Your residential water heater is an integral part of your household’s daily workings and operations.  Warm to hot water is needed for showering, bathing, doing dishes, running the dishwasher, washing the laundry, washing your hands in the kitchen, washing up in the bathroom sink, mopping the floor, and other functions – either independently or simultaneously.  The demand on your warm to hot water needs is daily, constant, and necessary.

So, have you ever really taken a look at your water heater?  It actually has kind of a space-age, high-tech look with protruding and dangling gadgets and hoses attached to it here and there.  One of these gadgets, a “T&P (Temperature and Pressure) Relief Valve,” is probably the most important gadget of all.  There it rests, unassuming, sitting around, like an odd adornment on the outside of your water heat.  Little do you know that this unassuming, protruding, odd adornment attached to your water heater is preventing the entire major household appliance from exploding!  That’s right – exploding!

Your water heater’s T&P Relief Valve is an imperative safety device that prevents it from exploding as it monitors the pressure and the temperature of your water heater/tank.  Heaven forbid the water heater’s temperature (for whatever reason) would ever exceed 180 degrees Fahrenheit and/or the water pressure in the tank ever exceeds 150 pounds – ka-boom!  Discovery Channel’s MythBusters Show actually confirmed the myth that an exploding water heater can literally explode right through the roof of a house.  According to the show’s summary on the MythBusters website – “In order to confirm the stated myth, the Mythbusters obtained a full size 52 gallon water heater and built a shack around it with a roof that followed standard California building codes.  The water heater eventually exploded, shooting through the roof 500 feet into the air and disintegrating the shack.  In light of these results, and the fact that there is documented evidence corroborating the myth, the Mythbusters deemed it confirmed.”  The water heater shot through the air like a rocket.

With a working, properly installed T&P Relief Valve, you’ll have no worries of that ever happening.  And, your T&P Relief Valve should have a performance safety check every year by a Gillece Professional Plumbing Technician.  If for some reason you need a replacement T&P Relief Valve, again, leave it to a professional to handle.  Call Gillece!  If you have a Gillece Professional Plumbing Technician in your home for a related or even unrelated service call, please feel free to ask him to do a 1-minute quick check to be sure that your T&P Relief Value is “on” and working.

Winter in Pittsburgh can be like a ‘Jack of all trades’ – snow, cold, ice, wind, freezing temperatures, etc.  Anything is up for consideration.  And Mr. Jack Frost, known as a variant of Old Man Winter as well as his best friend, is held responsible for frosty weather, blustering winds, sparkling icicles, iced-over lakes and ponds, nipping noses and toes, and yes indeed – frozen pipes.  Now, if Jack Frost has cast his frigid spell on your pipes and has frozen them, they are going to need thawed – but, not without a professional.

If your frozen pipes are not thawed slowly, carefully and properly, they may actually burst.  Call a Professional Plumber, like a Gillece Services Plumber, who is an expert at diagnosing the frosty problem and determining if there is any damage.  He can pinpoint the cause of the frozen pipes and thaw them back to normalcy without further stress or damage.  There’s a good chance your frozen pipes may already be broken, so he can also make necessary repairs.  A Professional Plumber can not only thaw and/or repair your frozen pipes, he can address the lack of heat that caused the problem in the first place with detailed assessment.

Mr. Jack Frost is no match for Gillece Services – a proud, family-owned-and-operated, Pittsburgh-based business, who hires and trains only the most talented Plumbers available.  Owner Tom Gillece confidently employs Plumbers that he himself would and does have working in his very own homes, even on his frozen pipes.  And, Tom knows that all plumbing problems do not occur 9-5 Monday through Friday, which is why he makes Gillece Plumbers available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year long…  that includes evenings, weekends, and holidays!

Don’t let Old Man Winter and Jack Frost get the best of your Plumbing – Call Gillece for quick, safe and lasting repair!

The holiday season gives your home’s toilets a good workout, more so than any other time of year.  Holiday dinners, out-of-town guests, festive parties – flush, flush, flush.  No matter what holiday you celebrate this season, we’ve all heard about Santa Claus’ long journey, going house to house delivering toys to all the good boys and girls.  It’s only right that if Santa does exist and he has to borrow your commode, that he get a good flush!

