Mrs. Rooter Blog

With the hot summer we’ve had in Texas, I am constantly looking for ways to conserve water. What about you? Do you find yourself searching for ways to save water?

If so, we have some simple tips I would like to share with you. Our water conservation checklist is easy for you to follow, and it will save 10-20% of the water you currently use.

Since it’s hot outside, let’s start with some water saving tips for outside:

- Use a nozzle that turns off automatically when washing cars

- Cover swimming pools when not in use to prevent evaporation

- Don’t water when it is windy

- Mulch flower beds to keep soil cooler and reduce water loss

- Use drought-tolerant plants in the garden

- Sweep rather than hose off sidewalks, patios, decks and driveways

- Position sprinklers so they don’t spray the house, sidewalks, street or driveway

- Turn off sprinkler systems during cool or rainy weather

- Maintain your sprinkler system as it suffers from normal wear and tear, which reduces its efficiency

- Know where your master water shut off valve is located and show everyone in the household 

- Test the water shut off valve frequently to ensure it works

- Check pressure-regulating valve

- Contact your water service district for a personalized irrigation schedule.

If you follow these steps you will immediately save money on your water and wastewater bills. I’ll share some steps to saving water inside your home on my next post.

Here’s wishing you a world class day. 

That time of year is fast approaching again. Yes, fall is right around the corner, and that means back to school for the kids. With the start of the new school year come more activities and often more chores for us – making lunches, more chauffeuring, and doing loads of laundry.

Did you know burst washing machine hoses are the number one cause of water damage in a home? On average the damage can cost you up to $32,000. That is a lot of unnecessary stress and cost that can be avoided if you follow some simple advice I would like to share with you. A good, inexpensive way to significantly decrease the likelihood of this happening to you is to replace your plastic hoses with steel braided hoses. As soon as I read the statistics on home water damage and floods caused by rubber washing machine hoses bursting I immediately replaced them with the steel braided washing machine hoses. And it only took 15 minutes.

Steel braided hoses withstand more pressure, don’t sprout leaks as easily, and will better protect against bursting. (Important note here!) Make sure you turn off the water in the laundry room before changing the hose. It should be located behind your washing machine. Turn the knob to the right to close off, and to the left to let the water flow restart.

Even after changing the hoses, I would recommend you check them periodically for leaks and bulges. When Mr. Rooter Plumbing® technicians do plumbing checkups in homes, they inspect hoses to make sure they’re in good working order. And if you’ve not found the time, with all the shuttling to sports and activities, to change out those washing machine hoses your Mr. Rooter Plumbing service professional would be happy to do that for you. That way you can spend your fall enjoying the cooler air rather than cleaning up after a flood.

Here’s wishing you a world class day.

I am always in the hunt for ways to either save money or conserve precious resources like water.  Due to the extreme hot weather, water has been on my mind quite a bit this past month.  I’ve watched the grass and shrubs turn brown as we’ve had no measurable rain, and it reminds me about saving water. 

When we were stationed in Okinawa, Japan, in the late 80’s, water was very limited at times. The base had to impose water rationing to get us through the dry season each year.  During those times the water was on for 24 hours and then off for 24 hours.  When you have a small child in the house and no water for 24 hours you really learn how to conserve water – and to really appreciate the simple things in life like fresh, running water. We found a few tricks such as:

- Do not keep the water running while brushing your teeth

- Collect rain water in wide-mouthed jars to use when watering plants

- Put a stopper in the sink when rinsing fruits and vegetables

- Place mulch in flower beds to keep the soil cool and reduce water loss

- Instead of washing multiple cups throughout the day, each morning use masking tape and a sharpie to mark cups with a name – have some fun with it!

Lately, many of us have seen stories on the U.S. Economic Stimulus Plan. Did you know that tax credits are available for you if you make energy efficient improvements to your home’s plumbing as well as other systems such as your air conditioning and heating?  

So here is how it works. You can get a tax credit for the installation of the below listed higher efficiency items:

- water heaters

- furnaces

- boilers

- central air conditioners

- air source heat pumps.

