The top three things every homeowner should do in order to ensure their natural gas or electric water heater is working properly.
As temperatures around the Valley are starting to drop making sure a home’s water heater working properly is becoming increasingly more important.
1. Visually inspect the water heater every month. Take note of any new rust spots, water heater problem, discoloration, etc. If the outside of a water heater has visual changes, the interior is changing as well.
2. Check to make sure the water heaters on / off valve is working properly every month. If a homeowner has a small water leak and they go to turn it off and the valve breaks in place it can result in a terrible water leak. It’s best to check the water heater valve regularly and practice turning the valve to avoid problems when you need it.
3. Have the water heater flushed once a year, make sure any and all built up inside is removed annually to prevent water leaks and retain great hot water.
It is always recommended by all water heater manufactures to have a licensed plumber check it yearly and make sure it is working safe and properly. There are many parts inside the water heater along with parts that keep the water heater working safely to protect the home and everyone around it.
Today’s Do It Yourself Project is a Holiday Wreath.. and it happens to be made with plumbing materials! If you’re looking for one of a kind holiday decor or just a fun holiday do it yourself project then this is for you! Most of these things you can either find lying around your house, tucked into holiday decoration boxes in your garage or pick up at the store for under ten dollars. Click HERE for some Christmas music while you CRAFT!
The Square Christmas wreath is assembled out of:
5 – 6 feet of thick garland or 12 feet of cheap, sparse garland (double up the cheap stuff)
66 inches of 1/2 ” plastic plumbing pipe
4, 1/2″ 90° plastic elbows
(The plastic pipe will run you about $5
and the elbows around 50 ¢ each.)
First start with the piping. Cut your plastic pipe to 4 lengths of 16.5 (if you don’t have the tools to do this at home you can have the hardware store cut them for you)
Then insert the pipe into your 4 elbows
After you connect all the pieces you should have a square frame for your wreath.
Next you’ll need your garland. We took the traditional green, but feel free to experiment with glitter garlands or even feather boas if you plan on using it for inside holiday decor in a kids room. You can even skip a step by getting garland that already has lights woven in. (But technically your garland should not have the lights on it at this point so that the lights are easier to replace if broken later on) Next, lay your garland around your frame. Remember you can double up on the garland if needed!
After you lay the garland around the frame, attach it to the plastic frame with wire. Twist ties work best because they’re pre-cut and fairly inexpensive. Do this all around the wreath until all of the garland is secured.
From here, all you have left is to add the lights (if your garland didn’t come with them) and your add on holiday do-dads.
TIP: It’s easier if you hang the wreath up to do this. That way you can see exactly how it’s going to look. You can hang it with an old wreath hanger or pick one up at the dollar store.
NOW you can put your mini lights on. Instead of running them around and around the wreath, lay the lights on top in a zig zag fashion. That way if your lights need to be replaced you can easily remove them.
Once the lights are on you can add in your birch twigs, leaves and pinecones. To attach the pinecones, just hook some wire around the pinecone and then tie it to the wreath.
You can also pick up wreath add ons at your local super store or craft store for a few dollars that already have wire ties attached to them.
The best thing about making your own wreath is you can reposition things if they don’t look good. You can also reuse the base year after year, and just switching out the add ons if you want!
When you’re stressed sometimes water can be the best relief. Whether it’s swimming, hot showers or just a bubble bath.
However, too many of those high-pressure showers and you could end up paying for more than the increase in your water bill.
Water flows throughout your house because of water pressure. Too much pressure and the faucets can actually begin to wear down, leading to leaky valves and dripping faucets.
You may even have this problem in your home now and have thought:
“Well, it’s just a small drip… how much water can a little drip like this really waste?”
And you’re right. A single drip from a single faucet won’t waste much water.
But did you know roughly 3,000 little drips could equal a whole liter of wasted water and about 15,000 of them could equal a gallon?
Sure you’re probably thinking – “Now that’s a lot of drips! There’s no way my little problem could turn into THAT!”
But think about every faucet in your home dripping a little bit all day long. Soon those little drips would add up. Not to mention if you don’t fix the pipes that those drips are dropping from you could soon end up with an unexpected flood from even the smallest of cracks in the piping.
So now maybe you’re wondering…
“Well how do I make sure this doesn’t happen to me?”
The answer to that is simple! Just make sure to check your water pressure on a regular basis! You can learn how to check your pressure by follow these easy steps:
1) Purchase a water pressure test gauge from a local home supply store.
2) Attach the gauge to an outside water faucet and turn it on fully. Then, look for a reading between _____ psi and _____ psi for the Phoenix area, but that range could different depending on where you’re from.
