As the old adage says, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
And we certainly believe that at Legacy Plumbing after seeing so many home floods. Many of them could have been prevented for pennies on the dollar of the repair cost of your home.
As a Plumbing service provider in the North Texas area, Legacy Plumbing is here to educate you on the things that concern us the most in your home, like preventing your basement from flooding!
Most people seem to be concerned with the 50-gallon water heater in their home that could potentially flood their house and that concerns us too. We see heaters every month that have caused significant damage in homes. We normally recommend replacement when they reach ten years of age.
Another fixture that we see fail more often with the same devastating effects is your expansion tank. Here are a few unfortunate situations with expansion tanks:
- It was installed incorrectly. Expansion tanks that do fail are rarely installed in a way that they protect a home from leaks. Many times there is no pan to catch the leak, which is designed to divert the leaking water to the exterior of the home.
- The warranty expired. We have seen many fail in as little as two years causing catastrophic damage. We recommend replacing them when the manufacturer’s warranty has expired. The warranties usually vary from one to five years. Expansion tank warranties only cover the tank they do not cover the water damage caused by the failure of the tank.
- The bladder ruptures. Many times there is no visual indication that the tank has or is going to fail. The bladder inside the tank can rupture rendering it useless this can cause pressures to rise to an unsafe level in your plumbing system.
We recommend thoroughly inspecting your expansion tank every year starting at the one year mark. Here’s what to look for:
- Corrosion of any kind
- Proper inflation
- Bladder failure
- Corroded or missing threads
Anyone of these would indicate a need for replacement, and Legacy Plumbing would be happy to give you a complimentary inspection with any paid repair.
Whether you choose us for your service or you already have a plumber you trust. Do yourself a favor and have it inspected.
