5 Bad Habits that Damage Plumbing

Damage Plumbing

Whether you nibble at your nails, chomp on gum, or slouch excessively, we all have bad habits that we’d like to ditch. While you may notice your bad habits and try to improve, you may not recognize the bad habits that are adversely affecting your home’s plumbing. Isolate and kick these bad plumbing habits and you’ll preserve both your pipes and your budget. Here are five bad habits that damage plumbing.

Neglecting Plumbing Maintenance

You’ve heard a steady drip, drip, drip coming from your bathroom sink for several weeks now, but you can handle it, right? It’s only a minor annoyance, isn’t it? You may be concerned with paying a plumbing technician to repair what appears to be a tiny leak, but it’s always best to fix it sooner rather than later so your water bill isn’t affected. It doesn’t take long for a non-stop drip to add up.

In addition to repairing leaks, our plumbing technicians can also clear clogs, check your water pressure, and clean your drains. Call and schedule an appointment with one of our plumbing technicians if you identify any issues with your plumbing.

Abusing Your Garbage Disposal

Few of us enjoy washing the dishes, and it can be tempting to speed up the process by dumping everything possible down the drain. After all, the garbage disposal will just take care of it, won’t it? No, it won’t. Your garbage disposal may be helpful at breaking up many types of waste, but it isn’t invincible. If you’re throwing fibrous materials, expandable foods (like rice), potato peels, eggshells, bones, fruit pits, or non-food items down your drain, you’re likely not only damaging the actual garbage disposal, but also the connected pipes.

Save your garbage disposal by tossing these materials into a nearby garbage can.

Letting Hair Down Your Drains

Maybe you shave over your sink or let strands of hair wash down the shower drain. It can be easy to let hair go down the drain without a second thought. These strands of hair may seem inconsequential, but they can cling to soap scum and other materials in your drains, leading to clogs that can further damage your pipes. Instead of letting that hair flow free, trap strands in mesh drain screens that you can place in your sink and over your shower drain.

Overusing Chemical Drain Cleaner

You’re tired of water draining slowly from your bathroom sink every time you try to wash your hands, so you dump chemical drain cleaner into the sink. Problem solved, right? Not quite. While that drain cleaner may be effective at clearing those small clogs, but they often cause more damage than you may think. Those powerful chemicals not only eat through clogs, but they also eat through your pipes. If you have a septic tank, then those chemicals can also harm the waste-eating bacteria living in your tank. That harm can result in sewage backup, and no one wants that.

Instead of overusing drain cleaner, use pipe-clearing tools or call on your plumbing technician to remove clogs. You can also mitigate the chances of your pipes clogging by being more careful about what you allow down the drain.

Using Your Toilet as a Trash Can

As with your garbage disposal, it can be easy to toss waste into your toilet but also as with your disposal, this isn’t a good idea. Some homeowners flush feminine hygiene products, wipes, kitty litter, paper towels, cotton swabs, and other garbage down the toilet. While toilet paper is made to dissolve in water, these other products won’t do so, even if they are labeled as "flushable." Unless something is biodegradable, then don’t use your toilet as a trash can, or you’ll inevitably damage your pipes.

Bad habits can be difficult to kick, but the first step is always recognizing the problem. Now you’re ready to cut water waste and preserve your pipes. Just don’t forget that there’s professional assistance a call away. To schedule plumbing repairs, call BTAC at 806-589-1014.

