#plumbing

#plumbing

Bruce arrives on a job, checks out the problem ("she is chock-a-block, mate!"), and starts methodically working that problem until he solves it, which inevitably involves firing up "the bloody jet" to blast through blockages with 5,000 psi of water pressure ("Go, you good thing!"). This being Australia, he'll occasionally encounter not just cockroaches but poisonous spiders and snakes. And he's caught so many facefulls of wastewater and sewage while jetting that he really ought to invest in a hazmat suit.

If your drains have any kind of clog in them, that's going to slow the flow of water, but you shouldn't use boiling water to unclog it. Modern household pipes are not designed to handle boiling water. Hot water, sure. But not boiling. PVC pipes (typical in most homes) are only meant to handle up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Boiling temperatures can cause stress on metal and plastic pipes, as well as the joints that connect them.

"Water is important to people who do not have it," Joan Didion wrote, "and the same is true of control." She was talking about California, and the impressive machinery-"the aqueducts and siphons and pumps and forebays and afterbays and weirs and drains"-that has, since the early 20th Century, made American life as we know it to be plausible in the West.

Whether you're moving into a fixer-upper in or a newer home in Nashville , a new home can come with quite the to-do list. Calling contractors and specialists might save you time and stress, but it'll leave a dent in your budget. You'd be surprised how many DIY home repairs you can do yourself with just a few tools. Here are 13 simple repairs you can tackle yourself as you settle into your new home.

It happened just three days after we moved in. My husband took a bath, and as the tub drained the pressure of the draining water caused a pipe to separate in the basement and flood our downstairs bathroom and laundry room. Looking back, I've realized this entire problem could have been avoided if I had just done one thing: run a bath before renting or buying a home.

Rescue Air and Plumbing doesn't just rely on necessity for growth, however. The $25 million business has achieved success due to the ingrained, small-town values Campbell grew up with. "We treat people like we did when we grew up in the country, and we do what we say we're gonna do," he says. "Because if you burned a bridge where I'm from, that burnt bridge is gonna follow you forever."

The new location allows us to travel throughout Brooklyn in the opposite flow of both morning and afternoon rush hour, optimizing our response time to customers.