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My Garbage Disposal Is Making Noise: How Can I Fix It?

. Posted by in , • Corpus Christi
A stainless steel sink with a garbage disposal

As you’re wrapping up your dish cleaning duties for the night, you flip on the garbage disposal, only to hear a strange noise. It’s not the normal grinding noise that sends food, water and any other gunk right down the drain—it’s a sound that gives you a clear indication that something has gone wrong.

If this has happened to you, you likely heard either rattling, humming or squealing coming from your garbage disposal. Depending on the noise coming from your disposal, there are different solutions to the problem. Before getting started, it’s important to note that you don’t want to keep running your disposal to see if it will fix the problem, as this can lead to further damage.

Remove Any Foreign Objects

The most common cause of a garbage disposal that is making a rattling noise is that something is stuck in the unit. Items that may have gotten accidentally washed into … Read Full Post »

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Water Leaking From AC Unit: Should I Be Worried?

. Posted by in • Austin
Water leaking from an ac unit

Finding a pool of water near your air conditioner can be alarming. You may ask yourself: Why is this happening? Is this liquid water, or could it be refrigerant? While being in this situation can be alarming, you should know that it’s not uncommon to find moisture near your AC unit, and this may not actually be a bad thing. To determine whether your water leak is serious, it’s helpful to understand how air conditioning systems work.

Air conditioners use refrigerants to cool down the air that flows through your home. These systems operate thanks to a handy piece of physics: When a liquid turns into a gas, it absorbs heat. So, with a substance that changes from a liquid to a gas at a relatively low temperature, as is the case with refrigerants, you can harness that heat-absorption power to cool down a home on a hot summer day.

Air conditioners … Read Full Post »

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Why Does My Air Conditioner Keep Running When Turned Off?

. Posted by in • San Antonio
a vent with air blowing out of it even when air conditioner is off

You are pleasantly surprised that after a heatwave, the weather outside is nearly perfect. So, you turn off your air conditioner and head outside to take advantage of a beautiful afternoon. However, after coming back in a few hours later, you realize that your air conditioner is still running, even though you turned it off. While this is arguably a better situation than having an air conditioner that won’t turn on, it’s still wasting energy and money. So, what can you do to turn off your air conditioner? Or is this a problem that requires the help of a professional?

Electrical issues are the most common cause of an AC unit that won’t stop running and these types of problems typically need to be addressed by a licensed heating and cooling specialist. However, before contacting a professional, you can check your fan to make sure this isn’t the problem.

Sometimes, when cleaning … Read Full Post »

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Signs Of Hard Water: Tips From The Experts

. Posted by in , • Austin
A cream colored bathroom that is suffering from signs of hard water

Water isn’t something homeowners typically think much about. Turn on a faucet, crank up the shower, push a button on the dishwasher or washing machine and the water flows. Depending on where you live, however, your home might have what’s commonly referred to as hard water, which means that you have dissolved magnesium and calcium compounds and possibly other metallic elements in your running water. If your pipes or appliances are showing signs of hard water, it might be time to take action.

Homes get their water from different naturally occurring sources. Groundwater, a common source, flows through limestone or other rocks, absorbing the minerals contained inside of them. Over time, those minerals build up in a home’s plumbing system. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 85% of homes in the United States have some level of hard water.

Your water would be labeled “hard” if it contains more than 61 milligrams … Read Full Post »

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Why Is My Dishwasher Backing Up Into The Sink?

. Posted by in , • Austin
dishwasher backing up into sink and overflowing

The kitchen is the center of activity in most homes, and the sink is the heart of the kitchen. If you’re busy doing dishes, you expect everything—including the faucet, disposal, dishwasher and pipes—to work. The last thing you want is to run into any kind of problem that would result in a backed-up sink or dishwasher full of dirty, smelly water and bits of decomposing food that won’t go down. If you find your dishwasher backing up into your sink, that’s just the type of plumbing problem you’ll have on your hands, and it will need to be resolved quickly, so you can get back to your normal routine without much disruption.

There are several common causes of a dishwasher backing up into a sink, including a block in the air gap, an obstruction in your dishwasher or a clogged garbage disposal. One of the most likely culprits is a simple … Read Full Post »

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Toilet Leaks When Flushed: What Is Going On?

