Copper oxide makes a smooth surface crusty and reduces the diameter of pipes. Aluminum oxide produces pits in smooth surfaces when the metal from the part is oxidized, then washed or scrubbed away.

Some amount of oxidation is inevitable. Even areas outside the kitchen and bath are exposed to air which almost always contains some water vapor. But the difference can be dramatic. That’s one reason that things in dryer climates tend to suffer much less from the problem. Keeping surfaces cleaned off of water can radically slow the process. It will keep your plumbing attractive and fully functional years longer.

There’s a whole other category of contaminants that can occur in water – lead, mercury, cadmium, sulfur and many more. But these are primarily responsible for harming our ‘pipes’ and ‘parts’, causing health problems. But that calls for a different kind of maintenance that, fortunately, plumbers don’t get called to do.

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First, you’ll have to disconnect any and all attachments to the sink except possibly the faucet, unless you plan to re-use it.

Before that can be done it’s necessary to turn off any water valves. In most kitchens a simple turn of the under-the-sink valves will do the trick. In others, it may be necessary to turn off the main valve for the house.

Next, kick off the circuit breaker that protects the circuit for the garbage disposal unit. Don’t rely only on the above-the-sink wall switch.

Put a bucket under the pipes to catch any trapped water, along with a few towels. There’s always some water that manages to miss the bucket.

Now it’s safe to disconnect all wires, hoses, pipes and water lines that attach to the sink. That includes any dishwasher line and wires for the garbage disposal, along with any line to a separate hand sprayer.

The kitchen sink can be secured to the cabinetry in a number of ways. In some cases there are mounting clips that need to be removed. In most installations, plumber’s putty will have been used to adhere the sink into position. Even with all clips or nuts removed, it will be a challenge to get the sink loose.

Work a stiff utility knife into the line between the sink and cabinet. If you work from above, you’ll have better leverage, but a higher risk of slipping and damaging the counter. Some topside work will usually be necessary in any case to remove any old caulk. Once that’s done, the hardest part is over.

There’s still some unpleasant clean up to do, since it’s necessary to remove any existing caulk and/or plumber’s putty from the parts that held the sink. It’s important to have a clean, smooth surface before placing the new sink into position. That will require a combination of putty knife use and sanding.

Install any separate strainer into the new sink before putting it into position. Some new sinks have them already secured. Plumber’s putty is used to seal it. More putty will be needed around the rim of the opening the sink sets into.

Spread a 1/4 inch bead and set the sink onto it. With a wooden cuticle removal tool or ice cream stick, scrape any excess off before it has time to dry. Remove any small remainder with a very slightly damp sponge. Repeat the operation with caulk along the back and side edges if there are any areas where water might seep in.

Allow the sink to set untouched for a few hours to give everything time to solidify. Now is a good time to attach any mounting clips, while things are still somewhat flexible.

In the meantime, you can measure all hoses, pipes and other attachments to ensure they all fit well with the new sink. Trim as needed. Now is a good time to inspect any rubber hoses for possible replacement.

Replace the garbage disposal unit. Then, re-attach all hoses and pipes, using Teflon plumber’s tape. Open the water valve slowly and test for leaks. Then turn on the circuit breaker for the garbage disposal unit and test.

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One easy and ultra-low cost method is simply to run hot water. If the drain is only partially clogged it may be due to grease, small bits of food or other soft material. Hot water will often melt or dissolve enough of it to get the rest to flow all the way out.

That won’t work, of course, on drains that are completely clogged. But other remedies can sometimes still be just as cheap, or nearly so.

The old-fashioned plunger still plays a useful role in the modern home. By increasing the pressure inside the pipe, it may force the clogging material to flush out of the system. Take care, though, about using this in winter. If the clog is the result of ice blockage produced from low temperatures it’s possible to tip the scales and burst a pipe.

For those common clogs in the U-shaped section of the kitchen sink, removing the section of pipe can be the way to go. It takes only a few minutes to remove the two large metal or plastic retaining nuts. Then the pipe can easily be cleared of dropped earrings or spoons, grease plugs or anything else that made its way in.

Take care when replacing the pipe, though, to do it properly. Don’t be tempted to seal it with PVC glue or other adhesive or sealant. Simple Teflon plumber’s tape is the right solution. Wind it in a direction that will cause it to get further stretched when winding the nut back on. You don’t want tightening the nut to undo the tape. That encourages leaks.

Chemical drain openers are safe and effective, if properly used. They dissolve grease, hair and other common materials to open up the passageway again. Then, when hot water flushes everything down, they degrade rapidly to produce no harm to the environment. They can be used on all modern plumbing pipes without fear.

One home recipe uses baking soda and vinegar. For simple clogs produced by calcium carbonate build up (hard water), this works great. Others will require commericial products to clear the clog.

The plumber’s snake is a handy thing to have for those larger jobs. Sometimes it’s a clogged toilet that the plunger won’t fix. In other cases, the kitchen sink just won’t flow freely after all other methods have been exhausted.

Before you call an expensive professional, try using a plumber’s snake to clear the clog. That’s the first thing the professional will do, anyway. Just run the wire cable into the pipe as far as possible and twist the handle on the cable feeder.

It grinds away at any material inside and can also be used to recover small cloths, sponges or other items that fell in. Many have small metal ‘fingers’ that can be clamped to pull items back out easily.

