Author Archives: Author

What’s the Difference Between a Plumber and a Handyman?

Although some homeowners may believe that there is no difference between the two professions, there is actually quite a gap to cover. The biggest difference is that in Texas, it’s illegal for a handyman to perform work that a licensed plumber should.

A handyman is someone that is more of a general contractor who focuses on home repairs. While they may say they work on plumbing, the DIY approach (illegal with most plumbing jobs) that they take may be better suited for home improvement projects like millwork, painting, or carpet installation.

IGNORANCE OF STATE LAWS

Many people don’t understand the law that revolves around plumbing in Texas. Unfortunately, handymen can take advantage of this ignorance and create dire results for a homeowner who thinks they are getting a good deal. There have been instances that we’ve seen at Plumbing Dynamics where a handyman flooded a house while exchanging a water heater. Because of the law and the uninsured handyman, the homeowner’s insurance would not help out based on the negligence involved in the situation. This is not always an absolute, but it’s a risk that homeowners take when a licensed plumber isn’t used to working on their plumbing problems.

PLUMBERS OFFER TRAINED EXPERTISE

Most states require a practicing license for plumbers. So when you hire one, you know that they already come with the training needed to get your plumbing problems corrected. A licensed plumber is trained to perfect many skills that include:

• Installation and repair of water heaters;
• Maintenance of plumbing and pipelines;
• Relieving clogs in sinks and toilets and
• Taking precise measurements for specific types of projects.

Your plumbing is something that you want to be fixed correctly and expertly the first time. While a handyman may admittedly be the “budget-friendly” option at the start, you may end up paying even more money to repair anything that could have gone wrong on your watch.

A licensed plumber will be able to tell you exactly what’s wrong with your plumbing and what needs to be done to resolve the problem. You can’t put a price on experience. Leave the plumbing-specific tasks to those who have been licensed to practice the craft.

LICENSED PLUMBERS CAN HELP WITH EMERGENCY PROBLEMS

Dangerous and hectic plumbing emergencies can arise at any moment. Trying to schedule a handyman for an emergency at an odd hour is not only a huge technical risk but may also be nearly impossible to confirm.

Although not every plumber is able to tackle emergency issues, the most experienced and reliable licensed plumbing expert will be on-call and prepared to handle emergencies like:

• Hot water heater malfunctions;
• Leaking or burst pipes;
• Sewer line clogs;
• Slab leaks, and more.

Handle Your Plumbing Needs With the Experts at Plumbing Dynamics

It’s absolutely essential to keep your home’s plumbing health in top shape this summer. If you find yourself in a plumbing emergency in Carrollton, TX or just have a clog that won’t quit, Plumbing Dynamics can help. Contact us today at 214-929-3431 to learn more about our services and to schedule your free service call.

If you own a single-family home and find a leak in a wall pipe, it’s relatively easy to fix in that you’re the homeowner and can do whatever you please, whenever you please when it comes to fixing plumbing problems.

But what do you do when you discover a leak in a wall or floor in your condo? And what if water damage has resulted from the leak?

Condo ownership means you “own” just the space between your condo’s walls; the walls, roof, flooring, etc. are owned jointly by you and the other owners of units within the condominium project.

So if you find a water pipe leak or some other plumbing issue that’s affecting your unit, who is responsible for fixing the damage and paying for the repair?

It depends. Specifically, it depends on what actually caused the water damage

Your condo association will have insurance to cover the common areas of your development. As the homeowner, you will have individual condo insurance to cover the inside of your unit, such as your flooring, walls, and the contents of your condo.

If the plumbing in walls or floors causes water damage in your unit, or your neighbor’s unit, who is responsible?

One of your important tasks as a condo owner is to make sure you are very familiar with your development’s master policy. You must clearly understand what is covered under the policy and what isn’t. This is important because some insurance policies do cover the fixtures in individual condo units while others cover only the building’s exterior, roof, common areas, and basement.

If water has caused damage and if the damage occurred because a toilet overflowed in your unit or because your kitchen pipe broke, the cost of repairs will probably be covered under your personal condo insurance.

