Asheville Plumbing Tips For Homeowners

Maintenance matters in Asheville mostly because of winter and the age of the houses. Our water is soft mountain surface water rather than the mineral heavy groundwater most of the South deals with, so scale is less of a concern here while corrosion and freezing are considerably more of one. In a housing stock full of homes from the 1890s through the 1930s, with crawlspaces and basements that were never built with modern insulation in mind, a few seasonal habits prevent the majority of the emergencies we get called out for.

Know Where Your Main Shutoff Is

Every homeowner in Asheville should know exactly where their main water shutoff valve is and confirm it actually turns. In an emergency every second counts. If you cannot locate it or it is corroded and stuck have a plumber address it before you need it. It is one of the simplest and most important things you can do to protect your home.

Watch Your Water Bill Every Month

Watch your Asheville water bill month over month, because it is often the first sign of a leak in a crawlspace or in the run between the meter and the house. Pinhole leaks in copper are common here given how soft and slightly acidic our water is, and they weep slowly enough to go unnoticed for months. On steeper lots the supply line from the meter can be a long run through rocky ground where a break will show up on your bill well before it shows on the surface. If your usage has not changed and the bill climbs anyway, go look under the house before you call it a billing error.

A sudden increase with no change in usage almost always means a hidden leak. Our leak detection service in Asheville finds the source fast before water damage compounds.

Do Not Ignore Slow Drains

Drain habits matter more in Asheville’s older homes because cast iron and clay are far less forgiving than modern PVC. Eighty and ninety year old cast iron stacks have rough scaled interiors that grab anything fibrous or greasy that passes through them. Outside, the mature tulip poplars and oaks these neighborhoods are known for are working into clay lateral joints continuously, so a camera inspection every few years is genuinely worthwhile on an older property. Keeping grease out of the kitchen line and wipes out of the toilet costs nothing and prevents most of the calls we get in the older parts of town.

A slow drain is the earliest warning sign of a blockage building. Clearing it early costs far less than clearing a full backup. Our drain cleaning team serves Asheville and Buncombe County.

Flush Your Water Heater Once a Year

Water heater maintenance in Asheville is less about flushing sediment and more about watching for corrosion, because our soft mountain water builds very little scale but is harder on the anode rod and the tank lining. Checking that anode rod every few years is the single most useful thing you can do for the life of the tank here. Winter is the real test, since incoming water temperature drops sharply and a unit in an unconditioned basement or crawlspace works considerably harder from December through February. Tanks in this market can go well past a decade when the anode is maintained and fail early when it is not.

An annual flush extends tank life and keeps energy costs down. Learn more about water heater maintenance in Asheville.

Never Put Grease Down the Drain

Grease cools and hardens inside your pipes regardless of whether you run hot water with it. Over time it builds up and catches everything else that goes down. Use a container and throw it in the trash instead. This single habit prevents a significant percentage of kitchen drain calls we get in Asheville.

Check Under Sinks Regularly

Under sink leaks in Asheville homes tend to start at fittings that have been in place for decades and never touched. In a 1920s bungalow it is normal to find an angle stop that has not been turned in fifty years, seized solid and quietly weeping at the packing nut. Soft water is gentler on rubber than hard water is, so what you find here is usually corrosion on old brass and steel rather than mineral crust. Check the cabinets a few times a year, particularly on exterior walls where a cold snap can affect the supply lines, and look for green corrosion on brass fittings as much as for actual moisture.

A quick check every few months catches small drips before they become cabinet damage or mold. If you find a leak our pipe repair team in Asheville can fix it fast.

Know When to Call a Pro

The DIY line in Asheville shifts with the age of your house. In newer construction a flapper or a supply line is a reasonable weekend job, but in a home from the 1920s a fitting that has been in place since before your parents were born will often shear off rather than turn, and then you have an emergency instead of a project. Anything in the crawlspace before winter, anything involving remaining galvanized, and anything on the sewer lateral is worth handing to someone who does it daily. In an old house with plaster walls and original floors, a small mistake becomes an expensive restoration very quickly.

Some things are worth attempting yourself — a running toilet flapper, a slow drain you can snake. Anything involving your main line, water heater, or pipe repair behind walls is a job for a licensed plumber. Call PRO Plumbers of Asheville in Asheville any time you are not sure.

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