Posts by Newman's Plumbing

Vibrating water pipes aren’t normal, so it’s essential to act quickly when you hear an unusual racket coming from inside the walls of your home

It can be scary (or at the very least irritating) to hear a rattling noise coming from your plumbing. Whatever you do, don’t ignore it! The first step is diagnosing the cause of your vibrating water pipes, and then you can work on getting your plumbing in working order again.

We all know that quality matters, especially when choosing a new faucet. But it’s not always true that you get what you pay for, and sometimes, even something suspiciously cheap can end up being a great deal. So how can you know what to pick? The answer is simple (albeit a bit boring): do the research!

Some questions to ask, regardless of price:

Fresh, drinkable water is a limited resource that is necessary to our survival. More than 97% of the water on Earth is salt water and must be treated before we can use it in everyday life to cook, clean, and consume. The remaining percentage of water that is fresh and useable to humans is mostly frozen or stored underground as ground water. For these reasons and many more, it is important to do your part in conserving water at home. Discover how you can use water more efficiently and preserve the limited stock of water that we have on Earth with these simple ideas and tips!

As with any contractor you hire, there are practical things you need to establish before the work begins. Here are key questions to ask a plumber:

1) Are you licensed?

This is the big one. Never, ever forget to ask this question, and don’t just take the plumber’s word for it. Many operate without a license, but many homeowners assume every plumber needs to have one, so this question is always worth asking. Being licensed means the plumber is registered with a governing body at the state or local level…

We have all have been in that situation. Your dinner guests are over, you’re cleaning up, you’ve just crammed an entire three course meal down your garbage disposal, hit the switch, and nothing happened.  The last thing you want your guests to see is you underneath the sink performing emergency plumbing in your best clothes.

The next day, you decide you are not going to make this mistake again. You’re going to buy the best garbage disposal there is. You head down to the local hardware store, hit the right aisle, and that’s when you realize you have no idea what you’re looking for…

Low water pressure can mess up a lot of things in the house: a good shower, dishwasher work, cleaning dishes in the sink, getting water from your fridge, and a whole other slew of issues. It’s important to figure out what’s causing the low water pressure and fix it so you can get back to peak performance in your home. 

Corroded galvanized iron pipes are a common cause of low water pressure. If you live in an older house, it may well have galvanized iron pipes that have corroded inside over the years. The accumulated corrosion eventually restricts the water flow. Fortunately, there is usually a solution.

Apprentice plumber: An entry-level plumber, learning the trade. State requirements may include a high school diploma or GED, an aptitude test and that the applicant is 18 year of age or older. Apprentices may work with a journeyman, under the supervision of a master plumber.

Auger: A flexible metal rod, usually made of spring material, with a cutting or clearing device on one end. It is used to clear clogs in drains. Closet augers, also called toilet auger, have a tubular guide to permit entry through the toilet trap design. Larger, longer augers are used to clean underground drain lines and may be motor driven.

With the much-awaited season of spring finally in sight, you are probably planning all of the wonderful things you have put off doing during the freezing cold temperatures. As the grass finally begins sprouting, birds return to your yard, and flowers creep up slowly.

While all of this beauty starts to “spring”up, behind the scenes lurks a danger to your home that you need to watch for diligently: the annual end of winter, beginning of spring plumbing problems.

Living in a four-seasoned climate has amazing perks. The changing of the seasons is often gorgeous and awe-inspiring, but they also bring with them their downsides. The end of winter is one of them as snow turns to slush and water, making things brown and muddy and blah. Not only does the world outside tend to get quite messy this time of year, but so can your plumbing if you are not careful.