Tag: Washington County

Williamsport Plumber’s Guide: Reasons to Consider a Drain Tile System

Posted on by Larry & Sons

A drain tile system uses perforated pipes to move water away from the foundation of your Williamsport home. The primary reason for having a drain tile system installed is to prevent water from collecting in your basement.

Water can get into your basement in a number of ways, often through cracks in the foundation introduced during construction. Water in the soil or runoff from a hard rain may enter these cracks and accumulate in the basement. Water leaking from the underground water supply lines could also collect in your basement. You have little control over how much water is absorbed by soil or how much it rains, but you can prevent it from flooding the basement of your home.

When you have a tile drain system installed, or to be more specific, an exterior tile drain system installed, your home is protected from such leakages. The other reason for considering a drain tile system is to avoid water leakage from the walls. Water seeping out from cracks in the walls may collect at the points where the walls and the floors meet, causing moisture or humidity to build up in the basement. Over the years, this may cause significant damage. So the drain tile system is the most proficient method to protect the basement of your home from all sources of water.

How does it work?

Water will always follow the path of least resistance. Because of this, drain tile systems are made up of a collection of selectively perforated pipes. These pipes are installed along the path that water would take when heading towards your basement, so that when the water reaches the pipes, it will simple flow into the holes and follow the pipes away from your home. Basically, the water is redirected to a public drainage system through a sump pipe.

How a Williamsport Plumber Installs a Drain Tile System

  1. First, they dig a channel around your home using heavy equipment till you reach the foundation.
  2. Set a water filter to avoid blockage due to sediment.
  3. Seal up the ditch above the drain tile with washed gravel.
  4. Cover the ditch and the drain tile using the soil removed in step 1.

Because of the complicated nature of this procedure and the potential form problems to develop if it’s done incorrectly, it’s always good to have a Williamsport plumbing professional like Larry & Sons install the drain tile system for you. Call us today to learn more!

Frederick HVAC Tip: 4 Ways to Improve IAQ and Reduce Air Pollution

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Allergens and pollutants in your Frederick home’s indoor air are easy to remove by taking some simple steps such as the four listed below:

  1. HEPA Filtration – Step one is to use HEPA filtration to remove as much of what is on the floor as possible through vacuuming. HEPA vacuum cleaners can remove years of cleaners, solvents, dander, mineral build ups and other toxins that tend to accumulate in spaces that normal vacuums cannot reach. It may be a bit of an investment, but a high powered vacuum cleaner can have a tremendously positive impact on your lifestyle and reduce pollutants.
  2. Stop Outside Stuff from Coming In – Some of the worst pollutants your home will face are from outside. So, make sure you have doormats at every door and that your family and friends remove their shoes before coming inside. You can have a second mat inside as a friendly reminder that cleaning the shoes is not an option but a strict necessity.
  3. Humidity Helps – Humidity levels between 30% and 50% reduce the presence of dust mites, molds, bacteria and many other indoor pollutants. Air conditioning in the summer is helpful to reduce humidity, though a dehumidifier is recommended for those days when the temperature doesn’t justify full blown air conditioning. Additionally, look for sources of excess humidity like leaky pipes, standing water, or clothes drying.
  4. Cut the Chemicals – There are a number of high quality household cleaners that don’t contain chemicals. Avoid ammonia, bleach and other chemical laden cleaners that can inflame allergies and pollute the water supply. Your home will be just as clean and you won’t feel uncomfortable afterwards.

Proper cleaning and careful selection of compounds and what goes into your air will help you avoid creating new air quality problems in your Frederick house. Done right, this process will make everyone in your home feel more comfortable. For more information, give Larry & Sons Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning a call!

Hagerstown Plumbing Question: Why Does My Tub Faucet Leak when the Shower Is On?

Posted on by Larry & Sons

Here is a common and yet seemingly complex problem you can have with your Hagerstown plumbing. You turn on your shower, flip the switch to go from tub faucet to shower head and the tub faucet continues to leak. Not only is it rather irritating, but it draws from the water pressure in the shower head. Let’s take a look at why this happens and how to quickly fix it.

 Why the Leak?

There is a valve in your tub’s faucet that diverts water from the tub to the shower head when the switch or lever is pulled to turn on your shower. Because the valve is not a perfect seal, the tub faucet will drip a small amount during a shower. However, if a large amount of water is coming out of the tub faucet and very little is coming from your shower head, it is likely a problem with that valve.

In some cases, the only way to know the root of the problem is to take apart the assembly and check all of the valve parts individually for damage. The specifics of the repair process will depend largely on the type of shower and diverter valve you have.

Fixing the Problem

To fix this problem, a plumber can either replace part of or the entire shower diverter valve. They start by removing the faucet and pulling the screw that holds the shower diverter valve in place. Once the screw is removed, they take out the rubber washer and replace it. Many times, this is enough to fix the problem.

If it is not, however, you may need to have the entire shower diverter valve replaced. There are some situations that make it hard to reach the shower diverter valve, such as when you have a shower handle instead of a faucet knob. If this is the case, you may need special tools or professional assistance in removing the knob to access the valve.

Contact the Hagerstown plumbing professionals at Larry & Sons who are experienced in removing and replacing shower diverter valves.

Hagerstown Air Conditioning Tip: Variety of Ways to Cool Your Home Naturally

Posted on by Larry & Sons

It is normal these days to simply switch on your Hagerstown air conditioning when the temperature begins to rise outside. But this can get expensive quickly, so it is a good idea to look into some alternative cooling methods as well. Fortunately, there are actually some great ways to help keep your home cool without turning up your air conditioning at all.

Using fans, ceiling fans in particular, can certainly help to keep you cool on many moderate summer days. But they are far from the only options available. In fact, the design and composition of your house itself will have a lot to do with how easy it is to keep it cool all summer long.

One of the main reasons that your house gets so hot inside during the summer is that sunlight heats the air inside when it hits the walls, roof and windows. Closing your blinds will help to keep some of this out, but there will still be plenty of heat from the sun working to increase the indoor temperature.

What you really want to do to keep your house from heating up because of sunlight is to actively reflect the sun’s rays away from your home. You can do this by having light colored roofing and exterior paint or siding put on. While the dark colors typically used for this type of work absorb the vast majority of the sunlight that hits them, lighter colors will reflect it away.

This works well for the walls, but on your roof it can be a bit more difficult to stop the absorption of heat from the sun because of the nature of typical roofing materials. What you can do, however, is add a reflective coating like white latex on the roof. This will dramatically reduce the amount of heat that is able to come into your home in this way.

Also, natural shade can do a lot to keep sunlight from getting to your home to begin with. Planting trees close enough to your home that they will block out the sun but far enough away that they have room to grow will eventually help to keep your home much cooler without any extra work whatsoever. For more tips on how to use your Hagerstown air conditioning system effectively, give Larry & Sons a call!