If you poke a drinking straw into your soft drink and place a finger over the opening, you can lift the straw out and the liquid in the straw will stay. Remove your finger and the liquid runs out.

Any curve in a pipe increases the potential for blockage. Drain traps are one of the most common places for blockages to occur. Drains are hidden heroes in your home. If you’re lucky, you can go for ...

Q: My washing machine is in the basement in a room directly beneath the kitchen. When water drains from the washer, it’s going into a hole in the basement floor. The sump pump kicks on, but the water ...

I recently had a plumbing emergency in my own home. The main drain pipe under the basement floor got clogged with toilet paper. The culprit is a newer low-flush toilet in a basement bathroom. I’ve ...

You don’t need to call a plumber each time your pipe is blocked except if you don’t mind throwing out some cash. Unclogging drains is easier than you think, and you don’t need expensive tools to get ...

We Canadians deal with extreme winter challenges each year, and one of the most annoying (and mysterious) happens when rooftop plumbing vent pipes get plugged with frost. This is called “ice capping” ...

Q: I need your advice. My clothes dryer stopped getting my clothes dry. The problem was traced to the vent line being squished behind the dryer. I was also told the flexible plastic pipe was inferior.