I recently had a plumbing emergency in my own home. The main drain pipe under the basement floor got clogged with toilet paper. The culprit is a newer low-flush toilet in a basement bathroom. I’ve ...

Q: I had the opportunity to tour a house under construction. All of the plumbing drain lines were in, but I also saw all sorts of other extra pipes that connected to the drain pipes and eventually ...

Have you heard the old saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know”? It’s an axiom homeowners should always keep in mind when thinking about the mechanical and structural systems hidden behind the ...

Why Houses Need Plumbing Vents (forget the soda bottle analogy) Plumbing vents prevent traps from being siphoned. The common, improper analogy is to talk about dumping a soda bottle upside down. This ...

I have a remodeling project coming up and I intend to do the plumbing work. I’m good to go on the water lines, but the drain lines and plumbing vents are my weak spot. Is there a fail-safe method of ...

We Canadians deal with extreme winter challenges each year, and one of the most annoying (and mysterious) happens when rooftop plumbing vent pipes get plugged with frost. This is called “ice capping” ...

Cleaning your air vents can be an annoying process, but it's important to do so regularly. Buildup of dust and grime obviously has an aesthetic downside, but putting off this chore can also contribute ...