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Guardian Plumbing & Heating Ltd. Blog

The Guardian Angle #7 – Episode 6 Toilet Maintenance

How would you like it if you found out that you were throwing $100.00 down the toilet everyday? I bet you would like it to stop! I can help!

Blaine here for Guardian Plumbing and Heating. Excited to bring you another Episode of the Guardian Angle. These videos are for you, our customers. They are not intended to be heavy, technical, install your own equipment tutorials, but alternatively, easy to understand tips about things that most people can do to protect their homes and increase the life of all their Plumbing and heating equipment.

One of the greatest feelings in life is that first time the baseball bat connects with the ball, and I’d have to say one of the worst feelings in life is getting hit in the head with a baseball. Araeya gets to experience the highs and lows all in the course of 3 seconds. Kind of like the great feeling of knowing you have the security of an amazing appliance like a toilet in your home, and then getting the bill from the city for several hundred dollars cause it has been dribbling your hard earned money down the drain for a couple weeks!

Toilets have many parts to them, which means they have potential for many things to fail. We are going to address (3) things about your toilet. 1) How to shut off the water 2) How to find out if I have a leaky toilet  3) What not to put in your toilet

The first thing your going to want to know is how do I shut the water off. On a typical toilet  you will find the shutoff valve on the left hand side, either coming out of the wall or floor. If yours does not have a valve, you will want to have one installed otherwise if you have a problem you will need to shut off water to your entire home.

The second problem that will cost you a lot of money is if your toilet is leaking. The number one usage of excess water in home is a leaky flapper. Flappers are made out of rubber and over time in the chlorinated water they can crack, or become distorted no longer sealing against the porcelain. Sometimes this leak is so small you can barely tell its happening. We have special dye tests or you can use food colouring to test out the flapper. Start by removing the tank lid and put a few drops or tablets into the tank.  Wait for 15 minutes to half an hour and if the colour is still in the tank and you don’t see any moving into the bowl you know that your flapper is sound. If you see small streaks of colour starting to make their way into the bowl, it is time to replace. The other thing that can happen, is if the level is set to high or the float gets stuck, the water can rise and pour over the overflow tube. You can visibly see this as we have simulated. Here you need to lower the water level by adjusting the float.

The last thing we want to talk about with toilets is what not to put in them. First don’t use in tank chemicals to clean them. These harsh chemicals can prematurely degraded the plastic and rubber parts and we have seen home flooded because of this. Just use your toilet bowl cleaner and brush on a regular basis.

While we are here, just a reminder do not flush wipes (even the ones that say flushable) paper towels, cotton balls, q-tips, medication, diapers, grease, food, hair. Basically the toilet is for 2 products, and you naturally produce them both, other than toilet paper everything else put in the garbage.

Toilets are one of the most amazing inventions, but if not maintained they can cause a lot of damage and expense. At the current water rates here in Lloydminster, a toilet with a leaky flapper can waste upwards of 6000 gallons per month, costing you close to $100 extra. If the flapper were to stick wide open, it could be $100 a day! The City of Lloydminster has installed new smart meters so they are able to notice if your water consumption has changed drastically and will let you know so you can find and address it. We also have a new product called a Moen Flo that will notify you in case of leaks and even shut off your water if necessary

Here at Guardian Our top priority is building trust and integrity through lifetime partnerships that meet our customers needs. This is accomplished through a WOW experience for our customers consisting of honesty and fairness, exceptional technical knowledge, reliable, efficient products and a commitment to excellence. One of the key ways we fulfill this mission is through the Guardian Protection Plan our protection plan includes Annual Maintenance included, 20% Discount on repairs, 24 Hour Priority Service and industry leading Lifetime Warranty life time warranty, silver and gold logos on Recommended Repairs. Thank you for spending some of your valuable time with us today. We hope that this information serves you well!

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And that’s how we saw things today from the Guardian Angle!

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