Common causes of clogged drains.
The most common reason for clogged drains is neglect. In the kitchen, drain problems often come from failing to use the drain strainer to prevent orts of food from falling into the pipes, or from grease that accumulates in the drainpipes. In the bathroom, using excessive toilet paper, flushing inappropriate paper items (like paper towels) or flushing tampons down the toilet, often results in a stoppage. In the bathroom sink and bathtubs, hair, hair gel, toothpaste, dental floss and other items can all cause drain problems.

In some cases, A drain stoppage may not be a result of things you put into the drainage system. Scale, deterioration of rusted cast iron pipes, tree roots, and crushed drain lines can also cause drain stoppage.

Household prevention remedies.
There are some things you can try to unblock drains before you call a plumber. Using caustic cleaners based on lye or acids, however, may not be good for your pipes, your own health, your fixtures, or the environment. Instead, consider using natural means to ensure clear drains. Each day, after your dinner cleanup, run very hot water through the pipes. This will help prevent smells, grease buildup and hard water deposits. Occasionally, put a handful of baking soda into each drain and follow it with a hot water rinse. For a stronger effect, add salt, or use vinegar (separately please!) followed with boiling water.

When it’s too late.
Whatever the cause, once a drain is thoroughly blocked, a plumber might well be your only solution. At that point, the expense of clearing the drain will depend on the cause. A simple hairball or grease bolus can often be cleared by using a local drain snake or rooter as long as the blockage isn’t too far from a drain outlet. On the other hand if the blockage is deep in the main stack, or between the house and the city sewer line, power rooting or other measures may be needed.

Inspection and Prevention is key.
Your home plumbing system, like any mechanical instrument or tool, requires regular inspection and maintenance. It’s a good idea, every few years, to get a plumber or plumbing technician into to routinely snake your drain lines as a preventative measure. For the major drain connections, video inspections should also be made periodically. A drain pipe that has been penetrated by small roots can often be cleaned before it becomes a big problem. A drain pipe where the roots have grown and become entrenched may have to be dug up and replaced altogether. The difference in expense is substantial!

Plumbing Certification Requirements in Ontario

To become a plumber in Ontario you must do one of the following:

• Complete a five-year apprenticeship (approximately 9,000 hours, including 720 hours of post-secondary in-school training). Apprenticeship includes on-the-job training (about 90 per cent of the apprenticeship) and some in-school training (about 10 per cent of the apprenticeship). Apprenticeship is a training agreement between a person who wants to learn a skilled trade and an employer who needs a skilled worker. An apprentice earns wages while working and learning the skills necessary to become a qualified tradesperson or journeyperson.
• Provide documents that prove that you have the training and experience from another country that meets the requirements of the trade in Ontario.

When you have done this, you must also:

• apply for the Certificate of Qualification (this is called the “C of Q”) and receive a provisional certificate;
• pay the required fees; and write and pass the Certificate of Qualification exam.
• Competencies Required to Practice Plumbing in Ontario
• Before you can receive government certification, you must complete training that covers the competencies listed in Apprenticeship Training Standards – Plumbers

This document lists in detail all the skills that plumbers must be able to demonstrate to be eligible to write the Certificate of Qualification exam. In Ontario, an employer who trains an apprentice signs off on each of the following competencies during an apprenticeship:

• protect self and others
• communicate
• read, interpret, create and maintain drawings and specifications
• design systems
• plan and prepare for projects
• install pipe, fittings, valves and supports
• install piping systems
• install fixtures
• install equipment
• install devices
• test systems
• commission and activate systems
• perform rigging and hoisting
• service and maintain mechanical systems

Becoming Toronto’s Top Plumber has taken time and finding great staff, give us a call today at (416) 489-0000 and we’ll help fix all your plumbing problems.

