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The Most Common Plumbing Problems: Get Ahead of These Issues for Happier Tenants and Fewer Hassles

If you own or manage an apartment building in New York City, chances are you’ve had to deal with your fair share of plumbing issues. Usually this involves angry tenants and ill-timed phone calls for you. You can eliminate a lot of these hassles by understanding the causes and solutions of the most common plumbing problems, as outlined below.

Toilet Won’t Stop Running

An easy fix

A tenant’s toilet that won’t stop running is usually a pretty simple repair. There are a couple of reasons why this happens, and understanding toilet tank anatomy is essential to figuring out the cause and fixing the problem. The top three reasons we see this issue are:

• Float arm or ball cock broken or out of alignment – need to be adjusted or replaced with an easy kit from the hardware or home store
• Flapper valve between the tank and the bowl stuck or not working – either reposition it (a little attached chain may be caught underneath) or replace it, if it’s old and hardened to the point where it won’t form a good seal
• Fill mechanism won’t shut off – needs to be adjusted on the mechanism itself or replaced

Dripping Faucet

Water waster

A dripping faucet can run up your water bill quickly. Usually this is due to one of three causes:

• A washer or cartridge that must be replaced
• An old faucet handle or valve that should be replaced
• Excessively high water pressure that blows past shut-off mechanisms

In the third case, you probably need a pressure regulator to reduce uniformly high municipal water pressure or other pump solutions if water pressure is too strong on some stories and inadequate on others.

Insufficient Water Pressure

Multiple causes

Water pressure problems are common in New York City apartments, especially in taller buildings. Often, we have our partners at Antler Pumps install booster pumps to equalize pressure between floors. The higher the building, the more you have to use supplemental pumps to overcome the force of gravity.

Other causes of low pressure include:

• Water pipes or faucets/shower heads clogged with sediment or hard water scale (need to be cleaned or replaced and a filtration system installed)
• Water leak (see below)
• Frozen pipe (see below)
• Local water valve turned in the wrong direction accidentally
• Malfunctioning distributor pump
• Neighborhood water supply issue (broken main, hydrant in use, etc.)

Clogged Toilet

Tenant education required

A clogged toilet is a frequent problem for landlords and superintendents. Unless something is blocking the sewer main or the pipes leading to it, it’s usually easily remedied with a plunger.

Also, be sure tenants know what can and cannot be flushed in the toilet. They should not be flushing food remains, cooking grease, diapers, wipes, paper towels, and many feminine hygiene products. Tenants with small children may want to childproof the toilet seat until their kids learn not to flush items indiscriminately.

Sink Drains Slowly or Won’t Drain

Needs clearing

A sink that drains slowly or not at all often means a clogged pipe that needs to be cleared. If the clog is beyond the trap beneath the sink, it will usually need to be snaked by a plumber.

Like with clogged toilets, this problem frequently goes away with tenant education. They should not be allowing grease, coffee grounds, and other food remains to be washed down the drain.

Frozen Pipes

A preventable NYC problem

We see frozen pipes so often that we created a separate blog post about it. You can prevent frozen pipes by insulating units and vulnerable pipes well and by instructing tenants not to turn the heat below 55 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, even if they’re not home.

A frozen pipe can sometimes be carefully thawed by your building’s staff. But if you’re not sure where the freeze occurred, or if a pipe is leaking or has burst, it’s time to call in the pros at Sanitary Plumbing.

Water Rising in Lower Levels

Two key solutions

The increase in severe weather events in the Northeast has resulted in rising water levels with many storms. If this is a concern for your property, you should consider installing sump pumps, which are activated automatically when water rises into the interior of a building.

Also, you should look at green landscaping that helps absorb rainwater runoff and snow melt better than pavement. In fact, the city has a Stormwater Incentive Program to help larger rental properties with this solution.

Waste Backing Up in Bathroom, Kitchen, or Laundry Fixtures

A common issue with basement rooms

If you have rental units or laundry rooms in low-lying areas of your building, you may notice wastewater accumulating in bathroom sinks, toilets, and laundry appliances. This is most often due to the fact that sewage exiting your building in these areas doesn’t have the assistance of gravity to carry it to the main at the street.

A sewage ejector pump is essential to solve this problem. It is automatically activated whenever a waste basin is full, so waste doesn’t back up into your plumbing fixtures and appliances.

Water Leaks

Detective work required

If a leaky pipe is coming from a frozen or clogged pipe that is in danger of bursting, there are several other potential causes you must suss out. Older pipes and those exposed to acidic water may have corroded and formed open spots where water leaks out. This can also happen with valves and connectors/fittings, which can be loose as well. Overly high water pressure can cause leaks too.

If you’re experiencing a leak and can’t find it or fix it, we welcome the opportunity to check it out for you. Likewise, if you are troubled by any of the most common plumbing problems listed above, give us a call at 212-734-5000 or set up an appointment using our easy online form.