Plumbing

Tankless Water Heaters Advantages and Disadvantages

Tankless water heaters, for the supply of hot water in private homes, are extremely popular in the UK as well as in many European countries. In these regions the combi-boiler is the system that is most commonly used. These boilers are relatively small, wall mounted units, which utilize an on demand, gas-fired system, to heat the water. The water is then piped through two separate systems, one to the wall mounted radiators that provide central heating, and the other to provide hot water for use in the kitchen and bathrooms. The user is able to select both systems singly or simultaneously, and a time clock can be set to automatically control the system as desired.

The choice of most American homes
In the US tankless water heaters are still a relatively new concept, and have only achieved some popularity since the tremendous surge in energy costs made people much more aware of the cost of heating household water. The system still most popularly used in most US home is the conventional electric, storage water heater. The familiar vertical tank, standing in the utility room, is a common household sight in most of our homes, and usually doesn’t get more than a cursory glance other than when we pass it on our way to load the washing machine or dryer.

Tank sizes of storage heater vary, but even the largest reservoir will tend to run out when the teenagers take long hot showers, one after the other! Many a parent, looking forward to a soak in the tub, or an invigorating hot shower, has found to their dismay, that the supply from the faucet is only look warm!

Pros and Cons for the different systems
While tankless water heaters would seem to be an ideal solution, delivering an endless supply of hot water, as and when one needs it, there are pros and cons to both systems. The major argument delivered for tankless water heaters, is that one is not required to consume energy until the system is put into operation. On the other hand, with conventional heating systems, the insulated reservoir must continue supplying heat to the system at all times, as there is invariably heat loss due to insulation factors. Additionally, once hot water is drawn from the tank, the cold water that enters, lowers the temperature of the whole reservoir, and it must again all be heated back up to the temperature at which the thermostat is set.

The advantage of an instantaneous hot water supply
With tankless water heaters, the water is heated and delivered instantaneously, but the rate of supply that it can cope with depends on the amount required. A common complaint with older systems in UK homes is that they may be unable to supply water to more than one shower at a time without drastically reducing the pressure at the point of delivery. When installing a tankless system one has to explore the hot water requirements carefully before deciding on which unit to buy.

The Power Shower used in many British homes
Another tankless system commonly used in British homes, is the individual on-demand, shower-mounted unit. These “Power Showers” as the Brits call them, are small, wall mounted, electrically powered units that supply instantaneous piping-hot water to the shower head at the press of a button. The unit has a temperature control, and a variety of settings, so that the water supplied can be set to in an individual’s requirements. The big difference to standard US showers is that the water pressure provided by these units is nowhere as strong, with the water stream being much gentler.

While each country has it’s own preferences, there is always room for change. Ask your professional plumbing contractor as to the right system for you. We will be happy to give you all the advice you need.

Small Bathrooms – Get the Most Out Of Limited Space

Today’s bathrooms are generally much bigger than in the homes of yesteryear, but older homes may still have to make do with more cramped conditions. With a little creativity, though, even small bathrooms can be transformed into much more comfortable areas. Here are a few tips to get you thinking!

Use all the available spaces
Stand in the center of the room and look around. Are you making full use of areas like the corners? There are many fixtures and fittings that are designed to fit snugly into corners. These can dramatically ease the storage problems that you may be facing, while looking quite chic and stylish.

Simple can be more stylish
Consider repainting and redecorating the walls, floor and ceiling, to keep colors as simple and plain as possible. Bright colors and patterns tend to make the room look cluttered, and should be used minimally, if at all.

Big is not necessarily better
The trend to having large sinks, sometimes set into even larger surrounds, is often space wasted. In all honesty, one doesn’t need a mini bathtub to wash one’s face and brush one’s teeth over! There are many stylish smaller sink units available that will serve the purpose for small bathrooms just as well, without using a big chunk of your available wall space.

Choose a stylish but more compact faucet
The availability of modern compact faucets can ease the sink-top clutter dramatically. Consider one of the slender goose-neck type, single handle units to go with your redesigned sink unit.

Bathtubs come in a range of sizes and shapes
In many European countries, where space is at an absolute premium, bathtubs are often much smaller than here in the US. Due to their compact size, small bathtubs are becoming more popular here too, as they can easily be used to turn a small, half-bath into a full bathroom. Small bathtubs also help free up space, and allow one to have a tub in conjunction with a shower in small bathrooms. For example, a five foot long tub, with a flat bottom, gives plenty room for a relaxing bath, as well as taking a standard wall mounted, shower unit.

