Do-it-yourself | Maintenance of your apartment | Living with SSSB


	Overview About your contract + Moving in or out + Home insurance, Electricity, broadband etc + Important + Maintenance of your apartment - What can I change? Do-it-yourself When do I report a fault? Running maintenance Charged maintenance Maintenance advice Ventilation Cleaning advice Power cuts Water damage Repairs in the apartment Renovations and pipe replacements Recycling and environment +

Living with SSSB / Maintenance of your apartment / Do-it-yourself

Print this page »

Water shut-off »
Drains »
Floor drains »
Water traps»
Mixer taps/water taps »
Water temperature »
Cleaning the toilet »

Water leaks in your apartment can cause considerable stress as they can take a long time to fix. You should therefore be extra careful.

If the water tap starts to drip or the toilet is running, you should report the fault immediately. This will save both water and heating costs. Furthermore, a dripping tap will eventually cause brown streaks in the wash basin and bathtub – a result of iron oxide deposits discolouring the enamel.

Water shut-off

There are water shut-off valves in both the kitchen and bathroom. There is a shut-off valve on every water pipe in the apartment.

Drains

The drainage pipes from the sink and wash basin become easily blocked by grease and food leftovers. The best way of avoiding a blocked drain is to throw coffee dregs, tea leaves, leftovers, etc., directly in the bin and not in the sink. A blocked drain can lead to flooding and rising damp.

You can easily clean drains by regularly removing hair and other impurities from the floor drain in the bathroom, wash basin and sink.

If the water starts to drain slowly, remove the obstruction from the strainer/drainpipe. If this is not possible, contact your house caretaker. A blocked drain is a serious problem and must be fixed immediately. Under no circumstance must you use blocked drain dissolvents like caustic soda or other chemical substances. Not only are these harmful to the environment, but they can also cause caustic burns to the skin and eyes and damage the plumbing.

Sink/wash basin plugholes

You can often remove strands of hair in the strainer by taking out the plug and cleaning the plughole. To clean the strainer from below, you must remove the access lid/plug. Place a bucket under the basin and remove any impurities that have got stuck. Rinse the pipe with hot water. An old toothbrush is perfect from cleaning sink/wash basin drains.

Floor drains

The floor drain in a bathroom and shower room is equipped with a water trap. To prevent flooding and bad odour, you must clean the water trap at regular intervals.

Cleaning the floor drain

It’s easy to clean the floor drain yourself! Lift off the grate/strainer covering the floor drain. Wipe or brush away hair and other impurities that are stuck in the drain. You may also be able to remove the water trap for cleaning. If something is stuck in the drainpipe, you can carefully remove it using e.g. a piece of steel wire. Brush/clean the drain and rinse it with hot water from the hand shower. Carefully replace the water trap and replace the grate/strainer. Ensure that there is enough water in the floor drain. If the water trap is not replace correctly, you will notice a bad odour from the drain.

Water traps

Under the sink and wash basin, the drainpipe is U-shaped. This part of the pipe is filled with water and prevents bad smells from coming back up the pipe. It is called a water trap. If the drain is not used for a long period of time, the water evaporates. During warm periods, this takes only a few days. The water level drops and odour can come back up the pipe. You can tell whether the water level has dropped by looking in the toilet. If you are away on holiday, please ask someone to check on your apartment, flush the toilet and turn the taps on in the wash basin/sink/bath, etc., on occasion whilst you’re away.

Cleaning the water traps

Place a bucket under the trap both opening it so that the water and accumulated dirt doesn’t run onto the floor. Some water traps are easily opened by unscrewing the bottom by hand. Wash the bottom thoroughly, removing and dirt, food leftovers, etc.

Mixer taps/water taps

If the mixer tap starts to squeak or whistle, or if the water flow seems weak, there is probably dirt obstructing the tap nozzle, located on the end of the tap to distribute the water flow evenly. The flow can also be obstructed if the mixer tap becomes calcified or clogged up. If this seems to be the case, ring your house caretaker for assistance.

SSSB only repairs mixer taps that are part of the apartment’s basic equipment. If you replace the mixer tap yourself, you are responsible for any future repairs/service.

Water temperature

The hot water temperature can vary depending on how much water is used. If you get up early in the morning and have a shower, it takes longer for the hot water to reach the shower head than it does in the evening, when many people in the building are washing up, showering or having a bath.

The hot water should normally be about 55°C and should not exceed 65°C.

Cleaning the toilet

Is the toilet draining slowly? Check first whether the other drains in the bathroom are functioning properly. If only the toilet is blocked, it’s time to put on the rubber gloves and feel whether there is a blockage in the U-bend.

The small plastic grill containing toilet cleaning agent can sometimes fall off and cause a blockage. Throw anything you find in the bin and manually flush toilet with a bucket of water. If this doesn’t work, or if the other drains in the bathroom and kitchen are running slowly, call your house caretaker for assistance. You must not flush anything other than regular toilet paper and human waste down the toilet.

Sitemap »

Contents