What Should You Have Checked in Your Home’s Plumbing Every Year?

Most plumbing problems do not start as emergencies.

A pressure regulator slowly stops doing its job. An angle stop that has not been touched in years seizes in the open position. A toilet starts running intermittently. A supply line begins to corrode around a connection. A water heater goes too long without

maintenance.

None of these things seem particularly urgent — until they are.

That is why we recommend taking a look at the basic plumbing systems in your home at least once a year.

At CF Plumbing, we offer a complimentary whole-home plumbing check for new customers and for existing customers when we have not been to the home in a while. If we are already at your home for another service call, we can also take a look while we are there.

It is not a remodel consultation, and it is not about looking for unnecessary repairs. It is a preventative plumbing check of the accessible components that tend to wear out quietly.

We look, test and document what we find. That gives you a better understanding of the condition of your plumbing — and gives us a baseline if you need us later.

Start With Your Home’s Water Pressure

Water pressure is one of the first things we like to check because excessive pressure affects almost everything downstream from it.

Pressure-reducing valves do not fail on a predictable schedule. There is no magic age when a pressure regulator is suddenly due.

High water pressure can show up as toilets that fill aggressively, banging or hammering pipes, dripping fixtures or supply lines that begin weeping at their connections. Low pressure can have several causes, including the pressure regulator, a partially closed main valve or a restriction elsewhere in the plumbing system.

That is why we test the pressure rather than guess.

And simply turning the adjustment screw on a worn pressure regulator is not necessarily a repair. If the valve can no longer maintain the proper pressure, it needs to be replaced.

Proper water pressure is especially important in homes with higher-end plumbing fixtures, smart toilets, steam systems and tankless water heaters. Protecting those fixtures starts with making sure the plumbing system supplying them is operating correctly.

Check the Shutoff Valves Before You Actually Need Them

The shutoff valves under your sinks and toilets are easy to forget about — until you need one to work.

An angle stop that has been sitting untouched for years can become difficult or impossible to close. That can turn what should have been a straightforward faucet or toilet repair into a situation where the water needs to be shut off to a larger portion of the house.

We do not recommend forcing an old or seized valve underneath an expensive fixture. If an angle stop will not operate properly or has started leaking, it is better to address the valve before taking the fixture apart.

We also look at the condition of accessible supply lines.

Supply lines that are bulging, corroded around the connections, damaged or simply very old are worth replacing before they become the reason for a water-damage call. If the water is already shut off for another repair, it can also be a good time to take care of them.

Your Water Heater Needs Annual Maintenance Too

Your water heater is one of the hardest-working plumbing systems in the house, and both traditional tank and tankless water heaters require routine maintenance.

For a traditional tank water heater, maintenance involves more than simply draining or flushing the tank.

We typically flush the tank to help remove accumulated sediment and inspect the anode rod, replacing it when needed. The anode rod is designed to corrode so the steel tank does not, making it an important part of protecting the water heater and extending its useful life.

Annual inspection and maintenance of the water heater, including inspection of the anode rod, is recommended by many manufacturers. Exact maintenance requirements vary by manufacturer and model, which is why we take the specific equipment into consideration.

Tankless water heaters require routine maintenance as well.

In La Jolla, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and the rest of coastal North County, hard water can create mineral buildup inside a tankless heat exchanger. Periodic descaling helps remove that buildup and maintain proper performance. Depending on the manufacturer and model, annual maintenance may also include cleaning filters and inspecting accessible connections and other serviceable components.

Descaling a tankless water heater does not mean the heater is failing. It is preventative maintenance intended to help keep it from getting to that point.

During a whole-home plumbing check, we note the type and approximate age of the water heater, look at accessible connections and ask when it was last serviced. If maintenance is due, we can provide an estimate to have it completed.

That information also gives us a baseline. If you call later because your hot water has changed, an error code has appeared or the heater is behaving differently, we already know what equipment you have and when it was last maintained.

If You Have Water Filtration, Check That Too

Water filtration maintenance depends entirely on the type of system installed.

A reverse osmosis system that we install is typically serviced approximately every two years, with the RO membrane lasting closer to four years and the storage tank approximately six years. Those are general guidelines, and actual service intervals can change depending on water usage and water quality.

Reduced flow, a dripping RO faucet or a noticeable change in taste can be signs that the system needs attention sooner.

And not every filter underneath a kitchen sink is reverse osmosis.

A single carbon filter can help improve chlorine taste and odor, but it does not produce RO water. Knowing which system you actually have is important when determining what maintenance it needs.

