I was recently speaking with a friend about her extra bathroom and unused spaces in her home. She was telling me how her tub, shower and toilet in the extra bathroom were acting really strange. We got into a big conversation about how you have to “use it or lose it.” And that made me think of how many other people have spaces they don’t use very often, and what might be happening to those spaces.
Let's start with the bathroom. If you have a bath that is not being used very often, you may notice the commode getting discolored or the sink/shower showing the same evidence. What you don’t usually see are the internal products deteriorating too. When a commode is not flushed on a consistent basis, the plumbing can go under stress. This can occur with a sink drain and shower drain, as well. Essentially, plumbing fails when not used on a consistent basis.
Not turning on faucets and shower heads can build up mold in the aerator and cause your water flow to be blocked or reduced. This will cause stress on your fixtures and can cause a break or a leak.
Lighting is another area that needs to be used, especially if you are using incandescent bulbs. Have you ever gone into a room and flipped the switch and the bulb pops? If you’ve switched over to the LED style bulbs, you're good to go. But those incandescent bulbs most of us grew up with will actually go out faster without use.
I work with several clients who are choosing to keep their vintage tile and fixtures, this idea of use it or lose it is super important for them and they really need to keep the water flowing. The existing valves in the fixtures and plumbing are not made anymore and if a break would occur, a full bath remodel would be in the cards.
So it may sound silly, but take the time to flush, rinse and turn on your shower for 10 minutes every 5 days. I've found that to be a good rule of thumb to be sure everything keeps flowing. Like we've talked about before, a little maintenance goes a long way in ensuring your house stays your dream home.