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How to Prevent Plumbing Failures This Winter

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Plumbing failures are definitely not fun. We depend on our toilets, showers, kitchen sinks, and laundry so much every day, but we tend to take them for granted. It’s complete havoc if they stop working, but it’s probably even more catastrophic if the plumbing in a home ruptures or breaks completely. (Parts of your home are generally made out of materials like wood and paper, and contact with water can lead to mold or other serious issues.) Now that winter is coming up, here are a few easy things you can do to make sure your home is prepared.

An Ounce of Prevention

We see outside hose connections that have frozen and burst more frequently than any other kind of plumbing failure during the wintertime. Generally speaking, what happens is people leave their hoses hooked up to the hose bib. Any water in the hose bib will freeze and expand, causing it to burst. Of course, you can prevent this from ever happening by simply disconnecting the hose. But someone might decide to use the water hose on a day when it’s not very cold (maybe to wash the car). A couple of days later, freezing temperatures come and you realize that the hose is still connected. Just try to be extra diligent throughout the winter to keep those hoses unhooked, because it’s an easy way to prevent major damage. (If you just have a hose bib, you’ll also need to find its shutoff valve and cut it off. For frost-free wall hydrants, on the other hand, you can generally just disconnect the hose.)

Winterize

Some homes have plumbing like an outdoor kitchen or outdoor shower. Maybe it’s a dock down at the lake with freshwater. These fixtures need to be properly winterized—just turning the water off isn’t good enough. The pipe can burst if it hasn’t been drained completely. (Air is sometimes used to blow any water out of the faucet.) Ice makers, refrigerators, or other similar appliances might also be on the outside patio. They need to be blown out so that they don’t freeze.

Close off the Airflow

One area that easily gets skipped over is the crawlspace. When a weeklong cold spell arrives with below-freezing weather and wind, it’s very common for all the plumbing inside a crawlspace to get frozen solid. You can prevent that by simply making sure the crawlspace door and vents are all shut securely. Heat from the house will be able to keep the space conditioned enough that the plumbing won’t freeze.

Check You Insulation

In more rural communities we regularly see wellheads, well houses, and well pits where the insulation was wet, unmaintained, or removed during the summer while maintenance was being performed. You’ll need to check the insulation in all of these areas to make sure it’s properly installed and doing its job.

Don’t Forget the HVAC

People with lake houses often turn the heat down low enough to still keep the space conditioned. In that case, it might be a good idea to make sure the HVAC system is working properly. Otherwise, we do offer a winterization service that’s only a call away. If you have any questions about preparing your home for the upcoming winter, contact us today or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Things I Learned from My Mom

 

In the last post, “Things I Learned from My Dad,” I talked about some of the things I’ve learned from my dad. I also picked up quite a few things from my mom while I was growing up. I remember it was very common for her to be up and busy at around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. Not everyone in my family is a morning person, so being an early bird is definitely something that I must have http://#gotten from her. I’m most productive in the early hours of the day—I’m not a night person and I like to go to bed relatively early, too.

 

There were always things to do around the house when I was growing up. I’d join my mom in cooking, cleaning—and this may surprise some people—sewing. My mom loved sewing, quilting, and those kinds of activities. Somewhere around the age of 4 to 9 I picked up sewing, mainly because that’s what I’d see her doing. Now, I’m not saying I’m technically proficient enough to be a seamstress, but I do know how to sew on a button or maybe sew a pillow together.

 

My mom also ran the books for the company at our home office while I was very young. I can remember working on the computer, entering payables or doing other types of data entry whenever I had time after I finished my homework. I really enjoyed being exposed to some of the office administration and bookkeeping side of the business. Although I worked in the field early on in my full-time career, I could handle office tasks thanks to my childhood data entry work. I think it also gave me greater empathy for my office staff. I could more readily relate to certain situations, and it was definitely an invaluable experience.

 

One of the things my mom would tell me as a child was, “Can’t never could.” When I hear someone say that they can’t do something, I always think that they probably never will. Whenever you face what appears to be a very big challenge in front of you, just keep a positive, optimistic outlook and be confident that you can get it done.

