The Sunny Plumber Phoenix Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Mesa’

3 Common Myths about Garbage Disposals

Friday, March 20th, 2015

You probably use the garbage disposal in your kitchen multiple times a day and would have a hard time imagining what it would be like to clean-up after meals without it. The majority of homeowners around the country have the same experience as you, since garbage disposals are now accepted as a basic appliance in the modern kitchen.

And, like anything that grows widespread, the kitchen garbage disposal has also developed a number of myths surrounding it. The Internet hasn’t help to dispel any of them, and has probably propagated even more. We hope we can clear up a few of these misunderstandings and help you take better care of your kitchen’s disposal so that keeps it working for many years to come.

Whenever you require professional services for a garbage disposal in Mesa, AZ, or the installation of a new one, just give The Sunny Plumber a call and let us take care of it.

3 major garbage disposal myths

  • You can sharpen the blades with ice cubes: You may have heard that garbage disposals that are having trouble grinding down food should have their blades sharpened, which you can do by pouring ice cubes into the hopper and turning on the disposal. This doesn’t work, however, since there are no sharp “blades” in the disposal. The impellers that grind organic waste are blunt. Putting ice cubes into the disposal won’t do any good, and may even cause damage. If a disposal isn’t performing well, you should call for repairs.
  • You should always pour hot water down the disposal when it’s running: We understand the thought process here, since hot water dissolves grease. But when you run the disposal while hot water is pouring into it, you risk causing it to overheat. Use cold water when clearing out the disposal as much as possible.
  • Disposals can handle any food product: A garbage disposal is durable, but it is not invincible. A kitchen disposal is designed to grind down soft food particles; it cannot handle food waste such as bones, gristle, corn cobs, and un-popped popcorn kernels. If your teeth can’t chew it, than neither can the disposal, and you should instead place it in the trash.

No matter how cautious you are about using your garbage disposal, it may still break down at some point. Don’t risk trying to fix it yourself! Call for the professionals at The Sunny Plumber in Mesa, AZ for garbage disposal repair services. We are available 24/7 for your convenience.

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Tips to Avoid Water Heater Repair Needs

Thursday, January 22nd, 2015

Having a water heater breakdown is an annoying and inconvenient experience, to say the least. While it isn’t possible to completely avoid water heater repair, there are some steps you can take to reduce the amount of repair your unit may need. Here are some suggestions from The Sunny Plumber technicians for Mesa, AZ residents:

  • Drain some water bi-annually – it is natural for sediment to build-up on the bottom of your water heater, but if too much sediment builds-up, it can hamper the operation of your water heater. By draining some of the water from your water heater twice-annually, you’ll be able to remove a good amount of sediment from the bottom of the tank.
  • Check the pressure relief valve – the pressure relief valve is a safety device that relieves excess pressure in case the water heater becomes too hot. Relief valves can leak and/or corrode, which can cause them to malfunction. Checking the state of the relief valve can help keep you ahead of problems that may develop with it.
  • Check the temperature gauge bi-annually – your temperature gauge shouldn’t be set any higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit; any higher and you could see a rise in your energy bill and have scalding hot water. A hot-running water heater is also more prone to breakdown, so it’s best to keep the temperature moderate.
  • Is the unit insulated properly? – heat loss for the outside of a water heater tank can be significant, so it’s important to make sure it is properly insulated. Using an insulating blanket or wrap the unit carefully with other insulating material that is good for water heaters.
  • Check the exhaust equipment – water heaters that use natural gas need to be vented; if the venting is not working properly, dangerous toxic byproducts could be leaking into your home’s air.
  • Schedule annual maintenance – an annual maintenance appointment for your water heater will cover all these items and more.

Although your water heater will need to be repaired at some point, using these tips can help to greatly reduce the amount of repairs you may be facing. If you’re in need of a professional water heater repair service in Mesa, AZ, look no further than The Sunny Plumber! Give us a call today to schedule an appointment.

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Should I Call a Plumber for a Leaky Faucet?

Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

Everyone experiences a leaky faucet sooner or later. It’s unfortunate, but over time it tends to happen more and more frequently. To a lot of homeowners, this seems like a fairly easy problem to fix. There must simply be a loose seal somewhere, right? Surely if you can find it and set it straight, the leak will stop. If you think it’s that easy, let us remind you that there’s a reason so many sitcoms include scenes where characters try to fix their faucets and only make the problem worse. It’s often exaggerated, but it’s rooted in truth. Leaky faucets are harder to fix than you might think. Read on to find out why you should hire a plumber to fix your leaky faucet.

Why bother to fix it?

