Preventative Plumbing

Overwhelming maintenance requests got you down during the pandemic? You’ve got this! YOU ARE MULTIFAMILY STRONG! Preventative Plumbing

By CANDIS MOHR, CAS, AAA Plumbers

It’s no surprise that the number of maintenance requests have increased since the beginning of the pandemic. With more people working from home with nowhere to go, there’s more pressure on your onsite staff to complete the flooding requests in a timely manner. This means more water usage, stoppages and more strain on the bones of your property, the pipes.

You may be thinking, how can we eliminate some of these maintenance requests? Here are some helpful tips that we recommend implementing into your monthly maintenance routines that can save you time and money.

Preventative Boiler Maintenance

Maintain maintenance. (Don’t be like me when I was 16 years old, thinking my car would maintain itself.) Regular maintenance on all the machines we use are critical to the efficiency and life of the product. In order to preserve the life of the highly expensive piece of machinery that works endlessly for you day in and day out, the following is recommended:

Walking into your boiler room and taking a quick examination can save you a lot of money. When scanning your boiler, look for leaking pumps. If you notice a leak early on, this could be an inexpensive fix compared to a costly one.

Low NOx boilers provide improved energy efficiency and lower emissions of nitrous oxides. If you have this relatively newer style of boiler, you will need to make sure that you are providing a monthly maintenance by cleaning the filters. Make sure that you are keeping up with your maintenance so that your boiler will run at peak efficiency.

Contact your plumber to see if they offer a yearly boiler maintenance program. Yearly boiler maintenance programs could include inspections of the boiler for cracks and damage, cleaning of the burners and filters, inspecting check valves and tubes, checking for leaks and giving any recommendations on repairs for extending the life of your boiler.

STOPpages!

Let’s talk about something extremely common during this pandemic when it comes to plumbing: stoppages. With more and more people home every day, this is bound to happen. It will often leave you and your onsite staff saying, “Pump the breaks. They flushed what?!” (You have seen your fair share of flushed “finds,” I am sure.)

When going out on a call to jet stopped up lines, we are seeing that sanitary wipes are one of the main causes for blockages. The most logical fix here is preventative. A kind reminder is always nice, informing your residents that there is no such thing as a “flushable wipe” that is appropriate for your pipes. Even if the packaging says they are flushable, the packaging doesn’t mention the compiled damage they bring. This simple fix can eliminate a disruptive backup for multiple buildings on your property. It can also relieve the expense that comes with calling a plumber to snake the lines.

With that being said, we recommend using a degreaser as a preventive measure because once you have stoppages, it’s time to call your plumber. Degreasers can be purchased from your plumber or any maintenance supply company.

Constant water flowing in the cleanout?

Higher water usage is to be expected during this time. When looking in your cleanout, if you notice an abnormal amount of flowing water, you may want to check something before calling your plumber out. The water flowing through your cleanout should be a small constant, but it should not be excessive. If you are experiencing an excessive amount of waterflow, you may notice an increase in your water bill.

More often than not, we have found that this is a simple fix. You may want to check your toilets. Unlike the sound that many of us are used to when a toilet runs, Fluidmaster fill valves are known to be much quieter. Make sure that the fill valve is adjusted properly so it is not wasting water into the overflow. Upon installation, this is a very easy and overlooked step that could be costly. This may sound minimal, but when you have multiple toilets running from a simple fix like this, it will increase your water usage.

Plumbing got you puzzled?

At the end of the day, if something leaves you puzzled when it comes to the bones of your property (the plumbing), leave it to the professionals. Often times we, as human beings, tend to take on every role possible. Lacking the knowledge or education can cause us more frustration and/or money in the long run. Call your plumber and ask questions. If the job seems too big, ask them to come out for a service call. We want for your community to run at peak efficiency and we are here to help as the experts in all things plumbing.

Together, we are MULTIFAMILY STRONG!

Candis Mohr is the second generation of AAA Plumbers, started by her father in 1984. Mohr is the marketing and operations assistant for AAA Plumbers, where she has worked for seven years in marketing. Her HAA involvement began just a year after she joined AAA Plumbers, in 2013. Mohr has a bachelor’s degree from Sam Houston State University and earned her Certified Apartment Supplier from the National Apartment Association in 2014. Mohr is the treasurer for HAA’s Product Service Council and a vice president for HAA’s Ambassador ONE Society. She sits on various HAA committees such as the Chili Cook-Off Committee, the Expo Committee, the Street Team Committee and the HAA Political Action Steering Committee. She’s involved with the Political Action Committee as a PAC Century Club member and she’s also on the HAA NEXT Committee. Mohr can be reached at candismohr@aaaplumbers.com. You can also learn more about AAA Plumbers and its services by visiting www.aaaplumbers.com.