As a plumbing contractor, we work with a lot of homeowners that find themselves having emergencies with their home’s plumbing, many of which can be avoided with the proper care.  Since this is one of the more complicated areas of home repair, most people don’t have the education necessary to ensure that everything is functioning appropriately.  Still, there are some simple things that you can do to prevent emergencies and here is what you should know. Find out where your shut off valve is.  Every home has a master switch that when turned off, will stop water from flowing into the home.  If you come home to find the house flooding, you should immediately go and turn off the water.  While most people don’t think about this happening – it does all of the time, and you never know when you will need to use this information. Check your water pressure.  By checking for your water pressure, you can prevent some common leaks.  Your water pressure should be at 80 psi or less and the water company or us, as a plumber, can check this for you. Read your bill.  We always recommend paying attention to your water bill in order to make sure that you don’t have any major plumbing leaks.  With many homes, water could be leaking under the house or in the lines leading from the road to the home, without it being noticed.  If you see a hike in your bill suddenly, this is a sign that you may have a large leak, unless, of course, your family size doubled last month. Place a pan under your water heater.  If you have a pan there, you can see if the water heater starts to leak.  This will do two things – you will know that it is time to replace it, and you won’t be dealing with damage caused by a slow or sudden leak. Learn to shut off the water to individual locations.  Everything in your home that is hooked up to water can have the water turned off to that specific place only.  For example, you can turn the water off that is going to the sink in the kitchen, the toilet in the bathroom, or your refrigerator.  This way if you need to do a quick repair on anything, you can turn the water off and not have a full on water explosion when you make the changes.  This won’t affect the water in the rest of your home. We realize that plumbing is complicated, and that is why we recommend working with a professional.  Whether you need to have your water pressure checked, a new sink hooked up, or your lines are clogged – we can help.  With years of experience, we can quickly assess most problems to determine what is causing them and the best way to correct the issue with minimal disruption to your home and busy schedule.  From a sudden flood to hooking up the icemaker – we can handle all of your plumbing needs.