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Increase Your Home’s Value with Exciting Plumbing Upgrades | Insight from Your Trusted Glen Allen, VA Plumbing Service
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You may not think plumbing can be exciting but you might change your mind when you consider how much value plumbing upgrades can add to your home. With help from your plumbing service in Glen Allen, VA, you can make your home worth more, whether you plan to sell or not.
Your home is one of your most important investments. Don’t trust its care to an amateur just to save a few bucks. When it comes to your plumbing system, you need a trained, experienced professional at the helm. The experts of bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Richmond have years of experience in providing professional plumbing repair and installation in the Glen Allen, VA area. Their licensed technicians can help you make your home more convenient and valuable with a few simple alterations.
Replace Your Old Toilets
Your toilets are the most-used plumbing appliance in your home. No matter what size your household, it seems that someone is always in the bathroom. So, it makes sense that addressing the age of your toilets is a great place to begin your plumbing service upgrades.
The first issue is simply the age of the toilet, not whether it still works or not. Toilets that were made before 1982 require between five and seven gallons of water every time you flush. These are the worst wasters of water and money and should be replaced immediately. This not only makes your house worth more, it will save you money on your water bill.
If you have a toilet that was manufactured between 1982 and 1993, it automatically uses less water to flush. These toilets significantly lowered the amount of water used, reducing it to 3.5 gallons per flush. While this is an improvement, you will still be using about twice as much water as newer toilets.
Toilets made after 1993 were designed to be very energy efficient. By law, they cannot use more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. Plus, there are other options available now that save even more water.
You could have your plumbing service install dual flush toilets in your home. These models give you two options for each flush. There is a full-strength flow to eliminate solid waste material and a low-strength flow for liquid waste that uses less water. Since most times your toilet is flushed it is for liquid waste, that could add up to substantial savings.
Energy Efficient Updates
Once your plumbing service has updated your toilets, take a look at other places you can lower your water usage. One area that can be fine-tuned is your shower. Today, there are low flow options available that can reduce your water usage easily.
Low flow showerheads are a less expensive upgrade that can add up to a significant reduction of your household water consumption. Once again, the older the showerhead is, the more water it will use.
Older showerheads can use around 4.2 gallons of water per minute. So, theoretically, if you take a ten-minute shower every day, you will use approximately 42 gallons of water. And, the longer your shower is, the more water is being wasted.
A low flow showerhead cuts this amount down a lot. If you get a showerhead that uses 2.5 gallons of water per minute, your ten-minute shower only uses around 25 gallons of water each minute. There are also models that your plumbing service can install use a mere 1.0 gallons of water for every minute of your shower. When you compare this to the old models, you can see how much water and money you will save.
Insulate Your Pipes
There are so many things to consider when building a home that some things tend to get overlooked. One of these things is the insulation on your plumbing service. Insulating your pipes properly is an inexpensive job that can extend the life of your plumbing system.
The age of your home could be a clue to whether you need to have your plumbing service put insulation on your pipes. Older homes may not have ever had the right amount of insulation to properly protect your plumbing. Even if they did start out with good insulation, over time it may have become damaged or worn out. If you are unsure about the condition of your insulation, have your Glen Allen, VA plumbing service inspect your plumbing system for issues.
Install a Dishwasher
Once you have gotten used to having a dishwasher, you will never want to go back to the old method again. Dishwashers have become a necessary kitchen appliance, so if you don’t have one already, now is the time to install one. This is especially true if you plan to put your home on the market.
Be sure to check the dishwasher’s energy rating, so you choose one that will save money every month. The more energy efficient your dishwasher is, the more valuable it will be to whoever owns the home. Your plumbing service can help you find an eco-friendly model that will fit your budget.
Regular Drain Maintenance
Some of the best upgrades for your home are the ones you can’t see. When you invest in routine drain maintenance, you might not see the advantages but you will certainly reap the benefits.
Drains start getting clogged from the inside lining of the pipe. Over time, the blockage builds, making the hole for water to pass through smaller and smaller. When this happens, it makes your water drain slowly. Eventually, this can end in a total blockage that can damage your plumbing system.
By investing in regular drain cleaning, you greatly reduce the chances of having a blocked drain. Your plumbing service can schedule your home for drain cleaning services on a regular basis. With techniques such as hydro jetting, your professional plumber can flush out your drains completely. That way, clogs won’t have a chance to get bad enough to damage your pipes. This keeps your plumbing system healthy and in service much longer.
Contact bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Richmond today to find out more about how we can help you make your Glen Allen, VA home more valuable.
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