Are you dealing with the results of a burst pipe? Reliable Drain & Plumbing is here to help! We’re the #1 plumbing service for burst pipe repair in Toronto. Call us today and we’ll get you out of your jam. Here’s what to do.

Get a Bucket

If you find a pipe in your home has burst, the very first step, before anything else, is putting a catch under the leak. For fast, gushing leaks, skip this step and go directly to step 2. However, for slow to moderate leaks from exposed pipes, get a bucket or large bowl and place it under the leak to prevent further flooding.

Turn Off Water

Near your hot water heater, there should be a valve. Turn this clockwise until you can’t anymore and it will prevent anymore water from entering the home. The burst pipe will continue to leak until the pipe is empty, so keep a bucket or two on hand and switch them out when full until the pipe has emptied.

Dry Up Flood Water

Once the water has been turned off, immediately begin drying up flood water. A floor that’s completely covered in even a small amount of water for even a half hour can become irreparably damaged. Even sheet vinyl won’t save your floor if the water gets under the baseboards and seeps underneath it. Then your subfloor is at risk of warping and rot. Therefore, as soon as you notice the burst pipe, turn the water off and dry your floors.

Call for Burst Pipe Repair Services

After all of the above damage control has been done, give us a call. We’ll be there as soon as possible to bring you burst pipe repair services. Burst pipes can be repaired or replaced, depending on how extensive the break is. Cracked pipes can sometimes be repaired with thick, rubber sleeves. However, pipes with extensive damage will need to be replaced.

Repair Damages

Once your immediate crisis is averted and your home plumbing is back in working order, you’ll need to consider damages. Never assume your home is fine after moderate flooding. We recommend you have your home inspected for water damage by a professional. The sooner you repair water damage, the better. Ignored water damage can lead to mold, which can spread into the structure of the home and rot wooden supports. Structural damage is much more expensive to repair in the end. Not to mention, structural rot is dangerous, and so is mold in the air.

Plumbing Damage Prevention

To prevent future pipe bursts and plumbing damage, be sure to follow plumbing maintenance guidelines. For example, ensure your plumbing is cared for properly in the winter. A huge number of burst pipes come from plumbing freezing in the winter. Otherwise, have your plumbing inspected every few years, keep an ear out for odd sounds, and don’t let plumbing oddities go ignored.

Call us if you have questions or need our help with burst pipe repair services in Toronto. We’re here to help!

As winter approaches, it’s important to prepare your plumbing to handle the cold. Otherwise, you can end up with burst pipes and home flooding. The question is, how do you prepare your plumbing for winter? Reliable Drain & Plumbing is here to help.

Keep Your Heating On

The first step to preventing plumbing damage in winter is to keep your heat on. Many people think it’s safe to turn the heat off when they go on vacation in the winter. It will save them money, right? Wrong! While you may pay less on electric, your home dropping to freezing temperatures can lead to water freezing in your pipes. This will make them burst from the expansion of the ice. When that ice melts again, you’ll have flooding on your hands. Coming home to flood damage is not a fun experience, especially when you realize how much it costs to fix it all.

Instead, lower your heat to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This will keep the house just warm enough to prevent plumbing damage without wasting electricity on comfort that no one is home to enjoy.

Open Cabinets

In addition to keeping your heat on, open up cabinet doors under sinks. This is especially true if leaving on vacation. Keeping bathroom doors and under-sink cabinet doors open allows warm air to flow and reach pipes.

Even when staying at home, ensuring bathroom doors are left open when not in use is a good idea. A bathroom that gets regular use may get adequate airflow. However, if you have a guest bedroom with an on-suite that’s not used much, go and open them up to ensure they get the heat they need. If you keep your guest room vent closed so as not to waste energy heating an unused part of the house, shut the bathroom and bedroom door, but open the vent in the on-suite so that the bathroom stays above freezing. You can apply this to other layouts as well so long as the bathroom has its own vent.