But if the water damage was a result of an adjoining unit’s overflow, you may be in for some trouble, because many condo associations are unlikely to become involved in what is known as unit-to-unit issues. For example, your neighbor’s pipe burst in his kitchen, resulting in water damage that also came to impact your own unit.

Contact Your Condo Association

No matter if the water damage came as a result of your neighbor’s burst pipe or if the condo’s roof leaked, your first step is to contact your condo association. This way you’ll know soon enough if they think it’s something the association should make sure is fixed.

Determine Whose Insurance Will Pay for the Damage

Your next step to determine whose insurance will pay for the damage. File a claim with either your own individual policy insurance company or with the association’s insurance firm. If the water damage occurred because of a problem in your neighbor’s unit and neither of the insurance companies accepts your claim, talk directly with your neighbor and make sure you have as much information as you can get about his insurance policy.

Your Take Away

Know your individual policy and get a copy of your condo association’s policy. And be sure to do so before you could ever need it. In other words, have the policies handy and easily accessible.

Contact a plumbing company such as Plumbing Dynamics to evaluate water damage in your condo unit and conduct leak detection in Carrollton, TX. We can ascertain the cause of the damage, even if the spot where the damage originated can’t be found.  Give us a call at 214-929-3431.  And remember, when you work with the master plumbers at Plumbing Dynamics, you can always expect:

• No Service Call Fee
• No Trip Charge
• Free Estimates
• Master Plumbers who’ve seen every possible plumbing problem ever from around the nation
• Family-owned and operated for 25 years and counting
• Utmost quality in customer service – hand-holding through the entire process

Don’t forget to check out our specials and redeem an online coupon toward your repair!

As important as our services are to the smooth operation of your home, as well as to the comfort of your family, we understand well why “time to call the plumber” are not words a homeowner wants to hear or speak.

Plumbing services can be expensive

As much as we enjoy serving our clients, we want you to save as much money as possible when it comes to plumbing upkeep and repair

That’s why we’ve put together a list of some of the most expensive plumbing issues and how you can avoid them

Please note that many of these issues such as a water leak, can seem innocuous. But some of the most “simple” of issues can be the most costly.

• For example, if your faucet “squeaks” or even makes a kind of screeching noise when you use it could mean that its air bleed-off system isn’t working properly. Should the system continue to malfunction, you can have an expensive repair.
• A “simple” water leak can cost you hundreds of dollars. If it goes undetected behind a wall or in a crawl space you could eventually see mold and rot problems appear. These types of conditions can cost you a lot of money to eradicate – and this doesn’t include the increase in your water bill from a persistent, hidden leak.  Mold and rot also can cause health hazards in the home. What’s more, if the leak goes undetected for a long time, a homeowner may see additional costs to the repair process, such as repairing/replacing drywall, etc. To prevent this, it’s a good idea to check enclosed spaces – such as under sinks, in crawl spaces, etc. – regularly for leaks.

It looks innocuous enough, but a leaky faucet – especially if it goes undetected – can cost you big time.

• Mineral deposits can build up in your home’s water heater over time, which could result in clogs that reduce your water pressure. Some older water heaters also may become rusty as they age, possibly affecting the quality of your water. We recommend that you have a professional plumber flush your water heater routinely in order to increase the lifespan of the heater, as well as to catch any problems that may have cropped up before they become major issues. Replacing a water heater is a big expense and you want to ensure that the one you have works efficiently for as long as possible.
• Does your toilet back up frequently? If so, this could be a sign that your septic tank needs emptying or a tree root has obstructed a sewer pipe or line. Check your septic tank’s level regularly so that you don’t need an emergency emptying. If on a sewer line, check trees near your home to see if their roots might become a problem at some point. If you feel the trees are becoming too large and are too close to your home, consider having them removed. Tree removal tends to be less expensive than repairing a sewer line.