Six Things You Can Do to Avoid Clogging Your Pipes

1. Don’t pour cooking grease down the drain. Put it in a soup can or pickle jar and then scrape remaining grease out of the pan.Wash the pan with hot soapy water to make sure the grease dissolves and flushes out of your drain. As an extra precaution, you can also pour a bit of ammonia down the drain to help clear any grease from the pipe.
2. Use a basket strainer for your kitchen sink if the drain does not go through the garbage disposal. Larger pieces of food can be collected and discarded by hand.
3. Periodically remove any hair that has accumulated on the cross pieces of the drain.
4. Pour an enzymatic cleaner in your drains several times a year.These are NOT the same as corrosive or acid-based cleaners. An enzymatic cleaner is a solution of bacterial cultures and enzymes that slowly deteriorates organic material inside pipes. Such solutions should only be used as routine maintenance to help keep your drains clean.These products are recommended because they are not corrosive and are safe for pipes, plumbing equipment, and septic systems. Use enzymatic cleaners for your garbage disposals, showers, bathtubs, toilets, and other household drains.
5. Fully turn on the cold water and then the garbage disposal before dumping coffee grounds or eggshells (or anything) down the drain. If you do not have a garbage disposal, or if you have a septic system, do not put coffee grounds or eggshells down the drain. These materials will build up over time and cause drainage problems.
6. Once a week, fill each sink in your home to the brim and then pull up the stopper. The volume and weight of the water will fill the drain pipe completely with water. It will help flush the drain line of possible obstructions.
   Three or four times a year, fill every sink and tub in the house with water. With the help of friends or family members simultaneously pull all of the drain stoppers up and flush all toilets in the house. This large volume of water will help flush the larger sized drain pipes and underground building drains.

Contact our Toronto Pipe Repair experts today.  Contact us here.

Evaluate Outside — Keep Water Away From Your Home’s Foundation
The first thing you need to do is evaluate the perimeter of your house. The ground next to your foundation should always slope away from the foundation. Backfilled dirt next to the foundation tends to settle and therefore sink over time. If you notice this happening (or it has already happened), add more dirt against the foundation of your home. This will help create a slope that will divert water in the right direction. Generally you should be adding roughly 2” of dirt per foot as you move away from your house.

Don’t Forget to Check Your Eaves Troughs and Downspouts
Ensuring that your eavestroughs are clear and that your downspouts are effectively moving water away from your home is an important aspect of preventative waterproofing. Therefore, ensure that your downspouts are diverting water at least 7 feet away from your foundation. Downspout extender pipes can be installed to prevent groundwater from seeping into your home’s foundation and leaving you with a leaky basement.

Waterproof Your Interior Walls
If you have minor leaks in the walls of your basement, consider sealing them with one of the various waterproofing compounds available at your local home improvement store. Whereas tar is the traditional remedy, new products on the market give you the options of plastic, synthetic rubber and bentonite to use when preventing a leaky basement. These new products may keep your basement dry longer than the traditional tar remedy.

Get Serious – Consider Installing an Interior Drainage System
If your leaky basement is a more serious problem than minor leaks and dampness, you may want to consider installing an interior drainage system. You have two options here: a sump pump, or a perimeter drain.

A sump is a hole in your basement which contains a pump that will remove the water from your basement once it fills to a certain level. Once the pump goes into action, water will be expelled or discharged into a sewer through a hose.

For the most serious leaky basements, a perimeter drain, although expensive, may be your best option. A perimeter drain involves breaking up the basement floor along the perimeter and installing drain tiles which will carry the water along the trench to a discharge point. The discharge point is always a sump pump which will effectively remove the collected water away from your home.

Unfortunately, leaky basements are all too often a reality for Toronto homeowners. Using the suggestions above can help to prevent costly damage in the future – better (and cheaper) to call a Toronto plumber to help you prevent problems than to call the plumber to have to fix them. Waterproof first and prevent the headache before it starts!  Hire a local Toronto plumber today.

