Your plumbing is something that’s easy to take for granted—after all most of this system is hidden from view and “out of sight, out of mind,” right? If there is any portion of your plumbing in Des Plaines, IL where this is most true, it’s your water heater. Though tank water heaters are pretty large, they’re usually tucked away in the corner of a garage or behind a door in a storage closet.
So, it’s easy to miss when it needs repair. Unfortunately, neglecting repair needs can lead to a complete water heater failure, and if there’s anything you don’t want to be without this winter—or really any part of the year—it’s hot water, right?
What is it, exactly, that you should watch out for with your water heater? Are there clear signs that a water heater is, in fact, in need of professional repairs? Certainly! Read on.
There’s something you should know about this time of year, especially if you have a water heater. No, we’re not about to warn you against frozen pipes—though that is a very real threat it’s unlikely to affect your water heater! But the cold winter air can have a negative impact on your water heater, especially if it’s aging. The chilliness causes the metal of your water heater tank to expand and contract, threatening the structure of the system.
As much as we don’t want to think about it quite yet, Thanksgiving is just a short month away. Are you hosting this year? Perhaps this means you’ll be doing a considerable amount of cooking? We can’t necessarily help you with any culinary tips, but we can tell you how to treat your kitchen sink this time of the year.
When you think about Evanston in the winter, or really any part of Chicagoland, you likely think about snow. Snow and snowmelt do indeed pose a threat to the integrity of your home, but there is another concern that not too many homeowners think about, and that’s rain.
One of the most common issues to face your water heater is also one of the most misunderstood—scaling. Scaling is a result of hard water—when your water supply has an excessive amount of minerals in it, like calcium and magnesium. These deposits build up within your pipes and fixtures and can go awhile unnoticed, but can have a big impact on your water heater or boiler system.
It’s rare for burst pipes to occur in the warmer time of the months. Homeowners tend to have visions of clogs and leaks backing up to a point that their pipes explode, but this is a little over the top. Burst pipes are a possibility, but not due to clogs—it’s due to the water in those pipes freezing.
If you’ve lived in the Wilmette area for even just a year, you might already know the answer to this question. You know how heavy and sometimes unexpected rainstorms can be, and the subsequent flooding from these rainstorms can be very damaging, not to mention a nuisance! The last thing you need is a lake in your front yard, right? Unless you’re into that kind of thing—but we’d really encourage you to reconsider the contents of that lake.
We may be known for our snowy winters, but there’s another winter threat that Winnetka homeowners face that’s not thought about enough—and that’s how much rain we get during this time of the year. The last thing you want to deal with is a flooded basement or any other type of water related emergency, so what can you do to avoid it? 
There are a number of appliances within a home that you rely on daily—many of them that we take for granted, and would cause a major inconvenience if they suddenly stopped working. The garbage disposal in your kitchen is definitely one of them! But imagine the disruption it would cause to your residential kitchen, then think about how that problem would amplify in a commercial setting.
When it comes to our numerous home appliances, we all wish they would last forever. Unfortunately though, our major appliances like heating systems, air conditioner, plumbing components, and water heaters take on a considerable amount of wear and tear throughout the years. This means that eventually, they will need to be replaced. The problem is that sometimes it can be tough to know when exactly some of these appliances need replacement, particularly the water heater.