About Plumbing

Tank or Tankless? What’s Right for Your Water Heater?

If you’re on the market for a new water heater system, then the main thing you need to decide is if you’re going to go for a tank or tankless model. Most people in our area go for a tank water heater system. This is more than likely what you’ve got at home right now. When it’s time to upgrade, most homeowners only consider getting an updated version of their current system. We want you to know that this isn’t your only option.

You can come to us when you’re looking for great water heater service in Glendale, AZ. You can trust our professionals because we’re knowledgeable and eager to share this knowledge with you. We want to make sure that you’re receiving the best possible service whether you go tank or tankless. 

The Benefits of Tank Water Heaters

Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider a tank water heater system.

Water on Standby 

Standard water heaters are known as “standby” water heaters because they heat your home’s water and leave it waiting for you. While this can be inefficient in some cases, it can be an asset in many others. 

Cheaper Installation

If you’re concerned with the cost of your water heater installation, then a standard water heater is what you should go with. 

Familiarity

There’s nothing wrong with going with what you know. If choosing a standby water heater is what’s going to help you feel comfortable with your home performance, then it might be a good idea for you to choose this system. We can help you find an updated model of your current system that can help you in your home.

The Benefits of Tankless Water Heaters

Here are a few reasons why you might want to consider a tankless water heater model.

Longer Lifespan

Tankless water heaters last longer than tank systems. These units typically last you about 20 to 30 years. They’re an investment that’s worth the time and effort. 

Unlimited Hot Water

Tankless water heaters start producing hot water when you turn on one of your taps. This means that you’re never going to lose out on hot water by having it waiting around for you in a tank. It’s right there when you need it and you can never run out of it.

Cost Savings

Tankless water heaters are great because they save you money over time. You can save money over the life of a tankless water heater because it’s such an efficient system. 

Go for Professional Service Either Way

It really doesn’t matter whether you use a tank or tankless system for your home, you need to go with professional service either way. Professional service is going to ensure that either system you choose can actually work for you. Your water heater is nothing without the right installation services. This is why it’s so important to schedule an appointment with our team members when you need quality service. We’re always here to provide you with the work you need most.

Contact The Trusted Plumber to schedule an appointment for your plumbing services.

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https://agapeplumbing.net/?p=238

About Plumbing

How To Un-Jam a Garbage Disposal Safely

Since you rely on your garbage disposal daily to speed through kitchen cleaning tasks, it can be frustrating when it’s jammed. Fortunately, a humming disposal is often a simple fix, even if you don’t immediately know what the cause is. Here’s a how-to guide assembled by the plumbing professionals at Len The Plumber to help you safely un-jam your garbage disposal.

Common Causes of a Jammed Garbage Disposal

If you hear your disposal humming, it’s more likely that there’s a jam somewhere inside the machine rather than a sign that you need to replace your disposal. Here are the most common causes for a jammed or humming garbage disposal:

  • Seeds or pits: If you’ve carved a melon or sliced fruit with a pit near your kitchen sink recently, the seeds or pit might have fallen into the disposal. You probably heard a thunk noise from a fruit pit, but seeds can be sneaky. If given the chance, seeds will take root in the disposal’s moist environment and jam the blades.
  • Coffee grounds: Your morning coffee might keep you going throughout the day, but it has the opposite effect on your disposal. Coffee grounds wear down disposal blades over time.
  • Eggshells: It’s not necessarily the shell itself that causes a jammed garbage disposal — it’s the stringy membrane, which can also cause a lingering smell that you’ll need to clean. For this reason, it’s best to throw eggshells in the trash, not the disposal.
  • Grease: If cooking grease is allowed to cool and solidify, it can be a nightmare for the disposal blades and cause drain clogs that will be difficult to clean. If your disposal is humming, the drain is clogged, and if you don’t see a solid object jammed in the blades, grease could be the culprit.

Safety Tips for Loosening the Jam

Even if you cut power to the disposal, you should handle the area around your garbage disposal’s blades the same way you handle a kitchen knife when you’re slicing vegetables near your fingers.