Is your shower stall well designed?
You can create more convenience with the available space in a small bathroom, if you use a sliding shower door as these require no extra clearance space for opening.

Something that is rarely seen in this country
In the small bathrooms found in many Mediterranean and European countries, the shower head is located over an open floor with a drainage hole, so that the floor gets wet when one showers. Basically the whole bathroom is a shower, so you have plenty of wiggle space! If the room contains a toilet, it gets a good showering at the same time!

Mount your fixtures on the wall instead of the floor
Another space saving idea is to consider a wall mounted toilet. Although it might seems a bit precarious, these are actually perfectly strong if correctly installed, and the floor area is again freed up giving the appearance of much more space.
Consider all also installing a wall mounted sink and save even more space.

If you are interested in any of these ideas or would look advice in regard to remodeling your small bathroom, call us anytime for a free estimate.

Shower Stalls Provide Comfort and Convenience For The Family

When buying a new home, one of the most important things to look for is the number of bathrooms on offer. Are there shower stalls? As the family grows, it is very important to make sure that sufficient facilities are available for everyone. Realtors have a different way of advertizing it, but many American bathrooms contain what is commonly referred to as a full bathtub. This usually means a bathtub, with the traditional wall mounted shower, over the tub. The fashion now, however, is moving more and more towards installing a stand-alone, completely separate, shower stall outside of the tub. The convenience this provides, together with its increased functionality, has made it a popular choice with today’s modern home buyers.

The insecurity of a shower over the tub
One of the reasons many people prefer shower stalls, and dislike a shower over the tub, is that standing in the tub is insecure. The fear of slipping in the tub, that often daunts older users, is solved by the roominess and comfort of a dedicated shower pan, with it spacious, wide and perfectly flat, floor. The range of shapes and sizes of available shower pans is massive, and one can almost always be found to suit your bathroom.

The advantages of separate shower stalls
There are many other major advantages that a shower stall provides. Firstly, with dedicated plumbing, there is no longer any need to have to fiddle with the tub faucet to get the temperature and pressure settings to a comfortable level. The specially designed shower faucets available today, obviate this problem and allow one to adjust levels comfortably to suit individual personal needs. Several strategically placed wall mounted grips provide additional security, and a soap and shampoo rack is a massive move up from having to balance bottles on the edge of the tub! In addition one can buy shower stools or benches that provide even more security for older users.

Economical and wide ranging choices
With the large range of pre-designed shower stalls, with different design wall panels available, the project is not going to break the bank either. The range of interlocking wall panels on sale, allows one to design shape and size to suit virtually any bathroom and budget, and the attractive curved corner units on sale may be a great solution where space is at a premium.

Obviously, plumbing and diy skills are necessary if one wants to attempt the project on one’s own, but a professional plumbing contractor will be able to recommend the most economical way to do the job, and this is always the best way to go.

Preview the great range of shower stalls available
Before calling in your professional plumber, discuss the project with the family and determine where the best location will be for the new shower. Then go in to your local Home Depot or Lowes, and view the big range of shower stalls that they have on display. You will then be in a better position to tell your plumbing contractor exactly which option you prefer. Online browsing is also a great idea, as this allows the whole family to preview the many options on view.

For the more ambitious, there is the choice of more complex units built out of framed glass, but the cost obviously escalates when one departs from the standard fiberglass or plastic units available.

Bear in mind that there is going to have to be electrical work in addition to the plumbing, but your contractor will be able to handle all of that for you. Whatever your choice, call us in for a free quote and assessment of your needs. We are here to help and advise you.

Bathrooms – Imagine Living Without Them!

We tend to take the amazing facilities we have in our homes today very much for granted. While we spend time designing and organizing our living rooms and want a well fitted out kitchen, we tend to relegate the bathrooms to a somewhat secondary status. The only time we realize how vitally important this area is to us, is when the plumbing doesn’t function the way we expect it to!

The bathrooms of Royalty
The truth is that not too many generations ago, the wonders of bathrooms and indoor plumbing, were virtually unknown. Being able to come home after a hot day at work, and take a refreshing shower, is a pretty modern convenience. Next time you turn on the faucet, consider the fact that even royalty rarely had endless running hot water not too far back in history. Water had to be specially heated up and added to a tub, bucket by bucket. In private homes this made bathing a fairly rare occurrence, and many availed themselves of public bath houses instead, where one waited one’s turn in line, and paid for the convenience.