The easiest way to find out what your gauge should be reading is to check with a local plumber, likeBenjamin Franklin Plumbing, or with your town’s local water department.
3) Then check the water pressure inside your house by attaching the gauge to your bathroom shower, kitchen or bathroom sink. You will want to make sure to test the pressure any where water runs to make sure enough water is reaching every faucet and that there are no leaks!
As always please feel free to call your local Benjamin Franklin Plumber at 602-903-1111 with any questions or concerns or to book your next appointment! Remember if there is any delay it’s you we pay!
As we discuss bathroom renovations one of the leading renovations that comes to mind is with the shower or bathtub. However, even though the shower is one of the leading bathroom renovations, it is usually only a simple renovation of the showerhead fixture.
But if you are looking for a new showerhead consider one that gives you options… even if it is just two options between a rainfall or a waterfall
When it comes to renovations, most people are unaware how a shower, bathtub or even the combination of the two can be the definition of your bathroom and just how much you can actually do to renovate it.
First you must decide:
Are you renovating a shower or a bathtub?
If you a renovating a bathtub consider what material you would like to have your tub made out of. With customized homes come more options of a customized bathroom in which homeowners usually have more flexibility with design options.
However, you still have plenty of bathtub options that only vary depending on the size of the room you are fitting the tub in.
Your bathtub has the ability to fully define the room. Whether your bathtub is customized by you, or a designer the options for patterns and material are endless.
Technology has given us the ability to put a modern take on the shower bathtub duo.
But if you are looking for just a Shower Renovation…
Start with something like this..
and finish with something like this…
You can also try going green by installing a shower that is water conscious.
The Shower Brake is a water controller that designates an amount of water (when pushed up) that is sufficient for most showers. The controller descends while you shower to let you know how much water you’ve used.
Then there are also the shower options that are without plumbing…
The pocket shower easily folds up so you can take it on the go!
If your ready for a change in your Bathroom shower or tub area, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing can help you come up with just the right update for you!
Contact us today for a free estimate when mentioning this blog, call 602-485-111 or click www.benfranklinplumbingaz.com to make an online appointment.
Win $100,000 or other great prizes with Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Your local Phoenix, Gilbert, Scottsdale and Glendale Plumber, will give away up to $100,000 in cash in Donald Trump’s “Time Is Money Sweepstakes”. As the plumber who cares about your time, Benjamin Franklin, The Punctual Plumber can’t wait to see who wins. To enter the Sweepstakes visit www.BenFranklinPlumbingAZ.com. Many more prizes, including Trump trips to New York, Las Vegas and Canouan Island Resort are also being given away weekly and monthly. Be punctual so you don’t miss out on any of the prizes.
Thought maybe sweeptakes offers like this are fake? Not this one, as I have paid into it, Me… Linda Stanfield, your local Chandler plumber, and even participated in putting this together. This sweepstakes is BIG and pays out handsomely. A sweepstakes with real life prizes that are guaranteed to make the winners happy… one of those winners could be you. Enter Today and everyday for more chances to win!
Why Enter?
Chance to win 26 Weekly prizes
$500 Visa Gift Card
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A Backyard Hot Tub Party
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Get a bonus entry for referring a friend
Rules, yes every sweepstakes must have rules so please review them here.
You must Enter to Win… What are you waiting for? And tell all your friends as they could win too!
Watch all The Celebrity Apprentice shows on NBC TV or on-line at www.NBC.com.
Yes, Benjamin Franklin, The Punctual Plumber will be on NBC’s TV Show “The Apprentice” on May 2, 2010. Because of our timeliness, along with our ethics and values, we are a perfect match for Mr. Trump. He has built a great team this season with some fabulous celebrities. Time is always important to Mr. Trump and his organization as it is with the CEO of the Benjamin Franklin franchise, Jim Abram who will appear on the show.
Watch NBC on May 2nd to hear the radio spot that the celebrities make for us. Some firsts & history making for this show include:
This is the first ever judge role for Eric Trump
This is the first time a service brand has been integrated into the show
This is the first time in The Apprentice history that is has three brands featured during one task
We will also be promoting a new program for all homeowners with great benefits, so don’t miss out. Set your DVR or tune in and watch.
Watch and guess for our local surprise giveaway, it is something you will see on the show. Send me a guess of what you think it is by Monday the 3rd at noon and get entered in for a drawing for one from me.
Here is a hint it is bigger then a bread box and blue.
Watch me on NBC’s Arizona Midday show the day after at 1pm on Monday the 3rd, where I will be talking about the celebrity that was fired along with the winning charity of the show and our new local giveaway.
