Your Comprehensive Guide to Common Emergency Plumbing Problems

Getting a house in Toronto can be an ordeal in and of itself, so when you’ve finally got one, the last thing you want to do is worry about financing repairs.

This is especially true when it comes to emergency plumbing issues, which can get fatally expensive very quickly. How do you avoid this? Keep an eye out for these potential problems.

Fixtures That Leak

This might not be an emergency to some, and it isn’t going to be a considerable threat to your home, it’s still a problem.

A leaking fixture doesn’t just drive you crazy if you’re in earshot of the never-ending drip; it bumps up your water bill at the end of the month, too.

Try going over the basics first, like ensuring taps are tightly turned to “off.” If that’s not solving the issue, then you might want to replace, small, cheap, easy to swap out parts like the O-ring or the washer. These two components are common causes of leaks, so try switching them.

Drains That Become Blocked

This might happen to just one drain, or it can happen to many drains on the same floor, depending on the location of the block.

But if it’s just one drain, you know the problem is close to the “source.” Blocked drains occur when a build-up, usually hair or food, depending on the sink location, picks up enough mass to completely obstruct the drainage pipe.

This is normally a slow process so that homeowners will get some warning in the form of the “slow drain.” This is when the drain empties out at a slower than normal rate because a partial blockage has already formed. Drain cleaners or mechanical solutions like plungers or plumber’s augers are usually enough to deal with a partial or full blockage.

An Overflowing Toilet

While not necessarily the most expensive emergency to deal with, it’s certainly one of the least popular.

There’s a good reason for this, as human waste is full of contagions that may infect others through contact or exposure, so when a mess comes up from the toilet and ends up on the bathroom floor, and you know that the toilet is now unusable, that’s a big problem.

The single most common cause of toilet overflow is the drainage pipe of the toilet itself getting blocked from abuse. Do NOT flush things down the toilet that aren’t human waste or toilet paper.

Anything else, even paper towels from a kitchen roll, can jam up the pipe. The toilet is not a garbage disposal unit, and if you treat it as such, an overflow is inevitable.

A Burst Pipe

This is the nightmare scenario for a lot of homeowners, especially since a burst pipe may mean having to tear out walls or floors to get at the pipes in question.

Very old pipes, like original cast iron drain pipes in Victorians that are close to 100 years in age, could break or rupture simply from age-associated metal fatigue.

Consider replacing them during a renovation if you’ve just bought the home. Water pipes, on the other hand, can rupture if winter temperatures get too low, and water freezes in the pipes, expanding the pipe and causing a break.

Insulate any water pipes vulnerable to winter temperatures. If you live in Toronto, ON you want your house to work and to maintain its high value. Taking care of your plumbing is one more way to do this.