When you have to make the rounds in your house while cleaning, the one room we often try to leave last is the bathroom, and this is simply because we know what kinds of things go on there. The truth is that as much as we think we know (and avoid) about our bathrooms, it’s bathroom plumbing that we should be paying the most attention to.
Have you ever thought that it could be fun and exciting to attend a conference on the circulatory system of the human body? Can you imagine taking the time to understand thermodynamics? Not precisely. While these may be somewhat extreme examples, your bathroom plumbing is actually quite a complex thing. It is for this reason alone that professional plumbers are invaluable resources for the average homeowner.
Even if you don’t know exactly how it all works, it’s important that you really understand what goes into making your bathroom do what it does. The first thing to understand is that your bathroom plumbing is a fairly sophisticated network of pipes and vents. Waste water and sewer gases are kept at bay while clean water is allowed to return to the system. Additionally, gravity also plays a role in how well things move in the pipes. Have you ever heard the sound of the pipes when someone uses the shower? That’s you listening to the plumbing network in action.
Perhaps the biggest misconception about plumbing that people in general have is that it is all about the pipes and fittings in those pipes. This, of course, is simply not the case. In the same way that your veins are not all that is involved in the movement of blood in your body, your bathroom plumbing also consists of fixtures, supply lines, and the ability to control the movement of water through various means. valves located in the fixture or for the house as a whole. As a homeowner, you may not actually see your plumbing in action, but you’re always on top of the fixtures in your bathroom. It is important that you make sure that everything works well. As part of a regular routine, take the time to check your fixtures, faucets, and supply lines just to make sure everything is working properly. You’d hate to find out things aren’t right when something really big happens with your pipes.
Finally, it’s important to take the time to understand the homeowner’s role when it comes to your bathroom plumbing. Too often, we take for granted what our bathrooms do for us until something goes wrong. Even more problematic is that we tend to also ignore the warning signs that our plumbing gives us. This is perhaps the greatest proof of its complex nature but also of its saving grace. When we see water drain a little slower down a drain, we don’t think much of it. When we see it in multiple drains, we wonder what’s going on, but again, we think as long as the water keeps draining, we’ll be fine. It is very possible that you are ignoring a major problem in the drain part of your bathroom plumbing. Sure, it’s not a conscious thought, but there’s something to be said for how your plumbing can give you a “heads up” when things might go wrong.
Bathroom plumbing is something we’d rather not deal with. However, ignoring this complex system can have serious consequences.