If you make plumbing efficiency upgrades, you’ll get a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the total cost, which includes product and installation. That means you can get a maximum credit of $1,500 for your efficiency improvements. And if you need to save up to make this home improvement, don’t fret – you have until the end of 2010 to have the work done and claim the tax credit.

You can take advantage of this great opportunity and in the process conserve energy, save money, and keep your home’s plumbing system up-to-date. I’ve found the best place for the information on this is located at: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index. There you will also find information on the correct tax form to use when claiming the credit.

We have a franchisee, Justin Ullom, our Mr. Rooter Plumbing franchise owner in Muncie, Indiana, who has already helped a handful of his customers install tankless water heaters to take advantage of the Stimulus Plan. He says the tax credit encouraged these homeowners to not only find a better way to conserve precious resources like water and energy but also saved them some money in the process. 

Here’s wishing you a world class day.

Welcome to our brand new Mrs. Rooter™ blog. My name is Mary Kennedy Thompson. In addition to serving as president of Mr. Rooter Corporation, a full-service plumbing and drain cleaning company with more than 300 locations worldwide, I am also a homeowner, wife, and mother of two. That’s why I understand how important it is to keep a household running smoothly.

This blog is focused on helping you do just that by providing quick and easy information on a wealth of topics related to your home plumbing. Why does this matter? Well, it only takes one plumbing emergency to understand the value of a little plumbing know-how. 

I can remember in high school coming home from school to find standing water in the bathroom…and the hallway…and part of the living room. That morning, my little brother had flushed his toy Weeble down the toilet and backed it up to overflowing. (Some of you may remember the ad slogan “Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” Apparently they do fall down the toilet.) My brother was fascinated that everything disappeared once the toilet handle was pushed. I had no idea how to shut off the water. Just knowing that would have made everyone’s day better. Even after calling my Mom out of a meeting at work we could not shut off the water because she did not know how either. By nightfall, our toilet was sitting (gasp!) in our front yard awaiting its replacement and every towel, sheet, and blanket in the house had been used to mop up the water. 

Whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or not, there are some simple plumbing tips you can apply to keep your home’s plumbing in better working order, effectively handle problems, and even save money. I look forward to sharing all of this with you. And instead of using plumbing lingo, I will explain it in a simple and straightforward way – the way I would want it explained to me. As our customer, you deserve our best all the time, and I am passionate about how we serve you. You are the reason we are in business.

So, let’s get started with a quick set of steps you can take if you come home to find a pool of water surrounding your toilet: 

1. First, you’ll want to shut the water off where it meets your toilet. That shut off can be found behind the toilet at the wall. You’ll see a knob that you’ll need to turn to the right (clockwise) until it can turn no further. If the valve will not turn, you may need to gently push or pull on it to make it turn because your valve requires that action.
2. If the flow of water continues, the local shut off may not be working, so you’ll need to turn the water off at the main water shut off valve to your home. This will be located either in your basement (if you have one) or outside your home. Because the main shut off valve is usually located near a hose connection, it will likely be located at the front of your house near the front door.  If it’s not there, follow the perimeter of your house going clockwise to locate the shut off valve. Turn the knob to the right until off.  Sometimes this knob is stiff and hard to turn, so I bring a jar opener with me to get a better grip (you likely have one of those rubber gripper mats in your kitchen drawer).
3. Call Mr. Rooter Plumbing. We’ll get to the root of the problem, show and explain to you what is happening, and then after letting you know the exact price, we’ll begin the work. 

In addition to empowering you with plumbing tips and information, this blog is also about starting a conversation. I want to hear from you! If you have a plumbing or drain cleaning question, comment, or even would like to share your greatest plumbing disaster for others to learn from, e-mail me at MrsRooterBlog@MrRooter.com. I will personally read every one and address the topics in this blog with a goal of keeping our collective home plumbing systems in good working condition. Because honestly, who enjoys a backed up toilet?