Plumbing 101 for new homeowners

You do not need to understand plumbing. You need to know where four things are, before the night you need them in a hurry.

1. The main water shutoff

This stops all water entering the house, and it is the single most valuable thing to know when a pipe fails. Usually where the supply enters — a utility room, a crawl space, near the water heater, or in a garage on an outside wall. There is also a street-side shutoff at the meter, which usually needs a meter key.

Find it, turn it, and turn it back. A valve that has not moved in fifteen years often will not move at all, and you want to discover that on a dry Saturday rather than at midnight.

2. The sewer cleanout

A capped pipe, usually 3 or 4 inches, near the foundation or out in the yard on the line to the street. This is the access point for clearing a main line blockage. If you have one and know where it is, a main line clearing is straightforward. If nobody can find one, access has to be made another way, and that costs more.

Worth noting: it is also what makes our $99 flat rate possible on a residential drain.

3. The water heater

Know its location, its age, whether it is gas or electric, and where its shutoff is. The age matters — a tank heater is typically near the end of its service life somewhere past ten to twelve years, and a tank that fails does so by emptying its contents onto the floor.

4. Septic tank and drain field, if you have one

Plenty of properties around Flora Vista, Kirtland, Shiprock and the edges of Farmington and Bloomfield are on septic. If yours is, find out: where the tank is, its capacity, and when it was last pumped.

• Most households need pumping every three to five years, depending on tank size and occupancy
• The previous owner may have records. Ask before you complete on the sale
• Do not park or build over the tank or the drain field
• Everything about what goes down the drain matters more on septic than on town sewer

The maintenance that matters

1. 1Strainers in every drain from day one
2. 2Never pour grease down a sink
3. 3Get a slow drain seen while it is slow
4. 4On septic, book the pump-out on a schedule rather than waiting for symptoms
5. 5Know the age of the water heater and plan for it rather than reacting to it