Frequently Asked Questions:
Our very own Master Plumber Kalen answers your questions.
Please see our Learning Center for more help and information.
I have a water leak! What should I do?
Have a water leak? Heres what to do!
You can shut off the water supply using the valve near where the water piping enters your home. This is usually in the basement, but if you don’t have a basement, it will be in the crawl space or your utility room where your water heater is. Once you find it, turn it clockwise until it stops turning. If it has a long single handle, it will be a short quarter of a turn. If it has a circular handle, it will spin multiple times until it stops spinning. Many times the circular type will not shut off all the way. In this case turning it will only slow the water leak down. If it does not slow it down or stop it, the water will have to be shut off at the water meter in the front of the property, which will be in an accessible pit underground.
In some areas like Olathe, only Water One is allowed to shut off the water at the meter and they must be called as soon as possible. If you have any trouble shutting off your water during an active leak, please let us know and we will be there as soon as possible in order to prevent water damage to your home.
I have a clogged drain! What should I do?
I Have A Clogged Drain! I Need Drain Cleaning?
You should discontinue the use of your plumbing until the problem is repaired. Many times drains are connected together, and the use of a working fixture that is in another part of your home will cause the clogged drain to overflow further. Let us know if you have a clogged drain and we will unclog it as soon as possible! We can unclog all of the different types of drain pipes in your home and have multiple methods and equipment options to do so in the least invasive ways possible.
We can open up the drains for your: Kitchen, toilet, sewer, septic, shower, tub, lavatory, laundry, and floor drain. The ways we can do so are with various cabled machines, air rams, chain-knockers, pressure jetters, and water pressure bladders. Our clients also love that we can run a video camera and locater down many pipes to visually show why their pipes are clogging, and pinpoint exactly where.
If you have a drain that has overflowed onto your flooring, then there are a few options to make the likelihood of saving your flooring better. Flooring that may not be salvageable after becoming soiled with sewage or dirty backed-up wastewater is linoleum, hardwood, and carpeting.
You may be able to clean the top surface of linoleum but you cannot clean the water that gets in between the cracks and finds its way underneath where it can not evaporate. Especially if the linoleum is above a wooden sub-floor, it will have to be removed. Fans must be placed on the wetted subfloor after linoleum removal, cleanup, and disinfectant are applied.
Because hardwood flooring is porous it will absorb the moisture and cause one of several different types of warping. Hardwood that is saturated with wastewater has to be professionally treated with special suction mats and disinfectant. The warping can be reversed to look brand new again if a professional service arrives quickly enough. We can take care of getting a water remediation service to you as soon as possible.
For wastewater soiled carpeting there is no option other than carpet and padding removal. If the carpeting is installed on top of a wooden subfloor then it will have to be removed. Fans must be placed on the wetted subfloor after carpet and padding removal, cleanup, and disinfectant are applied.
All other non-porous hard surfaces can be topically cleaned and disinfected with the appropriate products.
I think I have a gas leak! What should I do?
Think you have a gas leak?
The best thing to do is leave the home immediately and call the fire department or the gas company, then call us! If you are able, turn off the gas meter outside the home with a large wrench. There will be a valve that will require a quarter turn to shut off. After the proper authorities tag the problem, we can evaluate and repair it.
My sump pump is not working! What should I do?
Have a sump pump problem? Here’s what to do!
You can make sure the pump is still plugged in, and the switch is in the on position. We get many sump pump calls where doing these two things fixes the problem. If that doesn’t work, check your breaker panel to see if anything has tripped. If so, flip the breaker back into the “on” position. If this works, it is a temporary solution and the cause of the tripped breaker needs to be fixed urgently. If none of that works please let us know and will solve the problem as soon as possible!
I have a high water bill, but I can’t find a leak! What should I do?
Have a hidden leak? Heres what to do!
The best thing to do is to call us! In the meantime you can eliminate the possibility of leaking toilets first. Some toilets can leak very quietly but waste a lot of water over a month. We do this by placing dye in the tanks of the toilets. If the dye makes it into the bowl without flushing, you have a leak. Once the toilets are confirmed to not be the problem, it is likely that the main underground water pipe from your water meter to your home is leaking and must be repaired or replaced.
This can be confirmed by shutting off the water to your home from the valve inside your home, and observing if the water meter dials are still moving. If they are, that means water is not getting inside your home, but is still passing through your meter, indicating an underground leak on your main water supply.
We are happy to visit your home and complete a full evaluation for you!
My garbage disposal is not working! What should I do?
Have a garbage disposal problem? Heres what to do!
The best thing to do is to call us! But for DIY’ers; if you hear a humming sound when the switch is in the “on” position, the motor is attempting to work but is being obstructed. If you leave the switch “on” in this condition the internal breaker can disconnect the power, or the motor will burn out, destroying the garbage disposal.
If there is no humming sound, the internal breaker may be reset by pushing the small red button on the bottom of the garbage disposal. The obstruction may be removable from the inside, or it may be a frozen rusted component that cannot be repaired.
Never place your hand or tools inside of a garbage disposal in an attempt to remove debris if there is any power connection. Most garbage disposals come with an allen wrench tool that can be inserted safely into the bottom center and moved in a back and forth motion that will unjam the garbage disposal.
I have a sewer smell in my home! What should I do?
Have a mystery sewer smell? Heres what to do!
The best thing to do is to call us! But for DIY’ers; if you have a fixture that has not been used in a while (like a master bathroom spa tub, a floor drain, or a laundry sink), the water trap in its drain may be dry and causing the smell. A drain trap holds water in it at all times as long as the drain is being used often enough. The water from use creates a barrier that keeps the air from the sewer from entering your home. But when that trap dries out, the sewer gases will come in. The solution is simply to pour a few cups of water down the drain every couple of weeks.
Another common cause for sewer smell in the home comes from floor drain clean-out inlets. On floor drains, there should be a pipe that goes straight down and holds water in its trap which you can see. On the side there should be a plugged hole only opened for the purpose and duration of a pipe clog removal with a cabled machine. If that hole is open and not plugged, you have bypassed the drain trap and have no barrier from the sewer air getting into your home. The installation of a proper floor drain plug will solve the problem. A less common cause of sewer smell is a cracked or broken vent pipe in the home. Discovering the problem vent is difficult without a thorough inspection. This can require all the pipes in the home to be filled with smoke in order to find the sewer air leak. We are happy to visit your home to conduct a thorough evaluation to find the source of the sewer smell!
