8 min read
How to Shut Off the Water to Your House (and Where the Valve Hides)
Your main water shutoff is usually on the house side of where the water line enters: in the crawlspace near the foundation, in the garage, in a utility room,…
Read →Reference library
Plumbing resources for Western Washington homeowners
Not a blog. These are the guides we wish every customer had read before the water heater died: how things work, what fails here and why, and how to decide. Updated when the facts change.
Homeowner Guides
9 min read
Plumbing Emergency? What to Do in the First 10 Minutes
In the first ten minutes of a plumbing emergency, stop the water at the nearest valve or the main, kill power to anything electrical that is wet, and move what…
Read →8 min read
How to Find Your Sewer Cleanout (and What to Do If You Don't Have One)
A sewer cleanout is a capped pipe, usually three or four inches across, that gives direct access to your main drain line. Outside, look for a white, black or…
Read →8 min read
What Not to Put Down Your Drains: A Plumber's List
The things that clog drains are rarely exotic. Cooking grease, 'flushable' wipes, coffee grounds, pasta and rice, eggshells, dental floss, hair, kitty litter…
Read →9 min read
How Long Pipes, Fixtures and Appliances Last in a Western Washington Home
In Western Washington, copper supply lines last fifty years or more, PEX is expected to go forty-plus, and galvanized steel is usually done by forty to fifty…
Read →7 min read
How to Use Your Water Meter to Find a Hidden Leak
Turn off every fixture and appliance in the house, then watch the small leak indicator on your water meter: a tiny triangle, star or gear on an analog dial, or…
Read →9 min read
The Pacific Northwest Home Plumbing Maintenance Checklist
Western Washington plumbing has its own calendar. In October, disconnect hoses, insulate exposed pipe and test the sump pump before the rain. Through the wet…
Read →9 min read
When Is a Plumbing Permit Required in Washington State?
In Washington, a plumbing permit is required for installing, replacing or rearranging pipes, fixtures and water heaters, and for installing or relocating gas…
Read →Water Heaters
10 min read
Tank vs. Tankless Water Heaters in Kitsap County: An Honest Comparison
A tank water heater stores forty to eighty gallons of hot water and reheats it around the clock; a tankless heater fires only when a tap opens and heats water…
Read →8 min read
How Long Does a Water Heater Last, and How Do You Know It's Done?
A tank water heater in Western Washington typically lasts eight to twelve years, sometimes fifteen if the anode rod was replaced along the way; a tankless unit…
Read →9 min read
What Size Water Heater Does Your Home Need?
Size a tank water heater by its first-hour rating, not just its gallons: a one-to-two-person home is usually fine with a 40-gallon tank, three to four people…
Read →9 min read
Gas vs. Electric Water Heaters Around Puget Sound
Around Puget Sound the choice is mostly made by what is already in the house. A gas or propane water heater recovers faster, keeps working through the frequent…
Read →8 min read
Tankless Water Heater Maintenance: Why Descaling Matters
A tankless water heater pushes all of its water through narrow passages in a heat exchanger, and the minerals left behind as that water is heated build a layer…
Read →7 min read
Thermal Expansion Tanks Explained: Why Your Water Heater Needs One
Water expands when it is heated, and in a home where a pressure reducing valve, check valve or backflow preventer stops that expansion from pushing back into…
Read →9 min read
Heat Pump Water Heaters in Washington: What Homeowners Should Know
A heat pump water heater is an electric tank with a small refrigeration unit on top that pulls heat out of the surrounding air and moves it into the water,…
Read →Drains & Sewer
8 min read
Hydro Jetting vs. Snaking: Which Does Your Drain Need?
Snaking (cabling) bores a path through a blockage with a spinning steel cable and cutter; hydro jetting scours the entire inside of the pipe with high-pressure…
Read →8 min read
Signs Your Sewer Line Is Failing
A sewer line usually announces its decline before it fails outright: drains that gurgle, more than one fixture backing up at once, sewer smell indoors or in…
Read →8 min read
Why You Should Get a Sewer Scope Before Buying a Home
A sewer scope is a camera inspection of the drain line from the house to the municipal main or septic tank, done during the inspection period of a home…
Read →8 min read
Tree Roots in Sewer Lines: The Pacific Northwest Problem
Tree roots get into sewer lines through leaking joints and cracks, following the moisture and nutrients that seep out, and in the Pacific Northwest's…
Read →9 min read
Cast Iron, Galvanized and Orangeburg: Pipes in Older Puget Sound Homes
Homes built around Puget Sound from the 1940s through the early 1970s commonly have cast iron drain lines, galvanized steel water lines, and sometimes…
Read →8 min read
Who Is Responsible for the Side Sewer in Washington?
