Plumbers are expensive. That is not a newsflash as it has always been the case.
With how expensive everything home related is these days, it pays to learn how to do things that you normally would have called a plumber to do before.
When you need to do some simple things that a plumber could have done in less than a half hour, then that is when you should do it yourself. If you are looking to have wall fountains for indoors installed, then that is when you need to call a plumber.
In this article, I will go over several items around the house that you can do with a little bit of learning and some patience. As long as you are willing to learn and get dirty, then you can handle a lot of these types of jobs.
Have the right tools
Before you take on any projects, you should definitely have the right tools. You don’t need to spend a fortune on the entire kit a pro would have. Some of the basics will get you by and you should have in your toolbox ready to go.
- Plumber’s wrench – Very much like a vice grip, a plumber’s wrench is wider, however. They also feature teeth that grip no matter which way you turn the wrench.
- Basin wrench – You’ll need to get into some tight spots and odd angles so this wrench will help you negotiate those areas.
- Drain snake – This will unclog just about anything. Before you call your plumber for clogs, try the snake and see if you can save some money.
- Teflon tape – When you are putting any fixtures on your pipes or joining pipes together, this tape will create a tight seal to avoid any dripping.
Faucets and showers
Shower heads are as easy as it gets and there is no need to call a plumber to replace them. It’s as easy as unscrewing the old shower head, putting some teflon tape on the joint and twisting the new one on. It takes less than 5 minutes. You can even add a shower head filter yourself without any help at all.
Faucets require a little more elbow grease, but are not that difficult to do. Just make sure you shut off your water, put a bucket under the sink and make sure you have the right tools ready.
If it’s a leaky faucet, then you might only need to change a gasket anyway and not need to replace the whole thing.
Toilet
Got a running toilet? Don’t call the plumber just make sure the valve in the tank is closing all the way. A new one takes minutes to change and only costs a couple of dollars.
If your toilet is clogged then try the snake first. You may simply have some toilet paper that got balled up and once removed the water will move freely.
Clogged drains
Once again, the drain snake is your friend. Open up the drain cover and unwind the snake until it meets resistance. Then pull it up and it should bring the clog up with it. You just saved $150 at a very minimum.