Wisler Plumbing and Air

Serving Roanoke and surrounding areas.

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Dealing With Low Pressure

Faucet

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It’s very annoying when you get in the shower and you have to deal with low pressure. There’s a wide range of causes, and it largely depends on whether you use city/municipal water or you have your own well system.

If you have a well system and the pump hasn’t been replaced in a long time, it might not be able to produce the water pressure that you want. It could also be because you’re simply asking for more water than the well can produce. If the water simply isn’t there, you’re going to have low pressure.

Poor water quality in the well can cause problems, too. If there’s a lot of iron in the water, it can build up inside the pipes and reduce their diameter. That will result in a reduced amount of water. If you have any type of filter on a well system or municipal system, it needs to be changed on a regular basis. If not, there might be a buildup of sediment or debris that restricts water flow.

For municipal water supplies, the municipality may simply not be delivering that much pressure. In our area they’re only required to deliver 20 psi. That’s fairly low pressure — if you’ve moved into the area from another location that had much higher water pressure, you’ll see a large difference in your experience. To solve the issue, you can add some sort of booster system to increase the pressure.

Another common thing we see for both types of systems is inadequate piping size inside the house due to improper installation. Plumbing code states a minimum size, but we’ve found that this doesn’t really provide enough water for a large request of water. The minimum size just can’t deliver enough water to meet larger needs.

If you have a home that was built in the 1930s through 1960s, there’s a good chance that you have galvanized piping. Galvanized piping rusts on the inside, and that rust builds up over the years. It’s very similar to a clogged artery, so it will restrict water flow and reduce pressure.

If you have any of these issues resulting in low pressure in your home, solutions include booster pump systems, replacement of pipes, replacing an old pump, and dealing with water quality. In some cases you can treat the water before it gets into your house. In other cases, you’ll have to deal with it after it gets into your house.

To find out which solution is best for your home, just contact us online, check us out on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382. We’ll determine what’s causing the low pressure get it resolved in no time.

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There are three factors to consider when deciding whether to replace or repair a plumbing fixture. First of all, the fixture’s age needs to be taken into consideration. If we were to come into a house and notice that the water heater has an average age of 8 to 10 years, we would evaluate that (along with other information) in order to make a recommendation to possibly replace the item, since it’s probably past the prime of its life. Age is definitely a large component in making sure that you’re not putting money into something that will continue to nickel and dime you in the future.

Another thing to consider is the cost of the repair. There are obviously temporary bandages that can be applied to problems, but repairing fixtures correctly can sometimes be very expensive compared to the cost of just putting in a new item. The benefits associated with purchasing a new item should be weighed against the cost of repairing the existing item. Sometimes, it might cost way less to repair a fixture instead of just replacing it completely. But then, if you’re going to have to do that same repair multiple times in the future, the cost will add up. In hindsight, you might end up looking back and realizing it cost more to keep repairing the same old fixture instead of just replacing it to begin with. Being open-minded to that can definitely be advantageous.

The great thing about Wisler Plumbing and Air’s customer service is that we will give you options. There will likely be a repair option and a replacement option available, and we will make the advantages of both clear to you. You’ll be able to see those options side by side and make an informed decision. Our recommendation to repair or replace the fixture will depend on the fixture’s age and cost. The beauty of it is, you can take our professional recommendation or weigh the consequences yourself. The power is left in the hands of the customer to decide.

When considering available options, we would never want a customer to wish they would have known about an option after the job is done. We make sure that customers know about the products we offer, and also other products that are out on the market. Many customers do their research ahead of time and show up knowing that they want an item replaced with a certain brand or type. We want to make sure that we can help the client navigate through the decision, so when they do make the investment to replace an item, they are sure the product meets their specific needs and criteria. It’s important that customers know the products that we offer, but also the other products on the market that we choose not to offer.

When we determine what products we’re going to use, we do a lot of research and consider many different criteria about the product. When you do buy a replacement item, you want to be sure that you’re replacing it with a product that just doesn’t look good, but is also high quality.

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