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What Customers Love About Us

Trish
Trish
15:24 21 Jan 22
They were very quick to get someone over which I greatly appreciated, however; the technician came and left without... fixing our heater issue. They wanted to charge us the full amount to come back again. I had high hopes with all the great reviews.read more
Shuvo Alam
Shuvo Alam
03:54 09 Aug 21
Good people. Very upright about making things right with no hedging or fussing.
Valri Western
Valri Western
16:05 16 Jul 21
I had a wonderful experience with them! They were on time, professional and fixed my problem with my A/C quickly. I... was very happy with their work!read more
Stacy Reese
Stacy Reese
22:05 08 Jul 21
As always, BTAC was fast & friendly! They got my AC working quickly, and were very courteous. 10/10 recommend!
Griselda Cepeda
Griselda Cepeda
17:31 01 Jul 21
Way much better then the last service that we had didn't even try to fix it and left whit then 15 min..
Lora Field
Lora Field
03:53 26 Jun 21
I found that my water heater was leaking on Friday night about 7:00 pm. I called BTAC, and Jeremy, the on call plumber,... called me back and headed to my house as soon as he finished the call he was on. He was so kind and professional and replaced my water heater right away, making sure I was up and running before he left. He did a great job and even cleaned up after himself. I was so grateful.read more
Ponciano Flores
Ponciano Flores
15:28 24 Jun 21
Jeff the customer service manager took time out to address my concerns and to make things right he understood the... frustration wanted to make things right. Joe the service manager was dispatced and knew how to fix it and was just overall Amazing.read more
Kristie Pedroza
Kristie Pedroza
15:32 16 Jun 21
They are fast, friendly, explained what they did and gave helpful suggestions to maintain our system.
David Benitez
David Benitez
15:27 14 Jun 21
Frank was the best plumber I’ve ever used. I will continue to use BTAC for all my needs. He fixed my water heater and I... also have an air conditioner not working. So I had BTAC check my A/C Joe came out and was done in no time. BTAC got be back up and running in no time.read more
Adam Villarreal
Adam Villarreal
05:33 14 Jun 21
Its a great place awesome customer service an some of the best work done
Debra Haney
Debra Haney
16:54 11 Jun 21
John and Stone were awesome. They found and fixed the problem within minutes
Navil M
Navil M
21:26 08 Jun 21
Highly recommend giving them a call. They got me in right away and the tech David was very helpful. Will definitely be... using them again in the future.read more
Brenda Melbern
Brenda Melbern
17:50 08 Jun 21
My A/C wasn't cooling like it should and the unit wouldn't cycle. I have used BTAC for several years now and would... highly recommend them They have done both A/C and Plumbing for me. David was here today and did a great job! So far, everyone that has been to my house knew what they were doing and got the job done.read more
Ray Munoz
Ray Munoz
23:34 01 Mar 21
Installation was quick and very professional. Service calls are very expensive to say the least, but always fast... response for issues.read more
Nsncy Alvarado
Nsncy Alvarado
00:11 01 Jan 21
Shower faucets working good. Had some faucet tubing replaced and faucet accessories also. I am pleased with Raul and... Sisco. Thanks BTACread more
John W
John W
14:52 31 Dec 20
Very efficient and capable. They are very pro customer service. All projects were performed when scheduled and cleanup... was excellent. I will use BTAC again.read more
Christy Jordan
Christy Jordan
22:05 22 Dec 20
Raul M. and his associate Cisco were called to address a drain line clog. They were very attentive and addressed all of... mine and my grandmother's concerns. Additionally, we made the call and they were on their way out here within the hour. Between the customer service and ability to make repairs, we are highly satisfied. Kudos to BTAC on your company as a whole!read more
Cathy Morton
Cathy Morton
01:07 07 Nov 20
We cannot thank Frank and his crew enough for taking care of us today. We had been without gas for 6 days waiting to... have a new line installed. We talked to Frank yesterday and they were here at 8:30 this morning. They were available all day until the line was installed, City code officer was here and Atmos turned the gas back on. Then Frank made sure all was working well. We certainly will recommend BTAC to all we know! Thank you!read more
Douglas Mires
Douglas Mires
21:29 14 Oct 20
Prompt, clean, efficient, friendly and kept me informed on what he was doing.
S. Wayne Osborne
S. Wayne Osborne
19:32 08 Oct 20
BTAC installed a mini split heat/ac system in my workshop. I am initially very pleased with their sales and... installation, and the system they installed. The Daitec system is built in Houston so it is a made in USA product. It was expensive but should prove to be worth the price.read more
