Many homeowners will experience these kitchen plumbing problems.
If you’re like most families, you spend an exceptional amount of time in your kitchen. You probably make breakfast for yourself and kids before everyone heads out for the day and you certainly use it to cook dinner a few nights a week.
Not to mention washing all the dishes, filling the water bowl for your family’s favorite four-legged friend and numerous other functions. The bottom line is having your kitchen in working order is a necessity and you probably can’t function without it.
With so much daily use, you’re bound to encounter the occasional issue with your faucet or dishwasher. Though some of the common issues can be fixed with a set of tools and some good-old-fashion elbow grease, many times the help of an Einstein Pro is needed.
The key to saving yourself money and heartache is identifying problems in the kitchen up front. With that in mind, we’ve come up with our list of top plumbing problems in the kitchen to address before you find yourself swimming upstream.
Clogged Drains
We are all guilty of putting things down the drain that don’t belong. From coffee grounds to pasta, these contents build up in your pipes over time and clogs need to be addressed right away. If you find yourself with a drain that seems to be clogged, you can try to resolve the issue with a hand-crank snake.
We highly discourage the use of anti-clogging chemicals like Drano as they corrode pipes and can lead to much more significant problems down the road. If you’re unable to clog a drain, it’s best to call a Pro before the problem gets worse.
Low Water Pressure
When you turn on the faucet to do the dishes and find only a trickle of water coming out, there’s obviously something wrong. The first thing to do is check all the other taps in your house to see if the water pressure is low elsewhere. If this is the case, it’s likely that your issue stems from a problem with the municipal water source and will likely be resolved quickly.
If water pressure is low in one faucet but not the others however, it’s a good idea to check the aerator and make sure it isn’t clogged with minerals and grime. The other likely cause of low water pressure is a broken water main. This is a much more serious problem and commands the attention of a plumber immediately.
Broken Garbage Disposal
You use your garbage disposal all the time. You send everything down from the vegetables your kids refuse to eat to egg shells. If you find your garbage disposal not working properly, start by hitting the reset button. Doing so creates a voltage surge that gets the engine back up and running.
While you might be tempted to stick your hand down the disposal to check for a clog, you risk bodily harm and medical bills on top of whatever the cost is to fix the unit. The reality is that garbage disposals wear out over time and need to be replaced.
Clogged Drain Lines
Even though your garbage disposal is there for a reason, if you’re not careful about how you use it you put yourself at risk clogging the drain lines that connect to your kitchen sink. Most people fail to use enough water when putting food down their garbage disposal. This can cause pipe drains to become clogged and render your garbage disposal effectively useless. Again, the problem might be able to be resolved with a snake but we highly discourage the use of corrosive chemicals.
Broken Dishwasher
Dishwashers are an expensive investment so when you use yours, you expect it to work. When this doesn’t happen, you’re stuck doing all the dishes by hand which wastes precious time and water. The most common issues with dishwashers are that they don’t fill, run or drain. If your dishwasher simply won’t run it’s could be due to a poor electrical connection. Checking the circuit that controls the dishwasher on your circuit board is a good place to start. If this isn’t the issue, it’s time to call an Einstein Pro.
If your dishwasher won’t drain, it’s likely that the filter is clogged. Fortunately, this problem is easily fixed and prevented by cleaning out your drain on a regular basis.
Having a fully functioning kitchen in your home is priceless. The kitchen is where you prepare meals, clean and entertain. While having your dream backsplash and cutting-edge appliances is great, they don’t mean anything if your plumbing doesn’t function the way it should. In order to save yourself money and frustration, it’s imperative that you pay attention to any problems that arise and quickly address them to avoid disaster. If you find yourself with issues in the kitchen that you can’t resolve on your own, a call to your local Einstein Pros in Oregon, Washington and Nevada..