What do you think about when someone asks you questions about your plumbing? Your faucets? Toilets? Showers? These are the most common parts homeowners think about because they are the ones you interact with every day.
There’s more to plumbing than the knobs and handles that allow water to flow from your faucet. There are drains, vents supply lines, sewage lines and many other lines located within your walls and ceilings.
These lines are the most essential aspects of your plumbing system. They make sure everything in your home works properly. A water supply and drain line is essential to water flow.
Understanding what’s happening inside your walls
Your plumbing system must be able to function smoothly every day because of many things. This diagram gives you a basic view of the plumbing behind the walls.
These are some of the most important aspects of your plumbing system that probably you don’t think about very often.
- Supply lines provide hot and cold water to the fixtures and faucets throughout your house. Although there are more cold water lines that hot, they serve the same purpose.
- Drain lines carry all waste water from fixtures to the sewer or septic tank.
- Vent lines allow for air to flow through drain lines and allow them to flow freely. Vent lines also have another function. They allow sewer gas to flow outside of your home, and not back up into your living area.
Be More Than What You See
These TV shows focus on home design and remodeling. There are many shows that focus on designing or flipping houses. They all focus on the “pretty”, such as sinks, faucets and showers.
They often times ignore the faucet’s structure because it doesn’t make for good television.
This is a HUGE mistake. Connecting a beautiful new faucet to an old plumbing system will only lead to more problems. We have had customers who have purchased “flipped” homes and found that their drains were slow, that the water pressure was low, or that they ran out of hot water half way through the shower.
Although the exterior wall material may be beautiful, it is only a facade for what could be a very poor internal plumbing system. Long Beach Plumbers are available to inspect your home and give you the assurance that your new fixtures will work properly if you are thinking of remodeling your bathroom or kitchen.