Insulate Your Pipes

For homes with poor heating or for pipes that are located in the garage or other inadequately heated areas, insulation is key. Insulating your pipes is easy. You can buy pipe insulation at any local hardware store. This typically comes in the form of a foam sleeve, kind of like a pool noodle.

However, not everyone has the money to drop on insulation. If that’s true for you, you can also prepare your plumbing for winter by wrapping blankets or other fabric around exposed pipes. This will help keep out some of the cold and lower the chance of your pipe freezing or bursting. 

Use Antifreeze

Plumbing can vary from one location to the next, and not all plumbing is in a place that can be heated year round. If you own a trailer, RV, remote cabin, or other type of vacation home that has the electricity turned off for most of the year, use antifreeze. Antifreeze is a liquid solution that can be poured into drains to prevent freeze damage. 

Get Emergency Repairs

In the event of a burst pipe, you can count on Reliable Drain & Plumbing to help with emergency repairs. Contact us right away and we’ll get you the help you need ASAP. Before calling, turn off your water and dry up what’s already leaked out to prevent interior damage. Then, we’ll get your plumbing repaired as quickly as possible.

If your toilet handle broke, you probably took right to the internet to find out what to do with it. Does this kind of fix really require professional help? Or, can you simply fix it yourself? The experts at Reliable Drain & Plumbing will let you in on the process of how to fix your broken toilet handle. Then, you can decide if it’s easy enough to handle on your own. If you decide you’d rather get some professional assistance, we’re always just around the corner.

How Did the Toilet Handle Break?

The first thing we need to know in order to find a solution is how your toilet handle broke. Did the plastic part of the handle itself crack or break entirely? Did the whole outer handle come loose from the toilet? Or is it simply not flushing anymore?

If your toilet handle broke in the sense that it cracked or split into pieces, you’ll need to replace it. However, this isn’t an expensive fix, as the toilet handle is just a trigger for the actual flushing mechanism.

If your toilet handle broke free from the toilet, there’s a chance it needs to be replaced, but it also might just need to be reconnected. Something about the connection became faulty. If the connection simply lost a screw, it will only need to be screwed back on. However, if the connection itself broke, you may need to buy some replacement parts.

Finally, if the handle itself is intact, but no longer doing its job, it may be as simple as reconnecting the chain within the tank, or as complicated as replacing parts in the tank.

Fixing a Broken or Loose Chain

Fixing a broken or loose chain is one of the easiest kinds of toilet malfunctions to fix. The tank of your toilet should have a lid on it that can be easily removed. Inside, you’ll see a bunch of fresh water along with a mechanism that allows your toilet to flush. Your toilet’s handle, when pressed, should cause an arm inside the tank to rise. At the end of that arm should be a chain. When the arm rises, the chain is pulled, opening a valve. That valve allows water to flood the toilet bowl.

If the chain is no longer attached to the internal arm of the handle, it simply needs to be reattached. Therefore, just reach in and grab the chain where it’s fallen to the bottom of the tank. Then, attach the last link of the chain to the handle arm. Try to flush. If the chain is too long to allow a flush, move it up a link. Try again. Keep doing this until the chain is attached at the right length. Voila!

Replacing a Cracked or Broken Handle

Replacing a cracked or broken handle is a simple trip to the hardware store. Most new handles will have installation instructions on their packaging. These may require a screwdriver but are, otherwise, pretty simple to install.

Other Problems with Flushing

If neither of these things is the culprit, or you’re not up to the DIY plumbing, give us a call. We’re here to provide plumbing services of all kinds to the people of Toronto, including you. We look forward to hearing from you!

If your kitchen sink won’t drain, that’s going to spell all kinds of trouble for you and your daily routine. Your kitchen sink is the center of most kitchen activities. Therefore, keeping it in working order is a vital part of keeping you and your family fed and dishes clean. Fortunately, you can get to the bottom of the problem with Reliable Drain & Plumbing’s list of reasons why your kitchen sink won’t drain.

Food and Grease Buildup

Hands down, the most common reason a kitchen sink won’t drain is simply food and grease buildup. Our kitchen sinks see an unbelievable amount of food particles in a week, month, or year. Throw grease into that mixture and you end up with a food-based glue in your drain pipes. It’s no wonder we all end up with struggling drains once in a while.

