Avoid Over-Tightening and Breaking Your Plumbing Fixtures

Plumbing fixtures are an essential part of your home's plumbing system. They require regular maintenance in order to keep them in top shape. If your plumbing fixtures are loosened and you need to tighten them up, you should be aware that it's all-too-easy to accidentally damage your fixtures in the process. The following guide will help you learn the best way to tighten up your plumbing fixtures without causing damage.

Tightening Your Faucets
If you need to tighten up your faucets, it's important to pick the right tools for the job. You'll need a basin wrench to tighten the actual nuts underneath the sink area; a spud wrench for grasping the faucet without scratching the finishing; and a crescent wrench for tightening in more accessible areas. 

Tightening Your Toilets
Toilets can be tricky to tighten without causing damage. The most common cause of damage to toilets during the tightening process is over-tightening. Tightening too hard will break the porcelain, so you need to be careful to tighten firmly without overdoing it. 

General Tips
You can benefit from the following general tips, no matter what type of fixture that you're attempting to tighten.

• Tighten firmly but not too far. It's important that you tighten everything firmly to the maximum tightness. However, you don't want to tighten things past the maximum. This can cause breakages, scratches and other types of unfortunate damage..

• Read the manufacturer guidelines. You should always reference the manufacturer guidelines for the particular fixture that you’re working on. These guidelines may provide you with some important information regarding the material and overall components that you’ll be working with; in some cases, they may recommend using (or not using) certain types of tools and materials in order to prevent damage.

Should You Call a Professional?
In some cases, you should be able to tighten up your plumbing fixtures without having to call in a professional. If something is simply a little loose or you’re installing an easy fixture project and you have previous experience, then you should be able to complete the job without any issues.

However, there are some times when it’s best to call in a professional to do the job. If you don’t have the proper tools, you should definitely avoid attempting to tighten plumbing fixtures. You may also consider calling in a professional if you think that there is something wrong with the fixtures outside of some loose nuts and bolts. As a general rule, if you’re truly worried about damaging the fixtures and don’t feel up to tackling the task yourself, then you can rest assured that a professional will get the job done right. 

If you do decide to tighten the fixtures yourself, just remember the above tips and guidelines before you start working. And when in doubt, call a professional plumbing company! Edwards Plumbing LLC offers free estimates and emergency services with exceptional, quality work.