Commercial Plumbing Emergency Tips

Tips for Commercial Plumbing Emergency

When dealing with plumbing problems in your house, it is a nightmare. However, commercial plumbing emergencies can potentially cause even more disasters and hassles. At best, it can impact business operations. At worst, commercial plumbing emergencies can jeopardize your customers' and employees' safety. Having a commercial plumbing emergency tips guide can help you save time, money, and lives.

We have compiled a list of commercial plumbing emergency tips to assist you in preparing for and dealing with workplace plumbing emergencies.

What Is Considered To Be A Plumbing Emergency?

Plumbing emergencies can be big or small. They can happen at any time and without warning. Here are the following examples of potential plumbing emergencies.

A Leak Or A Drip

Although these are not the most severe plumbing emergencies that you can experience, leaks and drips can vary in intensity and cost your money over time in the form of wasted water. On the opposite side of the spectrum are more severe plumbing emergencies. A leak or a drip is a plumbing emergency when lots of water leaks.

However, you also don't want to assume that a faucet with a minor drip is not a big deal. You may not be aware, but one leaking tap that drips three times a minute results in 104 gallons worth of wasted water each year. Although a minor leak that you cannot repair or locate yourself is not an emergency, you will need to call a plumber as soon as possible.

Standing Water

Unattended leaks are the leading causes of standing water. Backed-up drains are another potential cause. No matter the reason, standing water is a plumbing emergency since, along with the potential to cause permanent structural damage, the water can cause people to be susceptible to electrical hazards. For example, an electrical malfunction that would not ordinarily be dangerous could pose higher risks if it occurs near standing water.

Flooding Or Overflowing Water

Not only is flooding or overflowing water potentially damaging to your business operations. Moreover, it can also compromise the safety of employees and even customers by posing health and electrocution risks. Flooding and overflowing water is a serious plumbing emergency.

If the problem is isolated to one area, you can simply shut down that part of your business and fix the issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, direct customers away from the affected area and notify your employees about what happened.

A Burst Pipe

Leaks that result in significant water damage are the most obvious commercial plumbing emergencies. Also, leaks that cause structural damage or flooding can be commercial plumbing emergencies. However, burst pipes are even more severe. Although the water loss is usually rapid, they typically do not affect people's health and safety.

High Water Pressure

If a loud bang accompanies a sudden extreme spike in water pressure, it is probably best to call a plumber immediately. This type of plumbing emergency can burst pipes and cause leaks, which result in electrical hazards if the leak is in standing water. Also, the high pressure itself can damage equipment and parts.

A Malfunctioning Water Heater

There are several reasons why water heater problems are a plumbing emergency. Although it happens very rarely, a water heater can explode in extreme situations. A plumbing emergency that is much more likely with the water heater is when the thermostat causes the water to become too hot and scald. Or suppose water is not heated adequately by a water heater. As a result, it can cause a sanitary problem, especially for specific commercial plumbing customers such as restaurants that need to do things like wash dishes.

What To Do When A Plumbing Emergency Arises?

Suppose you have a plumbing emergency such as one of those discussed above. To minimize damage and ensure everyone's safety at your business, follow the below instructions before calling a commercial plumbing company.

First, shut off the water supply to your site. Second, if you notice a leak, find an isolated area and shut off the tap or valves that control this part of the plumbing system. If you cannot reach it or underwater, call a plumber immediately for help. Also, be sure to check pipes outside to find the main water supply. The location of this faucet varies depending on your business, but it is typically close to where you have your meters or gas meter.

Moreover, if a specific fixture is overflowing, such as a toilet or washing machine, you can find the water shut off for the particular fixture. It will usually be located directly behind the fixture. However, some leaks are not associated with a specific individual shut-off.

Lastly, to avoid standing water plumbing emergencies, the main water shut-off for the whole building will need to be shut off. If you don't know how to do this, find out how to do it now. Then advise all employees of the shut-off valve location and instructions for shutting it off.

Breaker Box

Hopefully, it will be easy for you to find your breaker box. The circuit breakers are usually labelled and correspond to power in specific building parts. If that is not the case in your situation, you and some employees need to visit the breaker box and become familiar with it. For example, if there is standing water, shut the power off to that part of the building to eliminate the risk of electrical shocks. It can also be helpful during a plumbing emergency that involves a water heater.

Become Familiar With Your Water Heater

Is your business water heater electric or gas? If you have an electric heater, it is good if you have already checked the breaker box, as discussed earlier. If you have a gas heater, do you know the location of the gas shut-off valve? When your water heater ever overheats, this plumbing emergency will require you to immediately shut down the system to avoid more severe problems.

Moreover, turn the water valve off that feeds into your water heater. You should then be ready for commercial plumbing professional to come out to repair your water heater so you can return to business as usual.

