Author: infogenix

The Real Reason That Pipes Burst When They Freeze

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A frozen pipe is obviously a problem in that it stops the water flow. But there’s another concern, which is that when pipes freeze they may also burst. This means expensive pipe replacement repair and the serious possibility of flooding and water damage. (This is probably a good time to mention the importance of having a sump pump to help prevent water damage in the lower parts of your house.)

Why Do Frozen Pipes Burst?

The real reason why frozen pipes burst is because of the increase in pressure on the side of the pipe where the frozen section is. As there is less space available between the ice and the closed tap that is “upstream,” the pressure spikes—which causes the bursting to happen.

Many people assume that the cause of pipe bursting is simply due to the freezing – “Because water expands when it freezes.” Water molecules take on a hexagonal form during freezing, which takes up more volume than liquid form. However, when water in a pipe expands due to freezing, it expands to the sides, not directly outward. So, this isn’t the direct cause of the pipe freeze.

Do Pipes Always Burst When They Freeze?

Not all frozen pipes burst. However, thawing the ice can increase the risk, as it usually worsens the problem since it raises the pressure further. This is why pipe bursting is especially common at the end of winter when the ice starts to thaw.

How To Prevent Pipes From Freezing

Winter weather puts a remarkable number of stresses on a home, which is why you should take special precautions to winterize it against the chill, especially your pipes. One way to prevent pipes from freezing is by adding insulation on the exposed piping (usually the pipes around the water heater). This will prevent the pipes from losing too much heat to the cold air around them, that they freeze.

If you do encounter frozen pipes at some point this winter, the best way to deal with them is to contact professional plumbers. They’ll repair your pipes without the risk of bursting.

For the best in plumbing repairs, always call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We serve Gaithersburg, MD, and the surrounding areas.

When Should I Schedule Drain Cleaning?

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“Drain cleaning” doesn’t mean pouring a bottle of acidic chemicals down a clogged drain opening and hoping that will take care of everything. This is just a type of “drain unclogging”—and unfortunately it often won’t even achieve that. Worse, those caustic chemicals can end up doing damage to the drainpipe!

Actual drain cleaning is a professional service that licensed plumbers can perform for you using tools such as motorized drain snakes and powerful hydro-jetting equipment. But when should you arrange for drain cleaning? There are two specific times, which we’ll look at below.

Every Year

Drain cleaning should be a service that you have done once a year as part of general maintenance for the plumbing in your household. This is a great preventive measure against all sorts of drain and sewer troubles. Using hydro-jetters, plumbers can so thoroughly scour away the organic gunk and other build-up on the drainpipe walls that it will make clogs almost impossible—and the renewed build-up will take much longer to start again. Regular drain cleaning also helps to stop problems with high-water pressure, limescale from hard water, and bad-smelling drains.

Emergency Clogs

When you run into a clog in your sink or in another drain in your house that you can get rid of using a plunger or a simple hand-crank drain snake, don’t make any other attempts to clear it. This is when you need to call on professionals to completely clean the drain. Simply punching a hole through a clog to allow water through usually means the blockage will start up again a short time later. The complete scouring of the drain that you’ll receive from professional drain cleaning will not only get rid of the clogging, but it will also stop it from coming back.

To arrange for drain cleaning, either as regular service or in an emergency, call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We serve Rockville, MD and throughout Silver Spring and Montgomery County.

Preventing a Flooded Basement with a Sump Pump

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One of the more common and disastrous problems that homes face in this area is a flooded basement. This can happen because of a plumbing accident or it can come from the rain. But no matter the cause, it’s a huge issue that can create trouble long after the main danger is gone. Water damage remediation is an expensive and prolonged process. The best way to deal with flooding in a basement is to find a way to stop it right as it starts.

This is where the sump pump is invaluable.

What Is a Sump Pump?

A sump pump is a motorized pump that is designed to remove excess water from a low part of a house (the basement or a crawlspace) automatically and move it into the municipal wastewater system or a dry well.

A sump pump consists of the two parts of its name. The sump is a hole that’s excavated in the basement at its lowest point. This is where excess water runs automatically and gathers. The pump itself is either placed above the sump (a pedestal pump) or down in it (a submersible pump). The electrical motor of the pump turns on when the water level reaches a certain point. A float switch will trigger activation, usually. The pump draws the water out of the sump and through a pipe that connects to the wastewater system. The sump pump will continue to operate until the water is removed from the sump.

If you’ve had trouble with water in your basement before, then there’s a danger of major flooding at some point in the future. It’s best to contact a professional plumber to arrange for a sump pump installation. The plumber can locate the right type and horsepower of the pump for your needs, and then have it installed so that it will do the exact job you need from it.

To arrange for the installation of a sump pump in your house, contact the professional plumbers at Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We offer service in Potomac, MD and the surrounding areas.

