There is no feeling to describe how one feels when it becomes apparent  your drain or sewer has clogged up.  You may wake in the morning, take your  shower and go to start some laundry when you are hit with some awful odor as you descend the basement stairs.  You proceed further to investigate and find the area around the drain under the utility tub is covered with water and sewage.  Now you are faced with an even bigger problem, who to call.  How do you determine who to call?  Do you go to the yellow pages? Or ask a neighbor?  the internet maybe?  All of these will find you plumbing companies that can open your blocked drain. 

 There are several companies that will do a great job for you, but which one do you pick.  Let’s see, you can choose one of the national “rooter” companies and this is what you may get when they arrive at your home.  The Technician will sell you a drain cleaning for what seems like a high price to you but you need it done so you say ok.  As he is snaking the drain the “supervisor” will arrive at the job offering you to camera your sewer for free.  Remember this is before the Technician has cleaned the drain well.  The “supervisor” who is actually a salesman, will proceed to tell you what terrible shape your sewer is in and how it needs to be dug up right away to solve this problem for good.  The cost for this sewer replacement will start in the $2-$3k range and go up from there.  “Sign this proposal and you’ll get 90 days same as cash”.  Their goal is not to clean your drain but to dig your drain, BEWARE!!!

Next there are the local companies that are larger and advertise any drain any time for $X.  This sounds great until they get to your home and your clean out is in the wrong spot or we can’t get a large enough snake through.  You need a camera or jet and the final cost will be several hundred dollars.  If you decline this service, well then there is no guarantee because you need additional work. BEWARE!!!

Here is what we do for you.  We will assess the situation, quote you a reasonable price and snake you drain with the largest cutter blade we can get through your sewer.  We will run the snake through the drain many times working the tough spots until they are no longer tough.  If we feel a camera is justified we will suggest that to you for an additional charge but there is no pressure.  We will clean up after ourselves.  Except for the lack of that awful smell in your basement and sewage on your floor you won’t know we were there.  Plus we offer the best guarantee in the business, up to 1 year.  With our On Time Guarantee you will know we will show up on time and ready to do you job.  Don’t hesitate to call C. Lee Services for all of your drain needs at 330-923-4944 today.  Drain cleaning is serious business, don’t leave it to amatures or sales people who just want your money.  We are in the service business.  We won’t recommend something we don’t believe will solve your problem just to raise the ticket price.  Call the honest plumber.  Beware of the big guys.

Do Water Saving Toilets Actually Work to Save Money and Water

This is the question that has haunted us for some time now. There is that one rumor saying that they don’t work because you have to flush two or three times to get everything down, which in turn uses more water than an older toilet and then there are those people who actually have the water saving toilets and say that they work and save money. So who should we believe? Maybe if we saw the facts it would help clear some of this up.

The average national daily water use for toilets is twenty-four gallons of water. To think about it, that is a lot of water being wasted. With the population rising, we need to conserve water since only three percent of the water on Earth is actually drinkable. One way we can conserve water and cut our costs down is to use a toilet with a 1.6-3.5 gallon tank instead of a seven or more gallon tank. That is half or a little more than what we are or were using, and that means less water you have to pay for.
           
After the water usage law of 1992 was passed, people had problems with the plumbing of their new smaller tank toilets. These newer low-flush toilets were not ready to be introduced into the market and that is where the rumor came from which claims that water saving toilets don’t work well. However, things have changed as we’ve progressed with technology. The new low-flush toilets now work better than the old water wasting toilets and that can come as a great relief to our water supply not to mention our pockets.
           
By replacing those old toilets that waste water it can save you an average of one hundred dollars a year, if not more. Of course your savings do vary on where you live because of different utility ratings, how many times the toilet is flushed, and how many people live in your home. Water saving toilets work and you should think about investing in one because it’ll actually save you money and you can do your part in protecting the environment by something so simple and easy to do. Find a plumbing contractor here to install a water saving toilet for you.

