Tax season has a silver lining – turning your tax returns into lasting home comfort! With Paradise Plumbing & AC, your refund can be an investment in a more efficient, reliable HVAC system.

Why Upgrade Now?

• Energy Efficiency: Modern systems cut energy costs, saving you money every month.
• Enhanced Comfort: Experience consistent temperatures and improved air quality.
• Long-Term Savings: High-efficiency systems mean fewer repairs and lower utility bills.

Invest in the heart of your home. Contact us today to explore your options!

Ft. Lauderdale Plumbers Are Not All Created Equal

If you Google Fort Lauderdale plumbers you will discover that there is no shortage of plumbing companies to choose from. Quantity isn’t an issue but professionalism, integrity, reliability and quality can be. With over 25 years serving the Fort Lauderdale community, Paradise Service Technologies, a leading plumbing and air conditioning service company, would like to offer up some tips on how to pick a plumbing company that will meet your expectations.

1. Find a Plumber Before You Need One. Don’t rely on trial and error when evaluating a plumbing service. Remember, you are inviting a stranger into your home. You need at least the basic background information on this person before he or she sets foot in your home. Referrals from friends and trusted associates are a good way to find reliable companies, and reliable companies rely on referrals for the bulk of their new business. Build a list and then start calling.
2. Who Answers the Phone. When you start calling companies to get some background, who answers the phone? Smaller plumbers often do not have an office staff and rely on an answering service or worse an answering machine. If you get a person who actually works for the plumbing company how are you treated? Do they answer your questions completely? Do they sound like they want your business?
3. Quotes Over the Phone Mean Bupkis. If the plumbing company tries to sell you on price be suspicious. The fact is a professional cannot offer a quote until he or she has actually seen the problem. What you can get is the service call rate and if their policy is to provide a written quote before they start work.
4. Do They Offer Emergency Plumbing Service? Many plumbers offer 24/7 service but for some that means they keep their pager next to their bed. The term “emergency” can also mean different things to different plumbers. For some it may mean a response time under an hour and for others it might be a promise to get to it “first thing in the morning.” Get a solid explanation from the company as to their response times and services provided.
5. Do They Offer Comprehensive Services? Every plumbing company will be able to fix a leaky faucet or repair or replace a garbage disposal but not every company has the equipment or experience to provide the larger problems that clogged sewer lines, wall pipe leaks, remodeling projects and septic tank repair generate. If you are going to develop a relationship make sure they can handle all of your plumbing needs.

At Paradise Service Technology our greatest source of new business comes from customer referrals and requests for emergency plumbing service. If you would like to explore the possibility of us becoming your go-to plumber when you need one, call us now and speak to a friendly service representative.

If you live in Fort Lauderdale and you have a plumbing emergency or other non-emergency plumbing issue, how do you go about choosing a qualified plumber to help you?

Of course referrals from people you know and trust are always a good place to start, but for most people who don’t have that option the search begins online at Google or another search engine. If you Google Fort Lauderdale plumber you’ll discover that there is no shortage of plumbing companies serving the area. The task is to separate the wheat from the chaff and discover a reputable, reliable and high value plumber that fits your needs.

Google can lead you to the companies but once you get there you should be ready to ask some questions so you are not surprised at the time of the repair or 10 days later when the repair fails. At Paradise Service Technologies we have over 25 years of experience with Fort Lauderdale customers and we have heard all the horror stories about disappointing plumbing services. To help you avoid that experience we have put together some key questions you will need to get answers to from the plumber to get the best service.

