Plumbing Maintenance Tips from a Trusted Plumber in Martinsburg WV

 Look, my name is Mike. I run a plumbing outfit right here in town, and I’m exhausted. It’s October, which means I’m trying to pre-emptively save half of Martinsburg from itself before that first real cold snap hits.

Seriously, if I could sit every single person down on their own kitchen stool and show them three simple things, my emergency call volume would drop by 80%.

This isn't a manual. This is just a candid chat about the stuff that actually matters, the stuff that separates a homeowner from a homeowner who’s about to have a very bad, very expensive Tuesday.

❄️ The Big One: Winterizing Your Exterior (Stop Ignoring the Hose!)

Let's just start with the frozen pipes, because every single year, someone calls me up hysterical, saying their wall is suddenly weeping, and I know exactly why.

It’s the hose bibb. That outside faucet. If you leave your hose attached when the temperature drops below freezing—and you know it will here in the Panhandle—the water is trapped in that short little pipe segment leading into your house. It freezes, it expands, and it breaks that copper line inside your wall. You won't know it until the ice melts, and then suddenly you've got an indoor waterfall and structural damage.

Here’s the deal:

1. Detach the darn hose. Roll it up and put it in the garage. Seriously. Now.

2. Go find the shut-off valve for that outside spigot, usually somewhere in your basement or a utility closet, and turn it off. Give it a good clockwise crank.

3. Go back outside and open the faucet to drain any lingering water pressure. Nothing left to freeze!

It takes maybe two minutes of your time and saves you a four-figure emergency bill. If I see a house with an attached hose in December, I want to leave a sticky note on the front door. I really do.

🍳 The Kitchen Crime: Grease and the Disposal

My second biggest pet peeve? The garbage disposal. People treat it like a magical black hole for all their sins. Newsflash: it’s just a grinder, not a chemical processor.

The biggest mistake, the absolute worst thing you can do to your drain, is pouring hot cooking grease down the sink. Yes, it looks fine when it's hot and liquidy. But as soon as it hits the colder pipes down the line, it solidifies. It's like pouring cement in slow motion. It grabs onto hair, coffee grounds, and everything else, building up a nasty blockage. That eventually forces me to come out and snake your pipe, or worse, hydro-jet it.

So, what's the plumber-approved method? Get an old tin can, pour the bacon grease or cooking oil in there, let it cool into a solid lump, and then toss the whole thing in the trash. It’s a small, easy habit change. It works.

A quick side note: If you're doing a big renovation, maybe tackling that awesome kitchen backsplash installation Martinsburg has been waiting for you to finish, please check the drains while the cabinets are empty. It’s the perfect, simple time to clear a P-trap or tighten a connection without fighting your spice rack. Seriously, a clear work area is a plumber's dream.

🚿 The Water Heater Woes (Don’t Neglect Your Hot Water)

If your water heater is more than five years old and you’ve never touched it, we need to have a little talk. I know it’s tucked away in the closet or basement, just humming along, but it’s suffering.

What happens is this: sediment. The hard minerals in our local water settle at the bottom of the tank. It eventually forms a layer of gunk, which means the element or gas burner has to heat the water through that layer of gunk. This makes your unit work harder, raises your power bill, and basically guarantees the tank will fail sooner.

My honest advice: Call a professional—yeah, maybe a local plumber in Martinsburg WV—and have them come out and do a proper flush. It’s not something I really advise homeowners to DIY unless they are genuinely comfortable working with gas/electric and a big tank of very hot water. But it needs to be done yearly.

• You’ll get hotter water faster.

• Your heater will last years longer.

• The rumbling noise it makes? That's the sediment boiling. Flushing it stops that.

The Takeaway

Look, I love my job, and I love helping people, but I'd much rather spend my time installing a new water treatment system or updating a fixture than wading through a preventable flood at 3 AM.

Plumbing maintenance isn't about being a mechanical genius; it's about being a good landlord to your own house. It's paying attention to the details: the slow drip, the gurgle in the drain, the hose you forgot to disconnect.

Take two minutes this weekend and get those hoses put away. That's a huge win. Then, maybe start saving your grease in a jar. Your pipes—and your plumber—will thank you.