Emily’s mother is a  is a victim of contractor fraud.  Contractor fraud, also known as home improvement fraud, is a serious problem, especially for the region’s elderly.  There are many types of contractor fraud, including people posing as licensed contractors when they’re really not; performing sub-standard work, often in violation of local building codes; taking payment for work and then never doing the job, and more.

In Emily’s mother’s case, the fraudulent contractor claimed that the family needed new sewer pipes laid immediately. “He said he could tell they’d been damaged by the bad weather we’d been having.  He took Mom out into the back yard – the woman’s 87 years old, for goodness sakes! – and made her look at all these puddles. He told her the water was seeping up from these broken pipes and that they needed to be fixed fast.” Emily’s face flushed with anger.  “He even said that she could be fined by the city if someone found out her sewer pipes were leaking. She felt like she had no choice.” The con man charged Emily’s mother thousands of dollars, excavated a large area in the back yard, and left one day never to be seen again, with the job unfinished and Emily’s mother greatly distressed.

As your Maynard plumber, we don’t want to see this situation happen to anyone.  Here are some steps you can take to help protect yourself (or your aging parents!) from contractor fraud:

• Remember – you decide you need the contractor, he doesn’t decide he needs you! Reputable Maynard plumbers don’t solicit business door to door and never use high-pressure sales techniques to get you to commit to an expensive project. Be very wary of any purported contractor who contacts you out of the blue.
• Ask to see your contractor’s license number and proof of insurance.  Fly-by night pretenders won’t have these to show you.
• Ask for references. Check those references. Check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if this contractor has any complaints lodged against him.  Research online. The more you know about your prospective Maynard plumber or contractor, the  more prepared you’ll be to make a smart decision.

The value of having a sump pump in Holliston is that a good working sump pump will remove water from your basement before it can accumulate to a dangerous level. Water in the home is bad news: it will damage your possessions, and, left unchecked can cause serious damage to electrical and heating systems. In the worst case scenario, water damage can cause structural damage to your home.

If you need sump pump replacement, call you Holliston plumber. Every home is different, and your Holliston plumber will take into account the design of your home, surrounding environmental conditions, and other factors before helping you choose the right sump pump for your home. There are two types of sump pumps. Submersible sump pumps are installed on or below floor level, while pedestal sump pumps have the pump motor elevated approximately 30″ from the floor.

The usable life of a sump pump can vary tremendously based on a number of factors. If you continually have water in your basement and use your sump pump on a daily basis, a sump pump can last only a few years, whereas a drier home that seldom floods could use the same sump pump for decades. To test your sump pump, simply pour a quantity of water into the sump pit where your sump pump is installed. If it comes on quickly, and quietly removes all of the water, you’re good to go. If the sump pump does not come on, or functions noisily or slowly, it’s time to call your plumber for Holliston sump pump replacement.

You grab the plunger and do your best.  Sometimes the plunger works, and the toilet starts acting the way it’s supposed to.  That leaves the Framingham homeowner with a question: How can I prevent future toilet clogs?

Framingham sewer drain cleaning is the answer. Sewer drain pipes connect your home’s toilet to the municipal septic system, carrying away the water and waste products.  Normally everything works perfectly, and no one thinks about their sewer drains.  But you have to know that with every single flush, sediment and residue settles out of the water you’re flushing away.  Over the course of time, this accumulates and builds. The result can be a clog that prevents your toilet from flushing. That’s when you need to call your Framingham plumber.

Other causes of sewer drain clogs include improperly flushed items, tree root penetration, and damage to the sewer drain pipe. How can you tell what’s clogging your sewer drain? Your Framingham plumber can use a specialized video camera to inspect your sewer drain pipes from the inside out, pinpointing what the problem is without the need for expensive exploratory excavation.

Every home needs the sewer drain cleaning to remove accumulated debris and keep the pipes open.  In Framingham, drain cleaning is needed by the average homeowner every couple of years, although that can vary with usage rates and environmental conditions.  As household maintenance tasks go, Framingham drain cleaning is easy and affordable: for the price you can avoid the headache and messy inconvenience of clogged toilets.

Mold and mildew can cause an unpleasant odor. That’s only part of the problem. Mold and mildew can pose a serious health hazard, particularly if someone in the family has environmental allergies. The presence of mold and mildew in the home is an indicator that there’s something wrong with your house.

