Wisler Plumbing and Air

Serving Roanoke and surrounding areas.

Menu
Schedule Online
or call (540) 483-9382

The Mysteries Behind Your Garbage Disposal

Plumbing Repair

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Those of us who have a garbage disposal unit rely on it. Even when we travel, we’re lost if our Airbnb doesn’t have one. But still, the mysteries behind these units escape a lot of us. Sometimes they simply quit working. That may lead you to believe they’re bad for your plumbing or septic system, but are they?

The truth is that garbage disposal units are fine, as long as you understand a few things.

How To Use Your Garbage Disposal Unit

First, you need to know how you can use your unit. Some people think that just because they have one, they can use it for everything— Even clearing out the fridge. However, that’s not what garbage disposal units do.

Especially in residential settings, units should be used to collect the occasional scraps lurking in the bottom of the sink after peeling a vegetable or rinsing a dinner plate— Nothing major.

When To Use Your Garbage Disposal Unit

You also need to know how often you should use your unit. If you’re not disposing of scraps in the trash or the occasional backyard toss and instead using your unit for anything and everything, you could create a blockage in the plumbing system behind it. In many cases, the garbage disposal unit could be fine.

However, the pipe behind it may not be large enough to pass a large volume of food. If you’re not sure whether your unit is powerful enough, here’s what you need to know.

Types of Units

There are generally three sizes of residential garbage disposal units.

  • Half-horsepower
  • Three-quarter horsepower
  • One-horsepower.

Understand Which You Need

Half-horsepower units are fine if you use them here and there, maybe once a week. Three-quarter horsepower units have enough power to support frequent use, around a few times every week. Full-horsepower units grant you just enough power to slice food daily.

Why is horsepower so important with garbage disposal units?

If you’re using the unit very often, having the power to cut the food up very fine will be much better for the system. But no matter how powerful your garbage disposal unit is, some maintenance is essential.

Maintenance Tips

We recommend putting some ice in the garbage disposal and turning it on. That ice will knock off a lot of food buildup that sticks to your unit’s blades. We also have a BioOne product that is micro-bacterial. It eats any oil and grease. We recommend using a product like that whether you have a garbage disposal or not.

It’s beneficial for your system if you ever clean off a greasy plate or pan in the sink.

Here’s a quick tip. When dealing with drain products, consider how much it costs per application. You can get drain maintenance products and pay anywhere from $5 to $15 per application. That’s $15 out of your pocket every time you pour it down the drain.

However, our preferred BioOne product equals out to about $1 to $2 per application.

Keep Your Disposal Unit Away From Some Foods

Some foods are especially bad for garbage disposal units. As a rule of thumb, stay away from eggshells, potato skins, celery and rice.

If you need help with your garbage disposal unit or you’d like to find our preferred BioOne product, give Wisler Plumbing and Air a call at (540) 483 – 9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Plumbing problems happen, and they can occur in the most undesirable and unexpected moments. If you’ve been skimping on your annual plumbing check-ups, it’s only a matter of time until your sink drain backs up on you.

If the unfavorable happens, what do you do then? Here’s our advice, don’t panic and keep on reading. We’ll tell you the essentials you should know about stopped drains below.

Clogged Drain vs Slow Drain

Many often confuse the two terms. A clogged or stopped drain means that something is blocking your drain and nothing could penetrate. Whereas, a slow drain means water can still pass through albeit not at its typical draining speed. However, if not dealt with immediately, slow drains can escalate to complete blockage. Therefore, managing both at first encounter is imperative.

What Not To Do

A clogged drain can be a real pain, but there are common pitfalls for homeowners when dealing with it. Remember to keep these in mind, so you don’t make the same mistakes:

1.     Don’t keep the water running

This is often every homeowner’s initial response to clogged drains. Water will not go anywhere if you have a completely stopped drain on your hands. So don’t keep the water running or stop from repeatedly flushing a clogged toilet. Otherwise, you’ll end up with either a filled-up sink, a puddled floor, or a stuffed toilet– whichever it is you’re dealing with.

The key here is to quit adding to the problem.

2.    Don’t use chemical drain cleaners

If you notice water not sinking, don’t rush to the nearest hardware to get one of those chemical drain cleaners. Chemicals like Drano or Liquid Plumr are not meant to magically unstop completely clogged sinks. They’re effective when you’re dealing with drains that are partially blocked, they can penetrate as long as there’s flow going into the drain.

Pouring chemical drain cleaners on a bowl or sink of standing water will not go anywhere nor do anything. You’ll simply end up with a bowlful of diluted chemicals, that are still hazardous.

3.   Don’t attempt to disassemble the sink if you’ve used chemicals

If you’ve tried to use and put chemicals on the sink, refrain from disassembling any fixtures to fix the drain, especially if it’s your first time. Most of the time, you’ll find a problem in the P-trap. This is the piping segment connecting your sink to the horizontal overflow pipe that gives your plumbing a downward-facing “p” shape.

