When outdoor temperatures drop, many homeowners’ blood pressures rise. Burst plumbing  pipes remain close to the top of cold weather worries list. You can protect your home  from burst pipes by keeping a small amount of water running through all faucets when  there is danger of a freeze.

Insulating all outdoor conduits also guards against freezing water. But if a pipe does  burst, there is one proven alternative to calling the plumber. Polybutylene (PB) pipe and  plastic plumbing connections can be used quickly, easily and effectively to mend broken  copper, galvanized iron and CPVC plumbing systems.

There are no soldering tools, toxic adhesives or threading equipment to worry about – the  connections are made with compression fittings which require only wrenches or pliers for  installation. The pipe can be cut with a sharp knife.

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• Porcelainized cast iron is an extremely durable and attractive finish for sinks and  tubs and can keep water warm for long periods of time. It’s extremely heavy, however, and  a tub may require extra floor support.

• Enameled steel doesn’t wear as well as cast iron but is especially good for remodeling  because, it’s light enough to move easily.

• Stainless steel is light, durable and unaffected by household chemicals. Used primarily  for sinks, it tends to collect spots from hard water and soap residue.

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A leak at a soldered copper-pipe joint should be repaired by resoldering the joint, but epoxy putty will often halt the leak at least temporarily. Clean the joint thoroughly with sandpaper, make sure the joint is dry and apply the epoxy putty tightly around the entire joint.

Give the epoxy plenty of time to cure before putting the water line back in service. Epoxy-putty in two-part form is sold at many hardware stores and home centers.

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Q: “Is There Any Difference between a tankless hot water heater and a Continuous Flow water heater?”

A: Essentially, no. Tankless water heaters are actually called by a number of different names — continuous flow water heaters, in-line water heaters, instant-on water heaters — they all basically work the same way: the technology behind them allows them to heat normal-temperature water to the desired hot water temperature for use in your home.

Q: “In My House We Use Water to Heat Our Home — Can We Use a Tankless water heater As Well?”

A: Yes you can — all you need to do is have a condensing combination boiler installed. These are used a lot overseas (particularly in Great Britain) and most of these are very energy-efficient. If you have one of these condensing combination boilers installed, of course you will not need a separate tankless hot water heater, as this appliance will give you hot water for your space heat heater system, as well as hot water for your bathtub, shower, etc.

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If you need plumbing fittings, is it really worth it to spend the extra money on the brass type? Yes it is — and for two main reasons. First of all brass plumbing fittings are very durable and hard wearing — fittings made out of brass have been used in plumbing installations for a long, long time and there is a reason for that — they last and last. And the other reason? Simply this: brass plumbing fittings just look GREAT.

Here is an instance where brass plumbing fittings can come in handy — the installation of a PEX tubing system as a replacement waterline. If you purchase a BEST-PEX kit from Flair It, you can use a 3/4″ barb brass tee to join the water lines — this brass plumbing fitting is manufactured solid brass, and complies with standards ASTM F877 and F1807. This type of hardware is also available in 3/8″, 1/2″ and 1-inch sizes as well.

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