There are three things that mold and mildew need to thrive: warmth, a surface to cling to and feed upon, and plentiful moisture. In Mona’s case, that moisture came from a leaking pipe in her daughter’s bedroom wall. In Waltham, MA leaking pipes can be found in homes that have older plumbing systems, which often have pipes in poor repair. Pipes can deteriorate and even crumble away undetected, leaving you with a damaging hidden leak behind your wall.  Pipes can also leak as a result of freezing, or any event that knocks the pipes out of alignment, such as an earthquake.

When you discover mold and mildew growing in your home, you’ll want to call your Waltham MA plumber.  Repairing and replacing leaking pipes is a top priority.  You should call your Waltham MA plumber anytime you discover a leaking pipe.  This minimizes the amount of water damage your home will suffer – remember, significant water damage can even compromise the structural integrity of your home. Your first step is to contain the existing damage and stop further damage from occurring. Don’t delay!

We have a special fondness for those inventors who created the heating and cooling systems that make modern life more comfortable. In 1902, Willis Carrier, a humble, but determined, engineer, solved one of mankind’s most elusive challenges by controlling the indoor environment. A leading engineer of his day, Carrier would go on to file more than 80 patents over the course of his career. His genius would enable incredible advancements in health care, manufacturing processes, research, building capacities, food preservation, transportation, art and historical conservation, general productivity, indoor comfort and much more.

Sherborn Air Conditioning Repair

As your Sherborn plumber, we pride ourselves on working on all types of air conditioning systems: Carrier, Trane, Goodman, and more. We service and repair split air conditioners, packaged air conditioners, central air conditioning, compressors and more.  Keeping your air conditioner repaired and in good service ensures you’ll be able to enjoy a cool, comfortable home all summer long.

It’s hard to  believe that air conditioning has been around for 110 years! There has been so much amazing design and engineering work done over the decades to make air conditioning better, more affordable, and less draining on the environment. Talk to your Sherborn plumber about the most energy efficient residential air conditioning systems.

Our team of expert Sherborn HVAC repair specialists have extensive experience repairing commercial air conditioning systems.  Give your customers the nicely-chilled atmosphere they expect – while keeping your utility expenditures under control. Emergency HVAC repair service available in Sherborn.

Wellesley Water Heater Replacement: What You Need To Know

Once upon a time, all water heaters were pretty similar. You’d seen one, you’d seen them all.  But now, as your Wellesley plumber can tell you, you have a wide range of options for water heater replacement. In addition to the traditional water heaters you may be familiar with, today there are high-efficiency water heaters and on-demand tankless water heaters.

When choosing your replacement water heater, you can select from electric water heaters, gas water heaters, and solar water heaters.  To determine which type of water heater will save you the most money, it’s essential to consider your home’s existing infrastructure, as well as the cost factor for each potential option in your area. If you are switching your home over to solar power, talk to your Wellesley plumber about your options in solar powered water heaters.

Another factor to keep in mind when choosing a replacement water heater is your family’s lifestyle.  Do you take long, lengthy showers? Do you use a lot of hot water over the course of the average day? How patient are you? Water heaters that have a tank use more energy because they keep a reserve tank of water continually heated for your use, but they deliver hot water fast, whereas tankless water heaters use less energy but take slightly longer to deliver the hot water.

Newton Drain Cleaning: Understanding Sewer Drains

The sewer drain is the pipe that connects the toilet in your home to the municipal sewer system or your home septic tank.  The purpose of the sewer drain pipe is to carry away water and waste material that gets flushed down the toilet. It’s a pretty straightforward system.

Where things go wrong is when there are obstructions in the sewer drain pipe. These obstructions stop the flow of water and waste materials through your sewer drain pipes.  When water and waste can’t pass, they remain in the toilet.  When you introduce more water into the system by flushing the toilet, it has no place to go.  The result? An overflowing toilet!

What causes obstructions in sewer drain pipes? Tree roots are one possible cause.  As trees grow, their roots seek out nutrient-rich waters. Sewer drain pipes may seem gross to us, but to a tree, they’re an attractive source of sustenance! Tiny threadlike tree roots find a way to penetrate the pipes, and then, sustained by the plentiful food supply, they grow and swell, often destroying your sewer drain pipes in the process.  The circle of life can be rough on your plumbing!

Other causes of clogged sewer drain pipes include inappropriately flushed objects, such as baby diapers and newspapers, which become lodged in the pipes.  Sewer drain pipes need regular cleaning to counter the natural accumulation and sediment that occurs as part of regular use of a septic system. Call your Newton plumber today!

