Many people choose to buy older homes due to their inherent character and charm. However when it comes to your older homes plumbing system, you must consider the problems you may encounter. Being well informed about old plumbing systems equips you with a necessary tool in your older home buyer arsenal.

Benefit From a Proactive Approach

There are many advantages to being on top of these issues. Having a professional you trust complete a thorough investigation of your system will save you from future problems. Consider that avoiding this critical knowledge may lead to damage to your home in the event of a plumbing crisis. Your loved ones may hurt themselves as a result of faulty plumbing. Other utilities in your home may be used inefficiently causing increased costs all due to problematic plumbing. You may have to repair walls and floors, replace furnishings, carpets and possessions in the event of leaking or flooding.

That little noise may be nothing but it could be the beginning of a major plumbing issue. Some plumbing problems come with a warning like a small leak, a noisy toilet, a slow flush. Unfortunately many more plumbing problems are upon you with no warning whatsoever. Suddenly you are impacted by a deluge of water, raw sewage, or both. Though your homes’ plumbing will receive a cursory review during the inspection, in order to completely avoid problems, if permissible ask your real estate agent and the previous homeowner if you can have a plumber assess the system. If you want the home regardless of the issues that may be present, be certain to have the plumbing evaluated as soon as possible after purchase.

Every problematic plumbing issue is different and the best course of action entails many variables and should only be determined by a professional. Major plumbing problems are not a DIY issue. In some cases the entire line must be replaced or your home may have to be excavated to see the problem and remedy them. There are cameras that can be put into the line to show a professional exactly where the problem lies. The problems are not avoidable and will not go away on their own. Below you will find eight of the most common plumbing issues you may encounter as the new owner of an older dwelling.  

There’s Water, and There’s Raw Sewage

If your home was built before the 1960’s, it is a good chance that galvanized plumbing was installed in it. Galvanized plumbing includes pipes made of steel with an added layer of zinc as a protection. The problem with galvanized plumbing systems is that zinc erosion occurs following several decades of use. Water pressure decreases as a result and the quality of the water is compromise. Eventually the plumbing is rendered useless.

Following the use of galvanized piping, builders began using polybutylene plumbing in the late seventies to mid 1990’s. Experts relate that over time the plastic begins to fail forming small cracks and fissures. The culprit is chlorine and other oxidants that are found in the public water supply. The structural problems that result may have a sudden onset and cause major damage.

Used mainly as the connector between the outside service lines and your home, lead service lines pose a significant risk to water quality as the lead often leaches into the water supply due in part to chemicals. It is a good idea to have your water supplier come out and test your tap water. If you indeed have lead in your water the service lines must be replaced.

If you have a belly in your sewer line that means that the line was not bedded or set correctly upon installation. Simply put bedding is the process of correctly adjusting the surrounding area of where the pipe is laid. A belly or dip in the line is a sagging place in the piping system. This sag allows for sewage or sediments to settle and clog the line and restrict the flow.

Many older homes may have been built with concrete or cast iron pipes. Cast iron is only durable for 20 to 30 years. The iron starts to wear away over time and eventually completely disintegrates, soil erosion occurs as a result. While concrete last for a much longer period of time, problems occur with them due to the natural shifting of the home and the movement of the ground. These rigid systems can be hard to locate if they were installed under the home. The house may have settled on top of the now disintegrating cast iron or concrete piping.

Sewer lines and systems, pipe and fixture corrosion, and outdated and unserviceable lines angle stops and shut-off valves are also common plumbing crisis’ that you may face in your older home. Your municipality is only responsible for your plumbing where it meets the street. It is important to check with them to make sure they have updated the leads to your home since corrosive elements enter your plumbing via the public works. Corrosive elements and wear and tear over decades has a devastating effect on shut-off valves and angle stops since sediments settle in the twists and turns of both. The ease in replacing them depends on their location. Some lines are unserviceable and must be managed and under constant maintenance by a professional. 

Call MillTown today and fix any old plumbing issues in your home today!

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electrical safety

By Milltown Plumbing

If you haven’t had an electrician to your home lately, you may want to consider doing so as a prevention strategy. This way, you can find issues before they develop into serious problems. As homes age, wiring frays and connections loosen. New appliances can strain the system. It’s important to have electricians to your home for routine maintenance.