The little house in the yard
The little house in the back yard was another feature of daily life that the modern generation is only dimly aware of, if at all. Imagine putting on your overcoat and traipsing out on a stormy night, in the rain and wind, when nature called in the middle of the night! Of course, there was the alternative of the porcelain chamber pot that resided under the bed. That is, if you weren’t squeamish about keeping it there until the morning!

Today we have homes with multiple bathrooms and toilet facilities, all making use of modern techniques, that go largely unnoticed.

The importance of rivers
Since the dawn of history, the availability of sufficient water has been a primary consideration in determining where cities will be situated. As a result most ancient civilizations flourished where there were flowing, navigable rivers. These rivers provided water for home and agriculture, and in many cases, they were utilized as a main means of transport and trade. Still today, in many regions of the world, large rivers are utilized for transport and communication. Where natural water sources were more scarce, rain water had to be collected and stored, and wells had to be dug. Water had to be transported by hand, and stored in utensils small enough to be easily handled, and there were no indoor bathrooms with running water.

Lead pipes and the need to change them
When people were able to fashion pipes out of metal, the possibility of transporting water for long distances became a reality. Lead was one of the earliest metals widely used for fashioning pipes, as it was easily worked due to its low melting temperature. When the toxicity of lead became known, large amounts of piping introducing water into homes had to be replaced. In older countries, this is still a problem that has to be addressed, especially when upgrading old dwellings.

Cobbled streets and outdoor drainage
Water borne sewerage systems were another fairly modern invention. The uncovered sewers that are still evident in many undeveloped countries, give one an inkling of what it must have been like even in large cities, only a few centuries ago. The old cobbled streets of these cities had a channel running down the middle of the road that carried away whatever was thrown outdoors. When it rained, the streets were washed clean. In dry periods, whatever was thrown out, remained there.

Our business is to make sure that all the plumbing in your homes is in tip top working condition, and we are available at all times to keep it that way for you!

How To Secure Your Home Against Burst or Frozen Pipes

Why do frozen pipes burst?
With the arrival of the cold winter weather, water in your pipes could freeze. Because water expands when it freezes, it exerts great pressure on the walls of your pipes, which could result in the pipes bursting – with disastrous results!

Can I take preventative action to avoid frozen and burst pipes?

There are a number of simple steps you should take before winter sets in.

1 – Make sure that members of the family know where the main water valve to the house is located, so that it can quickly be shut off in an emergency.

2 – When temperatures start dropping, avoid turning your thermostat down too low at night. Icy outdoor temperatures could cause your pipes to freeze if the heat is set too low.

3 – Go around the house, and check whether the pipes in the least heated and most exposed areas are sufficiently insulated. Crawl spaces and attics are often the most vulnerable, as are pipes along exterior walls. Check outside the house too, including the garage. Exterior pipes are obviously at a greater risk of freezing.

4 – Make sure vulnerable pipes are properly insulated. Suitable materials to wrap your pipes are readily available at home supply stores, who can advise you on how to apply them.

5 – Seal any openings that allow cold outside air to enter the house. Make sure to caulk openings around vents and pipes that pass through external walls. A tiny amount of cold air getting in could easily freeze nearby pipes.

6 – Make sure that internal ventilation in the home allows your heating to reach the rooms and areas where pipes are at risk.

7 – Allowing water to trickle gently from several faucets at night keeps the stream of water moving, and could help to prevent freezing.

8 – Drain the water from outdoor faucets and hoses, and isolate the supply of water to them from inside the house, if possible.

9 – If the house is going to be vacant during the winter, make sure to set the thermostat to a suitable temperature, no lower than 55° F

10 – Arrange to leave a key and a contact number with a trusted neighbor or friend when you are away in case an emergency should arise.

What action should I take if the pipes freeze and there is no water coming out the faucets?
It is quite possible for pipes to freeze without bursting, but you should still take immediate action.

1 – Call in your professional plumber as soon as possible to assess the situation.

2 – Leave the faucets turned on.

3 – Do not under any circumstances try and thaw out a frozen pipe with a blow torch or any other open flame.

4 – At the most, try using a hair dryer to warm the pipe near the faucet and then work backwards down the pipe towards the frozen section.

What if frozen pipes have already burst?

1 – Don’t panic!

2 – First thing is to locate and turn off the main water valve.

3 – If the house is already flooding, call 911.

4 – Avoid standing in the water, and do not touch any plugged in electrical items or appliances.

