Seattle Plumbing Blog | Fox Plumbing & Heating

What to expect in a plumbing warranty.

I think we ( Fox Plumbing and Heating ) have the best written warranty's in the industry.
So all of the things I mention whether it is drain cleaning, faucets and fixture replacement. Re- piping, new water services, hot water heaters and new sewer lines. We give written warranties.

Each of these have different Warranty's anything from 6 months to 50 years. So we give these in every job that we do.

But what a consumer should expect is a minimum of one year warranty on any repairs they have done with the exception of drain cleaning. Typically, none of us ( plumbing companies ) can offer more than a 6 month warranty which we do ( Fox Plumbing ) and some companies offer only 30 days. But drain cleaning is a little different situation, when you're doing, re-piping and modernization of plumbing and fixtures you should get a minimum of 12 months on any warranty.

When to replace the pipes in your older home

David Brown, Owner of Seattle's Fox Plumbing and Heating, explains how to know when to replace or repipe your older Seattle or King County home.

The main thing that comes up with older homes. Is the water pipe in these houses. It's galvanized pipe, it has a lived its life it is going to be in giving very discolored water, the quality of water is poor, it's also restricts all the pipes so eventually we don't have any water pressure going to any of the faucets tubs or the fixtures. So with all of this restrictive flow of water, ultimately we've got to replace all this restrictive piping.

You can nurse this along so far then I gets to the point it's so restricted, You just can not function any longer especially in tubs and showers, we have got to replace the piping. So the most common thing in the older home is the water piping, so we go in, give an estimate to you open up walls whatever is necessary to do the replace of the piping. Today we use a plastic piping, it's a high grade type of plastic called PEX, along with copper, we still use copper but this PEX piping is superior today for water piping and the average cost to a home is not as much as a lot of people think. Re-piping a 2 bathroom house for instance is a four to five thousand dollar job.

We also have to look at the water service. That's the line that runs from the meter out at the street to your house and that's underground and today we use what's called Trenchless Technology. We have several different ways to do that. We have a piece of machinery that tunnel bores underground and pulls the pipe back and then we also have these devices that are hydraulic in nature and they go underground and they thump and create a tunnel that we than can then pull a pipe back.

(Watch the Video Interview)

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Seattle Sewer Rats In Toilets!

This is no urban legend.

This is pretty interesting video from the Seattle Channel about Seattle's Sewer Rats and the explosion in the rat population this year.

Owning a plumbing service company here in Seattle, I can attest to the fact that rats are unfortunately living in many sewers, both public and private. We often times see where someone has forgotten to re-install a cleanout plug or air tight fitting after cleaning the drain line. This gives easy access to rats. Also, in older sewer systems with deteriorated pipes and fittings, a small hole in the pipe is an easy entrance for vermin. For odor issues, Here at Fox Plumbing, we suggest pouring anything with a strong citrus based cleaning agent down any drains with an odor problem. Its biodegradable, and generally removes the grease and build up causing many of the common odors in drain lines. We use a product called "Citrisolve." It can be diluted 4/1 , and will also help to keep most drains running free and clear with regular use.

Rat story starts 8 mins 28seconds in (move slider).

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Your drains may require more rigorous drain cleaning in some cases.

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