|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
  |
|
What forms of payment do you accept? We accept most major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. We also gladly accept cash and checks. For more information, please contact us. I need to replace some kitchen and bath fixtures in my home and I have the general idea of what to do, but do have some questions. Can you help answer them? We'd be glad to. Our staff has the skill and knowledge to not only answer your questions, but they can make suggestions and recommendations, provide best-cost alternatives, and provide advice on how to get your job done most efficiently. I'm a contractor and I need to buy large volumes of supplies. Can you handle my needs adequately? Absolutely! We work with many contractors, for both new construction and existing structure renovations. Plus, our staff has the skill and knowledge to work with you to deliver the best possible solution. What is a sauna versus a steam bath? A sauna is a dry heat bath in a well-insulated room lined with untreated, kiln-dried soft wood. Using an electric sauna heater with special rocks placed on a grill, heat is generated. The sauna temperature will be in the range of 160º to 190ºF, maintaining relative humidity between 10% and 20%. A steam bath is a shower space that has been created or modified to be a personal steam area. These differ from saunas in that heated water resulting in steam is used as the source, rather than dry heat. Steam generators, plumbing and electrical connections (similar to those of a common residential water heater), and a sealing entry door are all that are required to deliver true steam bath comfort within your existing shower enclosure. Are there health benefits received from using a sauna or steam bath? Although many health benefits have been attributed to the sauna, the primary advantage is thorough relaxation and cleansing derived from the sauna's soothing heat. It deep cleans the skin for a healthy glow, relaxes muscles, reduces aches and pains in joints, relieves congestion, and rejuvenates the body while revitalizing the mind. I have clogged bathtub drains. What should I do? First, make sure the tub pop-up stopper is opening fully and is free of hair and debris. If the stopper isn't the problem, then the drainpipe is probably clogged. First, try a plunger or a chemical drain cleaner. If neither of these succeeds in clearing the plugged drain, you'll have to clear the trap with a "snake", as follows:
My shower drain is clogged. Is it is the same procedure to clear it as a bathtub drain? Well, sort of. Though it might be difficult to unclog a shower drain with a plunger, it's worth a try first. If that doesn't work, maneuver a snake down the drain opening and into the trap. As a last resort, you can use a garden hose, as follows:
Here are some helpful hints to keep your household drains clear of clogs:
Experts agree that routine use of chemical drain cleaners to prevent clogs may eventually damage your pipes. However, for occasional use in clearing clogs (i.e., no more than once every few months), they work quite well. We recommend using a plunger to open a drain clog before attempting chemical drain cleaners, especially if standing water is present. If plunging has failed to clear the clog, a chemical drain cleaner may be used. Here are some tips when using these cleaners:
Many times, a simple fix is all that is needed to save your leaking showerhead. A leaking showerhead can not only be annoying, it can waste many hundreds of gallons of water a year, and cost you hundreds of wasted dollars. Here are some helpful tips to help salvage your leaking showerhead.
Properly preparing your plumbing system for winter can be a cost-free precaution to save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damages from frozen or burst pipes. Follow these simple and effective tips to help winterize your home:
A faucet that will not yield any water is the first sign of frozen pipes. Frozen pipes can be damaging to a home and its contents and occupants if not handled properly. Use extreme care when dealing with frozen pipes, and rely on a professional if you need. Here are some helpful tips if you have a frozen pipe:
You just might be able to take care of this yourself! While there are many causes for this problem, in most cases it can very easily be fixed. Here are some helpful tips to stop your run-away toilet:
Put less in your toilet in between flushes would be the first recommendation. And remember to flush often. Recent federal regulations to conserve water in toilet usage requires that all toilets use a maximum of 1.6gpf (gallons per flush). This is far less water pressure than used with many of older less water-saving toilets you or your house guests may be used to. Remembering this can save you from frustrating clogs. If you find that you still have flush problems, even when there is little in the toilet bowl to be flushed away, you might have a problem with low-pressure flushing. Here are a few tips to help resolve this problem:
When I turn on my faucets, I hear a banging sound. What could this be? Pipe noises generally range from loud hammering sounds to high-pitched squeaks or squeals. Pipes are typically anchored with pipe straps every 6 to 8 feet for horizontal runs or 8 to 10 feet for vertical runs. As a general rule, only hot water pipes squeak or squeal, due to the pipe moving in its strap and the resulting friction caused from this movement. Conversely, cold water pipes can bang or hammer. These usually result from loose pipes, water logged air chambers, or water pressure that's too high. Normally, proper pipe anchoring and cushioning will solve the problem of loose pipes causing squeaking, squealing, banging, or hammering. Sometimes faulty air chambers are to blame rather than pipe anchors. Lengths of pipe, typically installed behind fixtures and appliances, hold air that cushions the shock when flowing water is shut off. These chambers can fill with water and lose their effectiveness. To restore air to the chambers, turn off the water at the main shutoff valve. Open all the faucets to drain the system, and then close the faucets and turn the water back on again; the air chambers should now fill with air. Finally, higher than normal water pressure might be the culprit behind your noisy pipes. To lower the pressure, you'll need a pressure-reducing valve, normally installed by a professional plumber. I have a water heater in my house, but how does it really work? When someone turns on a hot water faucet, heated water is drawn from the top of the tank and is replaced by cold water that is carried to the bottom through "dip tubes". When the temperature of the water in the tank drops, a thermostat activates the heat source. This heat source is typically a gas burner in a natural gas powered water heater, or two heating elements in an electric powered water heater. A gas water heater will have a flue running up the center and out the top to vent deadly gases; an electric heater needs no venting whatsoever. As water is heated, it will rise to the top of the tank and exit upon demand. In both, anti-corrosion anodes help to attract corrosion that would otherwise adhere to the tank's walls and cause damage to the interior of the unit. Click here for information on how to "size" a water heater. Is there any maintenance I need to perform to ensure the continued healthy and safe operation of my water heater? Maintenance on a water heater to ensure it remains in good operating condition is minimal. But please use caution: water stored in the water heater can be extremely hot and can exit from the unit at a great force, causing severe burns. Here are some tips to continued proper operation of your water heater maintenance, as well as some helpful tips on troubleshooting some basic problems that may occur with your water heater:
|
|