For example, once you start taking the   apart, sink water is bound to flow and get somewhere. The chemical suspended in the sink may splash into your clothing and cause damage. Worse, they splash into your eyes or mouth and result in injuries.

What To Do

Here are the best courses of action if you have a completely clogged drain.

1.     DIY if you have the technical ability

Fixing clogged drains can be messy. Unless you have the tools, the working knowledge or feel comfortable that the repair is up your alley, then feel free to do it yourself. For example, if you’re dealing with a clogged sink, releasing the P-trap and taking the pop-up out will allow you to relieve the sink of hair or anything that blocks it.

2.    Call a professional plumber

There are professionals who are trained to deal with plumbing problems like completely clogged drains. The best action is to still give them a call and let them take care of it. Experts have the expertise and the specialized equipment to clean clogged drains. They can fix your drain in a very efficient way.

It’s advised that you inform the professional of any prior actions you may have done before calling them up. Chemicals can be especially unsafe to deal with, especially if the chemical used is unknown. Some drain cleaners can be harsh which would require specialists to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid injuries.

We’ve been running our $99 dollar drain cleaning promotion for years, so if you’re dealing with clogged drain problems, our plumbing pros can help you out. Give Wisler Plumbing and Air a call at 540-483-9382.

 

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Both techniques are part of our initiative to take sewer line repair to a trenchless technology. The conventional method would be to dig up the yard and bust up concrete floors in the basement and do a lot of damage just to get to the existing sewer pipes. It’s a real ugly solution to a very real problem.

We’ve worked hard over the past 18 months to use new technology and take as much of that work as possible to a trenchless system.

Both pipe lining and pipe bursting are trench-less technologies with each name actually describing what is happening beneath the surface.

Pipe lining is a very specialized process where we pull a new liner into the existing pipe, and then we blow that liner up and it basically creates a new clean sewer pipe right inside the old one. We generally use that process right inside the home.

While pipe lining can be used outside the home under the ground, pipe bursting is probably a little bit more economical for that kind of solution.

Pipe bursting consists of taking a really heavy cable and a hydraulic ram, pulling a new pipe into the same space that is there with the existing pipe. So when we pull that new pipe through, we are bursting or breaking the existing pipe that is there and pulling a new polyethylene line into that space. There is no existing pipe left when we’re done pipe bursting. And again, pipe bursting is generally used for main sewer lines outside of the home. You end up with a hole in the ground on each end, but no trench to back-fill and repair.

This is great technology for replacing a sewer pipe that’s already there. You can replace it without digging that whole trench from the house to the curb.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

At Wisler Plumbing and Air, we choose the best products we can get our hands on for our sewer and water mains. Once you put them in the ground, you don’t want to be digging them up frequently. There are several options, all with pros and cons, when it comes to main line materials.

When we’re talking about a main line, we’re referring to the sewer line that goes from your house to the street or septic tank, and the water line that comes from the meter at the street or from the well to your home. For the most part, those lines are underground. We use trenchless technology for both water and sewer lines. That can be pipe bursting, pipe lining, and then we pull water lines through the yard.

When it comes to water line product, the first one is what we call a poly pipe, which is a flexible black polyethylene pipe. We use the top PSI version, so that means it’s much thicker and more resilient to rocks, cuts, and leaks.

Another type of water line pipe is copper. It’s not frequently used, but it is a good pipe. It’s just much more expensive and doesn’t offer a tremendous value over the poly pipe. Some advantages are that it’s metallic, so it would be less susceptible to crushing or kinking. With poly pipe, if you get a really heavy rock or you’re driving over it repeatedly, it might crush because it’s a plastic product. However, the advantage to that is not having to excavate, because as it turns it the ground, it can bend and ply to different contours.

For sewer lines, there is SDR 35, which is a very thin wall. Many times, city sewer systems will use that pipe. There is Schedule 40 PVC, and then we have the HDPE pipe, which is a heavy-duty polyethylene. And if we do pipe lining, that’s done with wool, epoxy, and polyethylene.

The advantage to the SDR 35 is it’s less expensive and it’s easier to handle because it’s thinner and lighter. But it can be compromised much easier with rocks and can get holes. It’s also not a glued joint. It’s a gasket joint, which means roots can grow into those and cause problems.

With a Schedule 40 PVC, it’s much more rigid and not going to collapse. It’s going to be sturdy enough to handle going under driveways or sidewalks where there’s traffic. And it is a glue joint. So, if it’s installed properly, you won’t have root issues. It is probably one of the more expensive products that is used for sewer lines, so one of the disadvantages is just the sheer cost of it.

