Ever wonder what that U-shaped pipe is under each of your sinks? That pipe is known as the “P-trap”. We’re here to explain to you why it’s there, what it does, and what you should do if it isn’t working properly.

Keeps Rotten Gases Away from The Home

There are many significant purposes that a p-trap serves. Firstly, it prevents sewer gases from spreading in your home. A P-trap can easily keep toxic gases from the sewer out of your home, including hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, methane, ammonia, and others. Not only do they smell bad, but they are detrimental to one’s health. Exposure to one of these gases can give you symptoms such as nausea, headache, loss of appetite, fatigue, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other harmful illnesses and side effects. How the P-trap works is by simply having a bed of water rest inside the curve. If you notice water inside of this P-trap, it’s supposed to be there, and this keeps your bathroom and kitchen from smelling like rotten eggs. If no water is in the P-trap, and you have tried to add water yourself, contact plumbing contractors Sacramento.

Traps Debris and Stops Clogging

If you are concerned if the P-trap gets clogged of debris, you don’t have to be. The curved section of the P-trap can easily allow you to clear any clogs that you may experience with a kitchen or bathroom sink. This means it’s easier to deal with a clogged pipe with a P-trap than without one. To tell if your pipes are clogged, you might realize a slow draining process. In many cases, you can use a plunger to break these clogs up, but if that doesn’t work, it is best to call your plumbing contractors Sacramento to help you with your unfortunate circumstance.

Saves Valuables from Going Away Forever

While P-traps were not primarily designed for this purpose, they can trap jewelry and other small valuables from being lost and gone forever. If something like a bracelet were to accidentally fall into the drain, the P-trap might catch these valuables if they are heavy enough to not be forced away by the water pressure. If something like this were to happen to you, you should turn off your water supply and remove the P-trap to retrieve your lost item. You should also consider hiring a qualified plumbing contractor if you are having trouble removing the P-trap yourself.

Other things That You Should Know About P-Traps

For homes that are used infrequently, such as abandoned or seasonal homes, the water inside these P-traps can evaporate. Usually, you can simply run water with your sink to prevent such a problem, but if you are not there for months to do this, then sewer gases will enter the home and it will smell bad. If you are planning to leave the home for an extended period of time, you should use a tap seal primer. This primer will produce water inside the P-trap so that a watery seal can be produced in times of dryness.

Drains without the right ventilation will be slower to empty, such as in the case with cabins and older houses. If you hear a “glug-glug” sound coming from one of the drains in the house, this is the primary indicator of improper ventilation. Insufficient ventilation in such drains will look to be released through adjacent lines, and this will force the gas through working P-traps while emptying their water. In such instances, you should have a plumber install new pipes in that particular home.

Mornings can be a drag. Waking up and slowly moving towards your showers only to have it greet you with a rush of cold water as your plumbing system warms up. To make matters worse, you’re really just watching all that water go down the drain… what might be only a few pennies today, adds up over time. Some Sacramento homeowners don’t even have the luxury of having to wait only a moment or two for the warm water to come: old water heaters can increase the time it takes for your day starting warm shower to be ready. This doesn’t only affect you in the morning either, does it? Every time your pipes get a break the water inside cools down, making the time you have to wait for warm water and the water wasted creep along.

There has to be a better way!

As with any other plumbing issue your home might face, your local Sacramento plumbers at Boyd Plumbing have the answers you need. For all of your home’s hot water woes, you need a hot water recirculating pump.

Hot water recirculating pumps work hard to deliver instant hot water to you when you need it. Gone are the days of hitting the shower and waiting around for hot water to warm your day. When you draw hot water, the water that is still in your pipes comes first. This water isn’t heated and comes through cold. With this pump, the cold water is routed back into your water heater, while the hot water is sent straight to you.

The best thing about hot water recirculating pumps is there low operation costs and virtually no maintenance requirements. Don’t let that cold water water you hate so much just flow down the drain, call the plumbing experts at Boyd Plumbing to get your hot water circulating pump installed today! It’s a great time to have a check up on your water heater too, so don’t forget to ask the office about a water heater inspection.