If you’ve found a leaky pipe, or damaged pipe, have an old water heater, or otherwise have discovered a “small” plumbing problem, contact the expert Dallas plumbers at Plumbing Dynamics soon – before the small leak becomes a big problem. Give us a call at 214-929-3431 to get help with a plumbing leak in Carrollton, TX.

How Can Groundwater Lead to a Slab Leak?

Before we get into the dangers of slab leaks, let’s explore how groundwater can create them.

Groundwater in soil that has been saturated by excessive rains could be pushed into your slab via hydrostatic pressure. That pressure could cause pipes to leak or even break.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to know when these types of leaks have occurred, and they often go undetected until you can point out some of the telltale signs of a slab leak.

Slab Leak Detection For Your Home

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait around for your home to display the worst signs of a slab leak to know you’ve got one. We’ve seen every sign and can attest that there are several red flags that point to a slab leak in your home.

If you hear the sound of water running under your basement or first floor, don’t ignore the warning signs. This is a slab leak! Aside from the sound of running water, you may feel warm or even “hot” spots under the floor as you walk across it.

If you feel hot spots, this is a very good indication of a hot water leak under the slab and is a plumbing emergency.

Total Flooding

If you’ve ignored the preliminary signs and the slab leak progresses, you may notice a pool of water or mud on the floor closest to the ground in your home.

If your first floor or basement floods for no obvious reason, you have a slab leak on your hands.

Don’t Forget to Check the Water Bill…

If your water bill goes up considerably, this often is a sign of a water leak.

A great way to determine a slab leak via your water meter is to check your water meter at a certain time, make sure no one uses any water for half an hour or so, and when you check the meter again, check to see if it’s moved. If it has, this means water is running or leaking somewhere on your property.

HOW DOES A PLUMBER PERFORM SLAB LEAK DETECTION?

Fixing a slab leak is much more complex than clearing out a kitchen sink drain or performing a shower repair.

Slab leak detection and the following repairs require the expertise of an experienced plumber. At Plumbing Dynamics, we specialize in slab leaks and ensure every step our process takes brings you one step closer to a safer, drier home.

Slab Leak Detection

Before we start repairs, we conduct a slab leak detection to locate the leak’s source and determine the damage’s extent. This lets us determine the solution approach we’ll take and helps us give you the most accurate estimate possible for the job.

Accessing the Leak

Once we identify the location of the leak, we need to gain access to the area beneath the slab. This might involve breaking through the concrete slab or creating a small access point, depending on the severity and accessibility of the leak.

Repairing the Leak

Gaining access to the leak leads directly to our swift repairs. We always use the appropriate methods based on the situation.

Some of the most common repair techniques we utilize include the following:

• Epoxy pipe coating – We apply an epoxy resin to the interior of a damaged pipe to seal the leak.
• Pipe re-routing – If the damaged pipe section is inaccessible or difficult to repair, we may reroute the pipe around the affected area to prevent further damage.
• Pipe replacement – In some cases, we may need to replace the damaged section of the pipe entirely. This can be a great entry into plumbing updates if your home has older piping that only becomes more prone to leaks and bursts over time.

How Long Does it Take to Repair a Slab Leak?

The duration of fixing a slab leak can vary depending on factors such as the complexity of the leak, the accessibility of the affected area, and the chosen repair method.

Simple repairs may take a few hours, while more extensive repairs that involve re-routing or replacing pipes could take several days. While many plumbers may use the presence of a slab leak to amp up their rates, our plumbers always go with the accurate repair timeline and ensure we complete your repairs in a timely manner and save you money where possible.

How Much Can a Slab Leak Repair Cost?

We can’t sugarcoat it; slab leaks are an expensive business. Repairing a slab leak in 2023 can cost between $1,200 and $3,500. Essentially, the longer you wait for repairs, the more expensive the solution will be and the more physical damage you face on your property.

Protect Your Slab Foundation Today

Aside from the major annoyance of repairing or replacing any carpeting, furniture, or prized possessions due to water damage, slab leaks can lead to major damage to your home and even its foundation.