Questions For Fort Lauderdale Plumbers

• Emergency Service. Many plumbers advertise emergency service but when you call you get an answering machine and a request for you to leave a message. You want to talk to a human being even if it’s 3:00 AM in the morning. And even though it’s an emergency you want to make sure you take the time to get answers to the rest of these questions.
• Explain the Pricing. Different plumbers have different billing rates. On some straight installation jobs it may be a fixed price but generally it will be labor and material. Some companies will take on “equipment” charges. Make sure you fully understand what the billing is before you ask them to your house.
• Insurance. Ask that a copy of their certificate of insurance be provided when the technician arrives. Make certain they have workman’s compensation coverage.
• Check for a License. You can go to DBPR Online Services and do a search for the plumber’s license. If they aren’t listed you certainly don’t want to do business with them.
• Warranties. What is the warranty on the work and materials? 30 to 90 days is common for labor and materials typically have manufacturer warranties that are much longer.
• Attitude. This is a gut call thing but if the person on the phone doesn’t treat you professionally the person who shows up probably won’t either. Go with your gut when evaluating attitude.

If you have any questions regarding plumbing or air conditioning service, feel free to give us a call today. We are always happy to hear from you.

Our Fort Lauderdale summers come complete with temperatures in the 80s and 90s and humidity so thick you think you are wearing the air. Your HVAC system can bring both the temperature and humidity inside your home down to acceptable levels but your air conditioner is an absolute energy hog. The less you run your air conditioning the lower your FPL bill will be.

One way to reduce the amount of time your AC runs is to lower the amount of humidity in your home. Just like those folks in Phoenix you can live comfortably in a higher "dry" heat than you can a moist heat. By reducing the humidity you can up the thermostat and run the air less.

There are other reasons you want to lower humidity in your home as well. High humidity promotes mold and mites, both are obviously bad for your health. Your furniture and carpets will also suffer from excessive humidity and the structural wood in your Fort Lauderdale home can begin to rot.

Tips on Reducing Humidity in Your Home

To reduce relative humidity you want to minimize the amount of moisture that occurs in your home. It only takes between four and six pints of water to raise the humidity level inside of 1,000 square feet from a mere 15% to 60%. In Fort Lauderdale the three most common ways to reduce moisture in a home are as follows:

1. Air Circulation. Air that is moving tends to dry out moisture. Ceiling fans, floor fans and attic fans are your first line of defense against humidity. By keeping the air moving you reduce the humidity provide a pleasant, cooling breeze for the family. That cooling breeze isn’t actually cooling you it is evaporating the moisture on your skin making you feel cooler.
2. Leak Patrol. One way to reduce moisture is to reduce the amount of water that is introduced to the interior of your home. Bathrooms are typically the biggest culprits. Hot showers pour out steam. Take cooler and shorter showers to reduce the steam and make sure you exhaust fan is functioning. If the mirrors are still steaming up crack a window for a little while. Make sure the ventilation hood over your stove is clean and venting steam and other stovetop vapors. Go on leak patrol around all the appliances that use water to ensure there are no puddles. If you find a leak call a Fort Lauderdale plumber to fix them.
3. Relocate Indoor Plants. If you have an abundance of plants inside the home you will want to consider putting them outside for the summer. Ever notice how humid greenhouses are? Plants take the water you feed them and releases it as vapor as part of their life cycle. Put them outside or out on the lanai until cooler weather returns.

If we can help you with any questions on this topic or anything to do with air conditioning or plumbing, feel free to give us a call at Paradise Service Technologies today. We are always happy to hear from you.

Did you know that in Fort Lauderdale your central air conditioning system accounts for almost 70% of your monthly electrical bill? That can add up to some serious cash quickly. When you hear the hum of your AC fan running you can almost also hear the sucking sound coming from your bank account.

As one of Fort Lauderdale’s leading plumbing and air conditioning service firms, Paradise Service Technologies would like to share a few tips to help you drop the cost of running your AC in our incredibly hot and humid summers.

There are several ways to tackle lowering energy costs for your AC but we are going to focus on the AC system itself, and ways to minimize the source of the heat (the sun) in your home.

Optimizing Your Air Conditioning System

Air conditioners in Fort Lauderdale get significantly more use than AC units in other parts of the country.