WaterWorks: Find Out the Reasons Why It Was Awarded “Best in Drains”

The truth is that none wants to deal with a plumbing company that has a poor reputation. As you might already know, nothing is more annoying than getting an unprofessional service.

This is one of the reasons why WaterWorks guarantees the best services within this field. Thus, if you face water leaks, clogged drain, plumbing problems, or any other related issues; you can rely on these services. In order to guarantee their level of expertise and experience, the experts, who work for this service, assess the job, communicate the costs, and based on your decision, fix the problem. A great thing about this service is the fact that it allows you not to pay for the job if you are unhappy with the results. Obviously, this thing offers an extra guarantee, which attests the fact that these professionals are literally able to properly fix any drain and plumbing related problems. Additionally, every single professional, who works for WaterWorks, can show a license, which confirms his level of expertise.

Another great thing is that this service is affordable  Thus, there is no reason to search for other services, which might not be able to offer the best service within this field. Water Works Canada specializes in the repair and cleaning of water lines and drains, sink and toilet repairs, waterproofing, drain odors, burst and frozen pipes, leaking pipes, installation of dishwashers, low water pressure issues, and others.

Is Water Works Cananda the Best Plumbing and Drain Service within the Toronto Area?

Based on the “Best in Drains” award, WaterWorks is really the best plumbing service that one can find within the Toronto area. We won this award for three consecutive years, and hope to win it every year! We guarantee truly remarkable results in repairs that relate to plumbing and drains.

Furthermore, we are fast. We try to provide the best service possible in the fastest time known to man. Thus, if a homeowner has a massive water leak, it may take a while to repair but we will do everything to have you back on your feet in no time. Additionally, the professionals, who work for this service, are able to propose homeowners various suitable solutions for the same problem. This way, the homeowner can choose the most advantageous option for himself. We hope you will choose Water Works Canada for all your plumbing needs.

Why Can’t You Snake a Drain Yourself?
Although it is possible to clear up a simple hairball or grease clog in your local drain yourself, when there is a stubborn blockage do-it-yourself techniques just won’t do the trick. Commercial acid-based clog removers (e.g. Draino or Liquid Plumber) can be harmful to yourself, your pipes and the environment, and they rarely solve the problem for very long. If you have PVC pipes, acid products can actually destroy the cement which bonds pipes together , causing much larger problems.

• Snaking the drain yourself may work, but if the blockage is closer to the city sewer system, a typical local drain snake will not be able to get to the problem.
• In every case, depending on the severity of the clog, fixing it can become expensive and time consuming, so the best way to save yourself time and money is through good drain preventative maintenance.

What Kind of Preventative Maintenance?
Having your Toronto plumber come by yearly to snake and rooter your drains is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to keep your pipes running smoothly. Often clogs are further along the piping system than your own local drains. Tree roots and debris often means that clogs occur in the main drain lines that access the city sewer system. Yearly rootering means that these problems are avoided before they require much more serious attention and an expensive repair.How Much Can Preventative Snake and Rootering Save You?

Preventative drain snake and rootering will cost you approximately $100 per year. Compare this with the alternative. Left unattended, total blockages in the main drain lines can often require the replacement of sewer lines. In Toronto, this often means excavation, replacement pipes to the house, and sometimes police re-routing of traffic. All of that means big bucks. Depending on the circumstance, these costs can easily rise into the multiple thousands – a big price to pay for drain problems that could have been avoided by regular preventive maintenance..

Do It While It’s Cheap.
Don’t find yourself in the position where you have to take expensive measure to solve drain problems. Regular, inexpensive drain service from your Toronto plumber is the best way to ensure your drain plumbing keeps clear and runs efficiently.

What dangers does lead poisoning present?
Even though younger children below six years of age are generally considered to be the most vulnerable to the effects of lead poisoning, adults are not immune. This of course means that pregnant women must also be particularly careful as poisoning can affect the growing fetus. Children can suffer from learning difficulties, poor hearing, partial blindness, attention deficit disorders and sometimes kidney failure. In adults, poisoning effects include muscle pain, poor concentration, hypertension and memory loss.

