AFFORDABLE PLUMBING SERVICE IN Oviedo, FL

What Are the Most Common Plumbing Issues in Oviedo?

Folks around here in Seminole County have run into just about every plumbing problem imaginable at some point over the years. Due to the natural hardships that this part of Florida can throw at us, some plumbing issues are more common than others around here.

Pipe Leaks

The most common plumbing problem in Oviedo is leaking pipes. Look for signs such as water stains, moisture, and a drop in water pressure. Fixing leaks with water-saving devices could save a family of four, about 30,000 gallons of water each year, which is equivalent to 2 water usage bills. 

Call us if you notice any signs or you can also report a water leak or line break to the City of Oviedo Public Works between 7 am and 3:30 pm at 407-971-5692 .

Fixture Replacement

Oviedo, Fl has all types of homes, from older homes with pipes that were installed decades ago to newer homes that have brand new plumbing fixtures. There are warning signs that you should look out for to know if your plumbing fixtures need to be replaced such as puddles from leaks, water stains, and warped ceilings, walls, and floor. Be sure to contact a professional plumber like us and schedule plumbing inspections, and we will analyze all pipes and fixtures for holes and cracks.

Sagging Pipes

The low spots in the sagging pipe lines, also known as bellies, become collecting points for paper and waste, eventually causing blockage. This is a common problem to homeowners in Oviedo. Consult a professional plumber like us to assess the problem and to replace and remove the old sagging pipes.

How Does the Water in Oviedo Affect Your Plumbing?

Whether it’s the ocean, our tropical rains, or our gorgeous inland water features like The Everglades, water is an essential part of what makes Florida Florida. While our water gives us some advantages, there are some drawbacks to being in such a wet area.

Flooding

We can’t talk about how water affects plumbing here in Oviedo without talking about the rain. We get a lot of rain around here. Even our dry months are rainier than most state’s monsoon seasons. Between our sandy soil that erodes quickly, the torrential rains, and the occasional presence of tropical storms and hurricanes, flooding is often an eventuality to life around here in Oviedo.

While it may seem like flooding isn’t a big issue if it’s not coming from your pipes, there are many ways flooding from the weather can impact your plumbing system. Flooding will commonly displace soil and move underground pipes in your wastewater system or side sewer. As the clays and sands in our soil become wet and then dry, shifts beneath the topsoil are common, and sinkholes could even pop up on occasion. Your underground pipes moving even slightly could be a significant problem, especially for gravity-fed septic systems that rely on a precise angle to run correctly. 

There’s no real way to fight the weather around here, but ensuring that your soil is well aerated over underground plumbing infrastructure will go a long way to prevent high-cost underground pipe malfunctions.

Hard Water

Like most of Florida, we have incredibly hard water around here. Our water comes from the massive Floridan Aquifer that is fed by the plentiful groundwater around here. The Earth itself filters this water, which is then carefully treated at The City of Oviedo’s Water Department before coming out of our faucets. Regardless of how much this water is treated, small trace amounts of minerals come through our plumbing. While these tiny pieces of sediment that lend the water its hardness are harmless for human consumption, they can wreak havoc on your plumbing system over time.

As the water in the aquifer interacts with the surrounding rock, it erodes rock and naturally occurring minerals. The small pieces that incorporate into our water are tough to remove through treatment at a plant. Hard water has a few effects on your plumbing that can cause complications. Most people are familiar with the soap scum left in the shower from hard water or that feeling of just not rinsing off thoroughly. This is because the mineral content in your water prevents soaps and detergents from breaking down quickly. This build-up happens in your plumbing as well. With water as hard as ours, soaps, food products, and shower products that wash down the drain can regularly fail to break down entirely, thus leading to constricted and clogged drains.

Hard water also leads to the accumulation of scale throughout your plumbing system. You’ve probably noticed this before as a stubborn, chalky grit that develops near your fixtures’ valves and faucets. This same effect happens throughout your plumbing as well. Trace minerals deposited throughout your pipes will catch other small minerals, leading to a buildup over time. Water flow will gradually get constricted throughout your system as scale accumulates, leading to pressure buildup in parts of your plumbing. This build-up can eventually harm the structural integrity of your plumbing and could lead to leaks and bursts if it’s not dealt with routinely.

How Much Does Plumbing Usually Cost in Oviedo?

Plumbing services are usually pretty affordable here in Oviedo. Straightforward issues like small leaks in pipes or clogged drains may be as inexpensive as $60 to $100, but there are a few factors that can each potentially have significant effects on the price you pay for plumbing work here.

Size of the Job

A bigger job means a higher cost. That seems pretty self-explanatory as more materials, time, and effort will regularly translate to higher costs. For plumbing work with an enormous scope like major overhauls or remodels, the price may not increase linearly as the scale of the job grows. Your plumbing is designed as one system throughout your home that works perfectly together. When we make significant changes to the plumbing within your home, it’s not uncommon to have to slightly alter or accommodate other areas of your plumbing so that everything works together still.

