What Homeowners Must Know About Bathroom and Kitchen Renovations
Today we’re going to be talking about top plumbing upgrades homeowners should consider with Scott Smulski from Watermen Mechanical in Edmonton.
All right, so are you thinking about upgrading your home? Don’t forget your plumbing. Today we’re talking with Scott Smulski, plumbing expert, owner, and operator of Watermen Mechanical in Edmonton, about the top plumbing upgrades that actually add value, improve efficiency, and prevent major headaches down the road. Whether you’re renovating, building, or just want smarter plumbing, this is for you.
All right, Scott, thanks for joining us. Thanks, Trevor, you’re the man. So, question number one that people might have: what are the most valuable plumbing upgrades a homeowner in Edmonton can make right now? So, as far as value added to your home, I would think that a bathroom renovation gives the most bang for your buck back. So, it’s a new tub or shower with probably tile to make it look nice, new vanity, and new toilet.
Bathroom Upgrades a Top Reno Choice
Okay, and why is that one of the top ones? Why would you recommend a bathroom reno? Cleans up the house really nice and makes it look very modern, and a lot of work needs to go into it to get done, and it’s work that people don’t want to do by themselves. So, a lot of people can do flooring or paint or baseboards, but not a lot of people can pull off a bathroom rental properly.
All right, that makes a lot of sense, and you know what, bathrooms nowadays, because of the change in the times and whatnot, you know people can, you know, put in steam showers or they can put in those big soaker tubs and all of that kind of stuff, make it feel like a hotel or spa experience. Yeah, a lot of people are doing that these days, it seems like. Yeah, precisely, I mean if you’re going to be putting that much into a home, you might as well really enjoy being there. Yeah, that’s right, that’s right.
All right, so question number two: why should homeowners consider upgrading from a traditional hot water tank to a tankless system? Tankless systems are nice, they take up less space, they use up less, less gas as well, ’cause you’re not keeping that, that volume, that large volume of hot water warm the whole time.
And then I know there’s a bit of a myth, and it used to be true years ago, but the technology has come so far with the tankless systems that now you don’t have to wait nearly as long for the hot water to get to your tap as you used to. Yeah, it’s probably about the same as a hot water tank. Exactly, yeah, a lot of the new, new tankless systems that we install have a built-in recirc pump inside of them, and so it gets that hot water out to your furthest fixture right away.
Why You Should Replace Poly-B Piping
Very nice. What’s involved in replacing old poly-b piping, and why is that such a high priority for people to do? So, insurance companies hate poly-b, so if you’re going to sell your home or buy a new home, it’s hard to get insurance companies to insure your home with polybutylene piping inside of it.
So, poly-b is basically a flexible, dark gray pipe—that’s how you can tell if it is poly-b; it’ll often be in your mechanical room or underneath your plumbing fixtures, so in your vanity. It tends to leak, so it leaks at the joints. It’s not going to be a catastrophic leak, but over time that can create some mold buildup in the walls or some really rotten studs or floor joists, and then you get some serious issues.
People like to replace it. The process with that is you call up your plumber, you have us in for a free quotation, we’ll give you a quote right on the spot, we walk through your house, we find out what you want, we can even replace, supply, and replace the fixtures for you that need to be done at the same time, and basically we take out every inch of poly-b in your home.
So, it’s replacing hose bibs, possibly replacing fixtures, or just adapting to them, and then all the water lines all the way up to your mechanical room. So, we remove some drywall, we put down all the drop cloths, and remove all that piping, and then install brand-new PEX water lines.
Get a Leak Detector
All right, and that is really important. We have poly-b in our house, and you know to get insurance is very expensive. Yes, extremely expensive. We’ll give you a deal, Trevor, probably save in the long run. Appreciate it. So, are there any smart home plumbing upgrades available now, like leak detectors or water shut-off systems, that you would recommend?
Yeah, we actually install quite a few of what they call the Moen Flo device, and so basically it’s a leak detection—it’s not a leak detector, but it’s a flow detector—that we install just upstream of, or just downstream of, your water meter. And we cut into your line, we install that, and then it actually gets sent messages to your phone as well, so you can hook it up for Wi-Fi. So, it kind of learns the habits of your home or the people in the home, and it’ll, if the water is flowing at odd hours for a long time, it’ll just automatically shut that water down.
Perfect, that seems like a really smart thing to do, especially if you’re on vacation. It is, yeah, the snowbirds really like that, and it’s a great upgrade when you’re doing a rental project or if you’ve got an older home as well, susceptible to leaks or poly-b. Mhm, right, right, yeah, turn off the water, save on the cost of poly-b, and just, yeah, put in a smart valve.
