Brooks Plumbing Co. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Olympia’

There’s No Such Thing as a “Minor” Plumbing Leak

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

When water slowly leaks from your pipes, it may seem like a problem that can wait for repairs. However, there’s no such thing as a “minor” plumbing leak. Even the smallest of leaks can affect your bills, your home, the plumbing system, or even your health in the long-term. It’s important to call for professional plumbing services at the first sign of a leak. Not sure if there’s a leak in your pipes? You should consider scheduling leak detection services whenever you suspect there may be a problem. In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the ways a “minor” leak may affect you.

One major reason to take care of seemingly minor leaks as soon as possible is that even the smallest of leaks can drive up your water bills. In fact, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, even the smallest leaks may cost homeowners 10% more on their water bills. And leaks are a bigger problem for homes than many homeowners realize. In fact, 10 percent of homes waste 90 gallons of water per day because of leaks!

Additionally, if a leak drips onto the walls, floors, or ceilings, mold and mildew may build up, which can be hazardous to your health. If you notice water spots anywhere in your home, it’s important to call a plumber right away to avoid any negative respiratory effects.

Another problem with leaks is that they affect the pressurization of your system. Your water supply is kept pressurized so that it can easily move out of the faucets. But a leak may change the pressure of the system, which means you will feel lowered water pressure. In fact, a change in the water pressure can also seriously damage your pipes. If a “minor” leak is located in the sewer line, wastewater may backup into your drains, or even into a basement.

You should never neglect a seemingly minor leak, as it may turn into a larger leak that means major problems for your home. When you need professional plumbing services in Olympia, call the dependable professionals at Brooks Plumbing for leak detection services and repairs.

Continue Reading

Reasons to Consider Kitchen Remodeling

Friday, August 15th, 2014

Undertaking a major remodeling project for your home can seem intimidating, and making the choice to remodel a central part of your home, like the kitchen, is one you shouldn’t make lightly.

However, there are some excellent reasons why choosing to have your kitchen remodeled is worthwhile. If you have an excellent contractor to assist you with the remodeling, most of your worries will be taken care of and the job should go smoothly, with reduced disruption to your daily life. If you are thinking of kitchen remodeling, call our experts at Brooks Plumbing today. We can help you plan for the right fixtures and plumbing upgrades to make your remodeling project a complete success.

Some Reasons To Remodel Your Kitchen:

  • Increase its function: If you feel that your kitchen makes you work too hard, then upgrading it can help you change it into a more functional and efficient space. Multi-bowl sinks, additional room, easier access to storage, improved appliances… all of these will make your kitchen much easier to work in.
  • Update the style: Perhaps your kitchen feels like a stale a lifeless space; it simply isn’t an attractive or pleasant place in which to spend time, and the passing years have made it look increasingly out-of-date. A remodel will give your kitchen a much needed face-lift to modernize it and help it reflect your personal sense of style.
  • Entertainment value: Kitchens are often located near the center of a home, and you can make the room a part of the center of social activity. If you are interested in doing more entertaining in your house, expanding and upgrading the kitchen will make the job much easier and enjoyable. The basic layout of many older kitchens can make them restrictive for entertaining purposes, and a remodel will fix this.
  • Raise resale value: If you think that you will eventually put your home on the market, a beautiful and effective kitchen will make the home more attractive to potential buyers. Surveys have shown that a kitchen remodeling job can return 85% of its cost in resale value alone.
  • Safety: Kitchens are the space in the house where the most accidents can occur. If you have a home with young children or people with special assistance needs, it’s wise to have a kitchen designed to lessen the chance of accidents from narrow walkways and countertops at unsafe heights.

Brooks Plumbing is here to assist with the remodeling work you need. We can perform the repiping and drain upgrades to support your new appliances. For any plumbing changes that you need done to accommodate the work on your kitchen remodeling in Olympia, WA, you can place your trust our remodeling specialists. We can match your needs with our full range of service.

Continue Reading

The Many Benefits of a Bathroom Remodeling

Friday, August 8th, 2014

The bathrooms in a home are not the centers of social and family life, but they are central to daily life: the first place you go after your wake up in the morning, the last place you go before heading to bed. Bathrooms are also the spot where you use the most water in your home. A bathroom that is becoming old and outdated can turn into a sore spot in your day and a locations where you waste water and suffer repair problems due to declining plumbing.