Whole-house filtration is different again.

The whole-home filtration systems we install typically do not require an annual cartridge change. Depending on water usage, the filtration media can last 13 years or longer.

Around the 10-year mark, we prefer to test the water and see how the media is actually performing rather than automatically replacing something simply because of its age.

These systems can help reduce chlorine, chloramines and certain heavy metals. They do not remove hardness, and they are not designed to produce spot-free water. Fixtures and glass will still need to be wiped down.

Running Toilets and Dripping Faucets Are Worth Noting

A toilet that occasionally runs or a faucet with a slow drip may not feel like an emergency, but these are exactly the smaller plumbing issues worth catching during an annual check.

Sometimes the fixture is easy to identify. Sometimes it is not.

With specialty and luxury plumbing fixtures, a photo of the faucet, handle or spout can often give us a place to start researching replacement parts. But appearance alone is not always enough to make a final identification.

The same is true for high-end shower systems. Exterior trim may tell us the manufacturer, but it does not always tell us which valve or cartridge is installed behind the wall.

We document what we can and avoid guessing about what we cannot see.

And we do not need to start opening finished walls just to perform a preventative plumbing check.

If something requires further investigation, we explain why first.

Know How Your Water Shuts Off in an Emergency

Every homeowner should know where the main water shutoff is and whether it actually works.

For homeowners who want another layer of protection, we can also evaluate whether a Moen Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff makes sense for the property.

A Moen Flo monitors water usage and can automatically shut off the home’s water supply when it detects certain abnormal conditions. This can be especially useful when no one is home and a supply line, toilet connection or water heater connection fails.

It does not replace properly functioning shutoff valves, and it is not a substitute for repairing a dripping fixture. It is another layer of protection for the home.

Whether one makes sense depends on the home’s main water service, plumbing system, fixtures and how the property is used.

What About a Seismic Gas Shutoff Valve?

Living in Southern California means there is another system worth thinking about: the gas.

A seismic gas shutoff valve, including a Firefighter valve, is designed to shut off the gas supply when it detects significant seismic movement.

It is not designed to detect a slow gas leak at an appliance connection. Its purpose is earthquake protection.

If you are interested in adding one, we can look at the gas meter location and existing piping to determine whether the home is a good candidate before anything is ordered.

Moen Flo systems and seismic gas shutoff valves are not included as part of our complimentary whole-home plumbing check, but we can evaluate the existing setup and provide an estimate if either system makes sense for your home.

What Does CF Plumbing’s Complimentary Whole-Home Check Include?

The goal is simple: get a better picture of your plumbing system before something becomes an emergency.

During the check, we look at accessible plumbing components throughout the home, including:

• Water pressure and the pressure regulator

• Accessible angle stops and shutoff valves

• Faucet and toilet supply lines

• Running toilets and dripping faucets

• The water heater and its maintenance history

• Water filtration equipment, when applicable

• Accessible plumbing connections or fixtures that show signs of wear

We also document what we find.

That information can be surprisingly valuable later.

If you call us six months from now, we may already know the approximate age of your water heater, what your water pressure was during our last visit, what type of filtration system you have or which shutoff valves were beginning to show their age.

It gives us a history of the home’s plumbing rather than starting from zero every time something happens.

Make a Plumbing Check Part of Your Annual Home Maintenance

You probably already have a list of things you do around the house every year.

The HVAC gets serviced. Smoke detectors get checked. Gutters get cleaned. Filters get changed.

Your plumbing deserves the same attention.

You do not need to wait for water on the floor, a toilet that will not stop running or a water heater error code before looking at the systems that supply water throughout your home.

A simple annual plumbing check can identify maintenance that is due, document aging components and catch smaller problems before they become much bigger ones.

For more than 20 years, CF Plumbing has provided residential plumbing service, repair and preventative plumbing maintenance throughout La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad and Rancho Santa Fe, as well as communities throughout San Diego and Orange Counties.

If you are a new customer, or it has been a while since we have been to your home, ask about our complimentary whole-home plumbing check when scheduling your next service.

And if we are already coming to your home for something else, ask us to take a look while we are there.

You can even send us a few photos ahead of time — particularly your water heater, filtration equipment or a fixture you are concerned about — so we have an idea of what we are walking into.

If you would like us to evaluate a Moen Flo smart water shutoff or seismic gas shutoff valve while we are there, mention that when you schedule.

The whole-home plumbing check is complimentary. If we find something that needs maintenance or repair, we will explain what we found and provide an estimate before any additional work is performed.