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Bathroom Repairs and Maintenance
Bathroom repairs and maintenance in Melbourne are required on a regular basis, because bathroom is the place where water is used and abused. Some of the examples when bathrooms repairs or maintenance are required are:
- You can get mold stains on tiles, floors and shower glass.
- Toilets sometimes break down and water heater stops working.
- Shower doors may be difficult to open.
- New sealant may be required around the bath and basins.
Most of the time bathrooms repairs and maintenance in Melbourne can be DIY. For all plumbing jobs for bathrooms repairs or maintenance in Melbourne you need to call a licensed plumber.
Bathroom Repairs of Water Tap
Bathroom repairs such as fixing water taps can be done without the handyman or tradesman.
However, in some cases the job is demanding and the expert may be needed.
Fixing water taps bathroom repair procedure includes following steps:
- Switch off the main water (the main tap is usually in front of your garden). For city apartments you need to check the building plans.
- Unscrew the metal cap. Put a cloth between the spanner and the screw holding the cap. This will prevent scratches.
- Replace rubber washers. New rubber washers are widely available from the stores. Salesmen will help you to select proper ones.
- It is a very good idea to wrap nylon tape around threads on which screw cap sits.
- Screw the metal cap back on the thread (use the cloth to prevent scratches)
- Switch on the main water supply
Bathroom Repairs of Blocked Toilet
Bathroom repairs such as fixing blocked toilet can really be a serious problem.
Most of the time the blockage is caused by thick toilet tissue or sandy deposits in the outside drainage pipe.
You have to determine if the blockage is in the toilet itself or in the outside drainage pipe.
Most of the time the outside drainage pipe is the culprit.
If the blockage is in the main pipe then you must ensure that baths, sinks and showers are all plugged.
In baths and sinks you can use ordinary water plug and place something heavy on it.
In showers the situation is more complicated.
However, you can place 4 litres buckets of water on top of the openings to water drainage.
Invest in a good plunger. The harmonica type plungers are very expensive but absolutely effective.
Place the plunger in the main water pipe and give good push-pull action.
You need to do it relatively strongly and quickly.
The plugged baths, sinks and showers will ensure that there is no air leaking out. Otherwise, you are working against open drains.
For more challenging bathrooms repairs such as blockage, this home maintenance job may need to be continued for a while.
However 9 times out of 10 bathrooms repairs such as blockage, this method will resolve the problem.
Bathroom Repairs of Silicon Caulk
Bathroom repairs such as replacing silicon caulk is DIY project.
Silicon is almost universally used as a sealant in wet areas of the house to keep moisture away from cracks and cavities.
However, over time silicon needs to be replaced.
Replacing silicon caulk bathroom repair procedure includes following steps:
- Take long nose pliers and delicately start peeling old silicon from the edge of the cavity.
- You can use a sharp razor to remove the remaining patches of old silicon.
- Apply a silicone caulk remover according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Scrap away the remaining left-overs of old silicon.
- Clean the remaining residue with cloths.
- Stick masking tape in areas where you do not want silicon to be placed accidentally.
- Take new silicon caulk and start re-applying.
Bathroom Cleaning of Tiles and Glass
Bathroom maintenance such as cleaning tiles, grout and glass should be done on a regular basis. There are too types of grout stains which require different approach to cleaning during your bathrooms repairs or maintenance:
- oily stains
- moldy stains
Oily Stains
You cannot wash oily stains with the water or soap. It does not work!
You must get a good (but not too strong) degreaser.
The method of cleaning oily grout in between tiles
during your bathrooms repairs or maintenance includes number of steps:
- Spray or pour degreaser into the groove of the affected grout area.
- Let the degreaser stay there for about 1 hour.
- Prepare a bucket of water with soap or floor cleaner. Place a floor mob in it.
- Mob the degreaser from the tiles.
- Let the tiles dry.
Moldy Stains
For moldy stains there are variety of supermarket products which work moderately.
As for tiles there are washroom liquids widely available in Bunnings and Supermarkets.
They provide good cleaning action but only for non-oily stains.
Similarly, there are window cleaning chemicals which can be easily applied to the shower doors.
These products well remove the majority of soap stains.
However, to avoid costs you can use 1 part of vinegar to 5 parts of water.
This is a strong enough solution to remove molds and gentle enough to preserve the surface.
Please do not use bleach. This can irreversibly damage the lining of tiles and grout.