Plumbing advice for New York homes

Written for the searches people make before they know what the service is called. Every guide tells you what you can check yourself and when it is worth calling somebody.

• Why your toilet keeps running, and how to stop it

  A toilet that refills by itself is the most expensive small fault in a house. Here is how to work out which part has failed.

• Low water pressure in the house: what actually causes it

  Whole-house or one fixture? That single question separates a five-minute fix from a service line replacement.

• Your sink drains slowly - here is what that actually means

  One slow sink is a branch problem. Several slow drains at once is a main line problem. The difference matters.

• Water dripping from the ceiling: what to do in the first ten minutes

  Stop the water, kill the power, then relieve the ceiling. In that order.

• Sewage smell in the house: where it comes from and how to stop it

  Sewer gas indoors always means a barrier has failed somewhere. Usually it is a dry trap. Sometimes it is not.

• Water heater making noise: what each sound actually means

  Popping is sediment. Screeching is a valve. Knocking is usually not the heater at all.

• Brown water from the faucet: what it means and whether to worry

  Hot only, cold only, or both? That one observation narrows it to a single cause.

• Hot water runs out too fast: five reasons, four of them repairable

  Losing hot water halfway through a shower rarely means you need a new heater.

• Find your main water shut-off before you need it

  Ten minutes today saves thousands during the emergency you have not had yet.

• How to stop your pipes freezing this winter

  Freezing is predictable, which means it is preventable. Here is the autumn checklist and the cold-snap routine.

• What to do when a pipe bursts

  Six steps, in this order. The first two matter more than everything else combined.

• Eight signs your water heater is near the end

  Only one of these means replace it today. The rest are worth knowing about early.

• Seven warning signs your sewer line is failing

  A lateral that fails on a Sunday costs far more than one you found in March.

• What a plumber actually costs in New York, and what drives the price

  Nobody can quote a burst pipe over the phone. But you can understand what drives the number.