What is the probability that my water contains lead?
The sources of lead in tap water are varied many but in most instances stem from the type of plumbing used. In Toronto, water pipe systems for single houses preceding 1960 might be made from lead. Houses built after that did not use lead pipes any longer. In addition, multiuser houses such as six unit buildings do not use due to the amount of pressure required to distribute water in such large buildings-something lead pipes might not manage to do well. Other potential sources is soldering used in pipe repairs or pipe joints. The contamination usually takes place when standing water remains in contact with the lead for an extended period and thus dissolving it.

How can I have my water tested for lead contamination?
Something important to note with lead contamination, which even makes it riskier to deal with, is that lead contamination changes neither the taste nor the color of your drinking water. This means you cannot tell if your water is contaminated simply by looking at it. Testing for lead is free for Toronto residents living in pre-1960 single unit homes as these are considered as higher risk. Other residents have to engage the services of private laboratories to test their tap water.

Any there any rebates?
As mentioned above, testing for lead poisoning in pre-60s houses is free. In addition, the Toronto City Council has undertaken a project to replace all city-owned portions of the piping system that are made from lead. However, in instances where the piping system within the homes is made from lead, the house owner will have to arrange to have the pipes removed at his or her own cost.

RootX will clear your pipes up to 98% for a lot less money and a guaranteed repair. Our formula foams on contact with water and immediately starts to kill those roots that are causing your drainage problems. It’s just that simple. A call to your plumber and this efficient, economical repair can easily replace the costly venture of replacing an entire drainage system There is a distinct possibility that we are talking thousands of dollars and many hours of labor and no drainage system.

Thirty minutes or less will clear you main line up to 400 feet, with your own maintenance equipment and crews. This will save your municipality a lot of money. It also ensures freedom from constant maintenance on the drainage systems in your community. The storm lines, drainage lines and plumbing lines will remain clear for several years.

Homeowners can benefit by the non-invasive, non-fumigating and non-systemic makeup of RootX. By having your plumbing professional add RootX to your sewer line, drain fields and waste-water collection system you will prevent further delay in drainage. RootX sticks to the top of your pipes as the herbicide kills roots by penetrating on contact. Over time the dead roots decay with restores your pipes to full capacity.

Dichlobenil is the aquatic herbicide that is used in RootX. It is save and will not harm pipes. RootX is available in all states and Canada. Carrying the “Caution” word on it’s container indicates the safety of this product to you. The Environmental Protection Agency has many levels of hazard warnings and this is their lowest warning. This alone should ease your mind about toxic substances being placed in your yard, city or business properties.

This product is not sold to homeowners. It is only available from a plumbing professional. If your plumber is not familiar with the product you can contact the company and they will inform your plumber of its’ availability in your area. Locating a plumber that is already using the product is also an easy task. You can find a list of local plumbing professionals at their website, RootX.com.

The smart way, the safe way and the most economical way to repair your pipes and drainage system is to contact that professional plumber in your area that uses RootX. It will be a quick, inexpensive repair that will last for 2-3 years and prevent you from having to replace your entire drainage system.

Municipalities can benefit by using their own crews to do repairs in a much shorter period of time. Again this is safer, faster and much less expensive than lengthy repair or replacement costs would be for the same if not better result.

Will your renovation be affected by the new HST in ways that the old RST and GST wouldn’t have touched it? Here’s a look at the truth about the HST, people’s concerns over it, and what it’ll really do to your renovation plans and general living costs.

Businesses Can Claim Greater Tax Credits
For some renovators, there may be a savings, as long as they’re a business. Any business currently allowed to claim input tax credits for GST will also be allowed to receive the same credit for the new HST. Before, you couldn’t get that kind of credit for the RST on goods and services, so that actually ends up being an increase in what you can claim. However, your business must already have been able to claim tax credits to receive this benefit.

