That doohickey right up there ^^^ above this text is a shut-off valve.  Knowing where in your house you can find these babies can save you thousands of dollars if you ever find yourself with water flooding into your home due to broken pipes or malfunctioning fixtures.

First, a word on how this simple valve works.  The red handle should* turn (often 1/4 rotation) and the water should stop flowing.  Some fixtures, such as toilets, sinks, washing machines and showers have their own, smaller shut-offs.  Those look like this and are located right next to or under the fixture:

Depending on the type of shut-off, these may turn a 1/4 turn, or they may require several turns to shut the water off.

If you need to shut off water to the whole house, locate the main shut-off (1st picture) which will likely be near where water service comes in to your house.  This could be on the 1st floor, or possibly in the basement.  Once the water is turned off, start mopping up the spilled water and give us a call.

Shut-offs fail periodically and some fixture installations are done without adding a new shut-off.  It's smart to have a plumber come check your shut-offs periodically to make sure they are in working order when you need one.

If you'd like us to give you a hand, please give us a call, we are happy to help.

See that thing stuck on the end of the snake there? Yep, that's a wash cloth.
Pro tip: don't flush washcloths.

​:D

We saw this shower head and completely fell in love.  It is gorgeous, puts out a ton of water and would be a delightful addition to any bathroom.

...then we looked at the rest of the room.  What's with the trip hazard shower pan?  What keeps water from splashing all over the place?  Why the bummer lighting?  We know it's and ad but....really?  Really?

What do you think? Is this a hit, or a miss?

There are 2 basic ways to clean out clogged pipes, conventional drain snakes and hydrojetters.  In the image above, the snake is on the top and the hydrojetter is underneath.  Both methods require accessing pipes directly through a clean-out and both methods employ sending a probe down into the pipes to physically clear them of debris out but that's about where the similarities end.

A hydrojetter uses water pumped in at high velocity to break up clogs or cut damaged roots.  A snake uses any of a variety of heads (chosen based on the clog type) to break up clogs or cut roots and pull them out of the lines. 

Our company uses snakes exclusively, and for good reason.  If pipes have roots, that means that they have already been breached and are no longer at 100% strength. If pipes are older than 20 years (which is often the case for homes in older neighborhoods such as Hillcrest, South Park, North Park, University Heights, Normal Heights, Kensington, Talmadge, Mission Hills, Bankers Hill and other central San Diego neighborhoods), pipes can break or crumble under the high pressure blasts from a hydrojetter.  Inexperienced hydrojet operators can end up causing more damage than they came to fix.  Our #1 job is to help homeowners solve their plumbing problems without causing new ones, so we don't take the risk of using a hydrojetter when a snake can do the job without having to worry about breaking already fragile pipes.

If your lines are draining slowly, let us know and we'll come out and let you know what's going on and suggest a solution for you. Give us a call, we are happy to help.

It doesn't snow in San Diego, but it does get chilly in the winter months.  If you live in an older home, you probably don't have much in the way of insulation and, if your house is anything like ours, you probably have your share of louvered windows (aka jalousie windows, aka the most leaky windows on the planet).

So what is a person to do to keep warm in the bath?

One option is using heated towel racks.  Stepping out of a steamy shower into a chilly room can be no fun it all but wrapping up in a pre-warmed towel feels like the height of luxury for not too much dough.  Heated towel racks come either permanently installed or as a stand-alone appliance.

Another good choice is using a rug or a towel on the floor to keep off of cold tile.

Finally, a luxurious robe and slippers can make any bathroom feel like a spa.

Happy New Year!
May 2018 bring you love, happiness and good fortune.