Ritz Plumbing Can Solve Your Water Pressure Problems
Do your pipes rattle when you turn on the hot water or a heavy water flow? How about when you run the warm or hot water through the bath tub or sink faucet. Maybe you left the hot water heater on for a good five minutes but still the hot water only lasts for a minute. These are all signs of serious plumbing issues that need attention.
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The most common indicators of a malfunctioning regulator are:
– high/low water pressure
– high/low water flow
– surging water
– banging pipes
– vibrating pipes
– leaking toilet fill valves
– leaking hot water relief valves
– broken pipes and leaking faucets
You may or may not notice the symptoms listed and the symptoms listed may be related to other plumbing system problems.
Recommended water pressure in a home is 55 PSI; the most state codes list the maximum safe allowable pressure at 80 PSI in any building. Most faucet, toilet and water heater manufacturers void their warranties when water pressure exceeds 80 PSI, and if you have a home warranty, some warranty companies void your coverage if your home has excessive pressure.
For those in the Los Angeles area, there is an answer for plumbing help and related needs. Ritz Plumbing has been in the business of home and business plumbing repair since the mid-1940s. The plumbers have served the Los Angeles area for decades, handling both residential and business plumbing needs, regardless of the size of the project. The service maintains a round-the-clock response reception, so weekend and evening jobs are not out of the question for emergency calls. This is particularly important since plumbing leaks and water problems don’t necessarily happen during business hours.Ritz Plumbing’s skilled employees and plumbers are no strangers to handling hot water problems either. Ritz’s plumbers can deal with both standard water heater hot water systems as well as the new plumbing technology of tankless systems for water heating. They also bring with them a fundamental understanding of how plumbing systems are built, particularly with managing water pressure as water flow adjusted from the city main water supply to the much smaller system inside a hole or building.
Abnormal water pressure is a common problem in residential plumbing systems, particularly in homes with pipes that are older than 20 or 30 years. Today, many structures have plumbing installed with regulators to control water pressure from getting out of hand, but older buildings and homes did not have such controls. These gauges and valves control the flow so that it doesn’t overwhelm the pipe system in the structure. However, municipal agencies have upgraded their water systems over the years, so the water pressure today is far more than what was in the system 30 years ago.
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Common signs of water regulators starting to give up the ghost tends to be fluctuating water pressure. Another sign can be significant change in the water flow coming through the plumbing. If the water is burping and then surging out of a faucet it’s a symptom. The all-too-famous rattling or vibrating pipes is also a sign of too much pressure in the system. Not so related signs tend to be where water may be leaking out of valves either in toilets, faucets, or pipe connections. A layperson may think it’s really the valve or joint that has a weakness but instead the pressure is greater than the valve was designed for, thanks to a regulator failure.
The standard water pressure for a residential plumbing system in a home should be at 55 pounds per square inch, or PSI. The high range safety level is reached when the same plumbing PSI exceeds 80. Beyond this point, many plumbing manufacturers no longer back up the capabilities of their products as the pressure will eventually overcome their valves. Homebuilders will also back away from performing any repairs on a house with water pressure exceeding acceptable standards.
Where water line regulators begin to fail, the control aspect no longer exists as pressure pushes its way through into the rest of the plumbing system. Regulator failure can occur due to age or if the unit gets damaged somehow. It can also happen in an obvious fashion or not be seen for quite a while. Since much of a structure’s plumbing system tends to be buried behind drywall and separations, many leaks won’t be seen until they become much bigger or stronger. A related repair job can be quite a process as well. Failure generally requires a replacement of the unit, and the installation of a new part can be a technical affair. This is not the kind of job that gets fixed with a simple repair kit from your local hardware store.
A homeowner or building tenant can get many of these problems fixed with Ritz Plumbing’s expertise and help. You don’t have to try to manage these plumbing problems alone. Making a quick call can get you back to normal quickly, with Ritz’s skilled crews fixing the problem and restoring you to the way you were before the plumbing problems began.
Fully licensed & insured technicians, using only the highest quality parts.
We assess the job and provide a quote before any work begins.
Our large fleet means help is usually available within the hour.
Contactless service by trained technicians wearing PPE.
6/26/2019
A landlord received complaints from multiple tenants in his building that the water pressure was very poor.
Although he attributed the first report as merely a problem with a single faucet in the apartment and had previously called a repairman to inspect the unit, after he received calls from every client, he realized that the whole building needed to be checked.
The technician needed to narrow down the cause of the low water pressure. He first checked the water meter to ensure that it was turned on the whole way and that the repairman had not turned it back. He found that the meter itself was not completely on and mentioned this to the client. The client remembered that he had called a repairman to look at one apartment after he received the first call and realized that the repairman may have forgotten to turn it back on the rest of the way. The client thanked the technician for being thorough and narrowing down the cause of the low water pressure so quickly.
March 2021
A homeowner called us to complain about the lack of water pressure in all of their fixtures. The homeowner suspected a leak somewhere in the home, as her water bill was above average. However, the homeowner couldn’t find a leak anywhere in their home.
Our technician arrived at the house and inspected all of the fixtures. After noting down the low water pressure issue, the plumber agreed that there was likely a leak in the home. After inspecting the drywall and the home, the plumber noted that there were no obvious signs of leakage on the drywall or either area. Our plumber advised the client that he would use a listening disc to help locate the leak.
Our plumber retried a listening disc from the house and started to search the house for the leak in the home. By using the listening disc and pressing it against the drywall, the plumber was able to listen for the leak without damaging or cutting the drywall. The plumber then noted that the dripping noise was coming from behind the drywall in the upper corridor. Our technician, with the approval from the client, cut the drywall, found that there was a pinhole leak in a copper pipe, and replaced the pipe. The water pressure was soon back to normal, and our client reported a week later that it was no longer an issue.
March 2020
A landlord had received complaints from her tenants that the water pressure was low throughout the building, so she turned to us for help.
We sent a technician to her location, and his first thought was that the shutoff valve might not be completely turned on since the whole building was reporting the same problem. As he suspected, the technician noticed that the shutoff valve was not in the “on” position, so the water was not reaching the tenants’ fixtures at the right speed.
He turned on the shutoff valve and called the landlord to make sure that he had fixed the problem.
1/18/2019
A customer needed our help to determine why her shower head had low water pressure when there was more than enough water coming out of the bathtub spout.
After verifying that the bathtub spout, the faucet in the bathroom and the kitchen sink all had sufficient water pressure, the technician focused his attention directly onto the shower head itself.
The technician was able to determine that hard water deposits had clogged the shower head over time and that it needed to be cleaned. He unscrewed the shower head and turned the bathtub faucet to divert water specifically to the shower to clean out any remaining deposits or debris. After replacing the shower head, the technician noted that the water pressure still had not improved. He was then able to make the accurate assumption that the customer needed to purchase a new shower head. The client had one available so the technician was able to install the unit for the client instead.
09/30/13
A client contacted us after describing poor water pressure in his kitchen faucet. He had tested the shower heads, other sinks and bathtubs before calling us and explained that it was just the kitchen faucet that was not functioning properly.
Our technician assessed the situation, found that the kitchen faucet was victim of a mineral deposit build-up and assumed that this was the cause for the poor water pressure.
The technician explained to the client that a mineral deposit build-up over time can clog faucets and prevent full water pressure from circulating throughout the home. He shut off the water to the home and removed the faucet to confirm his suspicion. He showed the client where the build-up was located and what to look for if the client noticed other faucets acting in the same manner. The technician removed the mineral deposits, reattached the faucet and turned the water back on to ensure that the water pressure had been properly restored.
It takes less than 5 minutes and we’re available 24/7.
60 minutes or less response time.