Remodeling your kitchen or bathroom can do a lot of things for you. From a financial point of view, this is a good way to add even more value to your property, as a modernized home obviously fetches a higher price if you decide to put it on the market.

More importantly, taking the time to remodel these rooms means you finally get a chance to have the kitchen or bathroom experience you want, tailor-made just for your exact preferences.

Here are a few ideas we’d suggest you keep in mind to ensure a higher chance of a successful remodeling experience.

Be Specific with Your Room Goals

Because of how substantial an investment a remodeling is, you want to make sure that the money you spend is not wasted.

If you can have a bathroom done exactly the way you’d like, do you know what would be in that bathroom?

Do you prefer to have long, relaxing baths where you can read and listen to music?

Do you want that invigorating shower with a raindrop shower instead?

Take some time to think about what you’ve always wanted out of a room like a kitchen or a bathroom so that you can get what you want when it’s time to remodel.

Now is your chance to be bold about your needs because this is your house. Budget accordingly, and make it just for you.

Take the Opportunity to Upgrade the Plumbing

The first thing you’re likely to think about are the fixtures for a remodeling, like a new sink, bathtub, or shower stall.

But this is your chance to improve your home in an area that really counts in the long term; the plumbing.

If you’re moving into an older home, especially one that’s over 50 years old, or even closer to 100, then it may have plumbing that is still working but is long past being acceptable for modern building code.

There may be lead in the pipes that bring water to taps, which can impact the health of people that drink or cook with the water.

Iron sewage pipes may have corroded over the decades and might require a replacement with modern materials like PVC.

Now is the chance to do this right.

Be Careful With Your Selection Process

Your biggest concern should be hiring the right people to actually do the job in your home.

When you people you trust to make recommendations, that’s always a safe way to go.

The Internet also provides a lot of excellent research resources if you’re looking for other alternatives.

Make sure to not just look up the website of a potential business, look at their credentials and, most importantly, read up on user reviews and customer testimonials.

If they’re really a trustworthy company, they’ll have the happy customers to prove it.

What are Some Reasons for Stinky Drains and Smelly Water?

If you are noticing some unpleasant odors appearing in your bathrooms, kitchen sink or in your basement, you may be wondering what you can do about them.

If these odors are coming from any of your plumbing fixtures, drains or from your water itself, you can probably limit the cause to the following:

Uncovering the Cause of Stinky Drains: The P-Trap

If your plumbing has been done to code, each and every sink should have a P-trap installed on the piping.

It’s the curved piece shaped like a “P”, so appropriately named the “P-trap”.

The P-trap pools water within it to keep smelly sewer gases from entering your home.

If you haven’t used the sink in a while and you notice a smell, the trap may have dried out.

Alternatively, the seal around the P-trap may have broken, which would dry it out as well.

Check out the seal and repair it if necessary. Run the sink and see if that alleviates the smell. This is common in basement (or less frequently used) bathrooms.

Sewer Line to Blame

If the smell is more on the musty side and is accompanied by low water pressure and an increase in your water bill, the culprit is probably a compromised sewer line. It is likely damaged and unable to carry wastewater effectively away from your home.

It’s important that you get this attended to right away, because the sewer line is in danger of rupturing, which can put your home at risk for costly flooding.

Address the Ventilation

If you’ve got something blocking your pipes, air will not be able to flow freely, which means that smelly sewer gases will have nowhere to go but back into your home.

Blockages can occur from bird or rodent nests, tree roots or other matter. A strong drain cleaning will eliminate that problem.

Something else that will cause a bad smell to come from your pipes is if you have food waste decomposing.

Clean it naturally with some baking soda and vinegar. Flush it liberally with hot water.

It Could be the Water Heater

Does your smelly water smell like rotten eggs? It’s almost certainly the water heater. Because your water heater is moist and warm, it provides a supportive environment for bacteria to grow.

When that bacteria encounters the magnesium and sulfides produced by the anode rod in your tank, the smelly sulfuric gas is produced.

The anode rod is in your tank to prevent it from rusting. If you have smelly water, you should replace it. You may want to consider replacing it with an aluminum one.

Expert Methods for Going Green

If you are an eco-conscious consumer, then you are getting ready for April 22 and this year’s Earth Day. Being an expert is easy with sites like TheDailyGreen.com, iSustainableEarth.com, and other green informational sites that help you choose new products, ways of cutting costs in the home, and always helping the planet. As we become more carbon footprint cautious, here are some expert methods for going Green this year.