 

If you have any questions, or if you would like to work with the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air, reach out to us today. Request an appointment or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

 

 

James Wisler

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We’ve been learning quite a few business lessons during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some of us have found ourselves in a less than favorable position, where it has become necessary to make strategic adjustments and become a little more fluid. Leaders, business owners, and people in general should look for the silver lining in situations like these. We can ask ourselves, “what can this teach me,” or “how can I become better?” There’s just a lot to think about now that everything has changed so quickly.

What we consider ‘normal’ is just so fragile.

What we know today could be completely different tomorrow or next week. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. So when we make our plans, we have to stay fluid and be able to adjust to a rapidly changing reality. I mentioned to our team how one of the strengths of a small business is the ability to adapt and stay fluid. Well, there’s no better time than now to put our adaptability to the test.

That brings me to something I realized about teams like ours: success is really only possible through a group of people. It can be so challenging if you’re by yourself or you don’t have anyone to help get through a rough time. For us, the sheer number of team members who stepped up and said, yes, we know what we need to do and we’re here to serve.

Sometimes you just don’t know what to do.

I look back to when the news broke about the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us were trying to figure out what we were supposed to do next. There were even some people questioning whether any of this was real. Although we may not know what each new week will hold, I think it’s important to do the right thing. We all have the ability to help someone—it’s just a matter of figuring out how. It is important that we don’t confine ourselves (or limit our ability to help someone else) unless it’s absolutely necessary. During a crisis, we might get into survival mode, which usually doesn’t make room for helping others. We learned that there were many people who needed our help, and they were thankful that our team was able to assist wherever possible.

Even during times when there’s not much pressure, it’s a good idea to make sure we’re in a place where we do not become trapped.

That might mean running a lean business, being very conscious about sustainability, and being very careful about the risks taken. Just like that, those risks could turn upside down and really end up costing us dearly.   It is always good to make a contingency plan just in case. We did this before the pandemic, but we wish that maybe we would have done a little bit more.

Distance isn’t always the best solution.

There’s been talk about moving everything to an internet-based solution, but we feel that people still need people. As easy as it might seem to move all our interactions online—especially when we have the technology for videoconferencing and messaging—there’s still just something about personal face-to-face interaction that’s irreplaceable. I hope we can get back to that because it’s often much more meaningful than a phone call or a zoom meeting.

If you have any plumbing or HVAC related questions, request an appointment, contact us, or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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My dad started Wisler Plumbing & Air. I can remember what it was like growing up and watching him in the trade. In this industry, you get to meet a lot of interesting people and see all different kinds of homes. I started riding along on service calls at a very young age. (One client told me they remembered how I tried to use a shovel that was twice my size.) My role early on was to be what some people call a ‘gopher’, which is pretty much a helper for my dad. I remember how I couldn’t wait to graduate from that role to actually doing the work. I would no longer have to get the tools or parts and clean up the job while my dad stayed inside the house.

Some service calls were very late at night. Being the small boy that I was, I had fears of things like huge barking dogs, or the dark night as I had to make the trip from someone’s home to the company truck. I’d run as fast as I could to get a tool or part—I’d even try to choose the right door to go from the house to the truck in the most efficient route. The ironic thing is, when I eventually grew up and got old enough to have helpers of my own, I expected them to run to the truck as fast as I did. I’d think to myself, why in the world was it taking so long to get me a tool? It’s funny how things that happen when you’re a child stick with you.

I grew up with two older brothers, one older than me by 5 years and one older by 6 years. As you can imagine, they were very kind to their little brother. They took it upon themselves to teach me all the ways of plumbing. One of the first summers I was out working with my brothers, they educated me about pipe dope, which is the thread sealant we put around pipes. It has a white, melted marshmallow-like appearance, and they convinced me to give it a taste-test. I was destined to find out if it tasted as good as it looked. (It was the nastiest thing ever, of course.) From that moment on, I learned to be judicious about what I should and shouldn’t eat.

