Smart Plumbers, Inc.

Six Types of Venting Stacks:  depending on the purpose they serve: Soil Stack:   Receives discharge from sinks, showers, tubs and toilets but never from urinals or water closets. Waste Stack:   Tie into clean water fixtures. Vent Stacks:  No liquid runs through the vent stack only air flow through the drain system. Leaders:  Rain water these extend horizontally.  Storm drain or combined sewer drain to roof. Branch drains:   These lines branch off like a tree vertically to toilets sinks, dishwasher, washing machine etc.  These lines carry waste to basement underground drain lines Horizontal underground lines:  are underground main lines that are under the slab usually in common areas and are slightly pitched cause they are gravity powered.  These line carry waste to the city sewer.  The horizontal lines that receive from waste and soil stacks run in building sewer line. Call Smart Plumbers and Rooters to s...

1. At Smart Plumbers we stay up-to-date on the latest technological advances in repiping methods. We have to admit, though, this is one we just don't understand. 2. Drains USUALLY connect to somewhere. Emphasis on "USUALLY". 3. Medusa or catastrophically messy plumbing job? Legend has it that if you gaze at this tangle of flexlines directly you'll turn into stone. 4. Ever get tired of that pesky "ground" covering up your house's drain lines? Me neither. 5. It probably doesn't take a legitimate plumbing company to point this out, but to say touching an electrical outlet is a bathroom faux pas would be the understatement of the century.

1. In 1829 the Tremont Hotel in Boston was the U.S.' first hotel to use indoor plumbing. 2. Archeologists have uncovered a part of a water plumbing system at the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. In addition, evidence of indoor plumbing has been found in Egyptian palaces dating back to 2500 B.C. 3. Copper piping – a common material used today in plumbing – was also used by the Egyptians to lay their own pipes. 4. The toilet is flushed more times during the Super Bowl halftime than any other time during the year. 5. Albert Einstein is reported to have said that if he had to do it all over again, he’d become a plumber. Now that really puts the "Smart" in "Smart Plumbers"! 6. The “bathroom,” has had many different terms and names throughout human history and throughout different cultures. The Egyptians reportedly called it the “house of horror.” It was called the “necessarium” by the Romans. Tudor England referred to it as the “privy” or “house of privacy,” whi...

Leak under kitchen sink So there I was, needing a plumber but realizing I was unable to afford one after calling around. Paying a licensed, plumber was out of the question.  So I asked myself how hard could it really be?  After getting my tools and proceeding to disconnect the pipe under the sink water exploded out even faster than my immediate regret. After several (more like many) failed attempts at trying to put the pipe back on to stop the water from gushing I ran to the phone, called Smart Plumbers & Rooters, and explained what had happened. They proceeded to instruct me how to turn the water off under the sink using the emergency shut-off valve.  The water was off - for now - but I had flooded my kitchen floor and there was water everywhere. A plumber came out from Smart Plumbers and Rooters only to find me in tears.  Not only did the plumber fix the leak he also help me clean up the water. When I think back I laugh at the situation.  But i ...

The sound of a leaky faucet can be annoying and expensive if not eventually repaired.  If your faucet is dripping it loses water at an average rate of one drip per second.  That's a total of 5 gallons per day of wasted water - money down the drain, in other words! You can try and repair the faucet yourself or you can be stress and worry free and  have one of our professional plumbers fix it for you. Call Smart Plumbers and Rooters and schedule an appointment for one of  our plumber to take care or your plumbing needs

One way to know if your main sewer line is backing up is if your toilet is backing up into the shower or bathroom sink or if there are slow drains. Things like tampons and wet wipes should never be flushed in the toilet because it will eventually cause a clog.  The main sewer line is at its biggest in diameter like a tree stump and branches off into smaller pipes that go to your toilet, shower and sink.  If there is a clog right at the main line there is nowhere for the water to go so it goes back into the smaller pipes that go to the shower tub and sink, causing a backup.  Call Smart Plumbers and Rooters to schedule an appointment to have one of our professional plumbers to come take care of your plumbing needs

Anytime you use your kitchen's garbage disposal, Smart Plumbers emphatically recommends that you avoid grinding up sticky foods like spaghetti noodles, wet potato peels, or carrot peels. The principal mechanism behind a garbage disposal is centrifugal force. When the disposal is turned on, the food scraps will travel to the outer walls of the can and the bottom blades will slice up the collected waste. Sticky food like spaghetti, however, will get stuck to the edges and not drop down properly in order to be cut by the blades into smaller, drainable pieces. When they finally do fall down the drain, they will accumulate into a sticky clump that can clog the kitchen drain pipe entirely. The above picture on the right shows a clogged sink on the garbage disposal side. On the left, we have potato peels jammed into the sink's P trap. These potato peels weren't grinded in the disposal and subsequently clogged the kitchen waste line. At Smart Plumbers, we fix ga...

My name is Patrick and I've been a plumber at Smart Plumbers for 3 years. I frequently encounter challenges in this field of work that put my technical skills to the test but succeeding at the repair makes me a better technician for it - and the gratitude that the customer shows afterwards makes it all worthwhile. I enjoy the interaction with customers that this job brings, especially from the standpoint of answering their questions. The personal relationship between someone and a regular plumber that they trust is a dynamic you don't get at many other customer-service positions out there.

If you find yourself in the position of calling our company to fix a drain back-up, one of the most common questions we’ll extend to you is whether or not your property has a cleanout. All too often, this is met with marked perplexity from the customer as to just what a cleanout actually is. So Just What IS A Cleanout Anyway? The cleanout plays an important role in your property’s plumbing and waste disposal system. It allows easy outside access to your pipes via a cap or cover in case the drain line needs to be examined or cleared. For your sewer lines, the sewer line is typically located on the ground in the front or backyard. There is also a cleanout for the kitchen line of a property, which is located on the exterior of the kitchen where the sink drain is. If your property does not have either type of cleanouts, our plumbers will be happy to provide a quote for installing one. This will save you money in the long-term on remedying any future clogs. Rather than having to...

We encountered a significant problem today at Smart Plumbers and Rooters. Even as a Santa Clara plumbing company we too have plumbing issues. We received a higher than normal utility bill today, which tells us there was a leak somewhere in the building, but we didn’t know where the leak was. So we had Patrick one of our expert plumbers use a leak detector to locate the leak. Patrick our plumber found the leak within 5 minutes. He found the leak very fast. Patrick is a very super guy! Oh yeah! He’s a Smart Plumber!

The shut-off valve controls the water flow to certain fixtures like the bathroom faucet, toilet, and kitchen faucet and are easily accessible and easy to shut off if needed. The shut-off valve to the toilet is shaped like a football behind the toilet. For the faucets, you will find the shut-off valve under the sink, one for hot water and one for cold water. It is very important to know where the shut off valve is to prevent water damage from a leak or continuous flow of water. We are always ready and happy to help with your plumbing needs. Call Smart Plumbers and Rooters and schedule an appointment to have one of our professional plumbers to come out to you!