When unjamming your disposal:

  • Try to reset it: If you don’t see any visible obstruction at all, you might need to reset your garbage disposal. Sometimes, disposals overheat and turn themselves off automatically. Press the reset button on top of the disposal under the sink and then turn it on again. If that doesn’t work, there might be a jam, or it might be a sign that it’s time to replace your disposal.
  • Cut the power: To eliminate the chance that your disposal can hop back to life at any moment, turn off your disposal. Depending on the manufacturer, there’s likely a switch below the sink, but you can also flip your kitchen’s breaker switch.
  • Use tongs or a long spoon: Avoid direct contact with the blades by using a long object to remove the obstruction. If, for some reason, you must touch the blades themselves with your fingers, make sure you’ve eliminated the chance that the disposal can turn itself back on automatically by following the step above to shut off the power.

Keeping Your Garbage Disposal Jam-Free

Thankfully, keeping your garbage disposal clean to reduce your risk of a jam is simple. Toss 2 cups of ice and 1 cup of salt in your sink, turn on the water, and run your disposal. Doing this at least once a month will help keep your garbage disposal clear of any jams.

Call Len The Plumber for Help Repairing Your Jammed Disposal

Now that you know a few tips to stay safe while attempting to un-jam your garbage disposal, you’ll be able to solve most stuck disposal issues. However, the safest way to remove a jam is to call a professional plumber. Our certified plumbers have experience unjamming thousands of disposals and can get to your home and solve any plumbing issue quickly and safely.

For same day service, seven days a week, contact Len The Plumber today! We’ll dispatch a certified plumber to your home immediately. Schedule an appointment online or call us now at (800) 950-4619.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://agapeplumbing.net/?p=235

About Plumbing

Why Is My Toilet Gurgling?

Top of toilet with easy flush metal button

The flush of your toilet is a familiar sound, so when it starts to gurgle or bubble, it’s obvious that something isn’t right. Gurgling noises are not as uncommon as they might sound. Still, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the signs that something is wrong with your toilet. If you’ve noticed that your toilet has started to gurgle or bubble after flushing, it’s only a matter of time before more strange symptoms start to affect your plumbing system, such as a water backup.

Avoid the cost of expensive water backup services by ensuring your toilet health the moment it begins to make unusual noises. This guide will help you identify the root cause of your toilet troubles and some easy fixes you can try before calling in the professionals at Len The Plumber.

What Causes a Toilet to Gurgle or Bubble?

When a toilet gurgles or bubbles, it generally means one thing: There’s a blockage in your system. For water and waste to flow through your plumbing system, the air pressure must be at a specific level. Negative air pressure or suction caused by blockages can cause air to escape and the toilet to back up, causing gurgling noises or bubbling water. The following are just some of the most common places that a blockage could exist in your system:

The toilet: Toilet blockages can be easily spotted by identifying floating objects in the toilet water.The toilet drain: When things are flushed down the toilet that shouldn’t be flushed, the toilet drain can become clogged.The main sewer drain: All of the drains in your home lead to the main sewer drain, so a blockage there will impact nearly all of the plumbing fixtures in your home.The vent stack: Malfunctioning plumbing appliances might be caused by a clogged vent stack on your roof, leading to negative air pressure and a gurgling toilet.

Whatever the main cause of your gurgling toilet may be, there are steps that you can take as a homeowner to attempt to remedy the issue before calling in the professionals.

3 Easy Fixes for a Faulty Toilet

If your toilet is gurgling, there are some DIY plumbing tricks you can try that may provide the relief your system needs:

Plunging: Before you begin plunging away on your toilet, be sure to seal off nearby drains so the air in your pipes can’t escape there. This will force the air to escape through your toilet, so you can easily bring up whatever is clogging the system.Using a plumbing snake: If plunging fails, you can try to snake your drain through the toilet bowl. Standard drain snakes (augers) reach 5 to 15 feet; however, you can rent a motorized auger to reach up to 100 feet or more for difficult-to-reach clogs.Calling your neighbors: It might seem strange, but making a quick call to your neighbors can actually be beneficial. If one or more of your neighbors also have gurgling toilets, there might be a problem with the sewer main, which is the responsibility of the city sewer authority.