Eco-Friendly Plumbing Fixtures

Changing your plumbing fixtures is key. High usage and wear and tear on faucets and showerheads and even toilets can impact the amount of water we waste. Motion sensor faucets and low flow water flushing toilets are a keen and green way to upgrade your home.

Do this test: In your shower, put a 1-gallon bucket under the running water, and time it to see how long it takes for it to fill up. If it's less than 20 seconds, replace the showerhead with one that sprays 1.5 gallons per minute.

That could save as much as 14,600 gallons of water a year—especially if you limit your showers to 10 minutes. It will also save you $22 on your annual water bill, and $150 per year on water heating.

Water Filtration Systems Instead of Bottled Water

Tackle the plastic bottle landfill problem by installing a water filtration and purification system instead of buying bottled water.

Reducing waste by using a reusable water bottle infused with your own healthy water is one way to go green and not just on Earth Day, but every single day.

New technology trends also make it possible to filter and process your own sparkling water beverages. Make your mark on the planet by installing your own home water system, and be a part of the expert green community.

 

Tankless Water Heaters

If you’re wondering if tankless water heaters are really green, it’s an easy answer. You’re using less hot water because it is ‘on demand’, and not resting in a conventional water heater waiting. Instead of having to limit your shower time, look into tankless water heater.

Even though they are more expensive, tankless are also more compact, and have no ‘standby’ water losses because it generates hot water only as it is needed. Also, the tankless system heats up much more quickly than a conventional water heater.

Solve your Earth Day questions and call Bud’s Plumbing & Repair in Evansville, IN at (812)-618-9638 today.

World Water Day 101

The world is experiencing a water crisis and has been for many decades. And to help fight this water crisis, the United Nations created World Water Day back in 1993, and it’s taken place every year since then on March 22.

That means World Water Day is coming up again soon, and we invite you to learn about this important day of observance and to find out what you can do to help fight the water crisis.

World Water Day and the Water Crisis 101

The water crisis, which is also called water scarcity, is a global problem that affects different people in different countries in different ways. In case you're not sure what the water crisis is, here are some statistics that will help explain it:

• A tenth of the world’s population lives without access to clean water
• A third of the world’s population lives without access to a toilet
• A fourth of the world’s population relies on contaminated drinking water that causes deadly diseases
• Half the world’s workers are employed in a field directly tied to water

World Water Day was created to help combat the water crisis, to spread information about water scarcity, to help explain conservation methods, and to draw attention to the causes of the water crisis, including wastewater, which is the theme of this year’s event.

Wastewater 101

The water crisis has many causes, but one of the major contributing factors is the amount of water that’s wasted worldwide from industrial, residential, and agricultural sources. In fact, over 80 percent of the water that humans use flows back into the environment untreated and non recycled, meaning it’s polluted, lacking vital nutrients, and not suitable for consumption.

While much of this underused wastewater comes from industry, cities, and homes are also a large source, which means there are things all of us can be doing to cut down on wastewater. At home, one of the biggest things you can do is to reuse more of your greywater—water from washing, cleaning and cooking—around the house, including in the garden.

Conservation 101

Along with finding suitable uses for greywater around the house, there are also lots of water-saving habits you can adopt that will cut down on the amount of water that’s wasted in the first place. Here are a few ways that your family can help save water:

In the bathroom: Take shorter showers, shut off the water when you're lathering up, turn off the taps when you're brushing your teeth, and flush the toilet less often.

With the plumbing system: Check for leaks regularly, fix leaks you find immediately, upgrade older fixtures with newer water-smart ones, install low-flow toilets, and never ignore a toilet that won’t stop running, as this can waste thousands of gallons of water each day.

In the kitchen: Only run the dishwasher when it’s full, don’t leave the water running when you're washing dishes, and reuse water from boiling to make soups.

Outside: Collect rainwater to use in the garden, use a waterless cleaner to wash the car, and consider re-planning your garden to include more xeriscaping techniques.

In the laundry room: Only run the washing machine when it’s full, or adjust the water level setting to match the load size.

The water crisis is a major global problem, and Bud's Plumbing & Repair Service is happy to be doing our part this year and to be telling all our valued customers in and around Evansville, IN about how to take part in this day of action. To discuss other water-saving habits your house can adopt, or to address a plumbing leak that needs to be addressed, call us today at 812-618-9638.

Which Way Does Your Toilet Bowl Swirl?

Sometimes it’s the little things that make us wonder how they came to be that way… Do you know which direction your toilet bowl swirls? Take the video quiz below to find out! You may be surprised to see what you find.