Mature trees add beauty and shade to landscapes, but their roots can cause extensive damage to sewer pipes. Roots grow into the pipes because they like it there! Sewer pipes contain water, nutrients and oxygen…the essential elements for tree and shrub growth and overall health.

Aside from resulting blockages and backups, root invasion can lead to expensive repairs…or perhaps even total sewer line replacement.

The flow of warm water inside sewer pipes causes vapor to escape to the cooler soil surrounding the pipe. Tree roots grow toward the vapor to the point of its source. The source of the vapor is usually a crack in the pipes or a loose joint. Once the tree roots reach the crack or loose joint, they will grow through the opening to reach the plentiful nutrients and moisture inside. Once inside the pipe, the roots will continue to grow and, if not disturbed, they will eventually fill the pipe with hair-like root masses. These masses can act as a net as they catch household fats, oils, grease, grit (FOGG), tissue paper, and other debris flowing through your drain lines.

How can you tell if you already have problems with root invasion?  An early warning sign is a gurgling sound from your toilet that accompanies a slower-than-normal flush.

As roots continue to grow, they expand and exert pressure at the crack or joint where they entered the pipe. That pressure can eventually break the pipe or cause it to collapse beyond repair.

There are two things you can do to prevent future growth while correcting minor root invasion before the problem gets any worse:

• Contact Dennis Foley Plumbing today to order a supply of Root X.  It’s an organic root killer that also prevents future root growth inside your pipes.  It’s also chemical free and won’t damage your tree or shrub roots.
• Next, be careful where you plan your next tree or shrub.  Just be sure it’s not close to your sewer drainage line.

If you’re concerned about damage that might already (or soon could be) causing you problems…again, contact Dennis Foley Plumbing and request our inline video inspection service.  That way, we can tell you exactly what, if anything, is going on.

You can also order Root X directly from us as it is not available in supermarkets.  We look forward to our next opportunity to serve your home plumbing needs.

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So to give it a little (or even a lot) more longevity, there are some simple “care and feeding” steps you should know and follow:

• Feed the disposal a little at a time. Take care to keep utensils and your hands out of the drain.

• Corn husks and other fibrous items shouldn’t be put into the disposal as they may clog the drain.  Other such items include onion skins, celery, and most soft vegetables.

• Deodorize the disposal. Cut a lemon into small pieces and drop the fruit into the disposal along with some baking soda or distilled white vinegar. Turn on the cold water faucet and then the disposal. The unit will clean itself as it grinds up the mixture.

• Use a strong flow of cold water and keep it running at least 30 seconds after the grinding noise has stopped.  This helps to flush food all the way down the drain line.

• Do not put uncooked meat fat or liquid fats into your disposer.

Still, even with all the “TLC” in the world, sooner or later you’re bound to run into a problem.  Here’s what to look and listen for:

• If the disposal won’t run, check the circuit breaker or fuse and replace or reset as necessary. Also check to see if the overload switch has tripped. Find the reset button at the bottom of the disposal unit and push it.

• If the motor hums but the disposal doesn’t run, you may have a jammed impeller, and that’s a repairable problem.

• If the disposal runs intermittently, the switch or stopper may be defective…if so, you’ll need to have it replaced.

• A leaky garbage disposal isn’t necessarily a sign of rust.  The cause might be as simple as a loose connection, which can readily be tightened.

• How about that all-too-familiar racket a disposal can sometimes make?  When you hear it, chances are you’re trying to grind up something your disposal wishes you wouldn’t.  The result could be a damaged blade, impeller or motor.  But don’t be too quick to repair, since it’s highly likely that it would cost less to replace.

Bottom line, once a disposal stops doing a good job of grinding, or starts to leak, that’s usually the ball game. Give it a little loving care, however, and you might get a few extra innings.

Having trouble now with your garbage disposal or simply think it’s time for a replacement unit?  Contact the plumbing professionals at Dennis Foley Plumbing, and we’ll do the job, quickly, professionally, and reliably…just like always.

Phone:   617-628-9740
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To fix an overflowing toilet, start by pushing the tank stopper belt down to the valve seat and keep pressing on it. The tank stopper and valve seat are found inside the toilet tank. Next, immediately turn off the valve underneath the toilet. This is the water shut-off valve.
No Hot Water

Besides the obvious, i.e., no hot water running from your hot water faucets, you know you have a problem with your water heater when you notice any of the following symptoms:

• Inadequate hot water
• Rust colored water
• Rotten egg odor
• Low rumbling or popping noise
• Higher pitched whining
• Water leaking around base of heater

Before attempting any troubleshooting on your own:

• If yours is an electric water heater, turn off the power by turning off the circuit breaker or unscrewing the fuse powering the heater.
• For a gas water heater, turn the gas pilot control valve to “pilot” setting.
• Shut off the water supply.

