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In General

Plumbing Emergency at Home: Stay Calm!

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Plumbing Emergency at Home: Stay Calm!

If you have never dealt with a plumbing emergency at home, you’re in luck! You’re also one of the very few who have never had to so far, which means it’s time to learn what to do in a plumbing emergency so that you can be ready if it ever happens. At some point or another, every household will deal with a plumbing emergency – whether that’s a puddle on the floor or damp in the walls. You won’t know when they’re coming, but if you are well-prepared for one, you’re going to be just fine.

Before you rush out and panic buy pipes and start Googling where the “PN16 Flanges Stainless Steel” go, you need to take a breath and be ready. You don’t need to qualify as a plumber to learn what to do. So, with that in mind, let’s check out five calm, cool ways to handle a plumbing emergency in your home. 

  1. The very first thing to do is to shut off the water supply. You should turn off the source of the leak as soon as possible, whether it’s the toilet valve or the valve under the sink. The water shutoff valve that provides a flow of water to your home could be shut off, too. Turn it clockwise, and that should do the job.
  2. Next, you want to check the water heater and shut that off, too. You want to make sure that there will be no damage to the heater itself. This will stop the heat from welling up and bursting.
  3. Once you’ve done both of those, find the small leaks in the home. You can turn on the taps one by one once you’ve turned off the main water valve. Any other water will move away from the pipes, and you’ll be able to work out where the leak is coming from. Please make a note so that you can let the plumber know when you call them out.
  4. Even when you turn off the water valve, your pipes will still be holding water. Turn off the valve and turn on the faucets once more to drain the pipes. Try to unblock sinks and toilets while you are waiting for a plumber – this could help the emergency, and they’ll be able to bring the right equipment to help you out.
  5. Lastly, don’t forget actually to call the plumber! You may not have the right tools for the job, but they sure will. It’s easy to forget to ring them amid a panic, but they’ll let you know whether you have done the right thing so far, and they’ll be able to guide you through what to do next.

 

A plumbing emergency doesn’t have to end in devastation for your home. All you need is to stay calm and let the experts help. Oh, and turn off the water. There’s no need for further damage if there doesn’t have to be. 

 

In Interior Design

Spice Up Your Home

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Spice Up Your Home

Living in a home is more than just having a place to stay. We’re moving shortly (10 days and we still haven’t packed) but the new place already feels like home. Your home is somewhere you feel at home, somewhere you love and somewhere you are proud of. We’re there already with the new spot!

We have grand plans for the new place and you’ll no doubt hear all about these soon enough! I’ll be posting about adding a new look to each room and so have put together these ideas for you to get started with thinking about what you can do with your home.

The Driveway

We are so grateful to have a driveway where we are moving. On street parking is an absolute pain. We’re determined to make the most of the driveway though as it’s one of the first things you see when you approach the home. First impressions are important so you’ll want to make sure that everything is tidy if your focus will be on making the most of your driveway too. It’s easy for the drive to become a little messed up with various bits of dirt and stone making its way onto it.

It’s wise to give the tarmac a little sweep every now and again to avoid the neglected look. You can also give the drive a spray with a pressure washer if you want to go one step further. After years of the floor taking a beating from the elements, it can slowly become very dirty over time – so slow that you don’t even realise it is happening. A blast with a pressure washer will show you the difference that was made.  

Your Garden, Your Home

When you think about making your living space better looking, what you do to your garden will be near the top of your list of priorities, surely? You’re going to want it to be either as close to flawlessness as possible – you’ll be looking at it a lot, or wonderfully wild (in a deliberate kind of way). The first thing you’ll want to do is to clean it and clear it. If it’s a bit of a mess, make sure everything vanishes – a tidy garden is very comforting. In terms of additions, things like potted plants, ornaments, and fish ponds are very lovely looking and add to the comfort of being sat out there.  We’re going with simply but with seasonal surprises. More on this later!

Get A Conversion

A popular thing to do nowadays is to take a certain part of the house and convert it into something more practical. The most popular choice is to take the loft and turn it into an extra bedroom or office. Obviously, your loft is going to be full of stuff, but if they’re no longer hold any value or you can find another area to store it all, then you could turn that attic into something beautiful. Another good idea would be to take your garage and make it into something other than a place to store old stuff – if you don’t use it for your car, that is. But who parks their car in a garage anymore?  

Our grand plans for the garage are very much steeped in geekery, which won’t surprise you if you know us or have read many of my other blog posts.

Get An Extension

If you need more room or just want to add an extra part to change the style up a bit, you could apply for permission to get an extension built onto the house. You might need an extra bedroom or an office space. You could even put a lovely conservatory out the back. This isn’t something we’ve planned but is a great idea if you are looking to add value and space to your home.

Move To A New Home

If you fancy a big change, you could just up sticks and move to somewhere new, like we have. Sometimes you need to pick a whole new place and carry on from there. A good idea to freshen things up would be to have a little look at some new homes that are being built. There are tonnes of companies that are creating new places every day, so if you wanted to check out some Redrow new builds, you could just head online and see what’s available from the likes of them and others. When you buy an entirely new place, you get to decide almost everything, so a personalised design would come as part of the purchase. If, like ours, your home is a little older, places like Rightmove can be great for having a nosy inside people’s homes for inspiration!

There is no wrong way to breathe new life int your home but if you are looking to make changes, this is a good place to start! 

 

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