Your home · 10 guides
Plumbing: problems and fixes, explained by Thomas
Thomas Rhodes is the only plumbing member of BNI Preston Center. These guides are written for a Dallas–Fort Worth reader who has the problem right now: what is happening, what to check, when to call, and what it costs.
- What it really costs to replace a water heater, and the choices that move the price There is no single price for a new water heater. The number follows a handful of decisions and site conditions, and once you know them you can read any quote with confidence. The honest answer: five things set the numberFirst question: does it need replacing at all?Planned or emergency: the hidden cost of waitingThe choices that move the price most
- Warm spots, a moving meter, a rising bill: how to tell if you have a slab leak A slab leak hides under the foundation, but it leaves clues. Here is how to read them, how to confirm a leak with your water meter, and what the repair options look like. The quick way to tellThe clues inside the houseThe meter test that settles the questionRule out the ordinary leaks first
- Tankless or tank: how to pick the water heater that fits the way your house uses water Neither type is better for every house. The right choice follows how many people shower at once, what fuel you have, where the heater goes and how long you plan to stay. Which one I recommend, and why it dependsHow a tank and a tankless heater actually differWhere tankless clearly comes out aheadWhere a tank is still the sensible choice
- Repiping a house: what happens, in what order, and how long your water is off A repipe sounds like a gutting. In practice it is a planned sequence: inspect, choose the material, route new lines, switch over, test and patch. Here is each step and what decides how long it takes. The short version of a repipeSigns the house is ready for new pipeRepair or repipe: how to decidePEX or copper
- Flushable wipes, hot water and grease, and other plumbing myths that end in a repair bill Most of the expensive plumbing calls I see started with something that sounded reasonable. Here are the myths and habits behind them, and what to do instead. The myths behind most avoidable repairsMyth: if the package says flushable, it is safe to flushMyth: hot water and dish soap carry grease awayMyth: a bottle of drain opener is the fix
- Clearing a clogged drain yourself, and the signs it is time to stop Most single clogs are a job for a plunger and twenty minutes. A few are a warning about the main line. Here is how to handle the first kind and recognize the second. Yes, often, and here is where the line isFirst, figure out which kind of clog you haveWhat works on a single clogged fixtureThings I would never pour or push down a drain
- Choosing a plumber: the questions that separate a good one from a costly one A good plumber is easy to recognize once you know what to ask. Here are the license checks, phone questions and red flags I would use if I were hiring one myself. What a good plumber does that a bad one does notStart with the license, and look it up yourselfInsurance, paperwork and what to keepQuestions worth asking on the first phone call
- A once-a-year plumbing checkup: what to look at so small problems stay small Most big plumbing repairs give a warning a year or two ahead. An hour or two of checking once a year catches the warning while the fix is still small. The yearly list in one paragraphWater heater: flush, temperature and the parts around itEvery shutoff valve should actually shut offTwo ten-minute leak tests
- A hard freeze is in the forecast: how to keep your pipes from bursting in North Texas North Texas homes are built for heat, so a hard freeze finds every exposed pipe. Here is the routine that keeps the water inside the pipes, and what to do if one freezes anyway. What to do before the temperature dropsWhy pipes burst, and which ones go firstThe day-before checklistFinding the shutoff valve before you need it
- Drains backing up again in an older Dallas home: what a failing cast iron sewer line means If the plumber has snaked the same line twice this year, the drain is not the problem. Here is what is happening under the slab and what your real options are. The pattern that tells me it is the sewer line, not the drainWhy cast iron under a slab fails the way it doesWhat you can check before anyone comes outWhen waiting is reasonable, and when it is not