(As a personal note, I have two bathrooms and I decided to put in two water saving toilets and as it turns out it has saved me an average twenty dollars a month, which then I can put to use in my gas tank which makes it easier to go back and forth between work.)

To Flush or Not to Flush: How to Dispose of Cosmetics, Cleaning Supplies and Medications

Come on, admit it. Almost all of us are guilty of disposing something down the toilet that we shouldn’t have, one time or another. When we do this, we don’t stop to think about the safety of what we are doing. What is really happening to the things we flush? Read below to know the truth about what to flush or not to flush. If you aren’t sure if something you want to flush is safe, then you should ask a plumber for advice.

Water treatment does not remove the chemicals you flush

Water treatment plants don’t remove medications from wastewater.

Flushing things down the toilet, especially chemicals, whether it be cosmetics,cleaning supplies or medications, could be harmful and eventually end up in the water supply. Most water treatment plants are not designed to destroy or even remove these things from the wastewater.

Flushing medications down the toilet has a number of harmful consequences, and there are probably more that we don’t know about. Some of the harmful consequences include: poisoning aquatic environments and increasing the problem of bacterial resistance to pharmaceuticals.

Flushing cosmetics

These cosmetics contain chemicals that pollute the water supply.

When cosmetics are flushed, it can also poison aquatic environments because cosmetics usually contain chemical substances that are not removed by water treatment. If you have to throw away your lotions, and make-up products, put them in the trash. As of right now, landfills are the best place to dump cosmetics. Landfills are have plastic barriers that separate the garbage and the ground, which, although imperfect, reduces the risk of contaminating the soil and water table.

How to dispose of cleaning supplies

Cleaning chemicals end up in the water supply if your flush them.

Now what happens when we flush cleaning supplies down the toilet? Think of it this way: If cleaning materials cause skin irritation or other problems, imagine what it does to the aquatic life, which is usually more fragile than humans. Just as cleaning supplies can either kill us or make us sick, the same is true for aquatic life and wildlife. This doesn’t even include what the cleaners will do to the plant life. Flushing cleaning supplies down the toilet also runs the risk of corroding your pipes, as certain powerful chemicals damage your pipes over time.

Alternatives to flushing chemicals down the toilet

Only dispose of biodegradable materials in your toilet.

The old way of disposing cosmetics, cleaning supplies and medications was to flush them down the toilet, but now we recommend:

1.Ask your pharmacy about the proper way to dispose of the medication.
2.Seal medication with the childproof caps it came with and then tape it shut before placing it into your trash.
3.Place medications and cosmetics in with your used coffee grounds and throw it in the trash. This provides an unlikely place for people and pets to look through.
4.Place kitty litter in an empty milk container and then pour liquid cleaners or liquid medications into. It will be absorbed, and you won’t have to worry about contaminating the environment.

Please think twice before you flush your medications, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies down the toilet. Our environment is fragile and the only one we have, so lets not ruin it because we cannot dispose of things correctly. As for the cleaners that we use, it’s easy to find environmentally safe ones to cut down the risk of harming our world further.

Check out recipes for cheap, non-toxic cleaning solutions. Learn how to clean with vinegar. Kill mildew naturally.

• Set your thermostat to 70 degrees, or lower, during the day. Lower the temperature at night, or when you are not at home. It takes less energy to warm up a cool house than to maintain a warm temperature all day and night.
• For every 1° F you set your thermostat back, you can save one to three percent on your annual heating costs.
• Install an automatic setback thermostat that you can program to turn the temperature up and down at pre-set times.

All circuits in the bathroom need to be equipped with GFI protection. GFI stands for Ground Fault Interrupter. These circuits will turn the power off in a fraction of a second in the event of a short. This will help to keep you and your loved ones from being injured in the event of an electrical short circuit.

Electrical fires can occur when equipment is driven beyond capacity, when accumulated oil and dirt overheat a motor, or when sparks ignite scraps, dirt, dust or flammable liquid.

