Guest Blogger: How Repairs can Make your Home Eco-Friendly

Guest Blog #93, Entry #546, June 6, 2011

As we all try to improve our home environment and green our lives, have you ever considered that home repairs can also make your home eco-friendly? While many of us think that buying all new energy efficient appliances, and all new low-flow plumbing fixtures is the only way to conserve precious resources, so is repairing your existing home.

A more eco-friendly home is in store for you

Guest Blogger, Crispin Jones, gives tips for making home repairs to make your home eco-friendlier.

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Do you want to do your bit to save the environment? Are you convinced you could be doing more, but confused as to where to start? If so, the good news is that there are some simple steps you can take – for example, shower tray repairs and bath repairs could save you water and energy, and avoid the wasteful issue of having to replace an entire unit or fitting.

Fixing vs. Replacing

Yes – eco-friendly life doesn’t just mean recycling and remembering to turn the lights off.  As a general rule, if you can fix something, that’s much better for the environment than replacing it (except for really old, energy wasting appliances). Shower tray repairs are generally much more cost effective than replacing the whole tray, and bath repairs can give your entire tub a new lease of life.

If you don’t currently have a shower, then there are still some things you can do to protect the environment. For example, if your bath taps are leaky, or your tub is damaged, then you can take advantage of bath repairs to save you water, and also save you money at the same time.  Bath and shower tray repairs could save you a fortune.

Consider fixing rather than replacing

Fixing Plumbing

If eco-friendly living is a priority of yours, then small steps such as fixing leaky taps should definitely be near the top of your list.  They’re easy to do, and will have a lasting impact.  In some cases, you can do shower tray repairs yourself, but if you don’t have the time or feel that the job is too big for you to do on your own, then you could call in a bath repairs company to do the job for you. Many specialist companies can do almost invisible repairs, making your fittings look as good as new!

Water wastage can be a serious problem in homes with older plumbing.  A leaking tap can waste as much as 3500 litres per year, assuming it drips once every two seconds.  If your water usage is metered, you’ll quickly see why bath repairs are useful! Shower tray repairs could save you a lot too – a cracked, leaky shower tray could be doing a lot of damage to your floor. Not only that, severe cracks or chips could be unhygienic, or even dangerous – especially if they’re sharp. Do you really want to risk catching your bare feet on a sharp edge when getting out of the shower?

Determine if your home’s plumbing needs repairing

Cosmetic Repairs

Even from a cosmetic point of view, shower tray repairs make a lot of sense. The cracked enamel or the hole in the tray may not be doing any damage, but if it looks ugly it doesn’t exactly make your bathroom a desirable place.  You can spice up the rest of the room with a bit of paint, some new tiles, and a bit of time. Replacing your bath or shower fittings is an entirely different proposition, though. Before you rip out some perfectly serviceable fittings, why not investigate the option of bath repairs. If your existing fittings are fairly modern, then there’s a good chance that they’ll spruce up nicely, and you’ll save time, hassle, money, and waste.

This post was written by Crispin Jones on behalf of Hometech, experts in bath repairs and shower tray repair. Crispin writes on home improvements and interior design. He is particularly interested in sustainability and environmental issues.

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