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Preventing Laundry Room Floods

Comfort Zone - Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning Blog

McMahon Plumbing + Heating Blog

The laundry room, which can be located in such areas as the basement, the main floor of your Boston home, or even up in the attic, can be a place where a flood can occur. When a laundry room flood occurs, the damage can be extensive and expensive. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to prevent flooding of your laundry room.

To determine if you have a plumbing issue that could result in a laundry room flood, check to see if the floors and walls around the laundry room sink are damp. Check the joints in the pipe connections to see if they are loose. If they are, you can tighten them yourself. Also, check to see if there are tiny holes or cracks in a pipe. If there is a small hole that can cause a leak, you can wrap the pipe in rubber hose and attach clamps at the top, bottom, and at the source of the leak. There is also plumber’s epoxy you can purchase which is effective at sealing small holes and cracks causing leaks.

Clogs are another cause of a laundry room flood as they can cause the floor drain line or sink drain line to backup. Causes of a clog can include: hair, soap, and lint which can accumulate in the line and eventually cause it to clog. To determine if you have a clogged drain, you can turn off the water, remove the u-shaped pipe, and try to locate the clog. You will also have to examine each side of the straight ends of the pipe to see if there is a clog. Once you have located and removed the clog, put the pipes back in place, turn the water on, and run water through to see if the water flow has returned to normal.

Burst pipes are also a cause of flooding. Burst pipes are often due to old worn pipes or frozen pipes. It is important to have your Boston plumber restore old and damaged pipes. To prevent frozen pipes, you should wrap the pipes in insulation wrap. Other times, a flood can be caused by worn parts such as a worn hose connection. If you have old, cheap, or worn connections, you should get them replaced. If your water hose bursts, it will flood the room with hundreds of gallons of water. You should consider installing a shut off valve to prevent such a disaster. As well, installing a floor drain can stop flooding of the room. Hiring a Boston plumber to install a washer tray under your washing machine will help collect water if a leak develops.

When implementing measures to prevent flooding of the laundry room, it is a good idea to have a Boston plumber inspect the plumbing system, appliances that use water, and plumbing fixtures, to check for damage and old and worn components. An examination and repair of high risk parts and appliances will go a long way in preventing flooding of the laundry room. It will prevent a lot of damage and save you a lot of money. When it comes to laundry room flooding, prevention is the solution.

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