. Posted by in • Corpus Christi
a white and gray bathroom

Leaks are among the most common plumbing issues homeowners have to deal with. If your toilet leaks when you flush it, you might have one (or more) of the following problems:

  • Your supply valve or fill valve are loose.
  • The nuts and bolts connecting the tank to other parts of the toilet aren’t tight.
  • Your toilet tank is cracked.
  • The flapper is not shutting correctly over the valve seat, causing the flush valve to leak into the bowl.

If you want to try to fix the leak on your own, take some time to thoroughly examine each part of the toilet, including the bowl, inside the tank and around the water supply valve. Sometimes, a leaky toilet can be fixed just by tightening nuts and bolts. In some cases, unfortunately, you will have to replace the entire toilet.

A toilet leak can quickly become a serious issue. Water leaks can cause damage to your bathroom or … Read Full Post »

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Who Fixes Garbage Disposals?

. Posted by in , • Austin
Kitchen sink with a garbage disposal

Doing the dishes is already a tedious chore for many homeowners. When you’re standing at the sink with the water running and scrub brush in hand, you expect everything to work. That’s why it can be such a disappointment when you rinse food off your dishes into the sink and hit the switch to activate your garbage disposal, only to hear an odd noise, detect a terrible smell or worse—to hear nothing at all. In any of those scenarios, the question will instantly pop into your mind: Who fixes garbage disposals? Should you call an appliance repair person, a plumber or someone else entirely?

The short answer to that question is that both appliance repair technicians and plumbers can address issues with garbage disposals. Do keep in mind, though, that choosing the right person to call when your garbage disposal breaks can depend on the type and extent of the particular … Read Full Post »

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How To Unclog A Dishwasher With Standing Water

. Posted by in , • Austin
How to unclog a dishwasher with standing water

While cleaning up after dinner, you notice that a significant amount of water has accumulated in the bottom of your dishwasher. You know that a little water is normal, but this seems excessive. Before you tackle another load of dishes sitting in the sink, you may realize you don’t know how to unclog a dishwasher with standing water. You’re probably also wondering why this happened in the first place and how can you prevent it from happening again.

The most likely reason water is pooling in your dishwasher is that you have filters that have been become blocked because of food debris that has built up over time. Most newer models have manual-clean filters, unlike the self-cleaning filters that were more common in these units a decade ago. Clogged filters can prevent water from rising or draining, and can even make your dishes smell. Thankfully, cleaning your manual filters is relatively … Read Full Post »

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What Is EM Heat On A Thermostat?

. Posted by in • San Antonio
frozen leaves hanging from a tree

If you take a look at the thermostat that controls your home’s heating and cooling systems, you might notice a switch or button labeled “EM heat.” If you see this, your home probably has a heat pump. The first part of the phrase “EM heat” stands for emergency. The emergency heat setting on your thermostat controls your heating system’s auxiliary heat source, which can be tapped into when outside temperatures drop below a certain threshold—usually anything colder than 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that you understand the answer to the original question—What is EM heat on a thermostat?—let’s learn more about this setting and why it comes on.

When functioning properly, the heating system’s heat pump pushes warm air from inside your home to the outside during hot weather and moves heat to the inside during cold weather. When outdoor temperatures drop into the thirties, however, it can become too … Read Full Post »

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Will Pipes Freeze At 32 Degrees? Avoiding Disaster

. Posted by in • Corpus Christi
Will Pipes Freeze at 32 Degrees

Here in Texas, we are lucky that our winters are relatively mild. However, we do have those nights where it can get a bit chillier than we’re accustomed to. When it drops below freezing, many homeowners start to wonder: Will pipes freeze at 32 degrees? Water freezes at 32 degrees, so technically that is the temperature at which it becomes possible for pipes to freeze as well. That said, it’s not quite that simple.

Pipes can freeze at 32 degrees or below, but it will take a sustained period of time for this to happen. In other words, a pipe needs to be at freezing temperatures for at least half a day before homeowners have to worry about any freezing occurring. And, generally speaking, the temperature needs to be well below 32 for at least that length of time before freezing becomes likely.

While you may assume that homeowners in the North … Read Full Post »

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