Promoting Healthy Air at Home

It may sound funny, but have you ever given much thought to the air you breathe while you are at home? Obviously, living with second hand smoke can be an issue but there are other hazards to be concerned with as well. In a cold, wet place like the Northeast, you have probably seen your fair share of mold. Mold is a dangerous thing to have around as it can be unhealthy to inhale, especially for young children, elderly adults and people living with asthma.

It is important to first and foremost, keep your home well ventilated. Keep a steady flow of fresh air moving through your home. Install fans in the kitchen and bathrooms of your home and make sure to use them. Mold can grow on wood, paper, carpet, foods, and insulation. When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth will often occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or unaddressed. It can come from plumbing leaks, rain or groundwater buildup. If you have any leaks or any excessive buildup of moisture, make sure to address those issues right away. Wet drywall needs to be replaced immediately or dried out using professional fans.

Any emergency plumbing issues that may come up, make sure to call us right away to prevent the buildup of unhealthy mold in your home. Mold can buildup fast and grow rapidly. You must keep it under control.

Protect Your Home Against Wintertime Plumbing Problems

So living in the Northeast, we know about plumbing problems in the wintertime. It’s old news to us. If you are planning on taking a trip sometime this winter, here is a little advice for preparing your home in case of a storm.

Pipes and radiators break if a single night power failure occurs and no one is there to remedy it, such as you being out of town. Your best bet is to turn off your heating system and shut off the water supply to your home from the source. Find the meter, which is usually in the basement of your home. Next, you should drain the entire system and leave all faucets open. Drain the toilet bowl tanks and add a couple cups of RV or marine anti-freeze into the bowl and the tank. You can find anti-freeze in the most general stores in either the sporting goods section or automotive section. You should also turn off and drain the hot water as well.

If you have any external plumbing, consider wrapping it in something to insulate it from the elements. Any garden hoses? Drain them and disconnect them. With a little preparation and the use of anti-freeze, your home should be good while you’re gone on your winter vacation. Of course if you come home and something is not working properly, it is best to call a plumbing professional right away.

Stopping a Flood Before it Destroys Your Home

It can be a scary thing when a pipe breaks and your home starts to flood. Immediately you might panic, as water starts gushing everywhere. You need to be prepared for when this happens. Especially now, during the winter, because before long any frozen pipes will begin to thaw. And if they have a crack in them, you’ll know soon enough what we mean by this. Sam Mechanical offers emergency plumbing repair services, however we want you to know what to do to stop the flood before we get there. What you should do right now, is take a moment to locate all the shut off valves in your home. That way when there is a leak, you can stop the water at it’s source before it destroys anything.

• Whole house shutoff:

For a home served by a well, the shutoff will be on the house side of the pressure tank. What you should also do is cut power to the tank so it doesn't detect a phantom pressure loss and burn out trying to compensate. If your home has metered water, look for the shutoff on either side of the water meter.

• Whole house hot water shutoff:

There should be a valve on your hot water heater to turn off the water. If there is not, call a professional to install one.

• Toilet shutoff:

There should be a ribbed oval handle under the toilet tank.

• Sink shutoffs:

These should be directly underneath the sink, with one for hot and one for cold water. In the case of any leaks, shut both of them off.

• Dishwasher shutoff:

This is usually located under the sink. Look for a valve leading from the dishwasher. If it is not there and you have a basement, look between the ceiling joists, just beneath the appliance.

• Clothes washer shutoff:

There should be valves where the house-supply lines meet the washer hoses.

As with any pipe leak or plumbing emergency, it is best to call a professional right away. At Sam Mechanical we have over 15 years experience and are here to come to your rescue immediately.

Go Green or Go Home

No, we don’t mean that you should really go take a hike if you don’t support the green movement, we just want to stress the point that green, energy-efficient appliances, are the direction in which the home improvement industry is moving. New heating installation of an energy efficient product is a great place to start. You may even qualify for a federal tax credit for installing an energy efficient system into your home.

In 2010 you were able to take up to 30% of the cost, up to $1,500 max, as tax credits for an eligible heating and cooling system. However, you had to have these appliances installed by the end of last year, 2010, to qualify. If you didn’t get to this by the end of the year, the government has issued a suite of less-generous but still useful energy tax credits for heating and cooling systems and related energy-efficient improvements.

You can get a lifetime credit max of 10% of cost, up to $500 for all energy improvements combined. If you do install a new energy efficient heating and cooling system, make sure to save manufacturer certifications and receipts in case you need them for filing. You must also complete these renovations by December 31^st, 2011. If you decide that you’d like to jump on the energy-efficient bandwagon, call us at Sam Mechanical for all your HVAC installation needs!

When Plumbing Goes Bad

We’ve all been there. Busted pipe. Broken toilet. A leak that just won’t stop. Fortunately for you, Sam Mechanical, serving the New York and New Jersey areas, will be there for all your emergency plumbing services. Sam Mechanical is there to offer a full range of residential and commercial plumbing services, and we are more than dedicated to providing professional and affordable service. It’s winter and that brings the possibility of frozen and cracked pipes. Hopefully you are able to keep your home well insulated to prevent that, but if not, we are here for you.

As well, it would be terrible if during these harsh months something happened to your water heater. One possible issue with a broken water heater is sediment buildup. When water heats up in your water heater, this causes calcium carbonate to precipitate out and settle into the bottom of your tank. What results is a sand-like buildup in your tank and in your water supply. Usually this occurs in areas with very hard water. So be sure to flush you water heater often to help prevent this from happening.

If you do encounter any problems with your plumbing this winter, or whenever, trust us at Sam Mechanical to fix it right away.

Winter Weather Means Bursting Pipes

Over at Sam Mechanical, we are all very aware this time of year of the havoc that cold weather can wreak on so many homes throughout the New York area. With snowstorms and freezing temps all across the board, this means big trouble for a lot of homeowners and the need for emergency plumbing services. What exactly are we talking about? Bursting pipes my friends, bursting pipes.

So what happens to cause a pipe to burst? Well, if a temperature inside a house gets below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0° Celsius) it's likely that the water supply pipes and the drain traps will freeze. When water freezes, it expands 9 percent, and if there is no room for expansion it could cause the pipe to develop a crack. When the ice thaws the pipe will leak, and in the supply system this leak could occur anywhere.

Now, not all houses will suffer from this problem so don’t go worrying just yet that this will happen to you. A properly-insulated house, built to current building codes will most likely never experience this problem under normal conditions. So long as the heating system runs properly, the electricity supply stays on, and the furnace fuel supply never runs out, you should probably never develop a crack in your pipes. But sometimes it does happen. And although fixing a burst pipe can be expensive, the damage from uncontrolled water leakage can easily reach into the thousands of dollars. So it’s best when this happens to jump on it right away. At Sam Mechanical we offer emergency plumbing services to help you fix these problems pronto.