Every homeowner needs the services of a good plumber from time to time. This is just a part of home ownership. But there are things you can do to prevent certain problems from occurring or keep your repair costs down when a problem does happen.

Run your water during freezing temperatures

When the temperatures drop below freezing during the night, your water pipes can freeze. To prevent this from happening, you need to turn on your faucet to allow a small, steady stream of water to run. You may have already heard this, but some people mistakenly believe that this precaution is taken so you will not have to wait for your frozen pipes to thaw in order to have water. The bigger issue is to prevent a plumbing repair. When water freezes, it expands. This puts pressure on the connections of the pipe, so when the water thaws, the pipe may leak. In some cases, the pipe may burst, and you will have an even bigger repair problem from water damage.

Keep your drains clean

Drain pipes need to be cleared from time to time, but you can prevent them from clogging too frequently. Bathroom sinks can get clogged up easily from hair. Some of this can be prevented by keeping your faucet stopper clean. With most designs, you need to unscrew the assembly from underneath the sink. You can then pull out the stopper from the top of the sink, then clean it. Keeping the stopper clean can prevent a call to the plumber. For kitchen sinks, avoid putting grease or oil of any kind down the sink or garbage disposal.

Keep the lid on your toilet closed

You should never flush anything down your toilet other than toilet paper and human waste; however, it is easy to inadvertently drop something into the bowl, and then flush it down the toilet. Unfortunately, many solid objects can lodge inside the toilet and collect toilet paper. This causes a toilet to back up, and you will need a plumber to remove the object. Young children can also throw things into the toilet causing the same problem. Often you can solve this problem by simply shutting the bathroom door. If you are toilet training, this may not be possible. But if you're a using a potty chair, it may be possible to set it outside the bathroom until you are confident your child understands what a toilet is for.

Plumbing services are a necessary expense for a homeowner, but the tips above should help keep your plumbing bill down.