Kitchen and Bathroom Plumbing Renovations
Excellent. Now, let’s talk kitchen and bathroom renos. What plumbing features do homeowners often forget to upgrade during a rena? During a rena, well, probably the largest one would be your main water shut-off, possibly, because obviously they’re going to be replacing their tub and their toilet and their fixtures, but it’s the shut-off valves that you really want to make sure are in good working order. So, there’s shut-off valves at most plumbing fixtures and then obviously one by your water meter that turns off the whole house. So, if those aren’t working, it’s going to make the whole process a lot more difficult, so it’s definitely something to look at.
Okay, a small thing but also a big thing. Yeah, exactly. Is the work consistent? Fair enough. Now, how can upgrading fixtures like faucets and showerheads improve both water efficiency and aesthetics? So, obviously aesthetics: you’re going to get something new, you’re going to get something nice in the color, the finish that you like.
And then they do have a lot of low, low-flow models nowadays, so your typical fixture would be running at about a gallon or 1.5 gallons per minute, so it’s a lot less than what it used to be. H-yeah, for me I like going to hotels ’cause you have nice strong showers that just, like, blast you. Yeah, so I would prefer that in my house if I’m not. Okay, well, we can install a booster pump if you want, Trevor. Perfect, that sounds great.
Should You Get a New Sump Pump?
So, let’s talk about sump pumps. Is a sump pump upgrade or battery backup something that Edmonton homeowners should seriously consider? So, we do get asked this question often.
They’re not a cheap fix to get a battery-operated sump pump; they are a foolproof way of doing it. You get two pumps in there, and then even if the power shuts off or if the circuit blows for some reason ’cause your sump pump is running for too long, then you do have that battery backup sump that kicks in right away. And actually, we just, a home that a contractor phoned us about had that exact same problem, so he’s asking for a quote on a battery-operated sump, oddly enough.
There you go. I mean, because, you know, having a flooded basement—it’s no fun, it’s very expensive, you know. It’s an insurance, if you have insurance, then it’s a big insurance bill, and it’s also disruption to your home, your life, of course, and it’s a pain, like, you don’t want that to happen. So, battery-operated sump can definitely help that.
Perfect. Now let’s talk about the benefit of adding a water softener or filtration system, especially with the type of water we have in Edmonton. Sure. So, Edmonton and area has a little bit harder water than normal. A water softener takes out all the impurities and the water hardness out of that—so your calcium, your manganese, your iron, things like that—and basically that can prolong the life of your actual plumbing fixtures, so not just your shower heads and your faucet aerators.
So, the look, it’ll obviously look a little better; there won’t be as much water staining either, Trevor, but it’ll actually hold, save the cartridges inside of your plumbing fixtures, which becomes a big headache in the future for servicing. We get a lot of those calls as well, so water softener is definitely a good idea to prevent that.
Don’t Just Put Up With a Leaky Faucet
Okay, no, that’s really good, and you know it does come up a lot, like the fixtures, they don’t work as well or they become leaky and they just don’t function because of the hard water. Yeah, hard to turn off, and then they just slowly drip, and then by the time the homeowner phones, you’ve got to replace the whole thing sometimes. So, hopefully it’s just a cartridge quick fix, but sometimes it’s not.
Okay, now for older homes in Edmonton: what are the top signs that a full plumbing system upgrade might be needed soon? Well, you can look— a lot of older homes are going to have cast, cast-iron drainage piping and then copper water lines. So, on the copper water lines you can look for discoloration—it’s obviously a bright green color—or water hardness, which kind of represents that there has been a leak and possibly corroded itself over time, so maybe it fixed itself, but obviously not a good thing to leave.
So, in a lot of older apartment buildings we get this. So, then we can come in, we can replace those water lines. The drainage system, if it’s old cast iron, the cast iron is going to corrode kind of like an, an unhealthy person’s artery; as it clogs up over time, then your drainage just gets slower and slower, and it doesn’t take much to back it up. So, we can go in and clear out the pipes, or we can remove the pipes entirely. So, yeah, that is problem with cast. Cast iron is bad for that, it’s not fantastic. For sure, not fantastic.
The Number One Plumbing Upgrade You Need
Okay, last question: if a homeowner wants to start small, what’s one upgrade you’d recommend they do first for the biggest impact? The biggest impact and the, with the smallest amount of effort would probably be your main water shut-off, or possibly your hose bibs, your non-freeze hose bibs. There you have it, folks, so those are some easy things that we can do to improve your plumbing system in your home and feel safer, more secure. That’s it.
Perfect, I love that. Thank you so much for joining us. Now, where can homeowners in Edmonton contact Watermen Mechanical for an in-home consultation? So, you can get to us through our website, which is up and running, it looks fantastic, and that’s at watermenmechanical.ca or watermenmechanical.com, or you can phone us at 587-804-3737, and that’s our office number, so you can get a hold of us anytime.
Perfect, thank you so much, Scott. Appreciate it. Thank you, Trevor, and if you’re looking for a plumber, you know who to call – Watermen Mechanical.