Arranging for bathroom remodeling can change all this. Remodeling a bathroom is about more than giving the place a quick face-lift; there are a number of advantages that you may not have thought about. Call Brooks Plumbing today and ask about our bathroom remodeling services (as well as our kitchen remodeling) and we’ll explain what we can do for you to enhance this important room in your home.

Here Are Some Benefits of a Bathroom Remodel

  • Conserve water: For a bathroom remodel, you can choose to have old, wasteful water fixtures replaced with EPA-approved low-flow models. Low-flow faucets and toilets use 30% less water than standard models (and sometimes even less, if you are replacing a very old toilet) without sacrificing performance. Depending on your water use, this can add up to a few hundred dollars in savings from your utility bills each year, and you will help the environment as well.
  • Get rid of poor quality or aging pipes: A remodel is an ideal time to have the old plumbing in your home taken out and replaced with newer material like copper and PEX. If your plumbing has experienced numerous leaks and clogs in the bathroom, it’s probably past time you had the aging plumbing modernized.
  • Increase your home’s value: Any effective remodeling job will increase your home’s resale value because it will be more modern, attractive, and efficient.
  • Brighten the room: Finally, a remodeled bathroom will simply be a more pleasant place. With new a tub and fresh fixtures, a bathroom will change from drab and functional to a cheerful spot. You spend a great deal of time in the room: why not make it brighter and more life-enhancing?

Although some homeowners like to take on home remodeling as a DIY project, you do not want to do this for a bathroom: the plumbing work is simply too important to risk on amateur work that creates leaks. Contact our Olympia, WA bathroom remodeling specialists today, whether you want to get started right away with the project or if you just need more information on how our remodeling works and what it can do for you.

Continue Reading

Consider Low-Flow Toilet and Faucet Installation for Your Bathroom

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014

When it comes time to update the fixtures in your bathroom for a remodel or only as smaller project, one of the top items on your list of “must-haves” should be low-flow faucets, shower heads, and/or toilets. You can create a gleaming, more attractive look for your bathroom and at the same time contribute to water-conservation that will reduce your water costs significantly. The planet will thank you as well!

Installing new bathroom plumbing in Olympia, WA is one of our specialties here at Brooks Plumbing. Especially when it comes to low-flow toilet installation, you need to leave the work to professionals who will make certain that your new fixtures provide the savings you want and do their job effectively.

Low-flow faucets

You’re probably curious about how much a low-flow faucet actually will save you, and if it will still provide the level of performance you need. According to U.S. EPA tests on WaterSense labeled faucets, they lower the water flow by 30% or more, dropping from 2.2 gallons per minute to 1.5 gallons per minute—and without impairing performance. With this reduction, an average family would save 700 gallons of water each year, which is the equivalent to 40 showers. Look at your current water bill and multiple the cost per gallon by 700… that will give you an idea of the savings potential. Low-flow fixtures will also save you energy, since they place less power demand on your water heater.

Low-flow toilets

Toilets are the principle source of indoor water use, accounting for a third of the water consumed in an average household. If you have an older toilet, it’s probably draining 6 gallons per flush, which is an immense waste compared to the efficiency of a low-flow model.

EPA-approved low-flow toilets use 1.28 gallons per flush, a huge improvement over old models and still 20% better than the current regular flow toilets that use 1.6 gallons per flush. Depending on the age of the toiler you’re replacing, a new low-flow model can save you 20–60% a year—almost 13,000 gallons. And, like the low-flow faucets, there’s no sacrifice in performance.

Although low-flow fixtures for your bathroom do cost more than standard models, keep in mind not only the savings but also the lifespan; these new installations should last you for many years and pay for themselves many times over.

Regardless of the reason that you decide to install new water fixtures in your bathroom plumbing in Olympia, WA, low-flow models are a terrific way to reduce your yearly bills and contribute to country-wide water conservation.

Call Brooks Plumbing today and talk to our experts in bathroom plumbing to find out more about how we can make your bathroom more beautiful and budget-friendly.

Continue Reading

What Are Slab Leaks and What Can I Do about Them?

Monday, July 21st, 2014

“Slab leaks” sound scary, and they can be—somewhat. A slab leak is the name that plumbers use to describe leaks in pipes that occur under concrete or stone slabs, principally in the water lines that run under the concrete foundations of a house. Slab leaks occur because of shifting in the ground or aging pipes, and once they start they can be difficult to locate and repair.