If you’ve got food and grease blocking your kitchen drain and making your life a nightmare, there’s a simple solution. The kitchen drain pipe needs to be taken off and emptied. A snake will work well for large blockages, but food and grease buildup is more likely to take the form of a gross sludge. This is easy to remove by taking the pipe off and emptying it into a bucket or trash can to dispose of.

Sudden Blockages

If your draining issue has come on suddenly, something larger is probably blocking the drain. Sometimes, the culprit is food waste from one particular meal that wasn’t disposed of properly. For example, if a bunch of dried out rice was dumped down the drain, it could then get wet and suddenly expand, getting stuck in the pipe and blocking it entirely. Other times, the sudden blockage can be a bit more unfortunate… in the form of a pest.

To figure out the problem with a sudden blockage, it’s best to start by removing the drain pipe. This can often reveal the source and solution in no time. However, if you’re not comfortable removing your drain pipe by yourself, Reliable Drain & Plumbing can do it for you. If this doesn’t immediately reveal the problem, we can go to the next step: snaking.

Snaking your pipe means drilling a spring into the sink. This spring will cut through any organic matter and hold onto it when we pull the snake straight out. For blockages deeper than the curve in your drain pipe, this is usually the best solution.

Hard Water Mineral Buildup

If you’ve got hard water, it’s also possible that mineral buildup is limiting the draining capabilities of your sink. Minerals like iron and calcium can line the insides of your pipes. This layer can grow over time, making the pipes too narrow to handle regular amounts of running water. Water softener may solve the problem, but it’s just as likely you will need to replace your plumbing.

Get Professional Help

No matter how dire your draining situation is, Reliable Drain & Plumbing is here to assist. Just give us a call and we’ll be on our way.

Modern living relies on plumbing every single day. Modern plumbing makes showering, doing dishes, drinking fresh water, and using the bathroom possible right from your home. However, when something goes awry, it can be devastating. Therefore, it’s vital that every neighborhood has reliable, emergency plumbing maintenance available. Reliable Drain & Plumbing offers exactly that to North York and the GTA.

Affordable Prices

What many people worry about right away when hiring plumbing services is the price. We understand your concerns completely. Fortunately, we consider our customers and their satisfaction our top priority. No matter what’s going wrong with your plumbing, we’ll put a stop to the emergency without overcharging. You can make your budget and keep it too.

24/7 Emergency Plumbing Services

Many companies offer emergency plumbing services, but only during daytime hours. Unfortunately, a burst pipe doesn’t know how to tell time. So, if you’ve got water pouring onto your hardwood floors, you can count on us to get out of bed and head on over. 

Prevent Disaster

Plumbing emergencies can lead to thousands of dollars in home damage when not handled promptly. While many people may try to downplay the emergent nature of plumbing catastrophe, we don’t. Our team knows the importance of emergency response and someone will always be around to assist. 

While you wait for us to arrive, do your best at damage control. Turn off the water in your home by turning the water valve in your garage or basement. Employ the use of towels to dry up small to moderate amounts of flooded water. We’ll get there as soon as possible, but prompt action can save you a headache and a lot of money later.

Daytime Solutions

If your plumbing emergency is easily staved off for later, we can nip it in the bud and then everyone can head to bed. Some solutions are best saved for the following morning. It’s a win-win situation if you don’t have some plumber tinkering around in your house for many of the wee hours of the night.

The following day, we’ll be sure to work with you on long-term solutions. If you’ve got a burst pipe, we’ll check the extent of the damage before repairing or replacing it. Other emergencies may require other solutions. Whatever the cause of your panic, we’ll be there to find a fix.

Rest Easy

As long as you’re in Toronto or North York, you can rely on Reliable Drain & Plumbing. Call us today if you have questions or need quick assistance with your home’s plumbing.