When you’ve exhausted your avenues for relief to no avail, all hope isn’t lost yet: You just need to contact knowledgeable professionalsto get the job done right. Len The Plumber has a team of top-quality plumbing experts available to quickly and efficiently fix your gurgling toilet in no time.

When to Contact the Plumbing Pros for a Gurgling Toilet

Don’t let a gurgling toilet lead to further plumbing problems in your home. At Len The Plumber, our plumbers are expertly trained in the most advanced industry tools and techniques to deliver the long-lasting toilet repairs you need to restore your system to working condition.

Allow our team to bring reliability back to your plumbing system by scheduling toilet repair today!

About Plumbing

What Causes a Faucet to Leak?

Faucet Repair and Replacement

Plumbing leaks come in many different forms and sizes, with the faucet leak being the most common. Allowing your faucet to slowly drip day after day can lead to a bigger plumbing nightmare that you can avoid altogether. Here is what’s causing that troublesome leak in your bathroom or kitchen:

Damaged & Worn Parts

Do you have a steady drip coming from your faucet that makes you want to rip the fixture right off the sink? All signs point to the washer within the faucet that will need to be replaced. However, if you have a compression faucet, sometimes the seals can become damaged as it is constantly holding back the water pressure when the faucet is closed. For those with cartridge faucets, the cartridge itself or the moving parts (O-rings, inlet and outlet seals) may also need to be replaced.

High Water Pressure

Does your faucet leak during specific times of the day, like at night or when no other plumbing fixture is being used? This could mean that your water pressure is too high, and it becomes a problem when no other faucets or plumbing fixtures are being used in your home (or throughout the neighborhood). Small leaks can start in your faucet, eventually leading to pinhole leaks in the piping, worsening over time. Consider calling a plumber to have your water pressure evaluated and restored to a proper level.

Cracks in the Plumbing

When a plumbing pipe has a crack or the fitting is loose, it will leak here and at the faucet that is closest to the leak. If you notice that your faucet has a slow but steady leak, inspect the piping underneath the sink. Check to see if there are any small cracks, holes, or loose fittings where the pipes connect. The leak could also be behind the walls, so make sure you have your plumbing inspected by a professional plumber if you’re unsure.

Why Should You Care About Leaky Faucets, Anyway?

Homeowners often vastly underestimate the impact of even a single leaky faucet in the home. Putting aside the possibility of a leaky faucet suggesting some other plumbing issue, a single leaky faucet could contribute to as much as 10% of your water bill.

And that’s just the beginning of the problem. Sinks aren’t designed for a slow, steady drip of water, and a leak can cause all sorts of strange things to happen, especially if your water is hard enough that the drip starts leaving mineral stains and buildup where it’s flowing. This can leave you with a difficult mess to clean up, damaged sealants, or even damage that warrants a sink replacement.

Finally, those homeowners mindful of the environment should know that when totaled, household leaks can reach staggering numbers, wasting thousands upon thousands of gallons of water over the course of a year, enough to fill a bath hundreds of times.

Trust Len The Plumber for Faucet Leaks

When you discover a faucet leak in your home, make sure you have it repaired immediately – before it develops into a headache you don’t need to have. Reach out to the team at Len The Plumber, and rest easy knowing that we won’t just fix your leak; we’ll figure out why it happened and fix the root of the problem.

So, when your leaky faucet needs repair or replacement, contact the professionals at Len The Plumber. To learn more or schedule an appointment, give us a call at (800) 950-4619.

About Plumbing

7 Reasons Your Home Has Low Water Pressure

shower head spraying water

Has your water pressure dipped making your showers less enjoyable or your bathtub an ordeal to fill up? You may have water pressure issues. Here are 7 reasons why your water pressure might be low and what to do about it.

