A-OK VIDEOS --Plumbing Videos-Plumbing Advice

Sooner or later, we all face this, You know, in the middle of the night,, you hear something POP- you rush into the room where you heard it and find water EVERYWHERE or spraying , In your mind, is racing, WHAT DO I DO ? or WHERE'S THE CUT-OFF VALVE. By the time you find it, your house is flooded. Over the last 30 years ( Man, I can't believe its been 30 years, ha) I have seen a lot of flooded houses, lots of rooms, you just want to throw your hands up and CRY,

Well, I'm going to show you how to be prepared

First of all, you need to KNOW where your main cut-off valve to the house is, Lots of homes don't have one, ( If you can't find one then it has to be turned off at the meter) Also,, If the water leak is at a fixture,( lavatory, toilet, kit. sink etc, MOST of the time each fixture has its on set of water cut-offs, hot and cold, If your lucky Your water leak will be at one of these fixtures.

But first , lets determined to see if you have one, ( Look at the diagram above) Find where your water meter is located, usually the water line underground usually goes straight to your home, walk from your meter to the house in a straight line,till you reach your house, sometimes the plumbing contractor puts a cut-off valve about 2 feet from your house line , It will or should be in a valve box. , now most of the time the plumber also installs a outside hydrant F.P.W.H on your house according to how old of home you have. If you don't find a valve box here,then lets go inside. locate your water Heater, Sometimes the plumbing contractor installs a main water shut-off vale here at the water heater, This shut off valve WILL be located down around the bottom of the water heater( usually behind the water heater, locate where your water lines connect into your water heater at top, , ) the valve you see at top is NOT your main cut-off valve, This valve will just Turn off your HOT WATER, the main shut-off ( if they installed one will be at bottom of the water heater) sometimes and most of the time you only see a round wheel handle sticking out of the wall. If you can't locate a main water shut off, then you will need to call the water dept. Where I live it is okay to buy a meter wrench and water cut off tool , to turn the water off at he meter, If you can, you need to get these. BUT you need to check with your local authorities first.

Saying all this, YOU NEED TO TAKE STEPS NOW to locate or install, or have installed a main water shut off valve, AND MAKE SUR EVERY MEMBER OF YOUR HOUSE HOLD KNOWS WHERE IT IS LOCATED I know this is going to sound corny, but Families should have Fire drills, And Plumbing emergency Water cut off drills, IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG TO FLOOD A HOUSE,

Another area to discuss here is I've gotten emergency calls in the late hours at night, " Help Larry, My Tub Or Shower won't shut off " If it's the hot water not shutting off, on some fixture, lavatory, sink, tub, etc. , You can go to the Water heater and turn off the water valve on TOP of the water heater, Be sure to turn the gas valve off at heater, or electric, if it is electric heater This turns off the water going into the water heater to get heated up, so therefore its turns off Just your hot water. This will buy you time, till you can fix it or get it fixed. I have a video on this .

( you can check it out at http://www.a-okvideos.biz

Another thing You should do once a year is to check your washing machine hoses,They can burst, and flood your house very quickly, I think you would be wise to turn your water off to your house when you go on vacation. Just leave a note reminding yourself you turned it off, or for family members, so that they will know the note should tell which valve you turned off.
If your hose burst ,just turn the valves off where the hose connects to it in the wall,

WASHER BOX

Sometimes, water leaks happen because of to much water pressure, ( you can purchase a plumbing emergency kit from my website. www.a-okvideos.biz , this kit will have a water pressure gauge in it ) To much water pressure can cause faucets to start dripping, excessive noise, can cause toilets to " howl" ha- If you have my test gauge from the emergency, Install it on the outside hydrant ,where you put the water hose, turn the water on and if the gauge goes over 75# you have to much water pressure. If this is the case you will need to get a pressure reducing vale installed on your water line coming to the house. They cost around $45.00 dollars. for a 3/4 inch valve