A Way to Save Energy with Your Water Heater in Winter

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During the winter, many HVAC companies offer lists of ways that homeowners can save money through the cold weather. You might not think that you would be able to get similar sort of advice from a plumbing company, but when it comes to your water heater, there are ways you can cut down on your bill. After all, the water heater accounts for 18% of all energy used in a house—by far the most of any single appliance.

Adjusting the Water Heater for Winter

There is a simple step that you can take with a water heater that will mean significant savings over the coming months. Find the control panel for the water heater (which is called the aquastat) and turn down the temperature setting. The standard setting during the year and the default for most water heaters is 140°F. Lower it to 120°F, which is usually marked as the “warm” setting. This will help reduce heating bills during the winter, and it won’t have an appreciable effect on comfort—in fact, it can even help prevent accidental scalding. Return the water heater to its standard temperature setting when spring comes around again.

You May Need to Repair or Replace Your Water Heater

In some cases, you may need to take more drastic steps with your water heater other than just lowering its operating temperature. If the water heater has shown any signs over summer or fall that it’s malfunctioning, arrange for repairs as soon as you can with professionals. And if your water heater is more than 15 years old, it’s time to put in a new one. We strongly recommend installing a tankless water heater, which will make a tremendous improvement in your energy costs.

If you need help with your water heater, or you have any plumbing needs this winter, just call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We serve Chevy Chase, MD, and the surrounding areas.

Possible Problems You Might Run into with a Tankless Water Heater

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Do you have a tankless water heater in your home? Then you probably can’t imagine having to go back to the older style of water heater, thanks to all these fantastic advantages of a tankless system:

  • Unlimited hot water supply—the system is always ready to heat more
  • Lower energy bills
  • Compact size—80% smaller than tank water heaters—giving you more room
  • Reduced number of repair needs

But we’d like to focus on that last point. Your tankless water heater might run into malfunctions far less often than a storage tank system, but you can’t avoid all malfunctions. Below are some troubles that you may run into with your tankless water heater in the future—and what you can do about them.

The water isn’t getting hot enough

You turn on a tap and receive lukewarm water. You wait for it to get hotter, but it doesn’t. This lower temperature water may be a result of multiple taps being turned on at the same time. This is one of the few drawbacks of going tankless: the system can become overtaxed if there is too much demand placed on it from multiple taps and appliances simultaneously. If this problem happens often, you might consider installing a second tankless system. Many larger houses use more than one tankless water heater.

The water is getting too hot

Okay, what about the opposite problem? You certainly don’t want scalding hot water coming from your showerhead! If this happens, check the settings on the water heater; it’s possible they’ve been set too high. But this can also occur because the temperature sensor has broken. You’ll need to call water heater repair technicians to remedy this.

There’s no hot water at all

As soon as you discover no hot water at all coming from the taps, check on the power source for the water heater. The gas valve may be shut off. A circuit breaker could’ve tripped—and gas water heater does use electricity in order to operate. If you can’t trace the source, call for professional repairs right away; don’t make any attempt to repair the system yourself.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice in Bethesda, MD, and the surrounding areas. Contact us for tankless water heater services.

Our Plumbers at Work: Fixing Pinhole Leaks

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The term “pinhole leak” doesn’t sound like a terrible plumbing problem. But the name is deceiving! Pinhole leaks are a highly prevalent issue with pipes in both homes and businesses. The cause is a type of corrosion called pitted corrosion that can affect copper. (Copper is corrosion-resistant, but there are still a few types that can afflict it.) The weakening of copper from pitted corrosion soon allows for small holes to open up and begin to leak. Even the smallest leak can cause building damage and waste large amounts of water over time. When you have pinhole leaks occurring in your home’s plumbing, you need to call on professional plumbers such as ours for assistance.

How we repair pinhole leaks

There are a number of methods that our plumbers can use to fix pinhole leaks. The first is a temporary fix, a kind of “stopgap” measure that eliminates the immediate trouble of the leak and gives the plumbers time to track down where other leaks are occurring (pinhole leaks often happen in groups) and then come up with a longer-term solution. The quick fix is to place a small piece of rubber against the leak, then secure a jubilee clip around the pipe and the rubber stopper. The clip is screwed down, forming a firm but temporary seal.

A permanent fix usually involves slicing the pipe in two at the point of the pinhole leak. A special pipe slicer quickly divides the pipe into two halves. Then a compression fitting is placed between the two ends and tightened down to form a connection and a restored pipeline.

The other way for a permanent fix is to solder the pipe ends together. After slicing the pipe apart at the leak, the plumber brushes flux onto the two ends. The ends are placed together, and a soldering torch is put to use to seal the ends together. (Never try to use a soldering torch on your own! It’s only safe in trained hands.)