Depending on the severity of the leak, a few homeowners may simply let it drip, thinking that it isn’t a big deal. DON’T DO THIS! Even a moderately leaky faucet can waste thousands of gallons a year, enough to fill a good-sized swimming pool. Do not ignore a leaky faucet, or it will waste a ridiculous amount of water.

Why Call a Plumber?

The reason you call any professional instead of attempting something yourself is that they possess expertise that you don’t. You’re essentially paying for the convenience of having the job done right the first time, without having to worry about any subsequent damages or the need to redo the job. In this case, the procedure is simple, but can still have expensive consequences if done wrong.

First, the water supply needs to be turned off, in order to prevent the tap from spewing all over the room and causing water damage. Next, the faucet assembly needs to be taken apart so you can have access to the o-ring and washers. After that, it’s a matter of knowing what you’re looking for, which if often where the plumber expertise comes in handy.

If you don’t feel comfortable taking apart your faucet to fix it, call The Sunny Plumber. We provide quality plumbing services throughout Mesa, AZ.

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What Water Testing Can Tell You About Your Home’s Water

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

Homeowners today are often concerned about the quality of the water entering their home’s plumbing—sometimes for very good reasons. Chemicals and minerals can infiltrate the municipal water supply, and homes that use well water are also in danger of contamination.

The best way to find out if your water is healthy and not causing damage to your plumbing is to call for professional water testing in Mesa, AZ from The Sunny Plumber. We are qualified plumbing specialists for the area, and our expertise also extends to the installation and maintenance of quality water treatment systems. Here are some of the problems we can detect in your residential water supply through our water testing services:

Water Hardness

Hard water is one of the most common problems that municipal water can face, and it is a particular problem in many parts of the Valley. “Hard water” means water that contains a higher than average levels of minerals such as magnesium, gypsum, and calcium. Although hard water is rarely hazardous to drink, it can taste bad and makes it difficult to create soap lather. But most damaging is that it will build up inside pipes and fixtures and cause severe problems leading to repairs.

The Presence of Chemicals

Chemicals can enter the fresh water that comes through the municipal supply via ground seepage. Pesticides are among the more common hazardous chemicals that can reach your water in this way. Chlorine and Chloramines are often found in residential water supplies. Chemicals are also a major concern if your home receives its water supply from a well.

Viruses and Bacteria

Water treatment plants usually keep out these organic hazards from the municipal water supply, but there are still ways that your water might suffer from bacterial contamination that can cause illness throughout your household.

Wastewater Infiltration

Your home’s plumbing is designed to keep wastewater separate from fresh water. However, sewage backflow can occur that will lead to some wastewater contamination entering your fresh water lines. This is dangerous for your health, and it is important to have it detected and stopped as soon as possible.

Call The Sunny Plumber today to schedule an appointment for professional water testing service in Mesa, AZ and other parts of the Valley. We use professionals who know how to take samples from around your home, and the laboratory results will pinpoint exactly what is inside your water supply. You can then rely on our water treatment specialists to identify the installation that will help you counteract the problems in your water so you can enjoy healthier living and healthier plumbing.

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Shower Problems That Need a Professional Plumber

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

The shower is supposed to be a place where you can feel energized and prepare for the day. So if you encounter problems with your shower, it can really put a damper on your day. Fortunately, professional plumbers can fix any number of issues, from the smallest of leaks to the toughest of drain clogs, so that you can continue to have a pleasant experience every morning.

When you need a professional plumber for your shower in Mesa, AZ, the experts at The Sunny Plumber  have you covered with 24/7 emergency service.

Common Shower Problems

These are a few common reasons you may need to contact a professional for shower repairs.

  • Leaks: A leak from your showerhead may seem like a small annoyance, but it can significantly raise your utility bills. This may be a simple fix for a technician with a trained eye. Plumbers may only need to make a few minor adjustments, or they may recommend a new fixture. This presents you with the opportunity to purchase a low-flow showerhead that may save you even more every month.
  • Drain Clogs: If you cannot dislodge a drain clog with a plunger, you should always call a professional for repairs. Liquid drain cleaners advertise results, but these chemicals can be toxic, potentially injuring the skin and eyes. Furthermore, they cannot dissolve some types of blockage and may end up harming your pipes. Professionals can use drain augers to remove tough clogs and have equipment that can fully clean out the rest of the drain pipe to prevent clogs from forming in the future and making your daily shower an unpleasant experience.
  • Low Water Pressure: If the water pressure in your shower does not quite seem to be cutting it, there could be a couple of reasons. You may have a leak in the pipes, or you could have mineral deposits that build up and block water flow. Leaks should be repaired right away to prevent water damage in your home. For mineral deposits, a professional can descale the pipes and may recommend a water softener to solve the problem for all of your pipes in the future.

Call The Sunny Plumber to speak with an experienced plumber in Mesa, AZ today!