If you do not recognize the warning signs of an electrical safety hazard, resulting issues can be annoying, expensive, and dangerous. At the least, electricity that isn’t working causes inconveniences. Repairs are time consuming and costly. If your appliances aren’t working efficiently, your energy bills will be higher. Appliances or lights  damaged beyond repair require replacements. A wonky electrical system lowers property resale value. At the worst, ignoring signs of impending electrical safety hazards means your home is at a higher risk of an electrical fire, or shocking someone.

However, knowing the warning signs of electrical system failures, and using preventative maintenance, brings many benefits. You will pay less for your monthly bill, your property resale value will be higher, the lifespan of your lights and appliances will be longer! Your family will be safer. Read on to discover which warning signs to be aware of.

1) When outlets have burn marks on the cover, the hot, or energized, wire has touched the neutral or ground wire. Corrosion over time or dirt and dust can make this problem occur.

2) If your lights are flickering or dimming more than just once in a while, your system’s connections are loose somewhere, or you have voltage fluctuation – a serious problem. Other symptoms of voltage fluctuation are light bulbs glowing too bright or too dim, or burning out faster than they should.

3) Smoke that smells off may signal a fire. The beginning stages of electrical fires,  as well as  brief burns caused by a short circuit, give off a tell-tale, acrid-scented smoke. A short might cause an electrical fire if it occurs within the walls, and catches surrounding materials on fire. If you have any sign of shorts occurring, remove the fuse or turn off your circuit breaker until an electrician can come by to check the circuit.

4) Other symptoms of trouble behind your walls are any kind of noises, like buzzing or clicks, when you flip a light switch. This is caused by faulty wiring within or close to the switch or outlet, or a loose connection on the switch, causing a short.

5) If you have mice in your house, then you might need to worry that they are chewing your wiring. Rodents gnawing on electrical wires will obviously cause problems with your system – not least, a potential electrical fire. Luckily, this problem isn’t as common as some of the other ones in this list. However, rodents have been known to chew wires to clear room to squeeze into holes passing through studs … and if you find one stud where they’ve done so, chances are they did it at more than one stud.

6) Another sign that you’ve got a problem is a circuit breaker that keeps tripping. Circuit breakers are built to “trip,” or shut off their electric flow, when they become overheated – to prevent damage or an electrical fire. If it’s doing this continually, chances are you’ve got an overloaded circuit, ground fault, or a short circuit.

7) Frequent power outages are an extremely frustrating sign of electrical issues. They can mean many various problems. Electrochemical treeing is one such issue, which happens when poorly manufactured insulation has allowed moisture penetration to occur, reducing dielectric strength. Or, power outages can be due to transformer failures, lightning, tree branches or fallen trees pushing lines together, birds nesting and causing faults on transmission towers, pecking at utility poles, or contaminating insulators with excrement, or contact from other animals – snakes, squirrels, insect colonies, large mammals, or rodents (view number six.)

8) Outlets or switch plates that become hot – especially when they don’t even have anything plugged in – likely mean improper wiring. You may need to flip the breaker, or or remove the outlet’s fuse, until you can schedule professional help.

9) Serious sparks from an outlet means you’ve got a short circuit, which can cause a fire. Sparking breaker panels or fuse boxes are just as serious. If an appliance is sparking, however, that’s more likely a sign that the appliance itself is damaged – get the appliance repaired. If the appliance is new, its warranty may take care of repair costs.

If you notice any of these signs, time to call the electrician! Wait too long, and the problem will only get more expensive to fix … and the possibility of danger increases. 

Call MillTown today and schedule your checkup to see if you need fixes for cold spots in your house!

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electrical safety

By Milltown Plumbing

Many confident homeowners take the DIY electrical plunge thinking it can’t be that difficult to install wiring into outlets and breaker boxes. Although they may accomplish their goal of powering their home, that great feeling of “I did it all by myself!” is often short-lived and wrought with consequences, such as unsafe wiring, reduce property resale value and failure to pass regional and local electrical safety inspections.

What is the National Electrical Code?