Call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating for plumbing service in Silver Spring, MD, and the surrounding areas.

Is a Reverse Osmosis System a Good Option for Clean Water in My Home?

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If you are concerned about the quality of the water that comes into your house from the municipal plumbing system, you aren’t alone… and you probably have a good reason for those concerns. Even the best water treatment plant can’t prevent chemicals, minerals, and heavy metals from entering the water in the pipes as it travels to your house. When you suspect poor quality water, arrange for water testing with us, and we’ll determine what type of water treatment system will resolve the problem.

One of the most common types of water treatment solutions we recommend is the reverse osmosis filtration system.

How Reverse Osmosis Works

A reverse osmosis (RO) filter is essentially a powerful filter that can remove much smaller pollutants than standard adsorption filters. An RO system can eliminate pesticides, nickel, iron, chlorine, sodium phosphate (the source of that “rotten egg” smell everybody hates), arsenic, and even bacteria. But if you know anything about how filters work, you’ll wonder how the water can be forced through a filter powerful enough to trap those contaminants. Wouldn’t it be too thick, and end up stopping the water as well?

This is where the osmosis part comes in. An RO treatment system creates two areas of pressure in the water on the two sides of the filter. The water on the incoming side is kept at a much higher pressure, and osmosis—the natural movement from a high-pressure area to a lower pressure one—forces the water through the semi-porous membrane. The water flow isn’t interrupted, and the unwanted particles are removed.

But to make sure that an RO system is right for your home, leave the work to professionals. Testing and proper installation are necessary to make sure an RO system does the job it’s supposed to, without harming water flow in the house.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating offers extensive water treatment services in Gaithersburg, MD and through the surrounding areas.

How to Fix a Leaking Packing Nut

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What is a Packing Nut?

To prevent major flooding problems in a home, as well as to allow easier work for plumbers during repairs, many water lines have shut-off valves. For example, the pipes under your sinks and toilets should be equipped with valves to stop water flow. It’s important to know where these valves are located so you can stop water in case of a plumbing emergency.

However, the packing nut on a shut-off valve can leak, something you may notice when you turn the handle on and off. The packing nut is the part of the valve that provides a watertight seal around the valve stem, and usually, a leaking shut-off valve is the fault of a problem with the packing nut. Here’s how you can make a simple fix.

Basic Packing Nut Repairs

You’ll need a 4-in-1 screwdriver and an adjustable wrench. Use the appropriate-sized wrench to turn the packing nut one-quarter turn to tighten it. This should usually fix the problem. If it doesn’t, you can replace the washer or the packing nut. You’ll need to shut off the water running to this valve—and that means going further down the line, possibly to the water main for the house. Remove the handle from the stem and then fully loosen the packing nut and remove it. Slide off the washer and put on a new one. Now put the packing nut back in place and tighten it—being careful not to tighten it too much, just make it snug and don’t turn any further. Now reattach the handle, let the water flow again, and turn on the valve to see if the leaking has stopped. Make any further tightening as necessary.

If you can’t fix the packing nut yourself, there may be more serious issues with the shut-off valve that will need professionals. We’re glad to assist with any plumbing repairs you may need, large or small.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating, Inc. provides the highest quality plumbing services in Potomac, MD and nearby areas. Call (301) 804-6759 today to request a service appointment.

How to “Go Green” with a Water Heater Installation

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There are a variety of ways to make your house more environmentally friendly. You may not have thought a new water heater installation is one of them. But when you consider how much power goes into running your home’s water heater, you’ll begin to see that putting in the right type of unit can make a significant difference. Below are three ways that you can “go green” when it’s time for a new water heater:

Install a Higher Efficiency Tank Water Heater

Let’s say that you don’t want to make a dramatic change in the kind of water heater your home uses: you’d prefer to stick to the tried-n-true storage tank type. If this is the case, make sure that any new installation is an ENERGY STAR-certified model. These units use around 10% less energy than standard water heaters and can save four-person household hundreds of dollars over its service life. When it comes to green power, if every home used an ENERGY STAR water heater, it would remove about 10 billion pounds of greenhouse gas annually—the equivalent of 900 thousand cars!

Install a Tankless Water Heater

A tankless water heater doesn’t need to run as often as a storage tank model, and this makes it, even more, energy efficient. Not only will you help the environment and your energy bills with a tankless model, but you’ll also have limitless hot water.

Install a Heat Pump Water Heater

If your home doesn’t have access to natural gas, one of the best options for an energy efficient water heater is a heat pump model. These types of water heaters consume far less electricity than a standard electric water heater, which helps in cutting down on dependence on coal and other fossil fuels. Heat pump water heaters also produce few harmful emissions.

Find out more about going green with a new water heater installation: call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating! We service Rockville, MD, and the surrounding areas.

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