Signs You Need to Call a Professional Plumber

Blog Signs You Need to Call a Professional Plumber Schedule Service Signs You Need to Call a Professional Plumber

February 25, 2015

Recognizing plumbing problems can be a bit difficult. Most of your home's plumbing is installed out of sight, after all, and you shouldn't really be tearing open your walls to inspect the pipes. How, then, do you know when to call a plumber? Let's take a look at some easy-to-recognize signs that you need to call a professional plumber.

Discolored Water

If the water coming from your pipes is red, brown, or yellow, you've got a plumbing problem. Often discoloration is caused by advanced corrosion in one or more of your home's pipes. If not treated, the affected pipes could burst, causing widespread water damage to the surrounding area.

Slow Drainage

Many people think that drain clogs happen suddenly, that one day their drains work just fine and the next they're hopelessly blocked. This isn't actually the case. Clogs form slowly overtime, as the material that comprises them builds from the walls of the pipe towards the center. This gradually restricts the amount of water flowing through the pipe, until it eventually blocks it altogether. If you notice a drain start to drain more and more slowly, it's a sure sign that a clog is forming in the pipe. You should call a plumber to clean it out before it blocks the flow of water completely.

Bad Smells

Horrible smells coming from your drain are caused by sewer valve issues. The sewer valve is a part that is designed to prevent backflow from coming up through your drains, keeping water flowing into the sewer in one direction. If that valve becomes stuck for some reason, however, it can allow material from the sewer to travel back up your pipes. This includes sewer gases, which are the cause of the bad smells coming from your drain. If your drain is venting bad smells into the house, it means you have a malfunctioning sewer valve. You should call a plumber right away, before worse problems like backflow result from the stuck valve.