Weekly Maintenance for your Home

February – Week 07

Just like preventative maintenance on your car, if you take care of a few small items around the house every week, you can avoid many emergency breakdowns and expensive repairs.

Drains

There are many drains in the house that we tend to ignore until they clog up, so once a year I recommend a drain maintenance tour around the house.

When was the last time you took a look at the drain pipe coming out of the dish washing machine? It is worth a look at least once a year to make sure it is not in the process of clogging up. You will have to disconnect it from the pump and take a look inside.

Your hot water tank should be drained or flushed out once a year to remove sediment and prolong the life of the tank.

Ventilation systems have condensate drain tubes that may need cleaning out, as do air conditioners to make sure they flow well and do not spill water where you do not want it.

Any really sluggish drain should be removed and cleaned out. This is much better than using the harsh chemicals which are all too often rough on your plumbing and on septic systems. The best regular maintenance in the bathroom and kitchen sink drains is to put several spoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda into the drain every week. This mild cleaner will prevent grease and soap build-up while not bothering either the plumbing pipes or the septic system.

Floor drains tend to dry out, permitting foul odours to get into the basement. You need to either keep them wet, or install a dry trap insert that will keep the odours out of the basement, wet or dry. Check out the keyword "Dranjer" in the Search tab above for details.

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