Take a look at your home’s main shut-off valve. You can find it where the main water pipe enters the home. If the wheel is not twisted all the way open or if the level handle is not parallel to the pipe, that can limit the flow of the water.Check that your water softener is working properly. An improperly functioning water softener can cause a sudden change or decrease in water pressure. Servicing your water softener likely requires a professional technician.Low pressure at a singular faucet might be caused by a clogged aerator. An aerator is that little screen on the end of the faucet that can sometimes get rusted or clogged by debris. You can easily unscrew the screen from the faucet, clean it and reattach it.A build-up of minerals and other sediment in your home’s plumbing can cause a reduction in water flow in older homes. Improving water flow within your home’s plumbing system could require the replacement of corroded or blocked plumbing. This is the job of a licensed plumber.A faulty pressure regulator could be to blame for your low water pressure. This regulator acts as a control for the water pressure coming from your service line into your home. A defective regulator can affect the water pressure throughout the home at the same time. A licensed plumber can determine if your regulator is to blame and can fix it safely.A cracked or leaking pipe within your walls or under the foundation of your home could be the culprit behind a drop in water pressure. A professional can find the leak and repair it before it becomes a major issue.Sediment build-up in your hot water heater can create a water pressure slowdown. Routine maintenance of your water heater by a professional to make sure all components are functioning properly can help cure your home’s low water pressure issues.

If you are unhappy with the low water pressure in your home, Len The Plumber can help. We offer water booster pump installation in your home to solve that low flow issue. Our professionals can help determine if your low water pressure is caused by an issue in your home or if your home could benefit from a water booster pump. Call us today for a pressure-free appointment!

Did you miss our previous article…
https://agapeplumbing.net/?p=189

About Plumbing

All About Video Pipe Inspections

When we’re talking about plumbing services in Sun City, AZ, we often get questions surrounding video pipe inspections. This is quite the conversation starter for many homeowners because it’s new technology to many. We understand how this process can be intriguing and we have the right experts to help you learn all about these services.

If you need a great video pipe inspection this fall or winter, we’re the team who can help you with it. We know that your plumbing system as a whole is sort of out of sight and out of mind. In addition to this, there are many areas of your plumbing system that are especially remote and difficult to access if you need repair work. Video pipe inspections get through lots of inaccessibility problems and help eliminate guesswork. 

Understanding the Basics of a Video Pipe Inspection

First things first, let’s start with the basics of a video pipe inspection. It’s really just what it sounds like. Video pipe inspections involve placing a small video camera inside your plumbing system. The camera is mounted on the end of a base that can be manipulated from the video screen. One of our technicians can move the screen around to see what’s going on inside your pipe. 

The technology that backs video pipe inspections is great for things like:

  • Damage to seals
  • Issues with pipe joins
  • Cracks
  • Breaks
  • Clogs
  • Tree roots that have grown into the pipe and caused damage

If you need plumbing care, our professionals want to be by your side to handle everything that’s going on. We’re prepared to help you with what you need.

The Benefits of a Video Pipe Inspection

Here are a few of the benefits of a video pipe inspection for your home:

Everything Is Accessible

This is a perk that we touched upon above. When you get a video pipe inspection for your home, suddenly everything becomes accessible to you. You can get around even in the remote areas of your pipes and drains so that these things can be visually inspected. If you want to make sure that everything is accessible to you so that things can be properly taken care of, then this is probably the service you need.

Less Time Spent During Service Calls

We know that we have some of the most knowledgeable and friendly professionals in the area, but we’re sure that you don’t always want a service professional working in your home. It’s not always the most convenient or comfortable thing that you can have going on it your home. Video pipe inspections can help your technician see and get right to the root of the issue. This means less time spent on service calls. 

Efficiency and Precision

Video pipe inspections are both efficient and precise. There’s no amount of guesswork that happens here because your technician can see everything that’s going on within your pipe. This service is worthwhile. Make sure that you have a qualified technician perform the work for you.

Contact The Trusted Plumber for the plumbing services you’re looking for this fall and winter.