So what can you do about them? Simple: nothing.

But wait… before you throw up your hands and give up, we need to elaborate. There’s nothing you can do personally to fix a slab leak. You lack the tools and experience (unless you are a professional plumber) to access the leak under the hard surface and repair it. However, you can call Brooks Plumbing in Olympia, WA and have our specialists in slab leak repair take care of the problem.

More about Slab Leaks

You may be curious as to how professionals handle leaks that occur down inside stone or concrete, and how they even know where to look to find them.

The first thing that slab leak repair technicians do is use special listening equipment, usually small discs that operate similar to stethoscopes, to find the sound of water escaping through the stone. If they need to narrow down the search area further, they can use pressure scanners or send video camera equipment on a long fiber-optic line down into the plumbing system to pinpoint the exact leak location.

Once they’ve done this and they know the location and the extent of the leak, the plumbers will know how best to address the problem. The most common method is to use a jackhammer excavate the area above the pipe and then seal it. However, for smaller leaks, the plumbers can sometimes use non-intrusive methods to fix the problem. If leaks are caught soon enough, plumbers will usually be able to repair the problem with minimal excavating.

Keep a close look-out for signs of slab leaks so you can call for plumbing help as soon as possible: elevated water bills, dampness in the basement, cracks appearing along across concrete, unexplained water pools, the growth of mold and mildew. If any of these indications show up, you may have a slave leak and you should call for assistance from professional plumbers as soon as possible.

Brooks Plumbing has helped homeowners with slab leaks in Olympia, WA, including other types of plumbing problems since 1994. You can trust to our skill and professionalism to get the job you need done fast and right. “Quality in Everything We Do” is our motto, and we live by it!

Continue Reading

3 Considerations to Upgrade Your Bathroom

Friday, July 18th, 2014

The bathroom isn’t like the living room, kitchen, dining room, or even bedrooms: it’s a room that functions independently from the social areas of your house. But that doesn’t mean you should neglect it when it comes to remodeling. As the first room to greet you in the morning and the last one to see you before you go to bed, a bathroom that feels tired and drab will likewise make you feel tired and drab.

You can engage the professional plumbers and remodelers at Brooks Plumbing for complete bathroom remodeling in Olympia, WA. However, if you are only looking for a few upgrades at a time, we have a couple ideas for you to consider:

1. Replace your old sink with a stylish new model

There is a dazzling variety of sinks available for an upgrade. If you have a standard drop-in or under-mount sink built into a cabinet, you can completely change the appearance a feel of your bathroom with a different design, such as a wall mount or corner mount sink, pedestal sink, or the popular and eye-catching vessel sink. Each of these sink designs have advantages and disadvantages: some allow for greater space in the bathroom, but lack storage. Balance out the various factors of appearance, storage, and space to find a new sink that will bring the right touch to upgrade the look of your bathroom.

2. Low-flow fixtures

If you are concerned with water conservation and saving money on your bills, consider having a plumber install low-flow fixtures, such as a low-flow toilet, faucets, and/or showerheads in your bathroom. EPA-approved WaterSense low-flow faucets can reduce water flow by 30% or more without a noticeable drop in performance. Because of the enormous amount of water used in a master bathroom, reducing water use here even by a third will result in a large reduction in your water bills. If you save 700 gallons of water a year (the average for a family using EPA-approved faucets), that’s the equivalent of 40 showers. You’ll also save energy, since your water heater will need to run less.

3. Install a new bathtub

Here’s an excellent way to upgrade the appearance of your bathroom and upgrade your comfort and relaxation as well. Since the tub is the largest item inside a bathroom, replacing it with an attractive new model will give the room the sense of a full remodeling. You can also choose from bathtubs equipped with luxury features like water sets and contoured interiors.

Brooks Plumbing handles full bathroom remodeling in Olympia, WA, but we can also assist you with making smaller touches like the ones above to enhance your bathroom a few fixtures at a time. We have an excellent selection of tubs, toilets, and other fixtures to choose from so you can have the look you want to make your bathroom more attractive and functional. Our plumbers and remodelers have the years of experience necessary to make sure you end up with the bathroom upgrades you dreamed of.

Continue Reading

Solutions for Strange Smells Coming from Your Sink

Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

The foul smell emanating from your kitchen or bathroom sinks… you know that can’t be right, and you also want it fixed as soon as you can. There are a number of reasons that sink odors can begin, and some of them are simple to fix, while others may require extensive plumbing excavation.