Here is something I see every year, , Lots of folks leave their water hoses connected to their outside hydrants, This won't let the water drain out of the Frost proof hydrant, So they freeze and bust inside the wall. when spring comes, the homeowner goes to work in the yard, turns the water hydrant on, no knowing that a full stream of water is going inside their home, If your working for a couple of hours outside. YOUR HOUSE IS FLOODED. BUT HERE IS A SIMPLE CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR HYDRANT IS BUSTED IN THE WALL, HOLD YOUR HAND FLAT TIGHT UNDER THE SPIGOT turn on the water, if you get sprayed in the face, (ha ) your hydrant is okay, BUT if you can hold it back and still hear water running, you know its busted, DON'T USE IT till you get it fixed, Believe me, You will get sick to come into a flooded house when all the while you thought you were having fun outside in the yard
I go on a lot of these every year, Cover up your hydrants in the winter also all your vent opening around your house . close up so cold air won't get under your house, Also, sometimes you see water, Its not your water line , BUT SEWAGE, we'll cover this in the next chapter. ( SEE BELOW )

Another area I want to look at is sometimes a water leak is at the fixture, Sink, Lavatory, toilet. I went on a service call this morning ( 10/11/05 ) A big apartment complex, The owner called me, there was water all over the floor in apt.# 5 everyone thought it was a busted water pipe, the renter heard loud banging in the wall. Well it took me 5 min. to find out what is was . Most of the water was in the half bath downstairs. What I did first was turn off the main water to the Apt. then got some towels and dried up the floor in the bathroom. Then I turned the water back on, No water showed up, so I knew it wasn't a busted water pipe. So I went to the toilet, The water valve at the toilet was almost off, I flushed the toilet, first thing that happened was the loud banging everyone heard, ( it was the valve at the toilet, being turned down so low, the water was fighting to get through the valve. Then I saw the water coming back on the floor, , First I thought the toilet was stopped up, and water was coming from under the bowl, , but it wasn't, it was coming down the tank, ,the gasket was bad between the tank and the bowl, , A tip here is lots of times you can't see the water running down the tank, the water hugs close to the tank, you have to hold your light just right, I always lay toilet tissue around the bowl at the floor, ,this will show water real fast. then you just have to trace it , where its coming from. So you see its very important to know where your main cut-off valve is located, and to get one installed if you don't have one.

You can go to my website, there you can ( FOR HALF THE PRICE OF A PLUMBING SERVICE CALL ) find a link, that if you have a plumbing problem, you can send me pictures over the e-mail ( INSTRUCTIONS ARE THERE ) and I will tell you how to fix it, AND EVEN SHOW YOU WHAT PARTS, I will tell you the price of the parts, and after you pay, drop ship them to you. And If I fill like I can't help you on your particular problem, I will send your money back for the plumbing service fee service.

BE SURE TO GET YOUR " PLUMBING EMERGENCY " TOOL KIT, THE " PLUNGER " T-SHIRT , FREE - E-BOOKS,

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Shocking Facts about Water
5 billion gallons of water are flushed each day in the U.S.
Typically 4 to 6 gallons of water are used for every toilet flush
On the average, a person uses 2 gallons of water to brush his or her teeth each day
A 10-minute shower uses about 55 gallons of water
A leaking faucet can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day
It takes about 39,000 gallons of water to produce the average domestic auto, including tires
Each day, the sun evaporates 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) tons of water. (United States Geological Survey)
At least 1 billion people around the world must walk three hours or more to obtain drinking water
Households turn on water faucets an average of 70 times daily
About 1.2 billion gallons of potable water are used in New Jersey each day
It takes about 1 gallon of water to process a quarter pound of hamburger
It takes 2,072 gallons of water to make four new tires
Automatic dishwashers use about 15 gallons per load
Washing one load of clothes in an automatic washer uses about 45 gallons
The average bath takes about 36 gallons of water
The average individual uses about 125 gallons of water per day
An average residence uses 107,000 gallons of water per year
About 340 billion gallons of water are used every day in the United States
It takes 1,500 gallons of water to process 1 barrel of beer
It takes about 800,000 gallons of water to grow an acre of cotton
Ten gallons of water are needed to refine one gallon of gasoline
Cutting one minute off your shower time can save about 700 gallons of water per month

Disclaimer
Due to differing conditions, tools, and individual skill levels, Larry Hartman, OR A-OK VIDEOS assumes no responsibility for any damages, injuries suffered, or losses incurred as a result of following the information published in ... PLUMBING EMERGENCIES OR A-OK VIDEOS® Review the instructions carefully before beginning any project. Consult local experts or authorities if you have any doubts or questions. Since local building codes and regulations vary so much, you always should check with local authorities to ensure that your project complies with all applicable local codes and regulations. Always read and practice all the safety precautions provided by any tool or equipment manufacturer, and follow all accepted safety procedures.

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