Whether you need your sink drain cleared, your water heater repaired or your sewer line replaced, chances are you’ll be calling the same type of service provider: a plumbing contractor. To ensure a quality job, it’s wise to ask a plumber plenty of questions before hiring. Besides verifying proper licensing and insurance, here are a few things you should consider asking. Read more

Since the mid-20th century, water conservation has gone from being a fringe concept to a standard practice, which is why water-efficient plumbing fixtures and appliances are simply the norm nowadays. However, despite these developments, there’s one case of water waste that remains widely ignored: wait times for hot water. Whether at the sink or the shower, the lapse between when hot water is turned on and when it arrives represents one of the leading causes of water waste today…and it’s time we started addressing it. Read more

If you think about it, there are a lot of similarities between your body and your home. For example, each contains a network of systems that allow the whole to function as needed. With a little imagination, you can draw parallels between your home’s plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems and your body’s circulatory, nervous, and respiratory systems. Read more

These days, more and more Bay Area homeowners are ditching their old water heaters for cutting-edge tankless models. Because of their advanced technology, tankless water heaters boast an array of practical benefits, not the least of which is a virtually endless supply of hot water. However, going tankless involves more than simply swapping the old for the new, as there are often functionality and compatibility concerns that need to be addressed before and during installation.

Here are five factors to consider when installing a tankless water heater:

1. Unit capacity
While sizing a conventional water heater mainly comes down to tank storage capacity, with a tankless unit, it’s a bit more complex. Read more

Plumbing has been part of human civilization for a long time—even ancient Rome had sophisticated systems to facilitate water delivery and waste disposal. And while plumbing technology has continuously advanced over the years, development has never occurred more rapidly than in recent decades. Modern innovations have brought improvements in terms of energy efficiency and water usage, which in turn have created solutions to age-old problems. We asked four Diamond Certified Expert Contributors to talk about some of these plumbing innovations and how they can benefit today’s consumers. Read more

Since plumbing is an often-overlooked aspect of home maintenance, it’s no surprise that the majority of service calls are remedial rather than preventative. Most people tend to ignore their homes’ plumbing until an issue arises, but it’s far more cost-effective to be proactive about inspection and maintenance. For the average homeowner, however, this can seem like a daunting task. Besides being one of the most neglected systems in the home, plumbing is also one of the most intricate, consisting of a varied network of interconnected components.

If you’re intimidated by the prospect of maintaining your plumbing system, consider contracting a service agreement with a local plumbing company. Read more