These fires are different than other kinds. Throwing water on one can cause you to be electrocuted.

In the event of an electrical fire:

• Never try to douse it with water. Use a chemical fire extinguisher instead.
• If the fire cannot be put out safely, leave the house and take everyone with you.
• Go to the breaker box and turn off the main power to the house.
• Call 911 or the local fire department.

To help prevent electrical fires:

Replace worn, damaged or old appliance cords. Check tools for signs of wear. Replace frayed or cracked cords. Replace any tool that causes even a small electrical shock or if it overheats, shorts-out or gives off smoke or sparks.

Never overload electrical extension cords or wall sockets. Replace light switches that are hot to the touch. If an appliance has a three-prong plug, use it only in a three-slot outlet. Never remove the third prong or force it to fit into a two-slot outlet or extension cord.

And remember to practice a home escape plan with your family.

You see the problem that the plumber knows, but no one else knows is how the customer reacts to the unit.  It doesn’t matter if it works in the lab, or if it saves tons of water.  If the customer is not satisfied, the customer calls the plumber and tells him to take it out or fix it.  So all the ills created by politicians, manufacturers and others trying to do the right thing fall on the plumber.

I will use waterless urinals as proof.  We put in a waterless urinal at PHCC about six months ago.  Just recently it stopped up and started to smell.  Because I am aware of this, I went to the basement, took out the instruction manual and asked the maintenance person to properly maintain the waterless urinal.  He had to take out a drain, run 2 gallons of water down the urinal, then add the special liquid to the bowl and replace the drain.  If I was not as aware as I am about the importance of this maintenance, I would have said, “Call the plumber and tell him this thing is stopped up.” After I had called him a few times, I would get frustrated and tell him to take it out and replace it with one that works. 

You see, it does work, it is just not properly maintained.  I did everything right when we had it installed.  I put one person in charge of informing the maintenance people of the proper maintenance of the waterless urinal.  But no one really takes responsibility of a urinal – we just expect them to work.  If it does not work, then we call the plumber.  If he put it in six months ago, we expect it to be fixed for no charge.  The plumbing contractor loses, but the politician and the manufacturer do not suffer one bit. 

That is why waterless urinals do not work.  It is not the unit that does not work – so the manufacturer has done the right thing.  It does save water, so the utility is doing the right thing.  It is just that the customer does not really expect to have to maintain something as common as a urinal, so the customer is going to be upset.  She is not upset at the manufacturer or the utility or even the politician – the customer is upset with the plumber.  Why did you put something in my house that does not work properly?

Warning signs of CO in your home can include stuffy, stale air; condensation on windows; back drafts from a fireplace, furnace or water- heating chimney; yellow burner flames (except from natural gas fireplaces or logs); or burner flames or pilot lights that flutter or keep going out. Soot - or lingering pungent odors around appliances are other warning signs.

If you notice any of these, turn off the equipment immediately and introduce fresh air to the building. Call a qualified, licensed natural gas contractor to inspect the equipment as soon as possible.

Physical symptoms of CO poisoning can include dizziness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headaches, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, stinging eyes and fainting. If you experience these symptoms and suspect CO, seek fresh air by leaving the building immediately. Call 911 from a neighbor’s house.

• Keep house plants. Plants clean the air and add moisture to it at the same time.
• Put trays of water on top of radiators. Leave the bathroom door open after a shower, so the warm steamy air circulates through the house

There is nothing more frustrating than having an appointment scheduled for service or a delivery and having to wait for them to arrive.  I must ask for your patience on days like this.  It takes longer for everything to get done in weather like this.

Here are some things you can do to make things go faster,

*     Make sure your driveway is clear and the walk to your door is shoveled and salted.

*     Make sure there is a rug by the door to clean the snow off of the Technician’s boots.

*     Be patient!

Thank you for your business and understanding during this snowy weather.