A subgroup of national fire codes, the NEC is a book of electrical installation and renovation safety standards established by the National Fire Protection Agency. While not mandated by regional laws in the U.S., the NEC has been adopted by over 98 percent of all U.S. areas. Every three years the NFPA publishes a large volume of electrical safety codes covering both indoor and outdoor electrical practices and standards that serves as a reference guide for professional electricians. Topics discussed in the NEC include conductors, wiring, cables and voltages.

8 Common Electrical Code Violations Every Homeowner Should Know

1. Installing the wrong circuit breaker or failing to install circuit breakers

Circuit breaker boxes contain switches that “trip”, or turn themselves off to stop the flow of electricity in specific parts of a home if the electrical current in that particular area exceeds preset limits. When a switch is tripped, the circuit breaker needs to be manually reset to return the current to its preset level. Some circuit breakers will automatically reset without human intervention.  Neglecting to install the right circuit breaker (or none at all) is not only an electrical code violation but will also put your and your family at high risk for a fire raging in the wall on which the circuit breaker box is attached.

2. Switch locations do not have neutral wires

Most automated light switches require a neutral wire. Switches that don’t need a neutral wire will give you incandescent lighting only. If your home uses fluorescent, LED and other light devices under 20w, you must use a neutral wire or be in violation of electrical codes. The purpose of a neutral wire involves completion of the 120-volt AC circuit, which it accomplishes by providing a safe avenue back to an electrical panel. Here, the insulated neutral wire connects and bonds to the ground to prevent accidental electrocution.

3. Neglecting to install tamper resistant receptacles

The 2014 edition of the NEC requires all new or renovated homes/dwellings install tamper resistant receptacles with spring-loaded coverings (shutters) that protect contact slots in the receptacles. When you insert a plug into one of these TR receptacles, you compress both springs so that shutters open to allow insertion of a plug’s metal prongs. Since two springs need to be compressed simultaneously, a child inserting something into just one opening won’t cause electricity to flow into the receptacle.  Even if you do not have children, your new or renovated dwelling must have tamper resistant receptacles.

4. Not installing enough receptacles

The National Fire Protection Association estimates nearly 50,000 dwelling fire in the U.S. happen every year due to overloading an electrical system not equipped with enough receptacles. To compensate for lack of outlets, homeowners are quick to rely on extension cords not designed to handle large amounts of electricity. Signs of overloaded circuits that could cause fires include dimming/flickering lights, frequently tripped breakers and getting a slight shock when you plug in an appliance.

5. Leaving outdoor receptacles uncovered

Although this seems like a no-brainer, many building owners don’t think of the dangers involved with leaving an electrical receptacle exposed to the elements. If your dwelling has outdoor receptacles that aren’t shuttered, you are in violation of an electrical code that could delay the sale of your home or even reduce the value of your home.

6.  Failing to install ground fault circuit interrupters

Ground faults occur when electricity escapes wiring and takes a direct shortcut to the floor. When ground faults pass through a person, the result could be a deadly electrocution. This is why the National Electric Code requires GFCIs in outdoor receptacles and in new or renovated bathrooms, kitchens, unfinished basements and crawl spaces.

7. Outdated wiring in homes over 50 years old

Electrical wiring in dwellings constructed before 1970 may be in violation of local or regional electrical codes. Aluminum wiring widely used in the 70s may be safe but could present safety issues if connected to copper wiring. Older homes with aluminum wiring will probably need an inspector to confirm it has been properly installed, a complicated procedure best left to professionals.

8. Improperly configuring panels

DIYers aggravated by a constantly tripping fuse or breaker often may hastily replace the offending breaker with a larger capacity breaker. In addition to being extremely dangerous, it is also illegal to have wrongly configured panels and is in direct violation of electrical codes. A breaker is matched to load capacity and wire size. Larger breakers allow more and more current to flow through before they trip, catch on fire or blow out your home’s electricity system.

Adhering to electrical codes means living safely in your home, having appliances and fixtures that operate smoothly, saving on troubleshooting electrical problems, reducing your energy costs and maintaining a higher property resale value on your home.

Call MillTown today and schedule your checkup to see if you need fixes for electrical code violations in your house!

Read What Our Happy Customers Had To Say!

By Milltown Plumbing