Blog | Glover Plumbing

If You Live In Utah, You Need A Home Humidifier

February 8, 2012 By danaylor Leave a Comment

During the winter months, Utah homes become very dry. This results in dry skin, dry lips, and general discomfort. Having a home humidifier that connects to your furnace is a great way to fight the dryness.

A home humidifier is an investment that pays for itself in terms of the money you would save on needless visits to the doctor and needless trips to the pharmacy to buy medications. You can also save money on your energy bill as well.

Home humidifiers vary in size and strength. Humidifiers come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are compact, meant for small, enclosed rooms such as bedrooms. Some are larger, and hold more capacity, and produce more vaporized air, meant for larger rooms such as living rooms and family rooms.

Some humidifiers come with filters and some do not. Some produce cold air mists. And some produce warm air mists. Some allow you to control the speed at which the water is converted into vapor, and consequently the speed at which the water vapor is released into the air.

There are low-end home humidifiers that have absolutely no electronics built into them. They are just straightforward machines that convert water into vapor. And then there are more sophisticated, state of the art humidifiers that are fully programmable. You can schedule the use of your humidifier. You can have it detect the humidity levels in the air and use that as a basis for switching on and off. You can control the speed of the air flow. You can even monitor and control the temperature in the room. You can have it alert you when the water level is getting low. Moreover, there are even humidifiers that can clean and refill themselves so that you don’t have to do all of the manual labor that is involved in cleaning and refilling.

Glover Heating & Air can analyze your home and your needs and recommend the best choice for home humidifiers.

Filed Under: HVAC

Don’t let small leaks turn into floods

February 7, 2012 By danaylor Leave a Comment

Water damage is one of the most common and costly disasters U.S. residences face. Small leaks can turn into costly water damage. Cracks in pipes as small as 1/8^th of an inch can release up to 250 gallons of water per day.

According to the National Flood Insurance Program a 1,000 square foot home with just one inch of standing water will cost the resident more than $10,000 in damages.
The cost doubles to $20,000 in damages with six inches of standing water.
In fact, according to the Chubb Insurance Corporation 37% of all homeowners claim they have experienced losses due to water damage. The Insurance Information Institute has said these homeowners and renters accounts for billions of dollars in losses annually.

It is even more important to check for leaks before leaving on vacation. If they aren’t careful, home owners can return to costly water damage. Here are some things to check before leaving your home for an extended period.

Turn off the main valve to the plumbing system.
Shut off individual valves under your sinks and behind the toilets.
Check the valve behind your refrigerator that feeds your ice maker
Shut off valves to your washer. This is the most common water problem while home owners are gone.
Walk around the outside of the home and ake sure nothing is leaking outside before leaving.
If you are gone for an extended period of time, ask a neighbor or relative to stop by the home and check that nothing has been broken or continues to run while away.

Make sure that small leaks don’t turn into Floods by Calling Glover Plumbing to have your small leaks repaired quickly.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Taking Care of your HVAC System

February 1, 2012 By danaylor Leave a Comment

Taking care of your HVAC system isn’t on the top of home owner’s priorities, until something goes wrong. Taking care of your HVAC system will save you money on your utility bills and make your system run more efficient and last longer.

Here is what we recommend home owners should do to maintain their HVAC system.

First, you should have your system inspected every year by a professional. This is best done in the beginning of certain seasons when your system will be taxed more than usual. A professional HVAC tech will inspect your furnace and replace filters and look for loose fittings. They also inspect the ductwork and fix any small problems before they grow.

Beyond the walkthrough, you should also do your part to keep the whole system clean. That means doing the following:

Cleaning vents monthly with a damp rag or a vacuum hose. Dust and debris accumulates and makes the air harder to breathe with pollutants and allergens.
During the heating and cooling seasons, inspect your air filters monthly. Clean and/or replace them when they are visibly dirty, or according to manufacturer’s recommendations.
Once a season, take time to clean your furnace room. Sweep out debris that could get sucked into the intake and check to see that fittings are clean and rust-free. Similarly, clean the area around an outside air handler if you have an outdoor air conditioning or heat pump system.
Program your thermostat to turn heating and cooling down during the hours that no one is home.

Keep your home clean and clear of dust and dirty. Vacuum carpets and dust hard surfaces often. Less dust in the home means less dust in the ventilation system.

Taking a few minutes to take care of your furnace can keep your whole HVAC system running smooth and save you money in the long run.

Call Glover Plumbing, the Utah plumbing experts to get your furnace tuned-up to make your home comfortable.

Filed Under: furnace, HVAC

Glover Plumbing Can Help You Save Money & Water

January 31, 2012 By danaylor Leave a Comment

Utah and other states in the Intermountain West are among the most arid in the nation: as such, we have a responsibility to show a little more wisdom in how we use and conserve this most precious of resources. This winter has produced less water shed than past years so water conservation will be even more important this year.

The plumbing industry has led the way in developing and engineering new products that help homeowners maintain their quality of life while cutting way back on water usage and waste. Here are some water-wise words of wisdom about practicing sound conservation at home as well as suggestions for products that can help:

Reduce:
Identify which appliances and systems in your home are the real water wasters, then actively seek ways to keep usage to a minimum. For example, limit each family member's showers to 5 minutes. This may seem like a short amount of time at first, but you'll soon find you can get everything clean well within this time limit. FACT: A 5-minute shower still uses close to 40 gallons of water! For even more savings, install a water-saving shower head too. Only run your dishwasher and washing machine when they are at full capacity, and don't leave water running when you are brushing your teeth.

Repair:
If your kitchen faucet leaks, don’t ignore it. Either get out your rusty plumbing tools or call a plumbing professional to fix the leak for you. The little drip, drip, drip sound may sound innocuous, but it could be wasting 20 or more gallons in a single day! Leaky toilets are a real problem too. To check the soundness of your toilet tank, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and check back in 30 minutes (without flushing)! If the color appears in your bowl, you have a water-wasting leak: time to call the plumber!

Replace:
If you find yourself constantly repairing the same drippy faucet over and over again or if you have really old toilets that use 3 or more gallons of water per flush, then it's probably time to make a modest investment in new fixtures and/or new water-efficient toilets. The amount of water you'll conserve is significant: you'll be "living green" and you'll feel terrific when you receive your next utility bill.

Call Glover Plumbing, The experts in Utah Plumbing services to conserve water and save money!

Filed Under: faucet repair, plumbing

Why you need a drain cleaning service.

November 22, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

Your piping system can be very much neglected in many households. Like an appliance, pipes must be kept clean so they can function at optimum conditions. Intake pipes pose no problem because they carry only clean water. On the other hand, drain pipes and sewers can be as dirty as you can imagine. Just think of all that goes into the drain pipes and sewer. Cleaning these pipes might require a drain cleaning service from professionals. This is the best done by a Glover Plumbing professional.

Dirty pipes may be concealed from the eyes but their effects can manifest throughout the house. One of the top considerations is the foul smell of dirty pipes. Fumes from these pipes can sometime come up and leave the house smelling like a sewer. Through interconnecting household piping systems, this foul smell can move from room to room until it fills the whole house. Another concern is the germs, molds, and bacteria that dirty pipes may harbor. These microorganisms are grave health hazards and can cause a number of illnesses to your family. Think of your kitchen sink drain and all the germs in it. When you are preparing food, these germs can go into the food, contaminating it. Thus, it is necessary to keep your pipes clean.

You can keep your drain pipes clean through simple ways. You may be thinking of using all those chemicals advertised on TV, or those promising cleaners at the supermarket aisle. After all, they are specially manufactured to clean your drainage pipes. However, remember that these chemicals are extremely caustic. They can cause rashes on skin contact and is very harmful to the environment. You wouldn’t want to kill all those germs, only to replace it with equally harmful chemicals. Another way to keep drains clean is to use safer alternatives you can normally find inside the house like baking soda and vinegar, or bleach. These work to a certain degree, and may be satisfactory enough if used regularly. Plus, they are very affordable and very safe to use.

The best way, however, to keep your drains clean is to call your reputable plumbers and ask for a drain cleaning service. More than just the drain, professionals can also handle other plumbing and piping systems as well. They can keep your drain clean without using environmentally harmful chemicals. The use of specialized equipments such as high pressure jet systems and special lances will leave your drain squeaky clean. Among the plumbing items that you must keep clean, the water tank must top your list. Have it cleaned regularly together with your drain pipes.

Aside from cleaning drain pipes, a drain cleaning service can also alert you of other possible problems in your piping system like a leaking pipe where debris can enter and contaminated your water. These professionals can also help you decide if you need to install new sewer connections and new sewage tanks.

While you can always clean the drain yourself, remember that a professional drain cleaning service is still the best way to keep your plumbing system clean.

Right now you can save with our Black Friday special and get your pipes clean, to save click here

Filed Under: drain cleaning, hydro jetting, main line

Replacing the Kitchen Sink

November 18, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

Updating a kitchen usually starts at the kitchen sink since this (along with the faucet), is the most used fixture in the house and will show the most wear. You will know when it’s time to update your sink. This is when you start to look at it and say to yourself “it just doesn’t look good anymore.” That’s when it’s time to start looking around at the various kinds of sinks that will go well with the rest of your kitchen decor. Having an idea of what style and look you want can go a long way for Kitchen remodels.

The first thing to think about when it comes to replacing the sink is what kind of sink you will be installing. For instance, is it an under-mount sink that you are going to replace that will adhere underneath the kitchen counter-top or is it a self-rimming sink that actually sits on top of the counter covering up the sink’s hole? Weather the sink you are replacing is under-mount or not the choice of staying with that type of sink is entirely up to your personal preference.

Next up is choosing a finish for your kitchen’s sink. Sinks come in a variety of finishes like brushed or polished stainless steel, granite, or enamel over cast iron or steel. They can come in your basic white or a wide array of colors.

When you choose an under-mounted counter sink make sure that it is installed properly. With heavier materials like granite an accurate cutout is necessary so that the sink fits properly when it’s glued in place. The adhesive that’s used seals the sink and will hold it in place once it dries, but until that time you must temporarily brace the sink in place to keep it in position. Stainless steel sinks are also perfect for under-mount applications and are a lot less expensive and aren’t as heavy to support during installation.

One of the main advantages of under-mounted sinks is during clean-up. You can easily wipe crumbs away into the sink without the barrier of an over-mount would cause.

There are a lot of top mounted sinks to choose from as well but try not to pick one solely on cost alone. The kitchen sink gets a lot of use so you want one that will not lose its looks quickly but will last for years to come.

If you have been thinking about getting a Kitchen remodel, than look no further than Glover Plumbing.

Filed Under: kitchen remodel, Salt Lake City

A Spa at Home

November 16, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

This is a little different than the normal plumbing posts of how-to’s and fixing a leak. However, even if you’re not looking for a spa at home yourself, someone at home probably is.

We can’t all afford to go to the spa all the time – it gets expensive and you have to go to work, after all – but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get the same effect right in your own home. With some adjustments, your bathroom can offer you many of the same benefits of a spa retreat right there in your very own home, giving you a relaxing space to wash away the stresses of the day and emerge feeling energized and ready to take on the world again.

So, if the current set-up in your bathroom isn’t quite screaming “RELAX!” at you, it’s time to give it a makeover to soften it up and turn it into a sanctuary you can retreat to. Creating a new, more soothing look for your bathroom won’t just help you relax after work in a hot bath – it will also soothe you even when you are in there to get ready for work in the morning, because our surroundings have an effect on our mood no matter what we are doing.

With that in mind, the first thing to tackle is the ambiance in the room. That big, bright overhead light in the middle of the ceiling is good when you are performing utilitarian tasks like cleaning, but you need a softer light source when you want to relax. You can replace that light with a new fixture that has a dimmer switch so you can control how much light pours into the room. If that is not in the cards, the addition of a small table lamp with a lower-wattage light bulb will give you the softer lighting you crave without having to replace the big fixture. The addition of scented candles will heighten the relaxing effects, too, when you place them around the bathroom – they are a nice decorative touch that is inexpensive to include, and when you get them in scented with things like lavender, they are doubly soothing.

You can also make even the most perfunctory of morning ablutions a mini-vacation by getting a new shower. Today’s shower trends fit the needs of busy adults that want a touch of luxury to brighten up the day, and the offerings range from full-body light and massage experiences to the less elaborate, but still effective, massage showerheads. At the top of the heap are the showers that incorporate chromatherapy, a holistic art that uses colored lighting to relax or energize you. A system of fiber optics and halogen lights combines with numerous nozzles for the water to give you a total sensory experience during your shower that is designed to soothe you or give you an energy boost whenever you need it. Something like that will require a whole new shower stall, but you can still ramp up your current shower’s spa-like effects just by adding a new massaging showerhead – and some of these even feature self-cleaning mechanisms to prevent any calcium deposits that might decrease the power of the spray, so you get a massage during your shower without having to worry about cleaning it yourself!

Regardless of what you choose to add to your bathroom to transform it, creating your own spa retreat will make your days and nights easier by offering you a sanctuary to relax in that’s just down the hall whenever you need it.

At Glover Plumbing we want you to feel at ease when we enter your home to take care of whatever ails your plumbing. So relax, go have fun we’ll get the work done.

Filed Under: plumbing, UT

Black Friday & Friends

November 14, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

Here at Glover Plumbing we are getting in on the fun of Black Friday. We want to invite all readers to visit our Facebook page and sign up to receive specials and promotions so that we can update you on our Black Friday promotion. We want to make sure that you get the best possible deals from Glover Plumbing possible. Take a moment and send this to your friends and family so that they can take advantage of these offers as well.

Just as a reminder we are still accepting food for the Utah Food Bank. Anything that you can drop off to our Bluffdale office is appreciated. Happy Holidays!!

Here is a link to our Facebook page and Black Friday promotion click here

Filed Under: Salt Lake City, UT

Symptoms of clogged drains

November 9, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

Here are some things to look for if you find that your drains may be clogged. Calling a plumber to come out and inspect clogged lines is always a good idea. Clogs will get worse over time, not better. If items are put down drains that do not belong, you will soon have a sink or kitchen drain that is not moving very well. I always start by pouring some very hot water down the drain to see if things will start moving. If boiling water does not drain, you have problems.

Kitchen and sink drains can be some of the easiest drains to clear. The problem with sink and kitchen drains is that they are usually a 2 inch drain pipe going into a 3 inch pipe down the line. This does not leave much room for build-up or un-natural objects. If you notice a slow-down in drain speed or gurgling, you have the start of a problem.

Toilets are harder to tell where the drain problem might be found. It can be in the inner p-trap within the toilet, the point of contact with the flange, or further down the line. By code toilets need to empty into a 3 inch pipe. This leaves plenty of room to flush things down, but can also create headaches when it backs up. A backed up toilet can be a very messy problem.

To fix these drain problems, there are some home remedies that you can try. A mixture of baking soda, salt, and vinegar can help with sink and kitchen drains. For toilets you can try a plunger or a toilet auger if you can get your hands on one. Plungers can also work for sink and kitchen drains.

If you are noticing that everything is draining slowly, or not at all, it may be time to have the main line checked by a licensed and insured Glover plumber. Have someone come out that can inspect your line with a small line camera. They will also have the equipment to clear drains and main lines.

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Filed Under: Plumber, Salt Lake City

Hot Water Fast

November 7, 2011 By Glover Leave a Comment

Instant Hot Water Line

If you have ever had the dream of not waiting an hour for hot water, this may be the thing for you. Not only is it possible to have instant hot water, it is affordable and luxurious to behold. By installing a re-circulating pump near your hot water heater, you can have instant hot water all over the house. This is something that a Glover plumber can do for you. But let’s first take a look at the reason you get cold water for so long.

When the faucet is turned on, the water in the hot line has been waiting for possibly hours. This means that it has to be replaced with hot water from the water heater. Depending on how far you are from the source of the hot water, this can be a long time. Many households waste thousands of gallons of water a year and this is a big reason why.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just turn the tap on and have hot water come out instantly? The biggest obstacle is finding the right re-circulating pump to handle the size of your water requests and to keep hot water all through the water line. The pump will recycle water that has cooled by pushing the water through a valve at the farthest faucet and back to the water heater.

The price of having instant hot water has never been cheaper. There are many reasonably priced pumps that offer superior quality and control. Most are guaranteed to last at least five years and have an interface to control the rate of recycling. Over time these units will begin to save you a lot of money by cutting down on water heater energy use and fresh water bills. Having a Glover plumber come out to the house and install one is really as simply as picking up the phone and getting a bid. A professional, licensed, and insured plumber can have one installed in an afternoon with time left over.

If you feel that your family could use the extra time and savings, consider installing an insta-hot re-circulating pump today. You only have to turn the faucet on once to be hooked!

For all your plumbing needs Glover Plumbing is here to help.