The dangers of do-it-yourself plumbing

Sometimes, hiring an expensive plumber and waiting for them to arrive just isn’t in the cards. Plumbing emergencies can be messy and pretty urgent. Aside from that, plumbers can be extremely costly. There are many plumbing maintenance tasks that can prevent emergencies that you can do yourself. But as with many DIY home projects, plumbing with proper knowledge or certification can be risky. Here are some of the dangers of DIY plumbing around the house.

Making Matters Worse

If you try to fix something yourself, chances are you don’t really know what you’re doing. As with anything, when you first try something you will probably get things wrong and mess up. With riding a bike, you may fall and scrape your knee. But with plumbing, you may end up making things a lot worse. A small leak can turn into a flood. Luke warm water from the hot water tap can turn into boiling water no matter what you do. You might end up flooding your home so much, that in addition to hiring a real plumber, you’ll also need to call in a restoration crew and rent a roll-off to haul away everything you destroyed in your home. DIY plumbing is very risky in that regard. Hiring a trained professional ensures that the problem is solved right away, once and for all.

Adding to the Cost

If you do end up making things worse, that is a larger repair cost than what you started off with. Take that small leak. It may have cost $50 to get a plumber in to repair it. But if you try to do it yourself and end up with a larger leak that becomes a flood, that could be thousands of dollars worth of damage without even factoring in the cost of hiring a plumber to fix it. By hiring a plumber at the beginning, you will be paying the minimal cost. By waiting until the problem is worse, you’re just hiking up the price for no reason.

Dangerous Effects

Without proper training, you can not only end with an inconvenient new problem, but you can contaminate your water supply, cause leaks that cause mold, or hurt yourself or others. It may just seem like water, but you need this water to eat and bathe with. Plumbing often involves making sure that your wastewater and drinking water never come into contact with each other. Sewage coming up through your sink or bathtub can result in serious health issues. A professional plumber knows exactly what needs to be done to ensure the safety and health of you and your family.

Planning for the Future

Say you do manage to complete a DIY plumbing project and everything goes smoothly. Unless you really know what you’re doing, there is no guarantee that your solution will last. Sometimes when we Google things, we find quick fixes that may tie us over until we can get a real plumber in. Say you perform a quick fix and later down the line you’re trying to sell your home. If an inspector looks at the plumbing and everything isn’t secure and up to code, it could greatly hurt your chances of making a sale.

There you have it! The major dangers of do-it-yourself plumbing. Don’t be discouraged – many projects are within your reach as long as you have some reliable instructions and information. If you’re changing a showerhead, replacing a faucet or even installing a new toilet, you should be able to get it done without a problem. Modifications to your plumbing system – like extending hot water lines or rerouting pipes – is where you can run into trouble.