This doesn’t mean every significant plumbing job will involve stripping out every pipe and fixture from your home, but it does mean that a lot more planning and testing goes into a remodel than just replacing one pipe. Taking the extra care and diligence to ensure that your plumbing system remains sustainable and balanced into the future prevents the work we do from having ripple effects that cause problems elsewhere. However, extra logistics and planning mean more time, equating to more costs for our services.

Age of Your Home

A lot of people in our community live in older homes. There’s nothing wrong with a house that’s got some character and years on its odometer, but often these older homes are hiding surprises in the plumbing. The plumbing within your home isn’t designed to last forever. Even the longest-lasting plumbing components only have a lifespan of safe use of around two decades. If you live in an older home where the plumbing has been neglected for any length of time, we’re likely going to find setbacks when we start working on the plumbing system in your home.

Even tough pipe materials like galvanized steel break down over time, especially with constant exposure to the hard water we have here in Oviedo. As these pipes age, their protective coating breaks down and leaves them vulnerable to corrosion. Decaying pipes can leak harmful and toxic chemicals like rust and lead into your water over time if they’re not updated. We want to do affordable work for you, but as certified plumbers, we won’t be able to ignore health hazards as serious as possible lead contamination in your home when we find corroded pipes. Even small amounts of lead can be devastating to the health of anyone within your home. Water that comes out of the Floridan Aquifer here in Oviedo is rigorously tested for lead and has never contained any harmful levels. Cases of lead poisoning these days, though, are far more commonly caused by aging pipes within your home’s infrastructure than they are from municipal wells or water sources.

Having an old home isn’t a guarantee of more expensive plumbing services, but you need to be aware as a homeowner of an older house that your plumbing may need more attention than you realize.

Materials and Fees

While they usually don’t make up a large chunk of the total invoice in plumbing, materials still will add a cost to your bill. Plumbing components are generally very affordable, but for larger jobs, small costs can build up. Work that requires rare or specialty parts may add further to this cost.

The fees charged for plumbing permit applications by the City of Oviedo aren’t large either, but it is still a cost that adds to your bill. These fees vary depending on the type of work that needs to be done. These smaller costs like materials and fees are commonly overlooked in the cost of plumbing work, but even if each cost is tiny, they can add up to a higher price you pay for your plumbing service.

Can Better Plumbing Save You Money in Oviedo?

Better plumbing can always save you money, and Oviedo is no exception. Better plumbing solutions and upgrades to your plumbing system make your plumbing more reliable over time and more resistant to malfunctions resulting in costly repairs. Even simply upgrading to newer fixtures could save you a lot of money. Modern fixtures are far more efficient without sacrificing any of the utility of their earlier predecessors, so updating these could save you money every month on your water bill.

Since hard water is a constant problem with the Floridan Aquifer, an investment in a water softening system could also potentially save you a lot of money over time. These systems have initial setup costs associated with them but ensure that the vast majority of trace minerals are removed from all the water running throughout your plumbing. Not having minerals in your water means a longer lifespan for all of your fixtures, pipes, and plumbing components throughout your home.

When Should You Call the Water Utility Company in Oviedo vs Hire a Plumber?

The Oviedo Water Department does a great job of operating ten groundwater wells, treating our water, and ensuring that it arrives safely through the City’s infrastructure into our homes. Beyond the City’s water lines, though, our utility technicians aren’t much help. When you have an issue with your water, the water department can usually tell you whether the problem is a known issue on the City’s lines that they’re working on or whether it’s on your side of the connection to the water main.

If the problem originates within your house, you need to call plumbers like us. The responsibility of the water utility is fulfilled once the water enters your property. When you have issues like sudden low pressure or total interruption of water, calling the utility to narrow down the problem can help, but don’t procrastinate calling us for too long. If your water pressure suddenly is reduced or stopped entirely, that could mean that there is a severe obstruction somewhere in your plumbing. That pressure that the City is supplying you with doesn’t just disappear, and if it’s not coming out of your taps, there’s a chance that it could build up until it suddenly comes out as a leak.

When Do You Need Permits for Plumbing Service in Oviedo?

Oviedo uses the Florida Plumbing Code published by the State Department of Community Affairs for regulatory guidelines within the City. The guidelines state that there is some work we can do without a permit, but anything that adds, removes, or alters any existing fixtures and components will require a permit from the Oviedo Building Services Department.

Any work on plumbing that is cosmetic or just a simple repair that doesn’t require the addition of new parts won’t need a permit. We can do work like clog removal or straightforward pipe repair right away without involving the City. However, anything that fundamentally changes the way your plumbing works will require an application to be filed and approved. Oviedo’s plumbing permit application fees are pretty low and differ depending on what kind of work is being done. These permit applications can seem confusing at first with all the information they need. Still, we’re pretty familiar with the approval process around here and can make sure that we include everything required to get approved quickly and get to work sooner on fixing your plumbing.