Below, we’ve listed some of the ways that you can solve the problem of a bad-smelling sink. The method that works will depend on the reason the problem started. When you feel in any doubt about what to do, call on Brooks Plumbing in Olympia, WA for fast, professional assistance.

Here Are Three Ways to Stop Those Sink Smells

  • Run water down a sink with a dry p-trap: If the sink that has the terrible odors coming from it is one that has not seen recent use—such as a sink in a guest room—then the reason for the bad smell is probably that the p-trap under the sink has dried up. The p-trap is the curved portion of the drainpipe, and it is designed to catch a plug of water inside it that prevents sewage gas from coming back up through the drain. If the p-trap water evaporates, nothing will prevent sewage gas from entering your home. All you need to do to is run water down the drain for a few minutes to restore the water plug.
  • Call plumbers for repairs to the drain vents: Drain vents are responsible for removing the sewer gases inside the wastewater system and releasing them up through openings on the roof. If these vents should become blocked from animal nests or debris, the pressure will force the sewer gases up through the drainpipes, even pushing through the p-trap (creating a noticeable gurgling sound). Do not go up to the roof to try to clear the vents; call plumbing professionals to safely handle the job.
  • Have drain cleaning performed: Odoriferous sinks can be suffering from excessive build-up of organic deposits. This not only leads to unpleasant smells, but also increases the chances of clogs and will cause a dangerous increase in water pressure inside the plumbing. To handle the job of cleaning drains, you need to leave the acidic and toxic store-bought chemicals on the shelves and instead call in experienced plumbers to handle full service drain cleaning that will give you sparkling clean plumbing once again.

An Important Caution about Sink Smells

If you are experiencing bad odors from many different drains at once, the problem might lie inside the sewer line—and this requires extensive and immediate repairs from professionals before it leads to sewage backup into your home. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking sewer smells from a sink are only a minor inconvenience! Call for local Olympia plumbers right away if the simple step of pouring water down a dry sink doesn’t solve the trouble.

Since 1994, Brooks Plumbing has taken pride in delivering “Quality in Everything We Do.” Whatever you need to fix your sink and drain troubles, we can handle it.

Continue Reading

What Happens When Your Plumbing Springs a Leak

Friday, June 27th, 2014

The municipal water system and wastewater disposal systems are the responsibility of the local utility company. When leaks spring up, the utility company will sends technicians to take care of the problem. But inside your house, the pipes are your responsibility, so when you discover a leak or suspect there’s one occurring, you need to call for professional plumbers to come to your assistance. As we’ll explain in this post, leaks are serious problems in more ways than one, and they need remedy as soon as possible.

When you are in need skilled plumbing services in Olympia, WA, contact Brooks Plumbing. Since 1994, we worked hard to provide the highest quality plumbing to our customers. We will locate and fix whatever leaks are endangering your plumbing.

Here’s what happens with leaking… and why it’s such a problem

If you spot a major water leak in an exposed pipe, like the pipes directly under a sink, you know that you have a major problem that needs repair immediately. Shut off the water main (make sure you know where it is ahead of time; in fact, go find out right now) and call for trained plumbers.

However, the leaks you don’t see—even the smallest ones—are also major dangers. The first problem they cause is water waste. A tiny leak in a water pipe that only drips three times a minute can still waste 70 gallons in a month! That will show up as a steep price increase on your water bills.

A leak will also begin to pool and cause damage to building material. The water will warp wood and encourage wood rot. Mildew growth is especially destructive, since it eats right through drywall. If you notice any spots of discoloration on your walls, shifted floorboards, or mold and mildew developing in corners, call for plumbers right away to find the leak and fix it before your home sustains damage.

Finally, leaks are insidious: they spread. Once leaking starts, it will change the pressure in the pipes and cause more leaks to follow. Plumbers who come to fix leaking issues will always take the time to see if additional leaks are occurring elsewhere—they know how fast the issue spreads.

What to do if you suspect a leak

Whether you know you have a leak or suspect that you do, first shut off the water main and then open up the taps near the leak (this is to reduce pressure which will help prevent flooding). Place towels where necessary to absorb the escaping waste. Now… leave the tools in the garage and instead call for professional plumbers. If you have leaks in your plumbing in Olympia, WA, call Brooks Plumbing and let our 20 years of experience take care of the problem.

