Plumbing & Water

If you want the short version: why do my pipes make banging noises? The noise is almost always water hammer, a pressure shock created … Read more

A water heater is going bad when the water takes longer to heat, runs out faster, starts sounding different, smells off, or leaves moisture … Read more

Tankless water heaters cost more to buy and install, run on demand with no standby losses, and last longer. Tank water heaters cost less, … Read more

Flushing a tankless water heater means pushing a mild acid solution through the heat exchanger with a small submersible pump, letting it sit for … Read more

The fastest fix for weak, sputtery spray is an acid soak. To clean a showerhead with hard water buildup, soak the head in white … Read more

Most garbage disposals that stop working do not need replacing. They have tripped an internal overload protector, and once you clear the jam and … Read more

If your toilet tank is not filling up after a flush, the cause is almost always one of three things: the shut-off valve under … Read more

Learning how to test a sump pump before storm season takes about 20 minutes and almost nothing else: a five-gallon bucket, a flashlight, and … Read more

A sump pump stops working for boring reasons far more often than dramatic ones. A GFCI outlet tripped quietly, a float switch stuck halfway … Read more

A hidden water leak is plumbing leaking behind a wall, under a floor, or beneath a concrete slab, where the water never surfaces where … Read more