Is a Tankless Water Heater Right for You?
What is a Tankless Water Heater? Tankless water heaters provide you and your family with a constant supply of hot water and only provides hot water when you need it. For instance, when a hot water faucet is turned on, cold water travels through a pipe and into the tankless unit. It is then heated directly without the use of a storage tank. What are the advantages? These units can have a lot of advantages. For instance, tankless water heaters can be more energy efficient than conventional water heaters. They can help cut costly bills because they don’t use excess [...]
How To Prevent Clogged Drains
Slow draining sinks and tubs can be frustrating. Especially when the holidays are around the corner and guests are knocking at your door. While some issues can easily be fixed by yourself, some drains may need professional cleaning in order to get it back to optimal use. Luckily, Burton is now offering a drain opening for $99! Get your drains flowing before company comes! Once you have your drain opened and back to normal, make sure you know common causes of clogged drains. Hair can cause drain blockage when combined with sticky substances like soap. Consider using a sink strainer [...]
How to Retrieve Jewelry that Fell Down the Drain!
Have you ever lost jewelry down the drain? Panic can set in quickly, especially if the item is valuable! Don’t worry! You may be able to retrieve the jewelry yourself. Before you call a plumber, take a deep breath and read on for helpful tips on how to retrieve lost jewelry from the drain! Step 1: Turn off the water and consider shutting off the valve to prevent the jewelry from potentially traveling into the sewer. Next, locate the pipes below the sink and identify the P-Trap. This is the ‘u’ shaped area of the pipe. Step 2: Before removing a portion [...]
How to Prevent Winter Melting from Flooding Your Basement
After one of the snowiest winters in Omaha history, the last thing anyone wants is sump pump failure. Combine record-levels of melting snow and incoming spring rain, and we’re set up for potential disaster. To ensure that your basement stays dry, an efficient and functioning sump pump is the most critical piece of equipment. Now is the perfect time to do a yearly check to make sure your sump pump is in working condition. How To Conduct an Annual Sump Pump Maintenance Check: Remove the cover of your sump pump pit. Check the drain hose to make sure it’s [...]
Under Pressure: Frozen Pipes
When water freezes it expands. If it expands too much, pipes can burst, water can escape, and you could be facing serious damage in your home. Winter in the Midwest often means days or weeks on end of single digit temperatures, meaning we’re at a high risk for winter damage like frozen pipes. Here are some safety measures you can take during extreme cold weather, and what to do (or not do) if you suspect your pipes are already frozen: Preventing Frozen Pipes In Your Home Leave your doors and cabinets open. Obviously, this is only meant for interior [...]
How to Prevent Basement Flooding
There can’t possibly be a season more eagerly anticipated than spring…especially after a cold and snowy Omaha winter. Yes indeed, what’s NOT to like about spring? Tulips popping up, birds brushing up their vocal chords, grass turning from brown to green, and being able to shed a layer or two of clothing. Spring is practically paradise on earth…unless you happen to be a stickler for detail. Oh, like water pouring into your basement and you’re caught without a sump pump. Things like that. Well, it’s that one particular thing we can help you with. But before we get to the [...]
Tub to Shower Conversion
More and more homeowners now prefer shower stalls to tubs with a shower. That’s especially true for families with more than one bathroom…they realize it’s much easier to sell a house with at least one tub. Not sure if this is the right move for you? Consider the following advantages of a tub-to-shower conversion: Additional space, both inside the shower and out Bathtubs are clunky and take up a ton of space. With a shower system, you’ll free up some of that space which means your bathroom will look more spacious…even more so if your new shower includes glass sliding [...]
Uses for a Hot-and-Cold Water Outdoor Faucet
Most people just accept the “reality” that if you’re working outside and need hot water, you go inside and get it. Well, sorry to contradict popular opinion, but now you can quickly and easily start enjoying the convenience of hot and cold running water…even outdoors! How? We can either replace a cold-water-only faucet or install a new dual faucet where it provides you with the greatest amount of convenience and flexibility. What exactly could you accomplish with a new dual faucet? Let’s have a look: Clean your car like a pro and save money at the car wash. Give Fido [...]
World Plumbing Day Tips
Which of today’s indoor conveniences would you find most difficult to live without: heating & cooling, plumbing, or electricity. Who even wants to make a choice like that?! Well, assuming you don’t have to and is equal in importance to the others, let’s give a tip of the hat to indoor plumbing…without which, life as we know it would be impossible. Here in the United States, plumbing is so ingrained in our culture that we barely give it a second thought. If only that were the case everywhere else. Instead, an estimated 750 million people around the globe don’t have [...]
How to Prevent Home Water Damage
If you’ve ever had water damage in your home, it’s an experience you’re not likely to forget. On the other hand, as time elapses, most people tend to forget what caused the water damage in the first place. What sticks in the memory is the mess that followed the water leak or intrusion, the amount of inconvenience and expense you experienced to get things back to normal and, worst of all, what cherished items might have been permanently damaged. But now there’s a way to prevent water damage from leaking pipes anywhere inside your home – period. And that’s with [...]
Tips for Frozen Pipe Prevention
If you live in fear of frozen water pipes and all the problems they can cause, don’t let it get the best of you. After all, worrying about outside temperatures and what effect they might have on your pipes is no solution. But here’s what is: protecting your pipes from freezing in the first place. Here’s how: Since water starts to freeze at about 20 degrees F, try to keep all areas of your home containing water pipes above freezing. If that’s not practical, the next best thing is to insulate unheated spaces – like crawl spaces and your garage [...]
Things You Never Knew About Toilets.
Did you ever look at a toilet and think: “I bet you and your fellow toilets, past and present, have all kinds of interesting stories to tell, so how about sharing one or two with me.” We doubt it, plus that would be just a wee bit weird. Nevertheless, there are numerous documented “fun facts” about toilets, a few of which we are about to share with you. There’s not one that will make you any richer or a better person, but you’re likely to enjoy reading about them and later sharing them with family and friends. All set? Then [...]