Just hearing those words can send my stomach plummeting. I hate dealing with clogged sinks! It seems like the kitchen sink clogs at least once a week. So I get out the plunger and do the plunger thing, and we’ve tried Liquid Plumber and other drain-cleaning chemicals. I’ve been getting the sink cleared out so it can drain – talk about a gross job! – but this problem keeps happening! What am I supposed to do when the kitchen sink clogs?

Millis Drain Cleaning: Chronic Kitchen Sink Clogs

If you have a kitchen sink that clogs often, that’s a sign that you need drain cleaning. To understand why this is the case, it helps to know how kitchen sink clogs form. Every time we use the kitchen sink, we’re sending water down the drain – but that’s not all.  Food scraps, grease, soap scum, hair, and even the occasional piece of silverware passes through the pipes as well. Over the course of time, this matter settles out and accumulates on the inside of drain pipes. This forms a kitchen sink clog.

When you use a plunger, you’re creating a vacuum, which can cause the clog lodged in your kitchen drain pipe to come free or shift position.  This opens up the pipes to allow the passage of water.  But, as your  Millis plumber can tell you, there is no plunger on the market today that will remove every trace of waste material that lines the inside of your drain pipe.  Liquid drain cleaning chemicals and solutions can also provide relief for mild to moderate kitchen drain clogs, but they don’t remove all of the waste material lining your pipes, and are useless in the face of serious clogs.

The best solution for chronic kitchen sink clogs is to have your Millis plumber perform drain cleaning.  Drain cleaning cleans your pipes from the inside out, removing the years of accumulated waste material without harming or damaging your home’s plumbing.  The process is quick and simple, and afterward, you’ll be surprised at how well your sinks work -and how much better the drains smell!

Why is Drain Cleaning Important?

We talked to your Natick plumber about why drain cleaning is important. It turns out that whenever water drains out of our house – from the sink, bathtub, shower, or when we flush the toilet – it carries along other items – food scraps, grease, soap scum, waste materials and more – along for the ride.

All of this stuff can build up in our home’s drain pipes, settling out into larger and larger piles until the drain pipes are clogged. When that happens, you can’t use your sink to wash dishes or clean up! You can’t take a shower or bath. No one can do laundry or run the dishwasher. And forget about flushing the toilet!

Drain cleaning does exactly what it sounds like: it cleans your drain pipes, through and through. All of that nasty waste material that was building up is swept away! You’ll be able to stop clogs before they start. Your plumbing will work better, and your home will smell nicer.

If you do have a clogged sink or clogged toilet in Natick, call your plumber. Good-bye clogs! You’ll be able to use your toilet again! Regular drain cleaning removes clogs, and helps prevent future clogs by removing accumulated waste material.

Every home needs regular drain cleaning. On average, in our area, Natick drain cleaning is needed every year to two years. Your family’s situation may vary based on several factors, including how many people use the home and local weather conditions.

When you’re making your list of Spring home improvement chores, make sure Natick drain cleaning is on the list. Prevention now means no messy clogs later!

Today’s busy families are always on the go. We all have packed schedules, with responsibilities and activities that pull us in 100 different directions – but somehow, inevitably, we all need to use the bathroom at the same time. That’s one reason more and more families are adding a second bathroom (or a third bathroom) to their home.

Another reason families in Marlborough add a second bathroom is to help older family members or family members with mobility issues live life more comfortably. When it becomes difficult or time-consuming to go up and down the stairs, having a bathroom on every floor is a priority!

Marlborough: Do You Have Room For A Second Bathroom?

If you’d like to add a second bathroom to your home, talk to your Marlborough plumber. There are many exciting new plumbing innovations that make it easier to transform any space -even small areas – into attractive, pleasant working bathrooms or half-baths. For some families, that may mean transforming a closet into a bathroom, or building a bathroom into the bedroom or garage.

Your Marlborough plumber will work with your building contractor to make the changes. If you’re doing the remodel yourself, and just want a plumber to hook up the toilet, sink, and shower, talk to your Marlborough plumber early in the process. They have the expertise, insight, and knowledge of local building codes to help you streamline the process and avoid expensive mistakes.

Adding a Second Bathroom: Small Can Be Stylish!

Limited space doesn’t mean limited style! A second bath or half bath needs to include the essentials: choose sinks and toilets that have space-saving profiles while delivering superior performance and the aesthetic appeal you’re seeking. We’re seeing lots of vintage-inspired plumbing fixtures: pedestal sinks were the choice for years for homeowners faced with limited bathroom space. Your Marlborough plumber can install a new sink, replace an existing sink to give you more space, install new toilets, and do whatever it takes to transform your wasted space into an attractive, useful, second bathroom for your family.