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Indicators That You Should Call for Leak Detection in Mesa, AZ

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

When you have a plumbing leak under the sink, you’re bound to notice pools of water forming near the source. But your plumbing system is a complex network of pipes and drains, so you may not always notice leaks as soon as they occur. A pipe can spring a leak anywhere in your plumbing system, which means water may leak into your yard or into the walls, floors, or ceiling. If this happens, you may develop a mold or mildew problem, and the leak may worsen. But how do you know when to call for professional leak detection?

  • Low Water Pressure: One of the ways you can tell that there may be a leak in your plumbing system is if you notice low water pressure. Your water supply is pressurized so that water can move out of the faucets at an optimal flow rate. But if water just seems to trickle from the faucet or showerhead, it may be leaking through a pipe in your water supply line.
  • Water Spots in Your Yard: The pipes that connect the municipal water supply to your home, as well as the pipes that link the drainage system to the sewer, run underneath your yard. If you see wet spots in your yard, there may be a leak in the water or sewer line.
  • High Water Usage: If your water bills seem to be unusually high, it may be due to a leak. Compare your water usage to the previous month. If usage is up but nothing has changed significantly in your household, professional leak detection may pin down the problem with fiber optic video inspection technology.
  • Older Pipes: If you have an older plumbing system that hasn’t been checked recently, you may want to schedule leak detection services just to be sure your pipes are still viable. While newer pipes are made from copper or plastic materials, older steel pipes are likely to corrode.

If you believe a leak may threaten your home plumbing system, call The Sunny Plumber. Our expert plumbers have the right tools to ensure your plumbing returns to normal with quality water leak detection services in Mesa, AZ.

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Some Common Sink Repair Services

Friday, July 25th, 2014

The sinks in your home, whether in the bathrooms, the kitchen, or the laundry room, receive considerable use. Occasionally, they will need attention from professional plumbers to fix the issues they can encounter because of the amount of work they do. Although there are few basic sink fixes your can troubleshoot on your own, such as using a simple sink plunger to clear out minor drainpipe clogs, most sink repairs you need to leave the skilled specialists so that the works gets done right and leaves you with a problem-free sink.

For a plumber in Mesa, AZ who can handle all your sink repair issues, no matter their size or urgency, call on The Sunny Plumber. You can reach us any time of the day, any day of the week.

Some sink repair services we often perform

  • Unclogging: Clogs are perhaps the most frequent and annoying of all plumbing problems. Sinks in kitchens are especially susceptible to clogging because the amount of food waste that goes down them. Although a plunger will take care of some clogs, anything tougher will need a plumber armed with a mechanical drain snake or a hydro jetter to remove. Sometimes video pipe inspection equipment is necessary to get to root of the problem.
  • Stopping leaky faucets: When a faucet starts to leak, it is more than an annoying sound that might keep you up at night. It is a cumulative waste of massive amounts of water. A single leaky faucet can waste 30 gallons of water in just a week—think of how that will affect your water bills. If you can’t figure out to stop a leaky faucet (don’t pull out a pack of wrenches and start experimenting, since this can lead to expensive damage) leave it to professional plumbers to find a solution that will shut off the leaks for good.
  • Sink replacement: If a sink start to leak around the edges into the cabinet beneath, it may be be due to loose caulking or cracks along the bowl. In some cases, it is best to have the sink removed and replaced with a new one. Leave this to professional plumbers, since a poorly installed sink will leave you with leaking issues and poor drainage. In some cases, the current sink will only need re-caulking, or possibly a replacement of the drain assembly, instead of a replacement.

Call on our bright and shiny plumbers!

If you leave a leaky faucet, you will waste money. If you leave a clog, it won’t get better on its own. If you leave a damaged sink, you’ll soon have worse damage from water leaks. Don’t hesitate with sink repair services!

Call a plumber in Mesa, AZ from the staff at The Sunny Plumber right away! You can trust to our experience, skill, and equipment to restore your troubled sink.

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What’s Wrong With My Garbage Disposal?

Friday, June 20th, 2014

Your garbage disposal is one of the unsung heroes of your household, safely and cleanly disposing of food waste without running the risk of clogging your plumbing. Garbage disposals are designed to run day in and day out without complaint, but like any other device, they can run into trouble from time to time. There are garbage disposal services in Mesa, AZ offered by qualified plumbing services, though it always helps if you the homeowner have at least a general idea of what’s going on. “What’s wrong with my garbage disposal?” you ask. Here’s a quick breakdown of some possible answers.