Ask a Sacramento Plumber:  How Do I Access a Sewer Line in Case of Blockage?

Many older homes don’t have sewer clean outs. A clean out is a part of a sewer line that juts out of the ground and has a removable cap. It attaches to the main portion of a sewer line and provides access should any sort of blockage be present. If you don’t have a clean out, the only way to access the sewer line would be to remove your toilet and go through your bathroom.

If you have cast iron lines but no cleanout, we can install one for you. In most cases, this involves digging into your sewer line and clearing out all of the dirt. Then, a two-foot section of the old line is removed and a PVC cleanout is attached. The PVC section comes with fittings so that it will be adaptable to the cast iron line. Afterward, the excavated area will be filled and smoothed over.

In many cities, plumbing codes require new homes to have two cleanouts, one close to the house and the other close to the curb.

If you want a sewer line clean out installed for your home, call Boyd Plumbing today.

Sink Replacement Today, Remodel Tomorrow

A customer called us to report that her kitchen sink had cracked. A few days before calling, she said her son had placed a hot plate in the sink without first cooling it off with water. She didn’t notice anything more than some discoloration at first, but then the crack developed. It progressed to the point where she wanted the sink replaced, so we installed a new one for her.

Kitchen sinks are extremely durable in most instances, but can crack if something heavy is dropped inside or, as in the example above, something extremely hot is placed inside by mistake. If this happens to you, call us and we’ll send someone out to let you know if your sink can be repaired or needs to be replaced.

Don't worry if your sink does need to be replaced, though. A change like that can make a nice addition to your kitchen, and might even spark an interest in an entire room remodel. Change can be good, sometimes!

For any remodeling or kitchen sink installation needs, call Boyd Plumbing today!

Ask a Sacramento Plumber:  How to Avoid Drain Clogs

We received a call from a customer who said his shower was draining slowly and he was unable to find the reason for the clog. He said he didn't want to work on the drain himself because he didn't want to take the risk of making the problem worse. That is a smart thing to do because you don't want to accidentally turn a small problem into a larger one.

A shower drain will usually be clogged due to soap scum, hair and other debris. If you remove the drain plug, you may be able to take out debris that collects on the drain flange with your fingers.

If this still doesn't work, you could try a drain cleaner and see if that removes the clog. If you’re still unsuccessful, call one of our professionals at Boyd Plumbing!

Clean Out Important for Servicing the Sewer Lateral

The previous repairman stated that the customer did not have a clean out, so he cleared out a clog by tapping into the line. However, four years later, the man had another backup, did some digging in his yard and found that he actually did have a clean out. The clean out was worn, however, and the man wanted it replaced. We provided the replacement and it worked normally.

A clean out is a point of access, so the sewer lateral - the area between the property line and the main sewer line - can be serviced. It is typically about four inches in diameter covered by a steel or plastic cap. If you can’t find yours, it will probably be buried deep under concrete or dirt. However, if some instances a home will not have one.

Call Boyd Plumbing today and we’ll send someone out to locate yours. If you don't have one, we will install one for you!

Water Around Sprinkler Head a Good Indication You Have a Leak

A customer called our office because she needed a new sprinkler system valve installed in her irrigation system. We were able to perform a quick replacement and her system was once again working properly.

If this component isn't working, then your entire system will not be able to work. Valves are somewhat similar to a water faucet; if the valves are leaking, then you will be wasting water and have a higher bill as a result.

The difference is that you can normally see a faucet leak, while you can’t really tell if you have a sprinkler valve leak. Because leaks can be so damaging to your property, it is a good idea to try and determine the cause if at all possible.

If you think you might have a sprinkler system valve leak, check to see if there is any water around your sprinkler head. If you notice that, or you see a wet spot on your sidewalk that never seems to dry, then you may need to call a Boyd Plumbing professional.

Whether it's inside your home or outside, don't let a leak linger for too long. Call us today!