The shower is a vital part of most of our daily lives. When the water pressure is poor, it can drastically reduce the quality of your shower. Rinsing soap out of your hair can take minutes. Having shower water pressure problems can also mean struggling to get all parts of your body wet because the water won’t project far enough. Fortunately, Reliable Drain & Plumbing is here to help. Let’s address some common causes for shower water pressure problems. 

Incorrect Plumbing Design

The first, and most unfortunate, of the possible shower water pressure problem causes is incorrect plumbing design. If your home’s plumbing was designed poorly or installed incorrectly, it could be causing issues. This happens often in cheaper houses where corners were cut – perhaps literally.

If your plumbing has intersections where it shouldn’t, pipes at the wrong angles, or any number of other faults, it can reduce pressure and slow water down to a trickle. If none of the other causes seem to be the right fit, you may need to have your plumbing inspected.

Clogged Shower Head

If you have hard water with any amount of sediment or minerals in it, it’s possible that your problem is coming from a clogged shower head. Individual holes in the shower head being clogged would actually raise the pressure of the water coming from the other holes. However, if the main exit from the pipe and into the head is clogged, the pressure will lower. Water won’t flow freely into the head before exiting through the spray holes. The reduced flow into the head means it will simply leak out of the shower head instead.

Most shower heads will unscrew at the base. If you want to check your shower head, simply unscrew it, remove it, and turn your shower on. If the pressure is perfectly fine coming from the protruding shower pipe, its the head that’s stopping things up. However, if it’s still coming out pretty slow, head back to the drawing board.

Leaking Pipe

Another cause for shower water pressure problems is a leaking pipe. Your shower relies on full pipes of flowing water to get the pressure it needs to run properly. Therefore, if you have a leak somewhere in the in-flowing water pipe, enough water may be escaping to reduce your water pressure.

A leaking pipe comes with other concerns as well. Where it the escaped water going? Leaking water flowing into an unfinished basement is concerning enough as it can attract pests and mold. However, if you have finished rooms below the bathroom, it could end up soaking into insulation, causing water damage, and leading to mold within your walls. That is to say, it’s not something to take lightly.

Fix Water Pressure Problems

If you want to get to the bottom of your water pressure issues, have a professional from Reliable Drain & Plumbing come out and check things out. There are plenty of things that you can investigate yourself. However, if you hit a dead end, you can count on us to help you out. 

When your drain gets clogged, it can make your daily operations grind to a halt. Your home relies on functional plumbing in both the kitchen and the bathroom. If your sink stops draining, you can no longer wash your hands with ease, or even do dishes. However, before you start taking things apart or dumping harmful chemicals down your drain, give us a call at Reliable Drain & Plumbing. We can help you with drain snaking and clog removal services. Here’s why these are the better choice.

Why You Shouldn’t Use Chemical Drain Cleaners

Chemical drain cleaners are a favorite for many people, because they promise an easy and fast solution to your problem. The trouble is, you may be able to pick up chemical drain cleaner at the grocery store with your toilet paper, but they aren’t as convenient as they say.

Chemical drain cleaners may seem to work fast when the water starts going down the drain again. However, the water not being entirely backed up doesn’t mean the clog is gone. Chemical drain cleaners may create a hole in the clog but, as soon as they do, there’s space for the chemicals to drain themselves. Most of the clog may remain intact, limiting drainage and leading to another clog in short order. Therefore, chemical drain cleaners are a great way for companies to ensure repeat customers, as you return for more every couple of months.

Plus, chemical drain cleaners are bad for your pipes. Any exposed part of your pipes, such as the areas surrounding your clog, come into direct contact with those chemicals. The corrosive power of the chemicals can actually eat away at your pipes and make future bursts more likely. Replacing tons of pipes in your home plumbing is significantly more expensive than calling for professional help in the first place.

Proper Clog Removal in Toronto

The correct way for clogs to be removed is with a snake. Snaking a drain means screwing a spring into whatever is blocking the way and then pulling it out entirely. This is faster, safer for the pipes, and more effective at removing the blockage. Plus, if you live in a home that’s prone to drain clogging, you can even buy a handheld plumbing snake to keep on-hand.

