Plumbing guides
Plumbing guides for Warren homes and businesses
Practical guides for Warren-area homeowners, landlords and business owners: what to do in an emergency, how to spot trouble early and how to decide between repair and replacement.
- Office on Stephens Rd, Warren
- Homes, rentals and businesses
- Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties
Emergencies
Is it a plumbing emergency or can it wait until morning
Which plumbing problems need a plumber tonight, which can wait for morning, and what to do in the meantime so a bad night doesn't get worse.
How to find and shut off your main water valve
Where the main shutoff usually sits in a basement, how to close each type of valve, and what to do when yours won't budge.
How to thaw a frozen pipe without splitting it
Find the frozen section, open the right faucet and warm the pipe slowly with gentle heat. What never to use on a frozen line, and when to call.
How to shut off the gas to a water heater, range or dryer
Where the gas valve sits behind a water heater, range or dryer, which handle position means off, and when to leave the house instead of touching anything.
Costs and decisions
Who owns the sewer line between your house and the street
In Warren and many nearby cities, the homeowner owns the sewer lateral all the way to the city main, under the sidewalk and street included.
What size water heater does your household need
Size a tank water heater by its first-hour rating and your busiest hour of hot water use, not by the gallons printed on the tank.
Problem solving
Cast iron drain pipes and the signs they're failing
Rust lines, cracked hubs, channel rot and drains that keep slowing down. How to judge an old cast iron stack and its buried lines before they leak.
Where a sewer smell in the basement comes from
Dry traps, loose cleanout plugs, failed wax rings and cracked pipe. How to track down a sewer smell in a basement, cheapest fix first.
How to tell if your house still has galvanized pipes
Threads, color, a magnet and a scratch test. How to spot galvanized supply pipe in your basement and what it means for pressure, leaks and your service line.
Warren and Michigan
Why pipes freeze on exterior walls and how to stop it
Wind, rim joists and kitchen sinks on outside walls. Why the same pipes freeze every winter while the rest of the house stays warm, and which fixes last.
What causes basement backups during big storms
Rain gets into sanitary sewers, the pipes fill past your floor drain, and water comes back up. Why storms cause backups and which fix stops each kind.
What to do after sewage backs up into your basement
Make the basement safe, document the damage, throw out what soaked up sewage, disinfect the rest, then find out why the drain backed up.
Prevention and maintenance
Businesses and landlords
Grease, drain lines and jetting schedules for restaurants
How grease builds up inside commercial kitchen lines, how to set a jetting schedule that fits your kitchen, and how to avoid a backup on a busy night.
What happens during an annual backflow test for a business
Who needs a yearly backflow test, what a tester checks on each type of assembly, who is allowed to do it, and where the test report goes afterward.
Plumbing checklist for landlords between tenants
The valves, fixtures, drains and water heater checks to run during a rental turnover, so the next tenant's first call isn't about a leak.
Comparisons
Need a plumber instead of a guide?
Call our Warren office and describe what's going on.
Plumber in Warren, MI, 11355 Stephens Rd, Warren, MI 48089 · support@plumbingwarrenmi.com
- Office on Stephens Rd, Warren
- Homes, rentals and businesses
- Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties