Arcata, California is located in Humboldt County and is the largest city in the county. It’s made up of a number of unique areas including Manila, Jacoby Creek, Bayside, and Sunny Brae. As your friendly local plumber, we are very aware of the unique plumbing challenges that home owners and business owners in Arcata can face. Aging homes, heavy rainfall, and cool temperatures can all have effects on your plumbing.

coastal pipe corrosion

Arcata lays close to the Humboldt Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This makes Arcata a beautiful place, but the salt air creates unique plumbing challenges.

Salty air corrodes pipes faster than usual, leading to pinhole leaks inside copper pipes, tiny holes inside your copper pipes that lead to slow leaks, drips, and moisture. This can happen especially under sinks, behind walls, and in crawlspaces. Over time, this can lead to hidden water damage, mold, reduced water pressure, and damage to your insulation or drywall.

Corrosion over time can eventually lead to multiple pinhole leaks and burst pipes.

Other effects of the salty coastal air on your plumbing can be: seizing or leaking shutoff valves (angle stops) underneath your sink or toilet, rusty water heater tanks and corroded pressure relief valves on water heaters, and corroded outdoor hose bibs that lead to drips and leaks. The air can shorten the lifespan of your pipes, valves, and water heaters, requiring more frequent plumbing maintenance to prevent bigger and expensive plumbing issues.

water heater failures

Cool Arcata air means you want to keep your water running nice and hot, but the coastal air, constant moisture, and often older homes proves this to be challenging. These issues can present themselves as internal rust in water heater tanks, premature water heater leaks, and loss of heat in your water heater. You may see things like pilot light issues, heating element burnouts on electric water heater units, or pressure valve failures.

Coastal regions can lead to increased sediment in minerals. Signs include noisy heaters that sound like they’re popping, higher energy bills, and les heat efficiency. Accelerated corrosion from salty sea air and humid environments can also lead to metallic smells, rust-colored water, and tank leaks. If you notice that your water is not as hot, you’re running out of hot water quickly, popping sounds, rusty water, water pooling around tank, or higher energy bills, it’s important to have your tank inspected by a plumber.

aging plumbing in older homes

Arcata’s heavy annual rainfall can cause sewer backups and flooded drains in older homes. Strong storm water surges can stress sewer systems. During heavy storms, groundwater rises and rainwater can ender old corroded or cracked pipes leading to inflow or infiltration, which can result in slow drains, sewer backups, or gurgling toilets.

Power outages caused by storms can stop your sump pump from working or you may experience crawlspace flooding if your sump system is overloaded during a storm.

Give us a call today if you experience any of these, especially after heavy rain: sewage odors coming from outside, toilet gurgling, sudden water pressure changes, or slower drains.

Tree Root intrusion

Finally Arcata’s mature, beautiful redwoods, maples, and other coastal trees are supported by the area’s high rainfall. For homeowners, this means that these tree roots may seek out the constant moisture provided by pipes.

Over time these tree roots can intrude into your sewer lines and cause cracked or collapsed sewer pipes or create tree root blockages in your pipes.

As tree roots intrude into your sewer line you may notice: slow drainage, gurgling drains, bubbling toilets, slow draining tubs and sinks, sewage backups, sewer or sewage smells through your home, or sewage overflows.

If you suspect a tree root intrusion, give us a call today for an inspection and repair. We repair sewer lines, assess drainage and backup issues, and know how to expertly deal with tree root intrusions into your sewer lines.