If you suspect your foundation slab may have a water leak under it, don’t wait until you’re sloshing through water in your home. Let the plumbers at Plumbing Dynamics come out of your property, assess the damage with slab leak detection in Carrollton, TX, and get right to work on repairs.

Contact us today at 214-929-3431 to schedule your appointment!

Your Hot Water Heater May Run Out Faster

Hot showers are an essential part of most of our days, and this is especially true during a Dallas winter. So, it’s no surprise that we get lots of calls during this season with homeowners disappointed that their hot water is running out faster than usual.

This issue is mainly due to the weather and the current temperature of your water heater. During the winter, the water in your water heater isn’t naturally as warm as in the summer. This means that more hot water must be used to enjoy a nice shower. If your temperature isn’t adjusted properly, you’ll be left with little hot water to work with.

Adjusting your temperature without prior experience could lead to scalding water by accident. It’s always a great idea to schedule an appointment with a licensed plumber who can safely adjust your hot water heater.

Longer Heat-Up Time

During the summer months, hot water can seem instantaneous. This is because your pipes aren’t experiencing the cold conditions they face during the winter. Cold pipes draw out the heat from your hot water. So, it’s only natural that your water would take an extra minute or two to heat up.

Higher Energy Bills

Even through cold pipes and sediment that builds up over time your hot water heater is going to keep trying to get you the hot water you want for your bath. Unfortunately, when it’s cold, the sediment buildup in your hot water heater tends to absorb the heat from your water, making your hot water heater go into overtime.

At the end of the day, you will still get your hot shower, but all of the extra work put into creating your hot water will leave you paying a much higher energy bill.

Fortunately, a local plumber can come to your home and safely flush your water heater. This will remove the minerals within and help you save money as you try to stay comfortable during what’s sure to be a cold winter.

Is your Hot water Heater Acting a Little Cold This Season? Plumbing Dynamics Can Help!

If your showers aren’t as hot as you’d like them to be, it may be time to call in a plumbing inspection. From insulating your pipes to flushing out your hot water heater the experts at Plumbing Dynamics can ensure that your next shower is both affordable and hot. Contact us today at 214-929-3431 to schedule our services with your hot water heater in Carrollton, TX.

Steps to Take

1. If the break is in your basement, open the sewer trap.

Doing so means the sewage flow will go directly out to your public sewer. But make sure to open the cap that is closer to your home’s front; opening the cap on the house side could make the sewage flow into your home even worse.

2. You’ll then want to call a plumber and start cleaning up as much as possible.

The plumber will need to come to your home to find where the break in the sewage line is before he can even start to fix it. He’ll need a camera for this job, so it’s not something you can do yourself. But you can start some of the mop-up while you wait for the plumber to arrive.

3. Don’t let the elderly or children near the area!

Sewage is, well, poop and urine! And poop and urine can be full of bacteria. You don’t want children or frail older folks to become ill, so never let them walk around the mess with you.

4. Find your electric and/or gas utility box(es) and shut off the electricity/gas to the affected area.

If that’s not possible, call your gas and utility providers to turn off the electricity/gas. Never touch a plugged-in electric cord, fuse box, or appliance wet with the effluent until the electricity is off. Don’t write any tipped-over appliances. Don’t light any matches until the gas is turned off.

5. Some first steps for cleanup.

You’re probably going to have to hire a restoration company to fully clean up the mess once the effluent no longer backs up or flows into your basement or first floor, but you can do some things yourself.

First steps:

1. Drain the sewage via a pump or natural draining.
2. Remove soil and sewage detritus from all affected surfaces.
3. Wash all walls, floors, and other surfaces touched by the sewage. Use clean warm/hot water and a low-suds detergent.
4. Rinse with warm/hot water.
5. Sanitize the walls, surfaces, and floors with a mixture of Lysol and water (2.5 tablespoons of Lysol per gallon of water), or use laundry bleach with water (8 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water).
6. Air the affected area with fans or open windows.

Unless they can be disinfected, discard all carpeting, rugs, bedding, curtains, toys, clothing, furniture, etc. that were touched by the effluent.

