Plumbing DIY Errors

When DIY Plumbing Projects Go Awry

Many homeowners take great pride in their ability to diagnose and correct basic problems around their house—as well they should. This is true when it comes to plumbing: At Unclog.it, we are happy to offer tips and recommendations to amateur plumbers seeking to make small repairs or to perform basic maintenance around their home.

With that said, not every DIY home plumbing project winds up being a success story. There are plenty of ways in which trying to do the right thing can end up causing you to do the very wrong thing, and it can ultimately leave your at-home plumbing in worse shape than when you started.

In order to ensure you’re being smart in all your DIY home plumbing endeavors, make sure to avoid the following common plumbing failures.

DIY Plumbing Errors to Avoid

• First and foremost: In plumbing, duct tape is never the solution. There are many instances in which it might seem like the easy and smart route to take, but the use of duct tape should be avoided, because it simply isn’t made to keep your household plumbing together. If you’re not using the right materials, then your best DIY plumbing efforts are likely going to result in further maintenance woes down the road.
• One thing many homeowners do is use chlorine tablets in their toilet tanks, something that is often said to keep the toilet fresh and smelling good. That’s true enough, but chlorine also corrodes the rubber insides of your toilet, so it’s really not recommended.
• It’s a dangerous error to use drain cleaning chemicals in a pipe that is 100 percent clogged. In most cases, this is not going to get rid of the clog. All it will do, then, is load up the pipe with potentially dangerous chemicals, making this an ineffective way to deal with clogs.
• Using pipes of the wrong size is another potential error. The size of the pipes is what determines water flow—so misjudging the size can lead to pipes that aren’t really doing their work as intended.
• And of course, one of the biggest errors you could make—and also one of the easiest—is leaving the water source connected as you try to make repairs. You need to turn the water off before you attempt any serious DIY plumbing project!

Calling the Pros

None of this is meant to dissuade you from doing at-home plumbing projects. Instead, we would simply urge caution! Additionally, don’t hesitate to call Unclog.it for those projects that are too big or potentially daunting to handle on a DIY basis!