Pipe Gripes - HELP Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electric

Protecting Your Home From Copper Thieves

The thought of thieves and crooks might bring up images of someone breaking in, and stealing valuables such as electronics or jewelry. However, there is something outside of your home that’s just as valuable to thieves: copper.

Located inside the air-conditioning condenser is copper piping, and often, copper wiring inside the service box. Sometimes, copper pipes and wires can be found on unfinished construction sites where internal goods are exposed.

As the price of metal, even scrap metal, continues to rise, thieves have learned to target these outside areas where copper lives, so they can sell it elsewhere. Of course, it’s an inconvenience to discover a vital part of your appliance missing, however the cost of damage could cost you up to $3,000—more than 100 times what the copper is worth.

Prevent these thieves from stealing your copper with a few simple steps.

Use Hilti nails through the bottom of the condensing unit, leading into the concrete pad. Once it is secure, wear down the corners of the bolts so they are impossible to remove with a wrench. This step will make the air-conditioner and the concrete pad one piece, so someone would have to steal the entire thing to get the copper.

It might be worth your while to look into a device that hooks onto the refrigerant lines and connects to the alarm system in your home. If a thief cuts the refrigerant line, the alarm will sound and alert the security service.

Another good idea is to use a heavy mesh that will cover the condenser coil opening. This metal mesh will prevent the coils from being cut out and stolen. However, when purchasing the mesh, make sure the openings are large enough to allow for airflow.

With these few steps, you can protect your home and appliances from outside thieves searching for copper.

 

(Flickr Photo by Beige Alert)

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Pipe Gripes is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling

What Causes Noisy Pipes?

Do you sometimes hear a “banging” sound coming from your home’s pipes and wonder what the heck is causing it? Well, wonder no more because we have the answer.

As you may have noticed, you usually hear the banging or knocking sounds coming from pipes right after you or someone else in the house turns off the water (e.g, you turn off the kitchen sink faucet after washing dishes, or you turn off the shower faucet when you’re done bathing). Also called a “water hammer,” this banging sound often occurs in older homes, although it may also sometimes happen in newer homes.

Here’s why it happens:

Energy is created when water flows through your pipes, and when the water flow stops abruptly, the energy produces a loud noise. Plumbing systems in many houses have short sections of pipe that fill with air and behave as “cushions” which absorb the energy and the sound it produces when water flow stops suddenly. However, as time passes, the air is more likely to leak out, leaving no cushion to absorb the water’s energy.

Most new homes have a water hammer arrester installed to prevent pipe banging; therefore, noisy pipes are a more common occurrence in older homes with older pipe systems.

Besides being annoying, noisy pipes can also damage your pipes over time. If noisy pipes are a regular occurrence in your household, it’s a good idea to have the pipes checked out by a plumber.

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Pipe Gripes is written and published by Thompson Plumbing Heating & Cooling. Visit our website at http://www.333Help.com

Maintaining a Clean Bathroom

Setting aside time to clean a bathroom that hasn’t been tended to can be anyone’s worst nightmare. However, if you do small things everyday to maintain a clean bathroom, the less time you will have to spend on a major cleaning session down the road.

Start by keeping a daily shower cleanser in your shower. This can be a liquid in a spray bottle, or even an automatic dispenser that will spray the shower for you. These cleansers are gentle enough to use daily, just after you shower.

Spray down the tiles, around the faucet and drain, and the shower curtain to prevent grime and soap scum buildup. If your shower has a glass door or glass walls, you can also keep a squeegee in your shower to wipes down the glass when you are done showering.

When it comes to your bathroom counters, closet, vanity, or the medicine closet, make an effort to organize these areas if you haven’t already. Use small bins or Tupperware containers to sort items in a way that works for you, so you’ll actually keep these areas clean. Having a place to store everyday items like cosmetics, toothbrushes, razors, will help eliminate daily bathroom clutter.

If possible, keep your bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom, under the sink or in the closet. Store all of the items you use to clean the bathroom in a large bucket, such as rubber gloves, clean sponges, toilet brush, glass cleaner, disinfectant, and paper towels. Store a broom, or a small hand broom and a dustpan, in the bathroom also. This will make it handy if you need to sweep something.

If you keep all of these items together, the quicker it will be to access them when you need to clean the bathroom.  Taking preventative steps will also make a cleaning day significantly shorter and easier.

(Flickr Photo By Melissa Ann Barrett)