If your sewer line has broken or if you suspect a sewage backup (you should start to smell foul odors), call upon the sewer-line experts at Plumbing Dynamics to help you find the break and repair the pipe.

Call us at 214-929-3431 and contact us for sewer line repair in Carrollton, TX today!

1. 1. Indoor plumbing has been with humans since long before 1829 when the Tremont Hotel in Boston became the first hotel in the country to have indoor plumbing: archeologists have uncovered a part of a water plumbing system at the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. In addition, evidence of indoor plumbing has been found in Egyptian palaces dating back to 2500 B.C.
   2. In fact, copper piping – the primary material used today in plumbing – also was used by the Egyptians to lay their own pipes.
   3. More than 28 billion feet (about 5.3 million miles) of copper piping has been installed in buildings in the U.S. since 1963. To put it in perspective, imagine a single long copper tube going around the earth 200 times.
   4. As much as it makes for a good joke and urban legend, Sir Thomas Crapper did not invent the toilet, as evidence (in addition to that mentioned above) has shown that King Minos of Crete had a flushing water closet about 2800 years ago.
      
   5. Queen Elizabeth I also enjoyed the benefit of a flushing toilet: her godson, Sir John Harrington, built one for her in 1596 and it’s believed that the U.S. nickname for it, “the john,” comes from him.
   6. The first-ever patent for a flushing toilet was issued to Alexander Cummings in 1775.
   7. Albert Einstein is reported to have said that if he had to do it all over again, he’d become a plumber. As a result of this remark, the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union in Washington, DC, made him an honorary member, and a New York plumbers’ local gave him a set of gold-plated plumbers tools.
   8. Install a low-flush toilet and you can save up to 18,000 gallons of water a year!
   9. Both the word “plumbing” and the periodic table element for lead, Pb, come from the Latin term for “lead,” plumbum.
   10. Set your hot water heater to no hotter than 125 degrees F. Why? Because it takes water at a temperature of 140 degrees F just seconds to burn your skin. Water at 160 degrees will scald you in just half a second.
   11. The “bathroom,” has had many different terms and names throughout human history and throughout different cultures. The Egyptians reportedly called it the “house of horror.” It was called the “necessarium” by the Romans. Tudor England referred to it as the “privy” or “house of privacy,” while the French have been known to refer to it as la chamber sent (“smelly house”).
   12. How long do we spend on the toilet? The average person is purported to spend a total of three years over a lifetime.
   13. Flushing the toilet consumes about 38 percent of the average U.S. household’s water usage.
   14. A typical American home wastes more than 9,000 gallons of water running the faucet while waiting for the water to heat, which means that as much as 15 percent of your annual heating costs are wasted while you heat that extra 9,000 gallons.
   15. Got a drippy faucet? Think it doesn’t mean much? Think again: if that leaky faucet could fill an eight-ounce glass in 15 minutes, it would waste 180 gallons of water a month (2,160 gallons a year).

Stop wasting water! Contact Plumbing Dynamics, your trusted Carrollton plumbing company, to install a low-flow toilet and fix leaky faucets. Give us a call today at 214-929-3431 for any plumbing services in Carrollton, TX like maintenance, repair, or plumbing emergencies.

Many plumbing companies will offer their clients extended warranties on either their work, appliances (the new water heater, sump pump, garbage disposal, etc.), or both.

But are these warranties a good deal in the long run?

Read below for the pros and cons of plumbing warranties.

The pros:

• A typical warranty provides a flat rate and reduced fee for service calls. These can provide you with considerable savings over the typical cost of a repair visit. The cost of service calls also can be reduced even more if you choose a contract upgrade option.
• Warranties also can save you big time when it comes to the repair or replacement of many appliances or systems that commonly fail (water heaters and pumps, for example).
• A plumbing warranty also can mean you’ll receive enhanced coverage. For additional fees, some warranties can be enlarged to include conditions that existed before the policy went into effect – undetected pipe leaks under concrete slabs, for example.

