Reliance Plumbing Sewer & Drainage, Inc. Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Skokie’

Stairwell Drains: Why Your Home May Need Them

Monday, May 22nd, 2023
clogged-sewer-drain
Clogged Sewer Drain

In recent posts, we’ve addressed an important issue for home plumbing that many people don’t often think about: storm drainage. We’ve looked at flood control systems and window wells to help our customers know more about their importance and why they need to have them installed, repaired, maintained, and eventually replaced.

Today we’re looking at another important part of water drainage in a house: stairwell drains.

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No Water in Your Home? What to Do About It

Monday, February 13th, 2023
faucet-dripping

When it comes to major plumbing emergencies, one of the biggest and most likely to cause a homeowner to panic is when there’s no water from any of the faucets or taps. Running water is a necessity for modern daily life, so if you run into a “no water” situation, you’ll want to find out what’s wrong and have it corrected, quickly.

We’ll look at several of the most common reasons for having no running water in your house and what you can do about them. If you need to call for 24-hour plumbing in Skokie, IL, our team is standing by to help you. We’re experts when it comes to handling all types of plumbing emergencies.

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Signs You’ve Got a Dying Water Heater

Monday, January 17th, 2022

water-heatersWater heaters are designed for durability, but they also do a tremendous amount of work in homes around the year. Compare the water heater in your house to the heating system you use to stay warm. You only run the heater during the cold months of the year, and it gets a long summer vacation. Your water heater, on the other hand, works almost every day. All that wear and tear takes a toll, and at some point you’ll confront a water heater that’s on the way out. At what point do you know it’s time to stop repairing your water heater and get a new one?

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Why Store-Bought Drain Cleaners Are No Gift

Monday, December 6th, 2021

drain-cleanerWe’re not implying that you would ever purchase drain cleaners as a gift for someone, no matter the holiday! No, what we want to get across to you today is that you can give yourself that gift of a fully-working plumbing system in great shape … by avoiding store-bought drain cleaners. 

These bottles of chemicals may have “drain cleaner” in their name, but this is a result of marketing from the companies that make them. No professional plumber recommends anyone use drain cleaners for unclogging sinks, showers, toilets, or any other drain. These drain cleaners don’t really “clean” either—except in the most blunt-force way. Using a drain cleaner on a clog is similar to using a flame-thrower to remove a tree stump from your yard. Yes, you might get the stump, but you’ll also torch most of your property and might put yourself and your house in danger. 

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How to Stop a Running Toilet

Monday, November 22nd, 2021

top view of a toilet with an open lidAfter a toilet flushes, you’ll hear it running as it fills up the tank. This takes less than a minute in most cases, and then it shuts off. If you hear the toilet continuing to run for longer, something is wrong. Sometimes you can jiggle the flush handle to stop it, but if it continues each time the toilet flushes or it doesn’t respond to moving the handle, you’ll have to look into other methods. In some cases, it will take a professional plumber in skokie, IL to fix the problem.

And we want you to know that this is a problem. If you choose to just “live with” the toilet making the refilling noise, you’ll end up wasting enormous amounts of water that will raise your bills. Let’s see what you (or we) can do to stop a running toilet.

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How to Protect Your Garbage Disposal and Kitchen Sink Drain

Monday, March 15th, 2021

sink-drain-with-water-flowing-downIf you are one of hundreds of homeowners throughout Skokie and beyond that utilizes a garbage disposal in their kitchen sink, then you probably think it can handle just about anything. Garbage disposal systems are very convenient and easy-to-use. But, this system was not designed to chew up all your uneaten scraps. In fact, it doesn’t “chew up” much of anything.

Your garbage disposal functions by using a motor to spin impeller “blades” to break up what’s going down the drain. This is great if you have cooking scraps or leftovers involving things like boneless meat, and most fruits (without pits) and veggies. There are some things though, that really shouldn’t go down the drain, both for the sake of the garbage disposal system and the sink drain itself. Keep reading to learn what these things are.

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Beware These Plumbing Emergencies

Monday, December 7th, 2020

man-catching-water-from-ceiling-in-bucketWe don’t exactly “look forward” to you having a plumbing emergency, but we certainly look forward to being able to help when one happens! That is quite literally what we are here for—taking care of plumbing mishaps is our specialty, no matter what it is and no matter when it is.

Of course, we understand that you would rather never have an emergency. The best way to avoid a plumbing emergency is with routine maintenance including video pipe inspection and drain cleaning. Still though, it’s a good idea to be aware of some of the most common plumbing emergencies to underscore the importance of maintenance. Read on as we uncover these emergencies.

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Don’t Let the Holidays Wreak Havoc on Your Plumbing

Monday, November 9th, 2020

blue-cloth-tied-around-white-pipeHow are you spending this holiday season? We know, it’s going to look a lot different this year. But hopefully, you’re able to enjoy festivities with your immediate family or even a small group of friends who are part of your “quaranbubble.”

Whatever you’re planning to do, if guests and big meals are involved, you need to pay attention to your plumbing system. If you haven’t had plumbing maintenance done in over a year, then now’s the time to schedule it! But in addition to that, it’s important to know how to prevent the most common holiday plumbing woes. Of course, when you do have a plumbing problem, you can just contact us to get in touch with a trustworthy Skokie, IL plumber. In the meantime, read on as we dive into some plumbing factors to keep in mind.

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“Why Are My Pipes Knocking?”

Monday, January 21st, 2019

Shocked and surprisedSo you hear a strange noise coming from behind your walls—you might even think it’s coming from the front door, but you check, and it’s not—it’s a knocking sound of some kind.

Don’t worry, your house is probably not haunted, but we don’t judge you if that’s the conclusion you jumped to. What you’re actually hearing is sometimes called water hammer. This is a fairly common occurrence. However, it does indicate a problem—one that can only be remedied by a professional plumber in Skokie, IL. Keep reading to learn more about this issue.  

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Need Help with Your Bathroom Plumbing?

Monday, September 3rd, 2018

Bathroom Interior Home Design Photo

When you set out on a bathroom remodeling project, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that you’ll have to think a lot about your plumbing. Perhaps you’re just doing a fairly “simple” job of removing old fixtures and attaching new ones, or maybe you want to move some stuff around. Either way, we recommend contacting a professional Skokie, IL plumber, especially if it involves repiping.

If you have a bit of experience here and there handling some plumbing work, like patching up a pinhole leak or tightening a connection, you may feel confident that you can handle a bigger project with ease. But you will likely end up being unpleasantly surprised. Aside from this, there are factors you probably haven’t thought about that professionals deal with every day! Read on to learn more.

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