Category: Plumbing

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.

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.

Do You Need a New Well Pump?

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Not all homes can receive fresh water from a municipal system. For those households without a connection to a water main, a ground well is the best solution. In order for a ground well to send water into the house’s plumbing system, the well must have a working well pump.

Like any powered mechanical device, a well pump can malfunction and either struggle to work or stop working completely. Sometimes professionals can repair the pump to get it working once again. But there will come a time in the service life of any well pump where the better option is to have the well pump replaced.

Indications of a Failing Well Pump

You should always pay careful attention to the workings of your well pump so you can tell ahead of time that it’s close to a permanent breakdown. You don’t want to have to make an emergency call to restore your well pump and your water supply if you don’t have to! The main warning sign to watch for is a steep drop in water pressure, especially when more than one tap in the house is turned on. Sputtering faucets are also major cautionary signs. Sediment appearing in your water supply is something that requires professional investigation right away.

Changing to a Constant Pressure Well Pump

If you have an older well pump that’s still doing its job adequately, you may wish to have it replaced anyway. The reason is to switch to the newer type of well pump technology, a constant pressure well pump. The older type of well pump turns on when tank pressure drops too low, then shuts off afterward reaching a set level. These newer pumps keep the pressure at a constant level, thus avoid rises and falls in water pressure in the house. Making the switch is especially noticeable when you have more than one tap turned on at once.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice for Silver Springs, MD. Contact us if you need well pump services of any kind.

Replacing That Leaky Faucet Can Make a Tremendous Difference!

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Is there one faucet in your house that is that faucet? The one that always seems to drip drip drip no matter what you do with it? This kind of slow water leak might seem like an annoyance, but it’s something much more serious: small water leaks add up to a much bigger waste of water than you might imagine. But it’s easy to have this fixed! You only have to arrange with our plumbers to have a new faucet put in. This new faucet not only won’t leak, but it will add a pleasant new look to whatever room it’s in.

The Water Waste from That Leaky Faucet

All it takes is a few drops per minute to turn into a large waste of water. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the annual amount of water lost through household leaks across the country is more than 1 trillion gallons. That equals the annual water use of more than 11 million homes.

But let’s zero in on the leaky faucet. A faucet that drips at the rate of one drip a second can add up to more than 3,000 gallons per year. To give you a sense of how much that is, the average shower uses around 16 to 17 gallons; you could take 180 showers using the water a leaky faucet wastes. Even a slower leak that only amounts to 500 gallons a year is wasting enough water for 60 loads of dishes in the dishwasher.

If you can’t correct a leaking faucet using a wrench to tighten it up, then it’s best to have professional plumbers replace it. They can use a special low-flow faucet that will help you save additional water without a noticeable change in the quality of the water flow.

Also check for leaky showerheads, which can often leak more than standard faucets. We can take care of putting in new showerheads as well.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating offers kitchen plumbing and bathroom plumbing in Gaithersburg, MD and throughout Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Tips to Go Green with Your Home’s Plumbing

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You might have a green thumb when it comes to gardening, but there are places in your house where you can “go green” to both help the environment and save you money on your utility bills. If you want to have “green plumbing,” we’ve offered tips on where to start. Our professional plumbers can help you with these jobs, and they’re always willing to share more ideas with you. Don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Replace that old water heater

If you’ve had your current water heater for 15 years or more—or it was already installed in your home when you moved in—then it’s probably a source of energy waste in the plumbing system. New water heaters have much higher energy efficiency: just look for the ENERGY STAR label. Our water heater professionals can help locate the ideal new energy-saving model for your needs.

Install a whole-house water filtration system

This is the best way to make your home a healthier one. There’s a wide variety of harmful chemicals and bacteria that can get into the municipal water supply. Rely on our water treatment experts to find out what contaminants in your water—and what whole-house filtration system will get rid of them, such as a reverse osmosis filter.

Install low-flow plumbing fixtures

Older homes often have faucets and toilets that waste too much water. Even something as simple as putting flow reducers on faucets can help. But the best way is to arrange for the installation of new water-saving fixtures to replace the old ones. The low-flow toilet is especially helpful: almost a third of indoor water use goes to the toilet, and a low-flow model lowers the amount of water used per flush from 4–6 gallons to 1.5 gallons. That’s a substantial difference!

For more ideas, as well as to arrange for plumbing services, call on Mallick Plumbing & Heating. We serve Potomac, MD and throughout Montgomery County.

An Important Fall Reminder: Winterize Your Hose Bibs!