Continue Reading

Why You Should Replace Your Plumbing During a Bathroom Remodel

Monday, June 23rd, 2014

Remodeling a bathroom involves different stages and tasks, from the more mundane jobs of removing old fixtures and attaching the plumbing connections for the new ones, to the exciting design choices for new floor material and sink and shower types.

There’s one part of a remodeling job that isn’t mandatory, but which we highly recommend you integrate into you Olympia, WA bathroom remodel when you schedule it: full plumbing replacement.

Does this sound like an unnecessary hassle in an already large-scale job? It isn’t as time-consuming or difficult as you imagine, especially with expert plumbers and bathroom remodeling specialists like the team at Brooks Plumbing handling it. And there are some very good reasons to decide to make pipe replacement one of the essential steps.

Reasons pipe replacement is a good idea during a remodel

Keep in mind the age of the plumbing in your home. If you are at the point where you need to have a bathroom remodeled, it’s probably because you have an older house that needs upgrades. For a home older than 1970, the pipe material is likely aged and in need of replacement. Homes built before 1970 often used galvanized steel pipes instead of copper, CPVC, or PEX pipes. Galvanized steel is durable, but also prone to corrosion over time, and you should have it replaced at any opportunity you can. Since a remodel in your bathroom will expose the pipes, it is much easier and less time-consuming to have the replacements done as part of remodeling.

Another reason to replace plumbing is that it frees up the design process for the remodel. If the remodelers have to work around existing pipes, it limits their options for rearranging the bathroom and putting fixtures in different locations. If the remodelers can change out the plumbing entirely, it opens up the process to more extensive re-design concepts.

Working with plumbing remodelers

The bathroom remodeling team at Brooks Plumbing will work with you from the earliest planning stages of your remodel all the way to the finishing touches. You can also call us to talk about the basics of having a bathroom remodel in Olympia, WA to get you started with your project. Whatever you need to create the new bathroom your home needs, you can rely on the professional and experienced staff at Brooks Plumbing. And if you are planning on replacing the plumbing are part of the remodel, keep us in mind, because we have years of work performing whole-house repiping jobs.

Continue Reading

What Is Water Hammer and Is It Reason for Plumbing Repair?

Monday, June 16th, 2014

The name “water hammer” sounds vaguely threatening, perhaps even intimidating. It refers to a phenomenon that can occur in your plumbing that creates a distinct sound—it doesn’t refer to any knocking sound that your plumbing might make, contrary to popular belief.

Although water hammer is a surprising noise to hear, is it a reason for you to be concerned? Should you call for repairs on your pipes when it happens? We’ll take a look at these questions more closely in this post.

Whatever is causing water hammer in your pipes, you can find reliable plumbing repair in Olympia, WA from the experts at Brooks Plumbing. We’ve served the Olympia area since 1994, and we stand by our motto: “Quality in Everything We Do.”

Water Hammer: What It Is, What It May Mean

Water hammer occurs when an open tap abruptly shuts and the rapidly-moving water comes to a sudden halt inside the pipes. The water creates a shockwave that produces a noticeable sound like someone hitting the inside of the pipes with a hammer.

But this doesn’t happen every time you suddenly shut off a tap; there is a specific reason that water hammer is unusual. Plumbing contains air chambers inside it, and this cushion of air softens the impact of the movement of water so that hammering doesn’t occur. If water hammer suddenly starts to sound in your pipes, then something might have gone wrong to eliminate the air chambers. To prevent water hammer, these water-logged air chambers will need to be drained, after which they will re-fill with water.

One of the reasons that air chambers become clogged is that build-up of limescale or chemicals inside them will prevent the chambers from properly draining. In situations like this, you need to call for plumbers. Professionals can clean out the chambers and find the source of the limescale and chemicals.

You cannot allow water hammer to continue, thinking of it only as a mild inconvenience. These shockwaves are damaging to plumbing, causing the failure of fittings or creating burst pipes. Keep in mind that without the air chambers, the water pressure inside the pipes will be too high, and this will lead to numerous problems inside the plumbing.

Professional plumbers will find ways to reduce the pressure inside the pipe of your home; sometimes this involves installing air chambers or globe valves. Plumbers are accustomed to these repairs, so they will find the source of the issue quickly and have it taken care of.

Brooks Plumbing can remove your troubles with water hammer. For plumbing repair service in Olympia, WA, trust to our skilled staff of plumbers to handle it.

Continue Reading