Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. Blog: Archive for June, 2014

Watch for These Warning Signs You Need Pipe Replacement

Friday, June 27th, 2014

The plumbing system of a home is designed to handle a great deal of stress as it brings water into the house and removes waste from it. But no matter how hardy the pipes in a home are, sometimes they will wear down and sustain damage that will require professional plumbers replace them. In cases of older homes, a whole-house pipe replacement is often necessary.

Here are a few signs to watch for that can indicate you need pipe replacement in Orlando, FL, either whole-house or targeted. Call the professionals at Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) right away to arrange the work. You can trust our experience: we’ve served central Florida since 1975.

Warnings You May Need Pipe Replacement

  • Water discoloration: Corrosion and rust are the last things you want to occur in your plumbing. These are rarely issues that affect modern plumbing systems made from copper and plastic pipes. But for older homes built pre-1970 that have galvanized steel pipes, it can be a major dilemma. When reddish discoloration starts to come from your faucets (and it isn’t immediately after a long absence from home), it’s a major warning sign that corrosion has taken hold in your plumbing and you need to replace all of the aging steel pipes.
  • Loss of water pressure: When water pressure coming from your faucets and shower heads starts to drop, it could mean there is a serious problem somewhere in your plumbing that will require extensive pipe replacement. It might even be an issue in the water main—a serious problem that needs immediate attention to replace the pipe.
  • Leaks: Leaking is one of the major warning signs of plumbing trouble, but they are often difficult to detect. When you notice damp spots on walls, warped floorboards, and a rise in water bills, you may have leaks. Although some leaks can be solved with sealing, in other cases you will need to have the pipe replaced. And when these leaks start to become constant, leading to huge spikes in your water bills, you should have complete pipe replacement.
  • Bitter-tasting water: A sudden change in the taste of your water toward a bitter, metallic taint could come from the municipal system—but it also might come from deterioration in the plumbing that will need pipe replacement to solve. (Whatever is causing it, you’ll need plumbers for the work.)

Pipe replacement is a large task, and it needs plumbers with the right experience and skill. Call Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) when you think you need pipe replacement or any other plumbing service for your home in Orlando, FL. We offer a full range of plumbing services that will take care of all your worries. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment with us.

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Noises That Indicate a Need for Water Heater Repair

Friday, June 20th, 2014

Even with the best maintenance done on a top-of-the-line model, no water heater can ever be 100% free from repair issues. At some point, you may need to call for technicians to investigate trouble with your water heater when you notice a drop in the temperature of the water, spot rusty discoloration coming from the taps, or find that you are running out of hot water sooner than you used to.

There are other warning indications that you need work done to protect your hot water supply, such as unusual noises emanating from the water heater. Here are a few of the common warning noises that water heaters will make that indicate it is time to call for repair technicians. For a prompt response and quality work on your water heater in Sanford, FL, make the call to Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI). We have handled the plumbing needs of Central Florida since 1975.

A Few of the Common Water Heater Warning Sounds

  • Rumbling: When the water heater tanks starts to rumble, a noise that people often associate with a tank that’s about to burst, it could mean a number of issues. It’s possible that there is a fault in the mixing valve, or a broken dip tube, which will allow cold and warm water to mix. It could also point to an increase in sediment along the bottom of the tank that has so significantly reduced volume in the tank that the water has started to overheat. Either situation is serious and needs trained technicians on the job right away.
  • Popping: This noise can come from excess water pressure, and you should immediately check the pressure on the tank. If adjusting the pressure doesn’t alleviate the popping sound, call for repair technicians immediately.
  • Hissing and whistling noises: There are some innocuous reasons for these sounds to occur…but enough bad reasons that you should definitely call for repairs, especially since one possibility for these noises is a dangerous increase in water pressure.
  • Running water that won’t stop: This is probably trouble with the pressure release valve; if this occurs in an older water heater, it is usually a sign that it is time for a replacement unit.

Our plumbers at Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) can handle whatever issues you may have with your home’s water heater in Sanford, FL. We also offer water heater installation of a wide range of water heater options, including tankless, hybrid, and solar options. Make us your first choice for all your water heater and plumbing needs. Contact us today to schedule your next water heater service.