I like to reminisce about all these childhood memories. They’ve definitely shaped me into who I am today. My children are still very young—probably no younger than I was when I started riding along with my dad. But the service industry has changed so much that bringing young children on service calls is probably frowned upon. I did take my son to a family member’s house while doing a plumbing project, though, and he was just so eager to help out and learn what I was doing. (I’m sure he got that from me.)

If you want to work with the family-friendly team at Wisler Plumbing & Air, reach out to us today. Request an appointment, contact us, or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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The old adage that nothing lasts forever is true with so many things in our home, and a furnace is no exception. Furnaces have a finite lifespan of around 10 to 15 years on average, depending on multiple variables. Sometimes it might be advantageous to replace an old furnace even if it’s still working. Newer products/equipment are often much more efficient, which is especially important considering that the heating & air system is the #1 contributor to utility costs in your home. With that in mind, we recommend some steps to try to lengthen the lifespan of a furnace and make it last as long as possible.

Fixing Existing Issues

One of the things we see frequently is poor installation of the unit. It could have the wrong sizing of ductwork or the wrong size of unit put into the house. These factors lead to increased pressure and can cause the system to starve for air, which is very problematic. A furnace will experience premature failure very quickly if the unit has to work hard to get air out of the ductwork and into the living space. By resolving issues around incorrect installations, you can really extend the life of the furnace.

You aren’t stuck with the consequences of a poor installation for the lifetime of the system—there are some things you can do. For instance, you can make sure any air leaks in the ductwork are addressed. Sealing the ductwork and making it more airtight will help increase the efficiency of the system. Some pieces of the ductwork could also be replaced with more directional fittings. These are a couple of potential factors outside of the furnace itself that influence the system’s overall lifespan.

Maintenance

If the furnace is correctly installed, the easiest way to maximize its lifespan (which is probably overlooked more than anything else) is to simply change the air filters. Every heating and air conditioning system has a filter. Some systems have the filter located right behind the return grill, some have the filter at the unit itself, and some bigger whole-house filtration systems have the filter located somewhere near but not right at the unit. It’s easy to forget about the filter, so we recommend signing up for one of the many online programs that send filters to your house at a regular interval. It’s money well spent because once a filter gets clogged up, airflow going into the unit becomes obstructed.

Another thing you can do is get your system checked by a professional on a semiannual basis. Dirty air can run into the unit if the filter isn’t clean or if/when the filter is taken out. That dust, debris, and lint actually gets stopped up inside the unit’s coil. While maintaining the equipment, we clean the cabinet and the coil, allowing airflow to move much more effectively. (This is a maintenance item that must be done by a qualified professional.)

Remember, it really starts with homeowners making sure to keep up with changing the filters. From there, it’s about making sure the system is checked on a semiannual basis. If you have any questions, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. Request an appointment online, contact us, or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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Most people don’t think about their water heater and how it needs maintenance, but it’s just like any other piece of equipment. Our car, house, and even our own bodies need maintenance. If we don’t exercise and eat healthy, we’re probably not going to last as long. If we don’t change the oil in our car, it won’t last as long, either. Maintenance is just a good idea, but it can also be a way to save money.

Most people don’t realize that buildup occurs in the water heater, especially if there’s hardness in the water. Calcium is dissolved in hard water, but as it is heated, the calcium solidifies and accumulates either on the element of an electric heater or on the bottom of a gas water heater. The layer of calcium buildup acts as an insulation barrier, which means the water heater has to work harder to do the same job. Therefore, it will cause over-payment on your electric or gas bill. To help reduce buildup, we will flush the water heater.

The tank that holds the water is kind of like a settling tank. If there’s debris, sediment, or calcium, it’s going to settle to the bottom of the heater. The tank will corrode very quickly if it’s got a bunch of sediment and gunk at the bottom. That’s going to cause premature failure, and we solve that by flushing the tank as well.

We also check the anode rod when we maintain a water heater. (The owner’s manual says this should be done as part of proper maintenance.) The anode rod is there to protect the metal that makes up the tank itself. Once the anode rod is completely depleted, there is no protection left. If we replace the anode rod when it depletes, we can add a couple of years to the life of the water heater (which saves you money).

If it’s been a while since you had your water heater checked and maintained, just reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

 

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