• You take your car to the garage for a scheduled tune up to prevent an unexpected breakdown which you know will cost significantly more money and time than the tune up. The same theory applies to your AC. Have your system serviced every year by a professional AC technician before the hot weather arrives to ensure it’s in optimal condition. A 2.5 ton unit consumes about 3500 watts per hour. Make sure you are getting 3500 watts worth of cooling.

Take the Heat Off Your Home

If you can minimize the amount of solar energy entering your home the AC doesn’t have to work as hard or as long.

• Your roof is the principal "point of entry" for heat from the sun. Older, conventional shingles will transfer 75% of the heat it receives from the sun into the attic. New roofing materials can turn that percentage upside down and are capable of reflecting 90% of the sun’s heat. Assuming you won’t be re-roofing this year you can minimize the absorption of solar energy by adding more insulation and ensuring that your roof is adequately ventilated. The duct work carrying your cool air runs through the attic and the lower you can get the ambient temperature (attics can hit 1400) the cooler the air will be when it’s delivered to your interior.
• Landscaping can play a large role in keeping your home cool. Trees strategically placed on East and West facing walls will keep the home in shade as well as add a nice look to the home. Speaking of shade, your AC unit will perform better if it is in the shade.
• Windows with reflective window coverings, or even wire mesh screens will deflect heat, or in the case of the screens absorb the heat before it enters the interior.
• If you don’t have ceiling fans get them. They are inexpensive and can make you feel 3 to 6 degrees cooler meaning you can bump the thermostat up a degree or two.

That’s a start. The tips listed here all require an investment but they are also all long term solutions that will yield a surprisingly high return on investment.

If you have any questions on energy saving steps you can take for your AC, give us a call today and we will be delighted to assist you.

Hydro jetting is a plumbing specialty service available to homeowners and commercial businesses in Ft. Lauderdale and greater Broward from Paradise Service Technologies. Hydro jetting can be used as an alternative to or in tandem with snaking pipes with an auger to clear clogs in your pipes. Because it uses water under pressure it has several advantages as a clog buster over a traditional snake, advantages that can result in cleaner pipes that drain faster.

What is Hydro Jetting?

Hydro jetting is a technique used by professional plumbers to break up a clog and to clean the inside of a pipe using high pressure water. To the casual observer the hydro jet hose looks like a heavy duty garden hose but it isn’t.

At the tip of the "hose" is a nozzle that typically has three small holes facing forward and five or six that point to the rear at an upward angle. The hose is attached to a water source and a high pressure pump. Water is sent through the hose at about 4,000 PSI sending blasts of water forward to break up clogs and blasts blowing backward to clean the residue on the wall of the pipe.

The Pros and Cons of Hydro Jetting

• Before using hydro jet techniques, a qualified plumbing technician needs to video the pipe to ensure that there are no breaks or weak points. The pressure involved in hydro jetting can do damage to pipes that are not fully intact.
• The auger on a snake will break up clogs but it relies on the pressure of the backed up water to flush the clog material out the pipe. Hydro jetting can break up almost anything an auger can (including small tree roots) and also blasts out the residue left by the clog.
• If your home has older plumbing that is not backed up but just slow to drain, it’s probably because the walls of the pipe have accumulated grease, hair and other residue over the years effectively narrowing the pipe. Hydro jetting is the ideal solution for getting those walls clean and speeding up your drain.
• For restaurants hydro jetting is an essential. Grease does not drain well and it will accumulate along the walls of a pipe from a sink to the main line. Hydro jetting is an effective and affordable means to clean drains and prevent serious backups.

Not every plumbing service will offer hydro jetting because it requires special equipment and training. Paradise Service Technologies has been serving the Ft. Lauderdale area for over 25 years and is a full service plumbing company that has the equipment and the qualified technicians.

If you have an interest in hydro jetting your drains, or if you have an emergency plumbing requirement, call us now and we will be happy to assist you.

Paradise Service Technologies, the leading plumbing and air conditioning service company in Fort Lauderdale, offers up the answers to the most frequently asked drain cleaning questions:

Question: What’s the best way to prevent drain clogs in the first place?