If all else fails, call your local plumbing professional. Better an expensive house call than a damaged or clogged pipe.

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Garbage disposals are actually attached to the sink by a flange. The pipes attached provide some support, but are mainly for inputing and flushing out water. So, the key step is to undo the flange. But first, the pipes….

First, turn off any electricity to the garbage disposal. In some cases, that’s as easy as flipping an under-sink switch. Usually it will require flipping off the circuit breaker that controls the supply to the garbage disposal. Don’t rely solely on having the disposal turned off at the above-the-sink wall switch.

Next, depending on the design, it may be necessary to turn off the main water supply for an hour. Some plumbing designs make it necessary only to close the valves under the sink. The goal is to ensure that no water can run when you disconnect the pipes from the disposal.

Remove the electrical connections. Sometimes that’s just a small plastic connector. Other designs require removing a plate and disconnecting wire from flathead screw mounts.

Then remove any attached hoses. Carefully clean the interiors of any remaining Teflon plumber’s tape.

Next, using a pipe wrench or channel locks, loosen the nuts holding the pipes onto the disposal unit. Carefully remove any traces of Teflon plumber’s tape here, too. A little sandpaper may be needed to get the interior clean.

Now the disposal unit should be attached only by the flange in the sink. There will be a large nut that holds the neck of the unit to the flange and possibly a mounting ring. Since most units last a long time, it may be corroded and stuck. A jerk on the wrench is more effective than a twist, but take care not to damage anything under the sink.

Once the flange nut and any mounting ring is removed, the thin metal part may or may not come out easily. Most will have been installed with plumber’s putty, which solidifies over time. It’s a mild adhesive, but it can require some force to get the flange loose.

Once the flange is removed it will not usually be needed again. New garbage disposal units come with a replacement as part of the kit. Thoroughly clean off any remaining putty from the sink. It’s critical to have clean, flat surfaces in order to prevent any leaks.

A 1/4 inch bead of new plumber’s putty around the surface will usually be enough. Drop the new sink flange into place and seat it accurately. Press down to squeeze out any excess plumber’s putty, then wipe off the remainder before it has a chance to dry.

Most units will have a plastic or rubber gasket to fit on the underside of the sink. Slip them into place along with any other mounting rings that came with the unit, according to the instructions. Designs differ, but use all the parts that came with the unit. Tighten everything in place in preparation for the unit using supplied nuts and/or screws.

Many garbage disposal units will have a plate on the bottom to which the wires will attach. Others have a small outlet and the wire assembly just plugs in. Wire the unit according to the instructions.

Press the unit up onto the mounting assembly/flange. Apply Teflon plumber’s tape to any hose nibs and re-attach all the hoses. Tighten the mounting ring and any clamps and you’re almost ready to go.

Test for water-tightness before turning the circuit breaker back on.

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In many homes, the odds of a burst pipe in winter from low temperatures are very low. But others have exposed pipes in crawlspaces or elsewhere. It takes only a modest opening around the base of the house to let in winds that can chill pipes to sub-freezing temperatures.

Even without that exposure, temperatures below about 20F/-6.7C present higher odds of ice forming inside pipes that will plug them up. Fortunately, to prevent that is usually straightforward and typically very inexpensive.

One old-fashioned remedy still works well: opening up the faucets to a slow drip.

Running water is slightly less susceptible to freezing than still water. But the main effect comes from simply opening the valve. That allows air and water to move, reducing any pressure build-up in front of the ice blockage. That gives the pressure ’somewhere to go’… somewhere other than pressing out the sides of the pipe, i.e. causing a break.

But there’s another old-fashioned saying that’s useful here: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Preventing the pipes from getting too cold in the first place reduces the odds to near zero of having a break.

One way to accomplish that is to wrap them with low-cost insulating foam.

The foam itself supplies no heat. But it helps the pipes and water retain any heat they have. Water and pipes at, say 35F/1.7C, will tend not to go below freezing if they retain the heat present in the water and pipe before the temperatures outside dipped.

The foam comes in different forms. One popular style is a long, flat rectangle that curls into a cylinder. The cylinder formed is the circumference of the pipe. That makes it easy to wrap the pipe along its length and simple to cut the rectangle to the proper length and/or width.

It’s inexpensive, easy to install and easy to replace.

Another method is more costly and a little more difficult to install. But it has the advantage of protecting pipes no matter what the temperature. Foam will only retain heat up to a point. Some is always lost. Installing a heating system for the water pipes is as sure a thing as possible.

There are two basic types: wires or tape along the pipe, and a circulating system.

The first type is simply a wire or tape containing one that sits along the surface of the pipe. Electricity passes through it and heats the wire, which transfers heat to the pipe and the water inside. Costs vary, but if it’s properly installed the method is nearly foolproof.

The second type is a little more expensive, but uses existing facilities. Sometimes it’s already built into the home. In this technique, hot water from the water heater is pumped slowly through the pipes. Cold water is circulated back into the heater. The system operates automatically via an in-built thermostat and pump that is put in the water line.

It costs a little more to run, because the system heats and re-heats water that isn’t being used. But it is the surest way to prevent any ice blockage. Any ice that forms will be quickly melted by the warm water before it can become a problem.

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