Don’t Let Dad Be The Plumbing Dunce

Especially with Father’s Day coming up soon, we can’t ignore the fathers in our lives. While our dads may have meant and done so many things to impact our lives for the better, we often conjure up images of the times when dad does something silly.

For better or worse, dads can be the butt of a lot of jokes, often those groaner dad jokes that they bring on themselves. While some of these things are all in good fun, there are times that are no laughing matter.

For instance, many dads consider themselves amateur plumbers but some things are best left to the professionals. Don’t let your dad be a dunce when it comes to these common plumbing mistakes.

Dad Time Should Be On The Toilet, Not Replacing It

An unscientific survey once showed that men spent far more time on the toilet than women - by an average of 20 more minutes a week than women.

Whether that’s purely the time it takes to do the deed or if dads consider it a quiet moment of sanity will remain forever a mystery. However, when it comes to the bathroom, time should be spent on the toilet, not replacing it.

While many consider this an acceptable do-it-yourself kind of project, a little oversight can lead to some serious issues. As an example, if someone forgets the simple step of stuffing a rag into the drain during toilet replacement can allow some of these harmful sewer gases to seep into the bathroom, displacing oxygen and creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Duct Tape Fixes Lots of Things… But Not Plumbing Leaks

Growing up, there was a period where it seemed like dad could fix just about any problem that popped up around the house. One of the central weapons in the dad arsenal was duct tape.

The seemingly magic tape could fix any problem or create new things out of nowhere. It may seem unstoppable but even duct tape has its limits.

When faced with an emergency leaking pipe, it may seem obvious to wrap some duct tape around it to solve the problem and certainly from a page right out of the dad playbook.

While duct tape can actually be used as a temporary fix for a leaking pipe, the temporary factor is extremely pertinent. Duct tape is not meant to hold a serious leak for any long amount of time. While this may seem like a workable solution at first, expect it to falter quickly.

Leave Serious Clogs to the Professionals

Dads can get so comfortable taking care of small clogs that it seems like they keep a plunger on a holster. And while the plunger will certainly be effective for your garden variety clogs, sometimes the big guns need to be brought out.

These clogs often mean snaking the drain in order to get a drain cleaning. While it may seem fairly simple, attempting a drain cleaning without experience can cause more problems than it solves.

In fact, you can find one of the drain snakes at a hardware store inexpensively and it can bolster the confidence of an amateur plumber. However, not using the right size or even type of snake can make the snake knot up in the drains or scrape the sides of the pipes, potentially causing damage. A plumber is qualified to make the judgment on the best way to clear a clog.

Sure, laughing at dad, good-naturedly, can be fun but make sure your dad doesn’t do something stupid when attempting an at home plumbing repair. Instead, call an expert at Force Plumbing and Heating LLC at (732) 850-5720 and we’ll be happy to help.