Answer: Hot water is your friend. Fill your sinks, laundry tubs and bathtubs with hot water then let them drain down the pipe. Using this technique you fill the entire pipe rather than just hitting the bottom with a stream of water. Hot water will help dissolve any material and flush it down the pipe. Once a month on a clean pipe will do wonders in preventing clogs.

Question: What are the best liquid drain cleaners available at the store?

Answer: As professional plumbers our answer has to be “none.” Liquid drain cleaners like Draino or Liquid Plumber are temporary solutions at best and pipe damaging caustic chemicals at worse. Try pouring boiling water down a drain followed by a quarter cup of baking soda and then a 50/50 solution of boiling water and vinegar. After the fizzing stops, flush with hot water.

Question: How can I deodorize a garbage disposal?

Answer: Sometimes food particles can become stuck in a disposal creating a foul odor. An easy way to remove the debris and freshen up the disposal is to start the unit and put three or four ice cubes and a few sliced citrus peels (lemon, lime, orange) down the drain and flush with cold water. When the racket stops keep flushing for 30 seconds.

Question: Is there a way to prevent tree roots from getting into the sewer line?

Answer: If your sewer line has even a minute crack or opening in a joint and there are trees present, then there will eventually be tree roots in the line. Trees are constantly seeking water and your sewer line not only provides the water but nutrients as well. The tree roots that enter the line are slim, hair like roots that will quickly mass creating a clog. These clogs are usually not discovered until a backup occurs in the home and you have an emergency plumbing service call. An experienced plumber can run a video camera in the line to identify where the clog is and send an auger down the line to clear it. Once you have tree roots you will need to have the line snaked on a scheduled basis to prevent another backup or the need to dig up the yard and replace the pipe.

If you have any other questions regarding home plumbing issues feel free to contact us today for answers! We have been serving the Fort Lauderdale area for over 25 years and are always happy to give back to the community.

As a leading Fort Lauderdale emergency plumbing service, Paradise Service Technologies has a few tips for homeowners in need of toilet repair. Except for a clogged toilet, there are very few toilet problems that can’t be fixed as a DIY project providing you have a few simple tools and the knowhow.

We’re here to help you out with the knowhow.

First let’s talk about the age of your toilet. If it was installed before 1994 it probably uses 5.2 gallons per flush. That’s more than 3 times the amount of water of the “low flush” toilets (1.6 gallons) introduced in 1195. You are wasting water and spending more on your water bill than you have to.

Fort Lauderdale is a member of the Broward Water Partnership’s Water Conservation and Incentives Program which provides rebates and incentives for homeowners that convert to low flush toilets. Between the rebates and lower water bill it’s cheaper to replace an old toilet than to try and find replacement parts to repair it.

Now let’s talk about repairing common toilet problems.

1. Phantom Flushes. When you hear the tank filling up by itself it is almost always caused by a slow leak of water from the tank into the bowl. The most common cause of a phantom flush is a worn out flapper. Turn off the water supply, flush the tank and then examine flapper. You may be able to correct the problem by cleaning the flapper and the seal it sits on. If that doesn’t work you can get a snap on replacement at any home improvement store.
2. Constant hissing sound. If it sounds like the water is constantly running in the tank you have a leak or malfunction that is not shutting the water off completely from the supply line. One of three things is causing water to seep in from the supply line. First is the float is stuck or needs readjustment both of which are simple to correct. Secondly the refill tube which runs from the ballcock assembly into the overflow tube is sticking too far down the overflow tube. Lastly the ballcock assembly itself is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.
3. Leaky seals. Most toilets have 5 seals, any one of which could fail and cause a leak. There are two that could do serious damage to your floor and that’s the seal between the tank and the bowl and the wax seal mounted on a plastic flange underneath the toilet base. For the tank seal, turn off the water source, flush the tank and then unbolt the two bolts that connect it to the bowl. Remove the tank, turn it upside down peel off the old seal and pop on a new one. For the bowl remove any remaining water, unbolt the four bolts at the base, turn the bowl on its side an peel of the old wax seal from the flange and replace with a new one.