However, if this isn’t a frequent occurrence, our team at Reliable Drain & Plumbing is happy to make a stop by your home and get it back in working order in minutes.

Toilet Drain Snaking

Drain snaking isn’t just for your kitchen sink. It’s also great for sorting out clogged toilets that are beyond the help of a plunger. Sometimes kids throw things into the toilet and flush them. Sometimes people unknowingly use “flushable wipes” without realizing they aren’t actually degradable like toilet paper. If you get a tough clog in your toilet, we can snake it out just like other drains.

When your sink or shower stops draining, many people’s first thought is to go buy some chemical drain cleaner to fix it. However, this quick fix isn’t necessarily the solution you think it is. Here’s why you shouldn’t use chemical drain cleaner in your home.

Chemical Drain Cleaner Doesn’t Work

Chemical drain cleaner may seem like a quick fix. After all, it usually promises to work in about 30 minutes. The problem is, it doesn’t do as much as it says it does. One of the primary reasons you shouldn’t use chemical drain cleaner is because it doesn’t remove whole blockages.

If your shower or sink fills up with water and then won’t drain for hours or days, there’s something big blocking it. Whether that’s years of hair buildup or a pest that got stuck in it, chemical drain cleaner will barely touch it. Even if you pour the biggest bottle into your drain, as soon as a gap has been made in the blockage, all of the chemical solution will drain through and disappear into the pipes below, leaving most of the blockage in place.

Running hot water into the drain afterward will clear out the remaining chemical solution and may even drain better than it was. However, even if it drains at a fairly normal speed, another week of use will have it slowing back down as that small gap in the blockage fills back in with hair and other matter. Then, you’re back at square one, buying more drain cleaner and giving more money to the company that’s offering it.

Chemical Drain Cleaner Damages Pipes

You shouldn’t use chemical drain cleaner, not only because it doesn’t work very well, but because it damages pipes. The type of chemical solution that can eat through blockage matter is also powerful enough to erode away the insides of your pipes. And, the more frequently you use it, the more it has the opportunity to do so. All of the exposed areas of pipe surrounding your blockage will sit there being eroded away until a hole big enough for the solution to drain is created. This erosion eventually will lead to cracks, breaks, and bursts in your pipes. That means plumbing replacement, which is very expensive.

It Can Cost More in the Long Run

You have to repeatedly purchase drain cleaner in order to keep opening up new blockages in the poorly cleared drain. That adds up quite fast. Plus, the damage it does to your plumbing means future potential plumbing replacements. Those can add into the thousands of dollars. Spending a bit up front to have someone come and clear your drain properly may seem like a waste, but it ends up being more affordable overall.

What to Do Instead

Give us a call at Reliable Drain & Plumbing if you need a clogged drain cleared. We can use a snake to completely remove blockages without damaging your pipes in the process. If your blockage is caused by something bigger, we’ll find that out too. Imagine the damage if the blockage was a broken pipe and you poured corrosive drain cleaner inside! We want to help you avoid that kind of disaster with our quality plumbing services.

Is there a mysterious leak that’s suddenly shown up in your bathroom? A mysterious bathroom leak can have many causes and solutions. Let’s check some of the most common ones before you panic or your floor gets damaged. Most of these are very easy to fix, so you’ve probably got nothing to worry about. So, let’s get to it.

Toilet Tank Is Loose

If you’ve been noticing some water near the base of your toilet, or running away from it, you might be thinking the worst. Is the toilet cracked? Is the seal broken? Probably not! If the stream of water is slow enough that it’s drying up before making it very far, it’s probably the tank.

The tank of your toilet is filled with water. This is so that, when you flush, there’s immediately a high pressure source of water to fill the bowl and push everything down. Unfortunately, because of that high pressure, if the bolts holding it to the base of the toilet get even slightly loose, it can leak a bit. The great news is, it’s extremely easy to fix. 