The cons:

• There’s no guarantee that all replacement and repair services will be covered. This is because the provider of the warranty – not you, the homeowner – is the one to decide what is and isn’t covered. For example, if your hot water heater is obsolete, the plumber may just repair it rather than replace it.
• Most warranties cover what is known as operational failure of systems and appliances after what is known as “normal use.” Conditions that come up because of “acts of nature” or “acts of God” such as flooding, freezing pipes, etc. may not be covered (although they may be covered under your homeowner’s policy; check with your insurer). In addition, warranty providers often place caps on what they’ll pay per appliance or system as well as per incident

When deciding whether or not to purchase a warranty, homeowners who have older plumbing and who anticipate having to call in a plumber in Carrollton, TX for repairs relatively regularly are potentially good candidates for a plumbing warranty; the cost of the warranty may be worth it.

When looking for a Dallas plumbing company that’s reliable and affordable, contact Plumbing Dynamics. We are fully bonded, licensed, and insured with a $1 million liability policy (more than is required by law). Contact us via our online contact form or give us a call at 214-929-3431.

THE SOURCE DETERMINES THE ROOT CAUSE

Although it can sound like the whistling from your pipes is coming from all around your bathroom’s plumbing system, the truth is that it can stem from a couple of places. Let’s take a look at two of the most common sources of this annoying plumbing problem.

Toilet Whistles

If you notice the sound occurring directly after flushing the toilet, the issue could be a faulty fill valve. Your toilet’s fill valve is the piece of equipment that floats in the toilet’s tank and helps regulate the water that refills after a flush.

When the toilet valve deteriorates, it’s unable to function properly and can cause the dreaded whistling sound after each flush.

Pipe Whistles

If you test your toilet and the whistle doesn’t occur, the source could be directly from the pipes within the walls of your bathroom. Over time, wear and tear occurs and can lead to faucets collecting minerals and sediment.

When water is pushed through the pipes and is forced through areas that weren’t meant to be tight, the whistling sound can occur as water pressure increases and forces its way through the plumbing system.

Why Should You Be Concerned About a Little Whistle?

The biggest problem with a pipe whistle is that most homeowners don’t realize that this can be the symptom of a major problem on the cusp of occurrence.

When a whistle stems from your actual plumbing, it’s a sign that minerals have already significantly built up in your pipes and valves. Unless a licensed plumber is able to make replacements or clear out the sediment, your pipes may not be far from a leak or burst.

How Can a Plumber Make Your Pipes Stop Singing?

While it can be difficult to locate the exact source of whistling plumbing, a licensed plumber can quickly find the root of the problem and offer the right long-term solutions that stop abnormal plumbing noises and prevent the risk of a plumbing leak.

We can safely clear out your plumbing sediment and resolve the issue. If your problem stems from a faulty valve in your toilet or system, we can replace it for you and ensure your water moves smoothly from here on out.

Schedule Your Home’s Plumbing Inspection With Plumbing Dynamics

If your plumbing is whistling or you’ve realized your pipes have sprung a leak, don’t let the problem fester. Reach out to Plumbing Dynamics today. Our licensed plumbers can help you resolve the issues at reasonable rates and with the best customer service in Dallas.

Reach out to us today at 214-929-3431 to schedule an appointment for a plumbing inspection in Carrollton, TX with our experienced plumbers.

Find the Cause

Our customer then had a company come out to locate the source of the problem. This company found that the hot water heater was the culprit.

How We Fixed the Issue

He then called in Plumbing Dynamics and we had to make a hole in his floor to take out the broken line because the leak happened to be in a concrete beam. We rerouted the line and brought it up to the water heater in a new location in the water heater room. Now the customer can have hot water throughout the house and won’t have to tear out his water heater or the water lines and make a mess if there are any further problems.

The leak is fixed, and our customer is happy!

Your Next Step

If you think you have a hot spot on your floor, or if you have any other plumbing concerns or questions, contact us today at 214-929-3431! Plumbing Dynamics is here to help with your leak in Carrollton, TX!