All of the parts in a toilet are inexpensive and available at a home improvement or plumbing supply store. Repairing your toilet will be mostly an investment in time rather than money and is far less expensive than having a plumber do it for you. That said, feel free to contact us if you have any question about your toilet repair.

Being in the plumbing business in Ft. Lauderdale for over 25 years, we’ve heard some interesting ideas from our customers about how plumbing works and how to take care of plumbing problems. In some cases these “ideas” have been passed down over generations, others are original and all most all of them are wrong.

Many of these “home maintenance” tips apply to garbage disposals which unfortunately many people think have the same power as a truck mounted wood chipper. We thought we would take this opportunity to debunk some common plumbing myths and possible save you an unnecessary plumbing bill:

• Lemons and egg shells clean garbage disposals. Not really. A lemon rind may make your disposal smell better but the idea that lemon oil in the rind helps clean the garbage disposal is simply not true. Some people think that egg shells work as a natural abrasive and scrape the garbage disposal blades clean. What egg shells are more likely to do, particularly if you try to cram all the shells from a four person breakfast down, is clog the disposal. The correct way to clean a disposal is to disconnect the power, pour mild dishwashing soap into the disposal and then use a long handled brush to lift the grease and material. Reconnect the disposal and run hot water through it.
• Disposals can handle almost anything so long as there is water running to help the material down. It doesn’t matter how much water you run, a disposal will not correctly process thick or hard food items like banana peels, steak gristle, chicken bones and fish bones. In fact you could be setting yourself up for an expensive repair as those items can damage a disposal.
• So long as the water isn’t backing up the disposal isn’t clogged. While it’s true if the water in a disposal is draining there isn’t a function stopping clog but that doesn’t mean a clog isn’t about to occur. Watch how fast the water drains and if small bits of material are being left on the intake pipe. If the water is slow a clog is just around the corner and you need to clean the disposal and check the trap.

Your garbage disposal is not indestructible and a clogged or jammed disposal can be a major inconvenience. However, if you find yourself with a clogged or backed up garbage disposal it’s nice to know that we offer emergency plumbing service 24/7. Give us a call and we’ll be on your doorstep shortly!

For Ft. Lauderdale homeowners the one drain cleaning project that they definitely will need a professional plumber for is cleaning the main sewer line. The sewer line is the pipe that connects the city main sewer to your home. If this is clogged all waste backs up. Your toilets, tubs, sinks and washing machine will not drain if the sewer line is obstructed.

At that point you have a serious plumbing emergency and you’ll need help now!

What are the Signs of a Backed Up Sewer Line.

Signs of blockages in the main sewer line typically show up initially in first floor bathrooms because their drains, tub, toilet and sink, are the closest to the line. A toilet that won’t flush or a tub that has standing water are both signs of a backed up sewer line but are not absolute proof.

When waste backs up in a tub, you can be fairly certain you have a blockage in the main line. You can confirm this by locating the drain vent outside your home and checking for water. If water or waste is present your sewer line is blocked.

What Does it Take to Clear a Sewer Line?

For starters you need a trusted plumbing service that has the trained technicians and the proper equipment.

The sewer line is a larger pipe than you’ll find in other drains in the house so it will need a larger, usually truck mounted, plumber’s snake to begin clearing the blockage. This snake will be sent down the drain vent which is typically located outside your home but which might be located on your roof if you have an older house. This process will take some time because of the length of the sewer line.

If the snake can’t make it through the blockage, the plumber can send down a camera to determine just what and where the blockage is. If the clogging is due to roots, a root cutter can be attached to the snake to cut through. If the camera reveals a crack that has allowed dirt and debris in, the only option is to dig up the yard, cut out the bad pipe and replace it.

Sewer line drain cleaning can be a tricky business. If you think you have that problem, give us a call and we will send a technician to assess the problem and give you your options.