How much do you really know about your bathroom? Or to be more specific the water that flows there and all the plumbing that goes into making a bathroom function? Probably less than you think and what you don’t know could cost you dearly, especially if you intend to sell your Waterloo Region home soon.
All too often things look good on the surface, but unseen trouble is lurking, trouble that, if discovered during a home inspection could derail a sale, Here are some things you should know about your bathroom that you may not, but should find out about.
Dreadful Drainage
Have a drain that keeps clogging up, and yet the problem is solved – at least for a while – when you pour some of that ‘Supa Dupa Drain Cleaner’ down the pipes? The bad news it’s not solving the problem, it is merely masking it.
The more often you throw a chemical concoction at the problem you are probably unknowingly making things even worse. A clogged drain can overflow at anytime, leading to all kinds of water damage, so invest in calling in a plumber to investigate the problem rather than keep throwing money down the drain (almost literally) with ‘quick fixes’.
Bad Bases
Noticed a bit of water around the base of your toilet but it’s such a small amount that you haven’t been bothered enough by it to investigate any further? And now that you are staging the home for sale you’ll just put a rug down, as it’s such a tiny thing.
That’s a big, and potentially costly mistake. There should NEVER be water there, so if there is it’s an early warning sign of a problem. It may be that the tank is not functioning properly, that the toilet itself has become unseated or one of a dozen other problems.
Whether you try to diagnose the problem yourself or call in the pros to do it for you, the one thing you should never do is turn a blind eye to the situation.
Deodorize with Care
You know those fancy in-toilet deodorants that are so popular right now? The ones that hang down into the bowl and provide a constant stream of lovely smells when the toilet is flushed to counteract the, well, not so nice ones?
While the idea is a nice enough one, using them is often not a good one. They increase the chance of a toilet clog, especially in eco friendly low flow toilets, so stick to using an old-fashioned spray air freshener instead.
Mould Problems
Is the paint on your bathroom walls peeling a little, or the wallpaper coming away from the walls? Most of the time that is not the sign of paint aging or a cheap wallpaper paste gone wrong, but that your bathroom is just too moist, and that moisture is slowly causing water damage. And the bad news is that what lies behind may very well be mould, mould that is eating away at the walls.
After you have had that checked out (and remedied as necessary) make sure that your bathroom has a good, fully functional exhaust fan and that you switch it on whenever the bathroom is in use.