That’s a hard word to nail down. “Over-engineered” sounds like something that you would call a piece of furniture that took way too long to build yourself. While we understand some other connotations you might have with this phrase, it’s a very specific term in the plumbing industry. Plumbing systems aren’t designed to be complicated, and they’re actually set up to be as simple as possible. With properly labeled valves and pipes, the right materials for the job, and maintenance every year, a plumbing system can work as intended for a very long time.
When your plumbing in Plano, TX is over-engineered, what we mean is that it’s been worked on by an amateur. Keep reading down below to find some signs that your plumbing system is over-engineered, like various different materials being used in the same line, or extra pipes looping around that don’t need to be there.
3 Ways to Spot an Over-Engineered Plumbing System
The important things we want to get across today are the ways to identify if your plumbing system has been over-engineered. This can be done with simple maintenance, but here are three additional ways you can spot this kind of issue.
- Multiple types of plumbing materials. Have you ever looked at a plumbing pipe and identified the fact that it switches from one type like copper, to galvanized steel, and then back to copper for no apparent reason? This is a good signifier that your plumbing system has been over-engineered, or that an amateur made a “quick fix” that’s not really built to last. We urge you to hire a professional to take a look.
- Looping pipes that don’t seem correct. Sometimes an amateur will accidentally use more materials than needed on a plumbing job, and this will look like looping pipes, or pipes that drag on for way too long. We’ll give you a hint–plumbing pipes are supposed to take the shortest and safest route from point A to point B. If they don’t, then they’re likely over-engineered.
- Unlabeled or mysterious valves and pipes. It’s important that your pipes and valves be labeled for future professional plumbers to easily identify things. If they’re unlabeled, this could be a sign that something wasn’t handled properly.
Why an Over-Engineered Plumbing System Is a Bad Sign
So, why are we taking so much time to talk about something that just seems like more of a nuisance than a problem? Well, no matter if you’re a new homeowner or someone who has been in this house for a while, an over-engineered plumbing system can tell us something about the previous owners or plumbing professionals. For starters, if your home plumbing system was over-engineered and has these basic errors throughout it, then the last plumber to work on it was likely an amateur. There might be other parts of your plumbing system that you can’t see which were “fixed” by an amateur and are likely to run into problems soon.
Make sure you invest in proper professional plumbing from here on out and tell us about these signs when you get the chance.
Call Hutchins Plumbing & Air Conditioning to hire a master plumber for your repairs. Get it done right… Right now!