Prevention is always better than cure.
The damage resulting from burst or frozen pipes can be disastrous, causing tremendous inconvenience. Water damage and repairs can run to thousands of dollars, and all this can be prevented with a little care and planning. With winter around the corner, it’s a great idea to call in your professional plumbing contractor now to check your premises and advise you on any maintenance that needs to be done. Do it now and relax in the knowledge that your home and family are protected against these issues.

Blocked Toilets and Drains

We all dread those times when the toilet gets blocked and trying to flush it just succeeds in filling the bowl to overflowing! There was a time though, when blocked toilets and drains were unheard of. How come? Because not so long ago, flushing toilets didn’t yet exist in private homes anywhere in the world!

Running water piped into our homes and available by simply turning on the faucet, is so familiar to us, that we can’t even conceive of a time when this was something that even kings didn’t have available to them.

Where Did Our Great-Great Grandparents Get Their Household Water?
In ancient times people settled near convenient water sources, as it was impossible to survive without an assured supply of drinking water. Throughout the ages, people kept devising different techniques for bringing drinking, cooking and bathing water into their homes. Up until fairly recent times, all water had to be cooked before it one could drink it, as it was rarely clean or pure enough for the human digestive system to handle.

Early Waste Disposal Systems
The need for a proper system of sanitation, however, remained a constant problem. Without an adequate means of disposing of human waste, the specter of disease was ever present, as human waste was simply thrown outdoors, where it remained until the rains washed it away. The dirt streets had stepping stones down the sides so that one could avoid stepping into the muck.

The Little House in the Back Yard
The earliest lavatories were limited to a simple pit dug in the ground, so blocked toilets were unknown! Indoors, the only means of relieving oneself was the chamber pot. In small villages the problem was somehow bearable, but with the growth of large cities the problem became a massive one, with the outbreak of disease a constant threat.

In many places sewage was dumped into the local rivers, which became polluted and foul smelling killing off the fish and plant life.

The Romans to the Rescue
Excavations in England have uncovered primitive but quite complex sewer systems installed by the Romans with aqueducts and rudimentary lead pipe plumbing, that could lead water to and away from populated areas.

In medieval Europe, though, the streets and waterways were open sewers. In London open gutters ran down the center of the streets carrying the sewage into the River Thames. As the big cities grew in size, the stench of raw sewage became so unbearable that a better solution had to be found. This led to the development of underground sewers to reduce the ever present stench. Many of these sewers were hundreds of yards long, but the raw sewage still ended up in the rivers and oceans, causing large scale pollution and damage to animal and plant life.

The Great Breakthrough
The great breakthrough came in the 19^th century when sewage treatment plants were developed, enabling the wastewater to be treated and recycled, so that it presented no health threat. Gradually, around this time, flushing toilets became available, and they soon became available in many homes. This was a wonderful boon, except for the problem of blocked toilets!

One of the important breakthroughs was the U-bend trap, invented by Thomas Crapper in 1880, and although he is famously credited as the father of the flush toilet, it was actually not his invention. Toilet paper too was only invented around this time, and the first rolls only came onto the market in the early 20^th century.

We’ve come a long way since then, but we haven’t yet eradicated the problem of blocked toilets and drains. If you unfortunately have a problem with one of these, call us, and we’ll have your home plumbing system back in tip-top condition in no time!

Highly skilled plumber for all your DIY home projects

Why not do it all yourself?
Why use a highly skilled plumber for your home DIY project? Most people would love to save dollars on those minor home repairs that crop up from time to time by doing it themselves. After all, you can hop into the car and pick up whatever you need from your local Home Depot. That clogged kitchen sink your wife has been complaining about is a simple fix. Even installing a new shower head in the kids bathroom is no big deal, but there is a limit to the jobs most people feel comfortable with.

Won’t Google show me how to do it?
You don’t need a highly skilled plumber to do a fairly straight forward and simple home plumbing DIY job, like changing the washer in a leaky faucet. This can be accomplished quite quickly and easily by most people. Even if you’ve never attempted it before, a simple google search will turn up numerous video clips showing you exactly how to do it.

Planning and preparation take skill and know-how
What about that annoying drip from the pipe behind your toilet? Do you have the necessary tools and know-how to attempt a repair, and do you know where to switch off the mains water supply should something go wrong? What if you wanted to actually install a new toilet or shower in the basement? In addition to the actual work involved there are a host of logistical problems that need solving. How do you get the waste water from your below ground level basement to your outside sewer mains?

Quite soon you realize that this is no job for an amateur. A highly skilled plumber will know exactly what is entailed, but that only comes from years of training and practice.

