Plumbing Care Guide, Season by Season

Most plumbing failures give some warning, and in south-central Pennsylvania the season decides which warning comes next. Spring rain tests the sump pump, summer storms test the floor drains, the first hard freeze finds every outdoor line left full of water, and a January cold snap finds the pipe in the outside wall. A few checks each season catch most of it early.

Spring: Sump Pumps, Spigots and Slow Leaks

Snowmelt and spring rain raise the groundwater around the foundation, and that’s when a sump pump earns its keep. Test it before the rains, not during them.

Test the Sump Pump

1. Lift the lid and clear anything that could catch the float: debris, a cord, a loose bag.
2. Pour a bucket or two of water slowly into the pit until the float rises.
3. Watch the pump start, empty the pit and shut off on its own.
4. Outside, make sure the discharge line is clear, not crushed, and lets the water out well away from the foundation.

A pump that hums without pumping, runs with the pit empty or doesn’t start at all should be replaced before the next storm, not after it. Sump pump installation is part of our work.

Check the Outdoor Spigots

Turn each outdoor spigot on with a hose attached and its nozzle closed, then look inside where the spigot’s pipe comes through the wall. A frost-proof spigot that froze with a hose left on can split inside the wall, and that leak only shows while the water is on. A split spigot gets replaced, not patched, as part of fixture repair.

Look for Leaks That Built Up Over Winter

Read the water meter, use no water for two hours, then read it again. If the numbers moved, or the small leak indicator on the dial is turning, water is going somewhere. Toilets are the usual suspects: put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, wait 15 minutes without flushing, and if color shows in the bowl, the flapper is letting water through.

Then look where slow leaks hide. Open the cabinet under each sink and feel the cabinet floor and the supply lines. Check the base of every toilet for a soft floor or a dark ring, the floor around the water heater and the washer, and the ceilings under bathrooms for stains. Worn supply lines and shutoff valves that weep at the stem are small parts that ruin floors when they let go, and replacing them is part of our work.

Summer: Storms, Disposals and Roots

Summer brings heavy thunderstorms, humid weeks and trees at full growth, and each finds a different part of the plumbing.

Storm Backups

A downpour can overload the sewer in the street, and when it backs up, water looks for the lowest opening in the house, usually the basement floor drain. Keep the floor around that drain clear so you’d see water early, and hold off on the washer and dishwasher while the drains gurgle. Houses that back up in every big storm are often fitted with a backwater valve on the main line, which lets water out and closes against water coming back.

Garbage Disposal Habits

• Run cold water before, during and for a few seconds after grinding.
• Keep grease, oil and fat out: they set up further down the line.
• Go easy on stringy and starchy scraps such as corn husks, celery, potato peels, coffee grounds and pasta, which mat together or swell.
• If it hums but won’t turn, switch it off, then work the flywheel loose with the hex key that fits the socket on the bottom of most units and press the reset button. Never reach in by hand.

Air Conditioner Condensate Lines

Central air pulls gallons of water a day out of humid air and sends it through a small plastic condensate line, usually to a floor drain or a condensate pump. Algae and sludge clog that line, and then water spills from the air handler’s pan onto the floor. While the air runs, check that the line drips into the drain, and keep that drain open.

Roots Heading for the Sewer Line

Tree roots grow hardest in summer, and they go after the moisture seeping from the joints of old clay and cast iron sewer laterals. If drains that ran fine in spring slow down by late summer, the lowest ones first, roots in the lateral are a likely cause, and that’s a sewer line problem more than a job for drain cleaner. Plant new trees well away from the line to the street.

Fall: Close Up the Outside Lines

The first hard freeze usually comes in late fall, and from then until spring any water left standing in an outdoor line or an unheated space is at risk.

Shut Off and Drain the Outdoor Spigots

1. Disconnect every garden hose. A hose left on holds water in the spigot.
2. Inside, close the shutoff valve for each outdoor line, usually on the basement ceiling near the wall the spigot comes through.
3. Open the spigot outside and leave it open so the line drains.
4. If the inside valve has a small drain cap, open it over a bucket to let the last of the water out.

Frost-proof spigots put the valve at the end of a long stem, inside the heated part of the wall, so the stem drains each time they’re shut off. That only works with the hose off: a frost-proof spigot left with a hose attached all winter is the one that splits.

Insulate Pipes in Cold Spaces

Pipes in crawl spaces, garages, unheated porches and outside walls are the ones that freeze. Foam sleeves from the hardware store go on exposed runs in minutes. Seal gaps where cold air reaches the pipes, around the sill plate and where lines pass through the wall, and close crawl space vents for the winter.

Flush the Water Heater

Fall is a good time to flush a tank water heater, before the months it works hardest. In hard water, a year of sediment settles on the bottom of the tank, where it pops and wastes heat. On a heater that has never been flushed, open the old drain valve with care: it may not close tight again, and a valve that weeps afterward is a small water heater repair best done before winter.

Winter: Keep Water Moving and Know the Shutoff

A Pennsylvania cold snap, with nights in the single digits and wind against the north side of the house, finds the pipes in outside walls, under kitchen sinks and in crawl spaces. Water expands as it freezes, and the pipe often splits somewhere other than where the ice is. The leak starts when it thaws.

On the Coldest Nights

• Open the cabinet doors under sinks on outside walls so the room’s heat reaches the pipes.
• Let a thin stream run from a faucet on an outside wall. Moving water is slower to freeze, and an open tap lets the pressure out if it does.
• Keep the garage door closed when water lines run through the garage.
• Keep the heat on when you’re away, set no lower than about 55°F, and have someone check the house during a long cold stretch.
• Never thaw a pipe with an open flame or a torch. Use a hair dryer or warm towels, with the faucet open.

Know Where the Main Shutoff Is

Everyone in the house should know where the main water shutoff is before a pipe lets go. In most houses here it’s on the basement wall where the water line comes in, near the meter. A gate valve with a round handle closes clockwise over several turns; a ball valve closes with a quarter turn, the lever ending up across the pipe. Turn it once a year so it doesn’t seize. If it won’t budge or drips at the stem, replacing it is part of our work, and an easier job in October than during a burst pipe in January.

If a pipe freezes and splits anyway, close the main first: with a burst pipe, minutes count.

When a Seasonal Check Turns Up Trouble

A pump that won’t start, a spigot leaking inside the wall or a shutoff that won’t turn is easier to deal with before the season makes it worse. Call or book an estimate and tell us what the check turned up.