About Plumbing

Len The Plumber Celebrates First Graduating Class of LTP Academy

Baltimore, MD (August 11, 2021) – Len The Plumber, LLC, a Mid-Atlantic-based plumbing company, celebrated the graduation of its first class in the recently established Len The Plumber Academy (LTP Academy). LTP Academy houses the company’s Apprenticeship Program, which focuses on developing driven and capable individuals who are passionate about a career in plumbing and who want to become industry leaders. Len The Plumber’s vision merges the desire to restore honor and tradition to the trade while providing individuals with no plumbing experience a path to career success.

On August 3, 2021, the first five students of LTP Academy graduated from the Apprenticeship Program after successfully completing all required curriculum. LTP Academy curriculum is composed of lab, e-learning, and in-field training, with a goal of instilling the confidence and leadership necessary for plumbers to work independently in the field after graduation.

Led by Program Director and Master Plumber Michael Vettas, LTP Academy offers an environment where students can train and grow professionally. Training areas are outfitted with complete plumbing system simulations for Apprentices to practice and hone their technical skills while being mentored by Master Plumbers. In addition, they are coached on the soft skills needed to deliver the 5-star customer service that is at the core of what Len The Plumber exemplifies.

“A career in the trades is something to be proud of, and LTP Academy is designed to be a beacon in the community of what is possible with a career in the plumbing field. We are extremely proud of our graduates and excited to see them thrive in their careers with our company,” says LTP Academy Program Director Michael Vettas.

About Us

Len The Plumber is a locally operated Mid-Atlantic plumbing company with over 25 years of experience in residential and commercial plumbing inspection, installation, and repair services. The company prides itself on upfront estimates and same-day service from an army of experienced plumbing professionals. More information is available on the company website.

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Brown, Director of Marketing

Phone: 410.247.9970

Email: [email protected]

 








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About Plumbing

“What’s Up With My Water Heater?”

tankless water heater
The water heater is typically the unsung hero of every single home. Your water heater accounts for almost 17% of your home’s energy usage. Let that statistic sink in—it works harder than every other appliance in your home combined. If you want to have an efficient home and you’re trying to find one point to improve, then you should start with your water heater.

We’re experts when it comes to everything related to water heaters in Avondale, AZ. Make sure that you come to our professionals for the services you need. We’re going to help you figure out what’s up with your water heater today.

What’s Going On?

Let’s get to the bottom of your issue. Here’s what might be going on with your home’s water heater:

Rust-Colored Water

Have you noticed that the color of your water is just … a little off? Your water should always be completely clear. If you notice that it’s tinged red, orange, yellow, or any other color, then you should get in touch with a professional as soon as possible.

What’s likely happening is that your water heater is rusting and flaking off on the inside. If this is the case, then you’ll notice that your water is tinged.

Lukewarm Water

If your water heater is struggling to perform, then you might notice that you’re getting lukewarm water from the taps. The hot water that you receive from your freshwater system should always be consistent. If it isn’t, then you’re going to need to take a closer look at your home’s water heater. We’ll help you get to the bottom of any issues that you’re experiencing.

Scalding Water

You might be having the opposite problem with your home’s water—it could be too hot. To anyone not experiencing this problem, they might be asking themselves how you can have too much of a good thing. If you’re experiencing this, though, then you know that extremely hot water can be both dangerous and painful. We’re prepared to help you get it under control in no time.

Foul Odors

Your water just smells … a little funky. What you might notice is a rotten egg smell. This smell occurs because your home’s water heater is full of sediment with bacteria. As the bacteria sits around and decomposes, you’ll start to notice the smell.

Odd Sounds

The two odd sounds that you might hear coming from your water heater are rattling and rumbling. You’re going to hear this when a layer of sediment forms on the bottom of your tank. This happens because there’s a natural amount of sediment in your water. Some of it settles and then hardens over time and the sounds you hear are the water attempting to break through this layer.

Leaks

Have you noticed leaks coming from your water heater? You might hear a sizzling sound coming from your water heater cabinet if this is the case. These leaks are a problem because they greatly reduce your water heater’s capacity.

Contact The Trusted Plumber for your water heater services in Avondale, AZ.

Did you miss our previous article…
https://agapeplumbing.net/?p=50