5 Signs your Plumbing System Needs an Upgrade

What’s that sound?

It clinks, it churns. Once in a while, you even hear groans, as if there’s something in your home’s walls.

Could it be a spirit, telling you to run?

Nope!

It’s just your home’s plumbing, breathing its last. And that thought is even scarier when you think about the bill that will arrive when you have to end up replacing the whole system!

How do you prevent such a horrifying thing from happening?

Check your plumbing for the following signs. If you check four out of five, contact Your 1 Plumber right away!

Sign#1: You Have an Older Home

If you have an older home, built pre-1960, you most likely have one of two types of pipes: galvanized pipes or lead pipes, neither of which are good news.

Galvanized pipes rust easy and can cause leaks, discoloration in water and uneven pressure. Lead pipes open a whole different can of worms. Toxic in nature, lead pipes (especially older lead pipes) look bumpy, flaky, discolored and dimpled in some areas.

If you have either of these two pipes, you will need to have your system checked straightaway.

Sign#2: You See Wet Patches in the Walls

Most likely a result of water leak in your plumbing system, a wet patch that’s growing day by day means that your pipe has sprung a leak. If you see any water damage in other parts of your home—perhaps a faucet is leaking, wet patches appearing randomly, etc.—this is a sign that it’s only a matter of time before a pipe bursts.

Sign#3: You Hear Something Bubbling or Gurgling

Those scary sounds we mentioned earlier might just be a result of flow blockage and disrupted venting.

If your pipes haven’t been maintained in a long time, water might have trouble backing into the drains, which may be causing the sound.

In such cases, you could replace specific parts of your pipe which need fixing.

Sign#4: Something Smells Bad

If your home smells bad, despite having cleaned it to within an inch of its life, you can probably blame your plumbing for that!

Water pooling in your pipes can lead to biological growth, which can cause smells. However, if you smell raw sewage, this could mean that the sewage line might be blocked, broken or cracked. If that bad smell is the smell of sewage, contact a plumbing professional immediately.

Sign#5: Your Sink and Bathtub is Slow to Drain

This could mean that your pipe is clogged. But that can easily be cleaned with a good drain cleaner.

But, if your pipes are still slow to drain, even after using the cleaner, try to find out when the pipes were installed. If it’s been a few decades or so, this lack of drainage might mean that your vents have become old and worn out.

Are Your Pipes in Need of an Upgrade?

Your 1 Plumber in Palm Beach County, FL is here to help!

We offer comprehensive plumbing services, from residential plumbing repair to complete plumbing installation and replacement. Call now at 561-403-1500.