On either side of the toilet, under the tank, there are bolts. Sometimes they’re plain bolts and sometimes they’re large wingnuts that can be turned by hand. By hand or with a wrench, tighten these up. Over the following day, a bit more water may appear. If, after drying that up, there is more water, you may need to call a professional from Reliable Drain & Plumbing in Toronto. If it goes away, your problem is solved.

Sink Drain Pipe Is Loose or Cracked

If there’s water in the cabinet under your sink, it’s probably from the sink drain pipe. This may seem obvious, but many people don’t notice this until the water leaves the cabinet. Whenever there’s a leak in your bathroom where the source is a mystery, check the cabinet. The curved pipe directly under the sink is often the culprit of bathroom leaks.

If the drain pipe doesn’t stop leaking when its bolts are tightened, there’s a good chance it’s cracked. Because these drain pipes are often made of plastic, they’re sensitive to temperature changes. If your home gets cold each winter and hot each summer, it’s probable that it simply began to develop cracks over time. Replacing this pipe is easy, as most hardware stores have them in abundance.

To prevent this from happening to the next one, take a further look into bathroom drain insulation and antifreeze.

People Aren’t Closing the Shower Curtain Enough

Embarrassing though it may be, one of the common causes of a “mysterious bathroom leak” is people not closing the shower curtain enough. This is common in households with many people. One person leaves a 6 inch gap between the curtain and wall, some of the water sprays out and gathers into a puddle, and someone else finds it later, thinking it’s a leak. If you have kids, check with each of them that they’re shutting the curtain all the way and drying the floor when they’re done. See if anything changes.

None of These?

If none of these seem like the right cause for your mysterious bathroom leak, you might just need a professional to come and take a look. Give us a call at Reliable Drain & Plumbing and we’ll come and check things out for you. If there’s something bigger going on, we can get to the bottom of it in no time.

If your faucet is leaking, there are a number of reasons you might be bothered by it. A leaky faucet can mean persistent dripping noises. The constant available moisture can lead to pest problems. Plus, a leaking faucet means wasting money on water. No matter which aspect is bothering you the most, if you find your faucet leaking, you probably want it fixed. The first step to repairing your leaking faucet is knowing why it’s leaking to begin with.

Dripping When Off

Valve Seat Corrosion

The valve seat connects the spout and faucet. If the valve seat hasn’t been cleaned of sediment in a while, it’s possible that it’s begun to corrode. A corroded valve seat will present as leaking around the spout.

Leaking Faucet Base

There’s a gasket in the base of many faucet types as well. Just like the others, it will begin to wear out with use and may present as leaking around the base of the faucet.

Leaking Handles

O Ring Problems

In cartridge faucets, regular use can wear out a piece called the O ring. This ring is located with the stem screw, which is what holds the faucet handle in place. A worn out O ring will cause leaking from the handle. If your handle is leaking water, you likely need to replace the O ring.

A Worn Out Washer

In a compression faucet, every time you turn on the water, there’s friction between your faucet handle’s rubber washer and valve seat. This friction slowly wears away at the washer, making it harder for the washer to do its job. What is its job? Keeping the handle watertight. If the washer is worn through, there’s space for water to escape through the handle and drip down into the sink. This is fixed by replacing the old washer with a new one of the correct size.

Loose Handles

A much simpler problem to fix, but equally as common, is that your handles are loose. Sometimes, frequent use of a sink faucet leads to the screws in the handles coming a bit loose. When this happens, the handles might become wiggly. The reason this is a problem is that, when you go to turn the faucet off, turning the handle all the way might not completely close the valve. Even a small gap can lead to – you guessed it – dripping.

This can be easily fixed. If you have knob handles, there will be a round cap on top with a small notch in one side. Use a screwdriver or other narrow object, hook it unto the notch, and pop the cap off. Then, there will be a screw underneath. However, if you have pivoting handles, the screw may be exposed on the back. Regardless, tighten down your screw all the way and see if the problem resolves itself.

If not, it may just be that loose handles were only one of multiple problems. If you want professional assistance getting to the root of your leaking faucet, give us a call at Reliable Drain & Plumbing. We can find the problem in moments and have it fixed right away.