Yearly Home Maintenance Checklist

Yearly Home Maintenance Checklist

Winter is looming just around the corner, and its time to make sure you and your home are ready for the harsh weather! Keeping up with your home maintenance is a great way to make sure that you and your home make it through the winter months unscathed. If your home isn’t ready for winter, you could end up facing some costly repairs.

We know you’ve got a lot going on, and its not always easy to remember what needs to be done each year! To help you out, we’ve come up with a handy home maintenance checklist for you!

plumber-canton-ga

Here are some key things to check off on your home maintenance checklist-

  • After you cut your grass the last time for the year, drain all the extra gasoline out of your lawn mower and make sure any extra gasoline is properly stored.
  • Roll up your hoses and store them indoors. Nice hoses can be expensive, and properly storing them indoors and out of the elements can add years to the lifespan of your garden hoses.
  • Insulate any outdoor faucets and winterize your sprinkler system. This one is easy to forget, but frozen pipes can be very destructive to your home and property! Check out more about frozen pipes here and here.
  • Have your chimney professionally cleaned and inspected before lighting it up for the year. Creosote can build up in the flue and cause a fire. Better safe than sorry!
  • Be sure to cut down any branches hanging over your roof. If the branches ice over during the winter, they may get too heavy and fall on your roof.
  • Clean your gutters and downspouts.
  • Check out the caulking and weather stripping around all doors and windows. This is an easy, cheap fix and can save you tons of money on your utility bills by making your home hold heat more efficiently during the fall and winter.
  • Have your HVAC unit checked out. If you wait till the first cold night to check it out and discover there’s a problem, you may have a hard time getting an HVAC technician to come out quickly as they’re sure to be busy.
  • Change your air filters. Old, clogged air filters can decrease the efficiency of your unity, which increases your utility bills. Also, its gross. Changing the air filter can help improve the quality of the air you’re breathing.
  • Drain your hot water heater. Sediment in your hot water heater can cause major problems. Read our post on draining your hot water heater!

Keeping up with yearly maintenance on your home is important and can go a long way in saving you money. Performing maintenance tasks can make your home run more efficiently, saving you money on utility bills, and can prevent you from needing major repairs.

If you need help with any of your home maintenance plumbing tasks, call Masterflo today at (678) 822-7095. We’re family and locally owned and operated and we have your best interest at heart! Call the plumber you can trust!

10 Fall Home Maintenance Tips

10 Fall Home Maintenance Tips

With the weather outside looking more and more like fall and less and less like summer, we thought we’d reiterate some of our top fall home maintenance tips!

shovel-1357351

 

  1. Clean your gutters and your downspouts and make sure your downspouts have plenty of room to drain.
  2. Check all your outside doors for weather stripping. This can make all the difference with the inside temperature of your home and can save lots of money on your utility bills.
  3. Check the grading around your house and walkways. This can keep your basement dry in case of lots of rain or melting snow.
  4. Pull weeds and hidden debris in and around your yard and flower beds.
  5. Shut off the water taps and make sure all your outdoor taps are drained.
  6. Trim your trees to make sure none of them are hanging over your home.
  7. Mulch any young or vulnerable plants and trees. This can help them survive the harsh winter temperatures.
  8. Pack up all your outdoor furniture and decor. Winter temperatures can be harsh on outdoor furniture.
  9. Check all your outdoor lighting to make sure it works. Winter means colder temperatures and less daylight hours!
  10. Make sure any outdoor trash cans or recycling receptacles are easily accessible. No one wants to trudge through ice, slush, or snow to take out the trash!

Remember- if you need an emergency plumber in Canton, GA this fall or winter contact us at (678) 822-7095!

Frozen Pipes: Part 1

Major home maintenance problems seem to come at the worst time and can often turn into major disasters! Every winter nearly a quarter-million families in the US have their homes ruined and their lives disrupted every winter due to frozen pipes.

Here in north Georgia we’ve had some chilly nights lately, meaning that winter is on its way! Any pipe inside or outside your home can freeze during the frigid winter weather that we get in Georgia. Frozen pipes can turn into an expensive, ongoing ordeal that can end up costing you tons of money. The good news, though, is that frozen pipes are preventable!

Today we’re going to go over a few tips to help out with frozen pipes.

  1. If there are water supply lines in your garage, keep your garage door closed during cold weather.
  2. Open your kitchen cabinet and bathroom cabinet doors. This will allow warm air from your home to circulate around your plumbing.
  3. Let cold water drip from faucets that are served by exposed pipes. Letting water run through the pipes will help prevent them from freezing.
  4. Keep your thermostat set to the same temperature during the day and night.
  5. If you’re going out of town, don’t set your thermostat lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

Come back on Monday to learn how to thaw frozen pipes! In the meantime, if you’ve got a plumbing emergency on your hands, make sure to call the experts you can trust at Masterflo Plumbing! Call (678) 822-7095 today!

 

 

Leaky Sink: Do I Need A Plumber?

Leaky Sink: Do I Need A Plumber?

Do you have a leaky sink?? Is it really that important to fix it? Do you need a plumber? Read on to find out!