How will I keep the costs down?
Once you have come to terms with the fact that your DIY skills can take you only so far, it is time to call in the professional to get advice and plan the project, looking at the bigger picture.

The cost of many projects is in the time and labor involved more than in the actual cost of the materials you will need. Most plumbers charge by the hour, but they have the skills to avoid and minimize the errors that you would likely make if you tried to do the work yourself. How many times haven’t you started putting together a flat pack item from Ikea, only to find that you put one shelf in back to front, so that the unfinished edge is showing! The time and energy involved in taking it all apart and re-assembling it is a real nuisance, and this is something a trained workman knows how to avoid by looking ahead and planning, saving you time and keeping you within your budget.

Accidents are caused by a lack of knowledge and experience
But it’s not only the money and time-saving involved. Attempting a plumbing job that you are not trained to do can in fact be dangerous. I can recall one occasion when a so-called plumber installed a toilet by mistakenly connecting up the hot water supply to the cistern, so that when it was flushed, steam came out! Funny but true story.

When to leave it to a skilled trained professional
A burst pipe or water mains, requires expert handling, and the type of tools that a home owner quite probably won’t have on hand. At the end of the day, a DIY project is something that you hope to accomplish with pride and satisfaction. It should be fun and enjoyable to do. Stress is definitely not something you want thrown in to the mix. Accidents usually result from a lack of knowledge, and it is best left to the true professional highly skilled plumber to handle those complicated tasks. So by all means, plan the basement restoration, and do go ahead with the painting and cupboard installation, but call in your professional highly skilled plumber to do the major plumbing installations. It can save you lots of stress and money in the long run!

Old houses and plumbing problems

Old houses have a certain charm and appeal to them, and it’s no wonder many people opt to live in them. However, they also come with a fair share of responsibility, not the least of which is taking care of the condition of the building —including its old network of pipes.

Plumbing problems do go together with old properties, as much as owners would like it to be otherwise. Especially when you’re dealing with a flipped house, it could be that the exterior was renovated but all the interior stuff like plumbing has not been touched. Or you may simply have neglected the maintenance of your old home. In any case, there are some common problems in the plumbing of old houses. Let’s examine them here.

Old galvanized pipes

It is likely that your old house was built with pipes that were galvanized. As the years pass, the zinc layer of these pipes erode and the pipe loses its protective armor from within. This makes the pipes that much more prone to corrosion.

Replacing the full set of pipes is recommended, but it can be quite costly. This is why many people opt to just replace the affected segments. Sooner or later, however, the other old galvanized pipes would likely need to be replaced anyway.

Water damage

Leaks and standing water can lead to water damage in the surrounding area, especially in old houses that rely on wood for a large part of the structure. You’ll be able to find areas with water damage thanks to certain telltale signs: odd moldy smells, buckling floorboards, and stained walls or ceilings. Once you’ve located a leak, it’s best to identify the problem and act on it.

Sewers

Sometimes problems arise not within the house, but right from the edges. To be more specific, we’re talking about the connection the house has to the sewer. Roots can clog that sewer line and cut off the water flow, and sometimes parts of it can even break or collapse with age, coupled with wear and tear.

Discarded items that get into the disposal – toilet paper, diapers, grease, etc. – can also accumulate over time to clog the line. It’s important that the line is cleared so that the water that needs to be disposed from your home flows exactly where it needs to go: out.

Component age

The plumbing system inside a house is a complex one, made up of many different components, each playing a part in the complete function of the whole. Each part, like all physical things, has a lifespan. From piping to fixtures such as valves, sinks, and heaters, it may be beneficial for you to know the expected lifespan of these and how soon the ones in your house are likely to need replacing.

If you own an old house, you need to make sure that any plumbing problems are taken care of as soon as possible. Otherwise, the leaking water and troublesome drains can contribute to the speeding up of your home’s deterioration. If things get too tough, don’t think twice about calling plumbing professionals to give your home a look and get rid of any problems that might lurk within.

The Bathroom Before Indoor Plumbing

Early sanitation systems
In earlier times, sanitation was very different story to the indoor plumbing of today’s modern cities. There are still places in parts of the world where you can see remnants of this. You may have noticed when walking down some ancient cobbled street, that the road sloped down slightly from both sides towards the center. Right in the center of the road was a shallow sunken drainage channel. Sure enough, this helped to drain away the water after heavy rains, but centuries ago, that was not its primary purpose! It was there to ‘flush’ away every variety of household waste, including human waste!