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September doesn’t mean the immediate end of summer and the first blast of cold weather. In fact, September can often be quite warm. But it is the time when we recommend you start to prepare your home for the cold weather ahead: getting the work done now will save you immense headaches later on.

An important job to protect your plumbing from the cold is to winterize the outdoor hose bibs. It doesn’t take long, but it can save you on expensive trouble later on.

Steps for winterizing hose bibs

  • First, remove anything that’s connected to the outside faucet. If you leave the hose connected to the faucet during the winter, trapped water will cause the faucet to freeze and the pipes to break.
  • Check for any leaks. If there’s water dripping from the faucet, no matter how small the problem may seem, it can cause fixture freeze over the winter. Call a professional plumber to handle fixing this leak during the early fall.
  • Drain the pipes to get as much water as you can out of them. If it’s possible, shut off the water to the line and open the faucet to release the water.
  • Insulate the outdoor faucet. There are a number of methods to see that the faucet has proper protection from the cold, but the easiest way is to put a special cover over the fixture. This insulation is made of thick foam and will do the necessary job of trapping heat and keeping the cold out. You can find hose bibs at most stores that offer home improvements. Replace older covers every few years.

If you require repairs for your outdoor faucet, contact our plumbers any time. They are also available for general maintenance tasks that will see that all of your home’s plumbing is ready for the coming winter.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the plumbing service contractor of choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

Is It Time to Replace Your Bathroom Toilet?

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The toilet is about as functional an item as a home has: a necessary fixture, but probably one which you don’t give much thought unless it needs repairs. This means that you might ignore the age of a toilet and not realize that it’s due to have a replacement. Below, we’ll take a look at indications that you should contact our bathroom plumbing professionals and arrange to have them install a new toilet (or toilets) for your house.

The toilet is a water waster

The bathroom is the room in your house that uses the most water, and the toilet can account for up to 40% of that amount. This means the toilet contributes a significant part of your monthly water bills. If your toilet is an old model, it probably uses around 6 gallons a flush—and that’s far too much! A newer toilet, even one that isn’t a special low-flush model, uses less than 4 gallons per flush. If you have high water bills, it might be time to replace the toilet.

Leak repairs (and other repairs) are becoming common

Have you called for repairs for the toilet more than once per year to fix the development of leaks or other issues, such as when the toilet won’t stop running? These malfunctions are a sign of a fixture that is wearing down to the point where it will only be able to continue to run with repair after repair—and that’s a large waste of money that a new toilet will help you fix.

Constant clogging

Toilets clog up now and then, that’s simply the way it goes. A plunger will usually solve these problems. But if you find that you’re using the plunger all the time, then you should consider if the age of the toilet is at fault and it no longer has the flushing power or drainage ability to do its job.

If you’re unsure about whether it’s time for a new toilet, get in touch with our plumbers and let them examine your bathroom plumbing. They’ll provide expert advice.

Call Mallick Plumbing & Heating in Silver Spring, MD to arrange for bathroom plumbing services.

How Plumbers Do Leak Detection for a Home?

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Leaks are one of the more common, aggravating, and damaging plumbing problems a home can face. Even a small pinhole leak can destroy drywall and lead to other major issues—not to mention wastewater and drive up your bills.

However, leaks present a special problem when it comes to repairs: finding the leak in the first place! Unless the leak springs up in one of the few visible pipes in your home, you probably won’t know where leaks are located. This is one of the reasons that you must rely on experienced plumbing professionals to handle the repair work. Leak detection is an important service that plumbers offer. Using the techniques below, licensed plumbers can find exactly where leaks are occurring so they can accurately and quickly repair them.

Acoustic listening devices

Ground microphones and listening discs are among the basic tools that plumbers use to pinpoint leaks. Using sound technology, they can hear the noise of escaping water and dripping even through a layer of concrete.

Heat scanners

In areas that are too noisy or too deep for using acoustic listening methods, plumbers use scanners that pick up temperature changes. Escaping water causes temperature shifts that will show up on the scanners.

Video pipe inspection equipment

For the most precise leak detection, plumbers use a miniaturized camera mounted on long fiber optic cables. The camera relays images back to a monitor where the plumber can see the condition of the inside of the pipe. Not only does this show where leaks are, but it also provides the plumber with extra information that will make it easier to repair the leak.

Training

There’s one other invaluable tool plumbers have for leak detection: their own professional training. Licensed plumbers know enough about plumbing systems that they can rapidly narrow down the search area without requiring any special technology at all. That’s why you should only call on plumbers with the right experience.

Mallick Plumbing & Heating is the Service Contractor of Choice in Silver Spring, MD and Montgomery County.

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