If you’re the handy type, check your manufacturer’s owner’s manual for further instructions…but only if you’re the handy type.

Faucet won’t shut off

Most faucets work with a rubber or composition washer that closes onto a metal washer seat. Over time, the washer will harden and crack or simply wear down. This causes the faucet to leak. You can close the faucet tighter to stop the drip, but this will only be a temporary fix. In fact, you’re just increasing the internal damage to the washer and faucet and the problem is only going to get worse. Usually when the faucet drips, the problem has a relatively simple solution: the washers or other internal mechanisms need to be rebuilt or replaced.

No matter what the plumbing need or problem, Dennis Foley Plumbing here to help you get everything back to normal…quickly and reliably. Contact us for service now or anytime.

Phone: 617-628-9740
Click here to schedule service now

So here’s the thing:  you can wait until something DOES go wrong, or you can contact Dennis Foley Plumbing to schedule a whole-house plumbing inspection to check for problems in the making and take any necessary corrective action now.

Just like your car needs an oil change every 6,000 miles and you need a dental check-up every six months, your plumbing systems and fixtures should be inspected at least once a year. Sure, there’s plenty you can and should do on your own…and we’ll cover that in a future blog post.

For now, here’s just some of what we look for during our professional plumbing inspections:

1. Leaks in exposed pipes. 
2. Soft or damp areas on floors, ceilings, or walls that could indicate hidden water leaks.
3. Signs of corrosion that could indicate water or pipe issues.
4. Water pressure…if it’s too low, there could be problems in your water lines or built-up sediment.
5. Speed of drainage in sink and tub drains…if water is draining too slowly, it could mean you have a clogged drain or blocked vent pipe.
6. Water heater gas leaks…to help ensure your family’s safety and the integrity of your water heater.   In the process, we also drain the unit to remove sediment that’s settled to the bottom. Sediment build-up can cause hard water conditions and leaks in your faucets.

That’s just a small sampling of what our inspection includes.  We invite you to call and schedule a whole-house plumbing inspection today…it’s one of our ultimate “peace of mind” services for homeowners in Cambridge, Somerville, and surrounding communities.

Phone:   617-628-9740
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1. Fix Leaky Faucets

Just one leaky faucet could waste over 20 gallons of water per day. If you are unsure if your pipes, toilets or sinks have leaks then contact your plumber to come check it for you.

2.   Insulate Pipes
Some homes are made with crucial piping in exterior walls. When water travels from the pipes to your faucets there is a heat loss, thus taking longer for warm water to come out of the faucet after you turn it on.  Insulation around pipes will help speed up the heating process thus conserving energy and water.  Want to go a step further?  Then consider relocating any pipes in un-insulated areas.

3.   Low Flow Toilets
Traditional toilets use anywhere from 3.5 to 7 gallons of water per flush. With a family of four, that can amount to hundreds of gallons of water every day.  By contrast, environmentally-conscious low flow toilets use just 1.6 gallons per flush, max.  Studies show that an average family of four will save 22,000 gallons of water per year and $100 on their water bill.  Less water, greater pressure, and significant savings…that’s the beauty of a low-flow toilet.

4.   Shower Heads and Faucets
Installing low flow showerheads and aerators for sinks are two more ways to limit water flow which will save water and money.

5.   Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless water heaters conserve energy by heating only the amount of water needed and only. They conserve water, too, as there’s no waiting for the water to get hot…with tankless units, you get hot water on demand.  What’s more, tankless water heaters are available for your entire home or single water sources, such as your kitchen sink, to bolster your hot water supply in areas where you use it the most.

At Dennis Foley Plumbing, we’re plumbing specialists, with the ideas, experience, and know-how to help you and your family live more comfortably, conveniently, and affordably…and all while contributing to a greener planet.

Contact us today for fast, friendly service.

Phone:   617-628-9740
Click here to schedule service now

They called me because they thought they would like to install enough tankless water heaters to provide them with hot water. The problem with that idea is that they would need a 3 inch gas pipe! Tankless may not run when you don’t need them, but they do use a ton of gas when they are running. Plus how would you vent all of them?