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Stages of Pipe Replacement in Winter Park

Friday, June 13th, 2014

Replacing worn and damaged piping in a home is a task that professional plumbers do often. Even newer homes sometimes will need to have faulty pipes replaced. Whether you need a few parts of your plumbing updated, or if you live in an older home that needs a full replacement of old galvanized steel pipes, make sure that you neither attempt the work yourself nor entrust it to amateurs. Call on experts like the team at Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) for pipe replacement in Winter Park, FL.

Although replacing pipes often involves excavating through building material in walls and floors, with top plumbers on the job, you can expect the work to move fast and leave few signs that the replacement experts were even there.

The Stages of Pipe Replacement From Professionals

  • Water shut-off: The plumbers will need to shut off a home’s water in order to work; they will arrange it so this shut-off period lasts for as short a time as possible. For extensive pipe replacement jobs (a whole-house repiping can take 3–5 days), they will do the job so that the water can be restored at the end of each work day so you will not have to go without water for an extended period.
  • Locating the pipes: The plumbers find the pipes they will be replacing, using sound equipment to pinpoint the location through wood or drywall.
  • Excavation: Now the plumbers make small cuts into the building material framing the pipe section that they will remove. The excavation here is performed careful and done with an eye toward replacing the material later with as little indication that any work was done. For pipes in the floors, the plumbers will—if at all possible—go through the ceiling to reach the pipes from below and leave the flooring undisturbed.
  • Replace the pipes: The plumbers will already have decided what type of material they will use as a substitute for the older pipe: copper, PEX, CPVC. They will detach the old pipe and put in the replacement.
  • Restoration and resurfacing: The plumbers put back any removed building material to hide the pipe, then take care of patching and re-texturing, making every effort to satisfy you with the final result.

Don’t Hesitate About Necessary Repiping

We hope the description above reassures you that professional repiping isn’t a disruptive or damaging job. If you are dealing with serious leaking issues, loss of water pressure, high water bills, and other plumbing ailments on a regular basis, you should give repiping serious consideration.

Call Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) and schedule an appointment for professional pipe replacement or other plumbing services in Winter Park, FL. With our nearly 40 years of experience, you can trust us to perform the job fast and with as little interruption to your life as possible.

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3 Ways to Detect a Plumbing Leak

Friday, June 6th, 2014

Pipe leaks in a home are rarely out in the open. Instead, they start to build hidden behind walls and ceilings, or in rooms you rarely enter. You may pick up the signs of leaks when you see a spike in your water bills, notice wet spots on the walls, see mildew growth, or notice a rise in humidity. But you have little chance of locating exactly where you need to do repair work.

That’s why you need professional plumbing service in Altamonte Springs, FL to take care of leak detection. With a skilled plumber with the right tools, you will have the minimum amount of damage done to your home to reach the leaky pipes.

Here are 3 ways that our team at Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) handles the detection of hidden leaks so we can quickly repair them.

3 Leak Detection Methods

  • Visual inspection: Experienced plumbers have an eye for the many signs of leaks that untrained observers will never pick up. Plumbers will look for tiny warping signs, spots of discoloration, misaligned floorboards, and bulges in wallpaper. Finding dripping water may seem like an easy sign for anyone to discover, but it takes a trained plumber to deduce exactly where the leak is located behind construction material.
  • Sound sensors: Listening devices are one of the key tools that plumbers use when they search for leaks, especially slab leaks that are located under concrete layers. The sensitive listening devices can hear the drip and escape of water through all kinds of surfaces, and this will give a plumber a solid idea of where to narrow the search and repair efforts.
  • Infrared thermography: This high-tech method of detecting leaks uses an infrared imaging camera that the technician scans over the area of the suspected leak. The imagery that shows up on the monitor will point to small temperature differences that show where a pipe interior is exposed to outdoor air. Interpreting the results is a task that requires special training: the camera imaging isn’t enough to locate the leaks. A trained plumber will almost always find the leaks with pinpoint accuracy.

Unless you can see the leaking pipe right in front of you, you will need a plumber versed in leak detection and armed with the right tools to handle this job. You don’t want to risk having unnecessary damage done to your home in a misguided and inaccurate attempt to find a single leak. Instead, call for plumbing service in Altamonte Springs, FL by the experts at Modern Plumbing Industries, Inc. (MPI) today: we have 24-hour emergency service for your peace of mind, and we can handle whatever repairs your pipes need. Contact us today to schedule your next service.

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