Many times, the trouble stems from an inappropriate object that’s placed down the disposal: something that it can’t break down and that grinds up against the gears as they turn. This can include tough biological material like chicken bones and peach pits, as well as non-biological items like utensils. Wedding rings and other forms of jewelry can be a serious problem too, and you should always remove them before doing the dishes or performing other operations around the sink. Similarly, avoid placing particularly tough foods down the garbage disposal. They won’t get broken down and indeed will often cause far more trouble than they’re worth.

Other times, the trouble can stem from more traditional sources. A clogged drain in the disposal will back up your sink, for example, while an overloaded motor will shut off the disposal and keep it from turning on again. Before calling in a repair service to treat any of these issues, look for a large red button on the bottom of the unit. That’s a reset button. Push it and see if that solves the problem. If it doesn’t, it’s time to summon assistance.

The good news is that garbage disposal issues can be resolved by plumbing services in Mesa, AZ such as the experts at The Sunny Plumber with courtesy and care. We usually know the answer to the question “what’s wrong with my garbage disposal?” and can get yours up and running with a minimum of fuss and effort. Give us a call today and let us show you what we can do!

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How Commercial Plumbing Differs from Residential Plumbing

Friday, March 28th, 2014

Just as commercial buildings differ in form and function than houses and apartments, so too does commercial plumbing differ from residential plumbing. Thinking about your office building’s plumbing needs in the same way that you think about your home’s plumbing needs can be a big mistake and cost you a great deal of money in unnecessary bills. Commercial plumbing repair in Mesa AZ differs as well, and you shouldn’t trust a service accustomed to residential calls to handle plumbing problems at your place of business. Here’s a brief rundown on how commercial plumbing differs from residential plumbing.

The biggest difference simply comes from the size and complexity of the system. A business needs to handle much heavier use than a home. A home usually handles no more than seven or eight people at the most, and often only at night or in the morning before work or school begins. Commercial plumbing needs to handle dozens of people or more throughout the course of the day. If your business is a restaurant, catering operation or something similar, then you also need a kitchen capable of serving up to hundreds of hungry customers.

The larger size goes hand-in-hand with a need to treat problems quickly and efficiently. Unlike a home, which can work around a problematic sink or toilet, your business can’t endure without its plumbing. Employees can’t simply be asked to “hold it” and customers won’t come back if they’re inconvenienced by a non-functioning bathroom. In the case of restaurants, it can literally cripple your business, since a faulty kitchen means no food for your customers. A commercial repair service needs to be able to react quickly, as well as handling a larger and more complex issue than a normal “house call.”

If you know how commercial plumbing differs from residential plumbing, the next step is to call a service that can do the job. The Sunny Plumber has considerable experience with commercial plumbing in Mesa, AZ and throughout the greater Phoenix area. If your business needs a plumber, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We respond quickly and won’t rest until you’re completely satisfied.

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How Long Should a Sink Last?

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

No fixture in your home can achieve immortality—especially one that gets as much use as a sink. The sinks in your kitchen and bathroom receive an extraordinary amount of work every day, encountering dirt, soap, food particles, grease, and often a few objects that have no business going into them at all. With all this wear and tear, how long can you expect a sink in your home to last? There are too many variables involved in your home’s plumbing for us to give you a simple, single-number answer to that question. Much of it depends on how well you treat your sink, and if you get it the regular repairs it needs.

If you need sink repair in Mesa, AZ, contact The Sunny Plumber. We can handle clogs, broken drainpipes, leaking faucets—everything so your sink has a long lifetime of service.

Long life through quality repairs

If your sink fixtures are made from durable material, you can expect them to last for many years, although different parts have different lifespans. An acrylic sink can often endure for half a century. Faucets and drains won’t last near this long, and if they do not receive timely repairs when they malfunction they will require replacement after only a few years. Make sure that you hire professional plumbers to manage repairs on any faulty part of your sink so it will be a long wait before you need to schedule the next repairs.

Hard water

Another enemy that might lurk in your home and threaten all the fixtures of your sink is hard water. This is water with high level of minerals (usually calcites) suspended in it. Although rarely harmful to drink, hard water is abrasive toward your plumbing, leaving deposits along the faucets and drains in your sink. The best way to combat hard water is with a water softener. Ask your trusted plumber about possible water treatment systems that will lessen the stress on your sink from hard water.

Be good to your sink

To help your sink survive, makes sure you have covers on the drains to keep larger particles from entering them. Don’t use the sink as a garbage disposal and toss foreign items down them. Also, avoid at all costs pouring fat, grease, or oil down any drain in your home (disposal included) because these substances will solidify when they dry and turn into thick, waxy plugs.

The Sunny Plumbers is here to help

The Sunny Plumber has a staff of trained professionals who can provide you with repairs, water treatment systems, and maintenance that will give your sink the longest lifespan possible. Contact us any time of the day or night when you need a Mesa plumber.

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