Plenty of homeowners have the knowledge and confidence required to fix leaky faucets or clogged traps. Licensed professional plumbers, of course, have skills that allow them to tackle far greater challenges.
It can easily make sense as a homeowner to do it yourself when a minor plumbing repair is needed. Try to take on the wrong type of job, and serious, unpleasant consequences will often follow.
There are a number of types of plumbing work where it is best to defer to experienced professionals. Arrange for plumbing services from United Plumbing or another highly regarded company in such cases, and you will always be better off. A look at three types of plumbing jobs you should never attempt yourself follows.
1. Clearing a Clogged Sewer Line
Working around sewage is rarely pleasant even for pros who have effective ways to deal with it. Most homeowners automatically call for professional help as soon as they realize that they have run into sewer line problems.
There are several reasons why it will always be best to have a professional plumber clear or fix a sewer line that needs attention. One of these is that a faulty repair can cause a formerly controlled problem to escalate. That can leave parts of a home flooded with sewage that will be costly and truly unpleasant to remove.
Another issue is that working with sewage can be dangerous, a fact that few homeowners realize. Potentially harmful gases and other noxious substances can build up within sewer lines to threatening levels.
When a sewer line needs to be fixed, the required work will often be quite involved, as well. That can mean needing specialized equipment that a homeowner is unlikely to have on hand, as well as equally unusual skills.
Finally, homeowners who make mistakes while working on sewer lines can find themselves becoming exposed to other sorts of problems. Should a botched repair job cause trouble downstream, municipal authorities might demand compensation.
2. Installing a Water Heater
High-quality water heaters can provide many years of service but will eventually need to be replaced. Installing a more efficient water heater can make sense even when an existing one still functions perfectly.
It will always be best to have a pro handle the required work, however. For one thing, electric water heaters need access to high-voltage electricity that is particularly dangerous to work with. For another, a mistake made while installing a water heater can subject a home to the risk of water damage.
3. Replacing Pipes
Minor plumbing leaks can often be fixed fairly easily using kits and products available at home improvement stores. In many cases, a permanent solution will require replacing a length of pipe that has deteriorated too much to remain reliable.
It will always be best to call a plumber in such situations, because any mistakes that get made can become quite costly. Replacing a piece of pipe might seem simple, but it takes quite a bit of know-how and preparation.
Fail to get everything just right and a new section of pipe will spring a small leak, in the best-case scenario. It can just as well fail catastrophically and unleash many gallons of water on a home before the problem gets resolved.
While there are plenty of other times when it will normally be best to call a plumber, these three situations always merit professional intervention. Even homeowners who are confident in their ability to fix minor plumbing problems should call professionals at such times.
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