If the valve is jammed, you need to shut it off at the source. If you cannot figure out how to do this, now is the time to call a plumber if one doesn't come within the next few minutes.

Summary - Commercial Plumbing Emergency Tips

No matter what type of commercial or residential plumbing emergency you have, our experienced professionals are ready to save the day. Our company offers same-day appointments 24 hours per day, and we guarantee all of our work. Call us after you complete the steps discussed above to help with your plumbing emergency. We will arrive as soon as possible.

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What Does a Commercial Plumber Do?

If you have ever looked at potentially hiring a plumber, you're likely familiar with the difference between a residential and a commercial plumber.

Most people would consider a residential plumber as one that works on homes. In contrast, a commercial client would work on commercial properties. You may be wondering whether or not the differences are significant. When it comes to getting proper work done, you want to ensure that you hire a plumber with the right type of plumbing experience.

Below, you will find some of the specialties of a commercial plumber. Consider these to figure out if you should hire one for your plumbing work.

1. Building Maintenance

You will find that the plumbing needs of an entire building can be extensive. After all, the building is significant, and it has a lot of different water lines and drains. These things can overcomplicate matters and make it increasingly challenging to work on the plumbing.

Because of this, you need to get routine maintenance checks with a professional plumber experienced in commercial plumbing. An experienced commercial plumber will ensure that your building is well maintained and that the plumbing adheres to all of the building standards set forth by the local government.

A commercial plumber is typically responsible for checking up on water leaks, drain line issues, and more.

These things are essential because they help to ensure that your property isn't going to suffer from a plumbing emergency that can only make things worse. You'll find that a lack of maintenance can lead to issues with the plumbing that can negatively impact the entire building and result in costly repairs.

2. Fix Drain Problems

Have you ever thought about the many people that use the same restrooms in your building daily? The truth may surprise you.

As a result, it takes a lot of work to keep your plumbing working smoothly. Unfortunately, your drains are bound to clog at some point. As the commercial property owner, it will ultimately be up to you to keep your plumbing drains as straightforward as possible. It would help if you had an experienced and reliable commercial plumber. Hiring someone with experience and the tools required to perform the job can be crucial to keeping your commercial property running well.

It's one of the best things you can do to avoid any severe damage to your building. You want to also familiarize yourself with some of the tell-tale signs of having a stuffed drain. For instance, foul-smelling odours permeate from the drains and even leak.

Once you begin to notice a bubbling sound occurring in your drain, it's time to call on a professional for assistance.

3. Service For More Than One Floor

If you require service for more than two floors, it's time to call a commercial plumber. The number of floors is usually the most significant difference between a residential and commercial job.

In general, a plumber that handles residential work will service two floors at max. At the same time, a commercial plumber will have the experience of working with many more floors.

Many people may not realize this, but plumbers have to consider gravity and its role when it comes to plumbing in a commercial building. After all, if a building has more floors, water needs to go against gravity. Thus, it requires more water pressure to travel up the pipes.

A commercial plumber needs to be educated, skilled, and experienced in water pressure to calculate water pressure. The total estimated water pressure is considered for everything from toilets to showers and even sinks.

4. Identify Different Water Line Problems

Often, a plumber doesn't need to have much experience to identify water lines on a residential property. It can be reasonably straightforward for the average plumber to do so. In contrast, commercial properties typically don't have any audible signs. Commercial properties usually go above and beyond to hide any traces of water lines.

As a result, issues with water lines are difficult to spot and detect. By the time you notice a problem with your water line, it's likely to have done a lot of damage to the property.

One of the best ways to stop this is by supplying preventative maintenance to the property. A commercial plumber will be well-positioned to figure out a leak before it becomes a significant issue.

5. Hefty Workload Requirements

A commercial building requires a lot of attention to keep it running smoothly. Because of this, you want to hire someone that has the skills and experience to handle the unique needs of a commercial plumbing job. There is much more complexity involving the repairs and maintenance requirements of a commercial building.

One floor could have a lot of issues with draining, and some of the floors below may be dealing with the consequences of a water leak. A commercial plumber will encounter many more problems that only occur in commercial buildings. Many of the more common repairs for a commercial building include running toilets, leaks, pipe bursts, and sewer smells.

6. Experience With Water Heaters

As mentioned previously, having issues with the water temperature on a property can be an issue for commercial properties.

Any commercial plumber will need to have experience working with water heaters. They should be able to figure out if the heater is malfunctioning.

You'll find that various commercial properties will have different requirements for water heaters. For instance, an office building will likely only need one for its sinks. Whereas a hotel would require one that allows for heating for everything, including pools, showers, and sinks.

Hire a Professional Commercial Plumber Right Now!

As you can see, some issues require an experienced commercial plumber. If you are looking for maintenance or repairs from someone who can handle the unique problems commercial property owners face, you can count on us to deliver.

https://furnace-repair-calgary.ca/what-does-a-commercial-plumber-do/