Disposing of garbage and waste water, was pretty much uncontrolled. It was simply thrown out into the yard or the street, and left for the rain to wash it away. This included human waste, something we would find horribly repulsive today! Indoor plumbing hadn’t been dreamed of! One had to walk carefully! If you were lucky there were stepping stones down the sides of the streets to save you tramping into the muck. There are still places today, where one can see strategically placed sole ‘scrapers’, that they would use to clean off the soles of their boots before stepping indoors!

Where did all this waste go?
As all human habitation needed a ready source of drinking water, most ancient towns grew up alongside rivers and other natural water sources. It was directly into these rivers that the waste from the streets discharged. If the rivers were large and swift flowing, the waste was carried somewhere downstream, but inevitably the waters became polluted killing off the fish and plant life. The smell of decomposing garbage and waste was ever present in the air. That was simply a fact of life!

The little house in the back yard
Much more recent, and still not completely unknown, is the outhouse. The first step up the ladder in devising a more acceptable way of disposing of human waste. Initially simply a covered pit, the waste that was placed there remained there, and one often had to air out one’s clothing after making use of the facilities!

Before the days of indoor plumbing
Can you picture what is was like on a cold winter night or morning, putting on a coat and trudging out into the freezing weather when nature called? Our great-great-grandparents were accustomed to using the ubiquitous chamber pot, which could be placed after use, into a special cupboard, until it was convenient to take it out and empty it. How grateful we have to be for modern indoor plumbing!

The great breakthrough
The solution to the waste disposal problem was ultimately achieved through the development of underground sewers and, in modern times, sewage treatment plants. At the same time, indoor plumbing became available on a wide scale and the bathroom as we know it today was born.

Today it is almost inconceivable that it could ever have been different, but our ancestors never dreamed of indoor plumbing. The ability to simply turn on a faucet to obtain clean fresh water, is something that even royalty didn’t have, not that long ago!

How grateful we should be for a flushing toilet!
So next time you flush the toilet, releasing a strong stream of fresh water, swirling around the bowl, picture how different it was in those days! How grateful we need to be for the modern systems that we take for granted today!

So if you are unfortunate enough to have a toilet that isn’t working exactly the way you’d like it to, give us a call and let us sort it out for you! We are here waiting to be of service.

Baltimore Plumbing Repair

What do you do when you urgently need a Baltimore plumbing repair service? If you have a reliable plumbing company that you’ve used before, you call them immediately. Or do you? What is stopping you? Pull out your cell phone and dial them! The usual reason you can’t, is that you haven’t got their number in your phone contact list! Somehow that important number got deleted, or perhaps you forgot to save it as a new contact. No problem, you know where you file your household invoices and receipts, so you run through to the den, pull open the filing cabinet drawer, and search through the folders. Here it is! Household receipts 2016, or is it the 2015 folder I need?

My New Carpet is Getting Soaked!

By now the leak from that pipe in the ceiling is dripping faster and faster. A puddle of water is spreading across the floor of your newly carpeted den, and you are frantically trying to find the number of the plumbing contractor who you called last time and who solved your blocked toilet problem. He came quickly when I called him, and was a real professional. If only I could find that Baltimore plumbing repair number! Why can’t I remember his name? Sound like a familiar scenario?

A Little Foresight Solves So Many Problems

We ask our kids to clear the table when they are finished eating. Don’t throw your dirty underwear on the bathroom floor, put them in the laundry basket. Put your school books into your bag before you go to bed so that everything’s ready for the morning. We plead with them, day after day,. yet, no matter how hard we try it doesn’t seem to get through. If only they had a little foresight everything would be so much easier. It just never seems to work. The reason is probably that we are not setting an example to them! How many times haven’t they seen us searching frantically for the car keys, or our cell phone, or for the number for that Baltimore plumbing repair service that we desperately need to call, yet can’t find.

The Answer is to Prepare Ahead

Why do so many businesses send out fridge magnets in the mail? Because they will be right under your nose next time you open the door to grab the cheese! Problem is that most of them get thrown out, because you aren’t interested in having them clutter up the kitchen. But here is the answer to your plumbing problem! Grab a sticky post-it note and write the name and number of the plumber you called last time and stick it up in your utility room, or on the side of your washing machine or drier. Somewhere where you will see it often enough to remember where it is. Do the same with the numbers of your electrician and the handyman who fixed your porch door last summer. A little foresight and preparation will educate your kids and help you out of a tough spot next time you need to call the plumbing expert.

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