In most of Western Washington, the property owner is responsible for the side sewer, the pipe that carries wastewater from the house to the public sewer main,…
Read →8 min read
Septic vs. Sewer in Kitsap County: What a Plumber Handles and What a Septic Company Handles
On a septic property, a plumber handles everything inside the house and the drain line from the house to the septic tank inlet, plus effluent and sewage pumps…
Read →Wells & Water Quality
9 min read
Well Water Basics for Kitsap and Mason County Homeowners
A private well system has four working parts: the well and its submersible pump, the pressure tank and pressure switch that store water and run the pump, the…
Read →8 min read
Pressure Tank Troubleshooting: Short Cycling, Low Pressure and Waterlogged Tanks
A well pressure tank stores water against a cushion of compressed air so the pump runs in long, healthy cycles. When the air charge is lost, the tank waterlogs…
Read →9 min read
Water Filtration Options for Puget Sound Homes
Filtration around Puget Sound splits into two worlds. City water from Bremerton, Port Orchard, Silverdale, Poulsbo, Tacoma and the districts is soft and well…
Read →8 min read
Reverse Osmosis Explained: What It Removes and What It Doesn't
Reverse osmosis pushes water through a membrane so fine that dissolved minerals, metals and most contaminants cannot follow. It removes the large majority of…
Read →8 min read
Is Western Washington Water Hard? What Scale Does to Your Plumbing
Western Washington water is soft to only slightly hard by any national measure. Bremerton's utility, for example, reports its well supply at roughly 3 to 6…
Read →8 min read
Booster Pumps: Fixing Low Water Pressure on Hills and Long Service Lines
A booster pump raises the pressure of water that arrives at the house too weak, whether from a utility main at the bottom of a hill, a long service line from a…
Read →Seasonal
8 min read
Winterizing Your Plumbing in Western Washington
Winterizing plumbing in Western Washington means protecting the handful of spots that fail during our short, sharp cold snaps rather than wrapping the whole…
Read →8 min read
Frozen Pipes: Prevention, Safe Thawing and What Happens After
A frozen pipe is a plumbing problem that becomes a water damage problem the moment it thaws. If a faucet stops flowing in a freeze, shut off the main, open the…
Read →8 min read
Rainy Season Plumbing: Getting Ready for Atmospheric Rivers
An atmospheric river pushes inches of rain onto already saturated ground, and the water table around Puget Sound responds within hours. Getting ready means…
Read →7 min read
Summer Plumbing Checklist: Hose Bibs, Irrigation and Outdoor Water
Summer is when winter's damage shows up and when wells, irrigation and outdoor water get their hardest use. Turn each hose bib on and watch the wall behind it,…
Read →7 min read
Holiday Plumbing: Keeping a Full House From Backing Up
Holiday plumbing problems come from three things at once: double the people, a kitchen running all day, and the coldest weather of the year. The disposal gets…
Read →Buying, Selling & Renting
9 min read
Plumbing Questions to Ask Before Buying a Home in Kitsap County
Before buying a home in Kitsap County, find out what the supply and drain pipes are made of, whether the house is on sewer or septic and the condition of…
Read →8 min read
Pre-Sale Plumbing Fixes That Pay Off
The plumbing fixes that pay off before a sale are the inexpensive ones a buyer's inspector is certain to find: running toilets, dripping faucets, a water…
Read →9 min read
A Landlord's Guide to Rental Property Plumbing
Washington's Residential Landlord-Tenant Act requires landlords to keep plumbing in reasonably good working order and sets repair deadlines once a tenant gives…
Read →Costs & Decisions
7 min read
How Flat-Rate Plumbing Pricing Works (and Why We Use It)
Flat-rate plumbing pricing means you are quoted one price for a defined job before any work starts, and that price does not change based on how long the job…
Read →8 min read
Repair or Replace? Deciding on a Water Heater
Repair a water heater when the failed part is a component (thermostat, element, thermocouple, gas valve, relief valve, anode) and the tank is under about eight…
Read →8 min read
When to Repipe Your House
A house needs a repipe when its supply pipes are failing as a system rather than at one spot: galvanized steel that has rusted shut and leaks at the threads,…
Read →8 min read
How to Choose a Plumber in Washington (and Check Their License)
To choose a plumber in Washington, verify the company on the Department of Labor & Industries "Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business" lookup…
Read →9 min read
Planning the Plumbing for a Bathroom Remodel
The plumbing in a bathroom remodel is decided by three things: whether fixtures stay where they are, what is under the floor, and what valves and drains the…
Read →8 min read
Are Smart Water Shutoff Valves Worth It?
A smart water shutoff valve is worth it for homes that sit empty for stretches, homes with finished space below plumbing, homes on wells or long service lines,…
Read →Need a plumber today?
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