News

The holidays are all about warmth, joy, and family… until someone clogs the kitchen sink with mashed potatoes and gravy. Nothing says “season’s greetings” quite like a backed-up drain when you are trying to serve dinner!

When a drain clogs in your California home, you likely grab a drain snake or a plunger for a do-it-yourself fix.

However, sometimes the problem goes much deeper than your sink or toilet. If you could see underground, you might notice tree roots invading your sewer line.

Sewage backup is one of the most unpleasant plumbing problems you may face as a homeowner.

Whether it is the suspiciously lush patch of grass in your Palo Alto yard, the unmistakable, nose-crinkling scent of sewage, or the ominous gurgling sound reverberating up your drains, these are some of the signs every homeowner dreads—signs of a sewer line leak.

If the funky odor you smell seems to gravitate from the bathroom or near another sink or faucet, the culprit may be your sewer pipes. Sewer odors are more common than you might think and can range from mildly annoying to downright unbearable. 

Sump pumps are the silent heroes of basements, and homes in general. Without any hoopla, they quietly protect your home from flooding, and living in California, you know basement flooding can happen quite easily. It only takes that one major rainfall or storm to foil your sump pump’s success rate. Our professional plumbers at Flow Masters Plumbing, Inc. recommend keeping your sump pump regularly maintained to prevent any mishaps.

They may be invisible, but they are all around you, outside and inside your Palo Alto home. Researchers have found microplastics in the air, water, oceans, seafood, vegetables and fruits, tea, colons, lung tissue, and feces. A 2022 study identified microplastics in human blood.