What we did was install a Buderus GB142 96% AFUE boiler. It’s only function is to make domestic hot water. And the only thing it’s hooked up to is a T44 Turbomax.

That’s right, only 44 gallons: 44 gallons and we took out 200 gallons of hot water heaters!!!!! And they have plenty of hot water.

The Turbomax has an incredible 99% heat transfer efficiency, and it loves to have a lot of BTUs put into it.  It transfers those dollars right into that hot water, instead of up a chimney like a hot water heater. And because we are able to run the Buderus modulating condensing boiler at 120 to 140 degrees, it’s condensing all the time, producing hot water from over 90% of the heating dollars that go into it. I can’t wait until they get their next bill.

Besides all that, the Turbomax has a 10 year warranty, even in a commercial installation. That’s the best warranty you’ll get. The only reason we don’t install them in homes is that it’s hard to beat Superstore’s lifetime warranty. And Superstore is a great product.

If you need a commercial water heater replaced, or it’s getting old and you know it’s going to go soon, call us!!

Every bathroom needs it’s own 20 Amp circuit, so the electrician ran a new wire down to the panel in the basement, and replaced all the wiring to the bathroom. We installed a new fan and light combination, which is ducted through the attic to the outside.

New electrical box

In renovations, things that aren’t planned for do happen. A defective fitting on one of the new shower valve stops leaked into the kitchen below. It made a stain, but didn’t do any other damage. I had my  painter stain kill and paint that ceiling.  Hey, there are going to be problems in renovations. It’s not weather you have any problems, you probably will, it’s how your contractor deal with them that’s important.  We just fixed it.

We also replaced all the plumbing that we could get to. This included new hot and cold copper water piping to the basemen, and replacing all the drain piping that we could get to.

New drain tied into old

We replaced the drains and water piping for the sink and toilet

And we replaced the drains and water piping for the tub/shower, adding valves for future servicing, since there weren’t any there, but there is already an access panel

New bathub and shower piping

We then installed new plywood on the floor and set the cast iron bathtub in place. We installed backing in the whole side wall, since the owner wants a grab bar but hasn’t picked it out yet.

We closed up the walls with wallboard, and cement board and are tiling the bathroom now.

Under the floor before cleanup

Under drum trap before cleanup

We then proceeded to de-nail the walls and floor, and then to clean up under the floor, at the base of the walls, over the door and window, etc. This is before we ripped out the old plumbing, or really before any other work. After all, who wants to work in a mess?:

Under the floor after the cleanup

As you can see, the plumbing wastes were old lead drum traps. There were actually a couple of spots that had started leaking, although it wasn’t showing down stairs:

Lead drum trap after cleanup

Drum trap after vacuming

In the next installment, I’ll show you what we did to upgrade the plumbing.

Trap and Broken Main Cleanout Removed

Some house traps, like the one we just removed, are under the cellar floor, in a pit or under the concrete. We often have to jackhammer the concrete out, and dig around the trap, in order to remove it. Often the top of the house trap is the only access that the drain cleaner has to clear the lines out to the sewer, and they can’t always get a good cutting head around the trap, so the drain doesn’t really get cleaned out. The drain cleaner will often recommend getting the house trap out of there.

After we removed the house trap (sorry I couldn’t get a picture of the trap, as it was buried in fairly disgusting clay and STUFF, we installed a clean-out and a straight piece of pipe where the trap had been. In this case, we also installed 2 above the ground waste lines for the future, as we have concerns about the condition of the 2 main under ther floor drains, and rather than dig up the whole floor, in the future we can just abandon the old drains and run new ones above the floor. In this particular basement running the new lines above the floor won’t cause any problems, and it will save the homeowners a lot of money if it does need to be done.

New Main Cleanout and Future Drain

The main clean-out that heads out to the  street is required by law to be installed using lead and oakum joints, so that is the pipe that you see on the right. We brought it up above floor level so that no one would have to dig around in that mess in the future.

Inside of House Trap

It’s not that clear, but this is what the inside of the old trap looked like, after we smashed it open with a sledge.  It has thick deposits of waste, rust and STUFF built up inside it. No wonder these folks had to have the drains cleaned on Sunday night at about 10 PM

If you live in an older home, be sure and investigate this problem BEFORE you have to have a Sunday Night Waste Flood in the Basement!