A single return will be filed instead of the two returns that previously had to be filed. Just like with the GST, and business that sells less than $30,000 per year, or $50,000 for public service entities, won’t have to register for this tax. Large businesses can’t claim input credits for five years after the implementation of HST when it comes to energy, telecommunications, small vehicles, their fuel and their parts, and food, drink or entertainment.

Problems With Renovation And Building?
So, if the new HST will reduce paperwork and help businesses save money in the long run, why are so many people worried about its effects? Renovation services, real estate commissions, legal fees, and many other services that were previously exempt from some taxation will come under the HST. This means that your new bathroom remodel could suddenly cost you a lot more, because your plumber has to pass on the cost of the HST to you. The tax could also affect your kitchen renovations, new driveways, outdoor structures, additions and more. Many renovation companies and homeowners are concerned about the effect that this tax could have on their businesses and home expansion plans.

Home builders are also worried. After all, adding more tax to the costs of closing and labor may result in new home buyers being unable to be approved for their financing, or it may discourage people from becoming homeowners. For a $200,000 home, it’s projected to cost up to $10,000 more. Families earning less than $160,000 per year will receive three cheques totaling $1,000, while single payers who may less than $80,000 will receive less – about $300. Other taxes are also scheduled to fall, in order to help reduce the effect of the new HST. Buyers of new homes worth $400,000 or less will receive a rebate of 75% of the provincial part of the HST, as well. Will this soften the blow completely? Likely not – your renovations will still be more expensive – but it may help.

BioOne is available only to professional plumbers and pumping professionals. The professional sale and administration of BioOne makes it the safest product to use on home sewer systems, septic systems, drain fields and water collection systems. Over time treatment and drainage systems will clog due to oil, fat and grease. These substances build and clog systems on a regular basis.

An environmentally safe product is available and it’s use is encouraged by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA seal is present on every container and BioOne liquid has met all of the challenges for biological grease trap, septic system and drain lines. It is time to step up to the criteria set down by the Environmental Protection Agency standards and provide safe clearance of all areas.

BioOne is safe and economical. It contains no added enzymes, surfactants or emulsifiers. It easily replaces products with caustic chemicals effectively. BioOne contains no caustic chemicals. Home owners and municipalities will appreciate the lower cost and total effectiveness of this product.

Residential drainage systems eventually clog form soaps, shampoos, detergents and other commonly used household products. Sewer systems and septic systems will clog and cause major issues with homeowners. BioOne can be placed directly into the septic system with the knowledge that you are using a safe effective product that will have your customer recommending you to other homeowners. Word of mouth recommendations are the best advertising you can get.

Instead of simply liquifying waste, BioOne digests the waste and eliminates the problem safely, both for the consumer and the environment. It is sold only by professionals and is available in all states and Canada. Natural ingredients contained in the product act efficiently and less costly than much more caustic and expensive chemicals.

Being performance ready and needing no pH balancing makes the product easier to use. This is due to the fact of its environmentally safe make up with no emulsifying agents or added enzymes. Septic systems will be a problem at some point in the owners life and this is a wonderful product to make those issues less painful for the owner and less expensive than costly repairs or replacement.

The natural microbes in BioOne will inexpensively and effectively ease the problems of drainage clogging due to the accumulation of organic matter and the elimination of natural bacterias due to the use of common household products. Systematic maintenance will prevent further problems.

Commercial kitchens frequently have clogged drains due to the improper disposal of fats and grease. Maintenance with BioOne will prevent lengthy delays in the clearance of these pipes and drainage systems. The systemic application of BioOne automatically introduces the proper amount of product to keep drain lines, grease traps and drain fields from clogging and interrupting commercial productivity. The natural enzymes make it safe to use in these situations. It does not just liquify these substances but rather eliminates them by digesting them and creating an environmentally safe method of clearance and further prevention of clogged drain lines.