Leaky sinks are one of the most common plumbing problems all across America! Chances are, you have a leaky sink that you may not have even noticed! A leaky sink is sometimes not even thought of as a “plumbing problem” and goes ignored. Some of us are guilty of ignoring leaky sink for days, weeks, or even months! Other than the sound of dripping water, what’s the actual harm being done? In reality, a simple problem like a leaky sink can end up costing you thousands of dollars if its not fixed quickly and correctly!

Thousands of dollars wasted may seem extreme for something as small as a leaky sink, but its true! Read on to find out how your leaky sink can end up costing you so much money.

Wasted Water

First off, wasting water is bad for the environment! We all know that, right? But even if you don’t care, wasting water is bad for your wallet! I know we all care about that. For example- you’ve got a leaky sink, but its a pretty slow leak. We’ll say it drips once a minute. That’s over 1400 drips a day. That’s roughly 30 gallons of water a year. That may not seem like a lot, but what if it drips four times per minute? That’s over 130 galls of water a year. In actuality, four drips per minute would be an extraordinarily slow leak. Most leaks are at least double that. Wasted water can end up costing you tons of money each year on your water bill.

Water Damage

If your leak is coming from your faucet, chances are that you won’t end up with any water damage. Sinks are supposed to handle water. Where water damage can really start to affect you is if you have a leak in the pipes under your sink. Many of us think of a leaky sink as being a leak that only comes from the faucet. However, a lot of leaky sinks are actually leaking underneath the counter from the pipes. The most common complication from this is mold growth. The dark, moist area underneath a sink is the perfect breeding ground for mold. Sometimes, this mold can create health complications for those living in your household.

Another water your leaky sink can cause damage to your home is rot. If your leaky pipe goes ignored, the wood underneath your sink can being to rot, leading to structural damage. If enough rot occurs, you may end up having to replace your entire cabinet. If you repair your leaky pipe quickly, you can save yourself tons of time and money. The problem with leaks under your sink is that they can easily go unnoticed. Don’t forget to check under all the sinks in your home every so often for any signs of leaking or damage!

If you’ve got a leak, no matter how small, don’t ignore it! For an experienced, professional plumber you can trust, call us at Masterflo today! You can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (678) 822-7095!

Call today!

 

[callout add_button=”no” button_text=”Learn More” button_url=”#”]

(678) 822-7095

[/callout]

Home Maintenance Checklist

Home Maintenance Checklist

Summer is coming to a close, and fall is just around the corner! Fall is a great time to do some routine maintenance around and in your home. Unfortunately, a lot of times we fall behind on home maintenance. Much like your car, though, your home needs some general maintenance done on it periodically so it can keep running smoothly and efficiently. When we have the oil changed in our car, the mechanic puts a little sticker in the windshield so we’ll remember when to come back. Our homes don’t come with little reminder stickers, so its up to you to remember! With the kids back in school and the weather beginning to cool off, fall is a great time to work on some home maintenance.

Here are some key things to check off on your home maintenance checklist-

  • After you cut your grass the last time for the year, drain all the extra gasoline out of your lawn mower and make sure any extra is properly stored.
  • Aerate, fertilize, and reseed your lawn. It may seem counter intuitive, but fall is the perfect time to get a jump start on a beautiful lawn for next year.
  • Roll up your hoses and store them indoors. Nice hoses can be expensive, and properly storing them indoors and out of the elements can add years to the life of your hoses.
  • Insulate any outdoor faucets and winterize your sprinkler system. This one is easy to forget, but frozen pipes can be very destructive to your home and property!
  • Have your chimney professionally cleaned and inspected before lighting it up for the year. Creosote can build up in the flue and cause a fire. Better safe than sorry!
  • Check out your roof and repair any loose shingles and replace any missing nails. Many roofing companies offer free inspections, so call around if you’re uncomfortable going up on the roof yourself.
  • Be sure to cut down any branches hanging over your roof. If the branches ice over during the winter, they may get too heavy and fall on your roof.
  • Clean your gutters and downspouts.
  • Check out the caulking and weather stripping around all doors and windows. This is an easy, cheap fix and can save you tons of money on your utility bills by making your home hold heat more efficiently during the fall and winter.
  • Have your HVAC unit checked out. If you wait till the first cold night to check it out and discover there’s a problem, you may have a hard time getting an HVAC technician to come out quickly as they’re sure to be busy.
  • Change your air filters. Old, clogged air filters can decrease the efficiency of your unity, which increases your utility bills. Also, its gross. Changing the air filter can help improve the quality of the air you’re breathing.
  • Insulate any exposed water pipes to avoid burst pipes inside your home.
  • Drain your hot water heater. Sediment in your hot water heater can cause major problems. Read our post on draining your hot water heater!

Keeping up with yearly maintenance on your home is important and can go a long way in saving you money. Performing maintenance tasks can make your home run more efficiently, saving you money on utility bills, and can prevent you from needing major repairs.

If you need help with any of your home maintenance plumbing tasks, call Masterflo today at (678) 822-7095. We’re family and locally owned and operated and we have your best interest at heart! Call the plumber you can trust!