Some of the advantages to the epoxy lining system is that it’s seamless, so it doesn’t have fittings or anything in it. That causes the flow rate to be very high. One of the cons is that you wouldn’t want to put it in unless you can’t gain access.  You probably would just use pipe bursting or excavation to do that.

As far as the HDP pipe, which we use for pipe bursting, a disadvantage to it is that it’s not as rigid as the Schedule 40, but it’s still better than the SDR 35. It is fused, so you have to have special equipment to be able to put together that pipe. We heat it up and actually fuse it together instead of gluing it. It’s very resistant against roots; there are hardly any cracks to it. It’s also flexible, so we can pull it in and match the contours of the sewer line.

All in all, you need to be able to rely on the professional that’s coming to your home to look at your situation and assign the correct products. A lot of times, you might benefit as a consumer by going with the cheaper option. The materials are a very small portion of the overall cost. So, we’re going to use the best materials: the highest PSI poly pipe for water lines, Schedule 40 PVC for excavation jobs, and HDP pipe for our pipe bursting.

Like I said in the beginning, when you put them in the ground, you don’t want to dig them up. We choose the best products possible for sewer and water mains.  If you have any questions, you can reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing and Air at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Pipe bursting is basically a method of replacing a drainpipe. We put in cables, splitting heads, and use hydraulic rams. We connect the pipe on one end to the cable and pull it through the underground area to the other side. It takes specialized equipment, knowledge, and materials.

The benefit of pipe bursting is that there’s less demolition or excavation. In the small chance that we would be doing pipe bursting inside the home, it would be under a concrete slab or in a basement. Instead of busting up so much of the concrete to replace the pipe, we could pull it from one hole to the other with our equipment.

Most of the time we are working outside the home at the main sewer line. We can dig a hole at the house and at the street, and then pipe burst that line to get a new line underground. This allows us to dig less dirt.

People might not think about this, but if you have a deep sewer and you have to displace all of that dirt to expose the whole pipe, you have to put that dirt somewhere. If you have a small front yard, it can very challenging and can mess up your grass. When you displace dirt on virgin ground, which is ground that hasn’t been excavated before, unless you compact it when you put it back, you’re going to have extra dirt. And sometimes even when you do compact it, it’s going to settle, and you might have a sunken spot in your yard.

If you pipe burst, you’re not disturbing that ground. In other instances, instead of cutting the sidewalk or driveway, we can pipe burst under it. And a lot of times, pipe bursting can be done quicker than an excavation job. In general, less excavation is a huge benefit.

There are some cases where we cannot gain access, so we can’t use pipe bursting every time. But it is about the same price as an excavation, since we don’t have to do the compaction, trench protection and a few additional things. So, it’s definitely something to consider.

If you have any questions about pipe bursting, call us at 540-483-9382.

by

Play

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Underground drain pipes tend to deteriorate over time, especially in older homes. Pipe lining and pipe bursting are both trenchless technologies for replacing drain pipes. With pipe lining, we insert a liner into the existing pipe. We’re able to reline the pipe so that it looks brand new by the time we’re done. Even if the pipe has broken or the bottom has rotted out, putting in a liner will restore it completely back to new condition. We can usually do this without having to tear up the floor, which would be really messy for homes with hardwood or tile. Unlike pipe lining, pipe bursting doesn’t actually use the existing pipe. Instead, we use the channel to pull a new pipe into its place.

Generally speaking, pipe lining is used inside the home. It might be a slab home that doesn’t have a basement or crawlspace, or a home with a basement that has a concrete slab with pipes underneath. We usually use pipe lining with cast iron pipes, but it works with PVC or other materials, too. Pipe bursting, on the other hand, is mainly used outside the home. It might be from the home to the city connection or from the home to a septic tank. Pipe bursting can be an awesome option to spare the nice landscape, sidewalk or driveway and prevent tearing up the whole yard. It’s also generally less labor-intensive, more economical, and less time-consuming than pipe lining.

If someone is trying to decide between pipe lining, pipe bursting, or traditional replacement, I think it all depends on the specific situation. Each option has different pros and cons. For a homeowner who doesn’t want to tear up the yard or house, pipe lining or pipe bursting are two great options. Lining is a phenomenal option for finished spaces. Sewer lines can sometimes be as deep as 10 to 11 feet in our area. It takes a lot of space to displace that much dirt and it’s very challenging to get the job done safely in a small yard without significant scarring. Pipe bursting might be a good option in that case.

Regardless of your choice, it’s a good idea to contact an experienced company. Lining is a very technical process, and sometimes mistakes will happen. It involves careful timing and the epoxy needs to be mixed with precise ratios. (The ambient temperature determines how quickly the epoxy sets up.)

If you have any questions about pipe lining or pipe bursting for your home, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

Diamond Club

Our Ads

Jobs

Blog