Angela Dixon
Angela Dixon
15:59 09 Sep 20
Confused how this company has so many stars and yet, we have had nothing issues. Salesman came out and told us how to... fix our issues. Suggested some changes in duct work would improve the flow of air to far bedroom and the whole house. His words were "it will feel like a meat locker". That never happened. (But come on, we live in Texas, "meat locker" was a little extreme and our exceptions weren't that high!! We at lest wanted the house to stay at 70 unlike 75-80+.) We also knew the unit was old and we expected to replace the whole unit. He said we didn't need one and doing the duct work would be enough to improve the cold air.After the work was done, we realized NO air was flowing in one of our sons room. The room was RIGHT by the ac unit. Had to call them and wait 3 plus days, for them to attach the air duct to his room. (because they didn't do it the first time, even AFTER walking through the house to double check everything). They had to come adjust/fix things three times. They put the wrong size return, realized they needed to add another vent, and so on...Needless to say NOTHING has changed expect the $3,000ish dollars missing from our account. House was still as hot as it was before they came. To be clear, money wasn't an issue. We wanted it cool in the house.Called another a/c place to see what they would say. Wanted to know if we were expecting something impossible...or what other suggestions they had because we were getting nowhere with BTAC. The other company gave us several suggestions and change a few things and that improved the air instantly.Contacted Bruce Thornton after speaking with the other company, to let them know what was said to us, to give them the opportunity to fix mistakes, give suggestions, or anything. We expected more pride in their work. Not for them to view us complaining because we wanted a discount on the bill. Which was not the case.It makes me sad that we wasted money that changed nothing. We should have got a second opinion, or maybe done more research before we gave them the go ahead. We were disappointed they weren't willing to fix mistakes and or even give more options to fix the a/c. It felt like they got their money and they were done with us. We were willing to pay for a new a/c unit, but were told we didn't need one, we needed to get the duct work changed. That is why it is even more upsetting, because we were going to give them more business, but because of this, we moved to another company.It is always good to get a second opinion. That is the lesson we learned through all this.read more
adam castro
adam castro
14:47 05 Aug 20
Great Customer Service from start to finish. From getting pre approved by Brian which he was great and helpful in... making the process smooth he took care of me throughout. Then on the day of installation showed up 20 minutes early which was a plus. The gentleman that did the installation were fantastic and knowledgeable and helpful and very friendly. Ivan, Michael, Esai, and Gabriel were great. Ivan was awesome he worked very hard and got the job done. They were all great thanks for everything! I highly recommend them!read more
Jen S
Jen S
16:39 24 Jun 20
6/24/2020I had a sales person come out and he was friendly professional and knew what he was talking about.This... company is great they were one of the only companies to come and help with a new ac.read more
Lana Lane
Lana Lane
14:49 26 May 20
BTAC has been professional, informative and has taken care of all our chiller issues. Joe and Louis are the Best!!
Erin W
Erin W
16:52 18 May 20
Louis was so helpful and got our air back up and running in no time. When I asked about a special system tune up for... nurses they did that and didn’t charge me anything!!!! We will certainly call you again!!!! Thank you so much!read more
Leah Beikmann
Leah Beikmann
23:42 04 May 20
Just wow!!! I work at the hospital and they came out and did a free evaluation of my AC unit, inside and out. We had... been told before by other companies that the whole unit needed replacing but a great technician from Bruce Thornton AC told us we just needed to replace the capacitor! $130 instead of 5k! So worth having them out here to take a look. The technician also rewired something in my AC unit inside (sorry I don’t know technical words for AC units lol) that makes it turn on faster (a couple seconds versus a few minutes). I was very grateful for the very professional service I received, both on the phone with the lady who I made my appointment with, and the technician who really saved me a buck! They didn’t try to up sell me on something I didn’t need, they just let me know what I needed to keep my AC running. I highly recommend using them for your AC needs especially with summer coming up!read more
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