• Share the joy!  Be sure all the toilets in the home get equal action – not just the powder-room toilet.  Overuse of one toilet could put it out of commission.
• Remember, good boys and girls only put toilet paper down the toilet and nothing else – or, you might end up on the naughty list!
• All you male elves out there – please remember to put the toilet seat back down for the lady elves.
• Leave a note near the toilet for guests, family and Santa, if your toilet has any quirky issues – for example, “hold down the handle for a proper flush.”
• Clear away all clutter including holiday décor from areas around toilets – this prevents anything from ending up in the crapper!
• If your toilet does back up – have a decorated plunger within arm’s length for any guest to grab in case of emergency, even Santa!

For unresolved backed-up toilets and slow tub, shower and sink drains in any bathroom:

“When out on the street, there arose such a clatter.

You spring from your bed to see what’s the matter.

Away to the window you fly in a flash.

Tore open your shutters and threw up your sash.

When, what to your wondering eyes should appear.

But, a Gillece service van with their Gillece gear.

With a skilled service Plumber, so lively and quick.

You knew in a moment that he’d get it fixed!”

Call Gillece!

Clogs, clogs, clogs!  No one likes them; no one needs them; and certainly, no one wants them.  But, they do happen.  Kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, toilets… really, any kind of drain is accessible to this blocked-up, congestive, frustrating situation.  And, we most definitely tend to want to remedy a clogged drain at home as soon as possible, so that life as we know it can get back to normal, and fast.  As residential consumers, we are often quick to grab a marketed product that contains “sulfuric acid,” and we may actually end up doing more harm than good to the life of our drain pipelines.

Gillece Professional Plumbing Technicians are usually and unfortunately not surprised to work with customers that have already poured a sulfuric acid product down their drain and yes, took the plunge!  What they may have not been aware of is that sulfuric acid can actually eat away at most pipe materials, excluding plastic.  Not to mention if your pipes are old and worn, the only materials keeping running water from leaking out in worn-down spots may be the build-up itself that is causing the clog.  After pouring store products down a drain, the build-up is quickly eaten away and then you are left with indeed a very open drain and cleared clog, but potential water damage from leakage, which can be more costly to repair than the initial clog.

So, it may just so happen one day that you discover you’ve got a clog!  Try the old plunger and warm water methodology and if nothing is happening, it’s time to call a professional; it’s time to “Call Gillece!”  A good rule of thumb is simply NOT to use a sulfuric-based, store-bought consumer product when attempting to unclear a clog.  Just don’t even buy it or keep it in the house.  Repetition of use of this product and amount used can really truly wreak havoc on the integrity of your pipes.  However, a quick call to Gillece Services can not only get the clog cleared, it can save you a tremendous amount of time and money on repair or replacement of household pipes and piping systems.

Sulfuric acid really can damage your pipes, and your wallet!

New 1-Year to 5-Year Drain Cleaning Warranty Increase Puts Your Mind at Ease…

Gillece Services is now offering a new “5-Year/1-Time Return Warranty Policy on One Drain Cleaning!”  That’s right, Pittsburgh – 5 years!  Normally, the industry standard warranty has been and usually is a 1-Year/1-Time Return Warranty Policy.  What this means is that we will send a Plumber back to your home one time within a 5-Year time frame, instead of just a 1-Year time frame, to completely unclog any one drain or sewer line that was previously unclogged by us during a $99 Drain Cleaning visit – that’s up to 5 Years after the initial Drain Cleaning Service!  This exceptional extended customer-satisfaction guarantee means that we are willing to stand behind our work for up to 1,826 days!

Gillece Services will unclog any type of household, main and sewer drains including kitchen drains, toilets back-ups, utility sinks, bathroom sinks, bathtub drains, laundry tubs, shower drains, sewer drains, main drain lines, floor drains, etc., with our $99 Drain Cleaning Special.  Residents that live in the greater Pittsburgh area or surrounding counties and communities that do get these types of residential Drain Cleaning Services between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. with us receive the new 5 Year/1-Time Return Limited Warranty!  If any drain that we unclog does by chance back-up again within 5 years of the original Drain Cleaning Service date, we will return one time to perform the Drain Cleaning again… at absolutely no charge!

Drains and sewer lines, although out of site and often out of mind, are key inner and underground workings that form the basis of all other plumbing functionality and operations in your home.  When the flow of water is disrupted or clogged by everyday elements like hair and food, or more intense blockages such as intertwining tree roots, the symptoms of highly undesirable sewage back-up and clogged drains can bring your household to a complete standstill!  We often hear about these types of drain-clogs, which is why we offer our services in the greater Pittsburgh area and beyond, including Allegheny County, Armstrong County, Beaver County, Butler County, Washington County, and Westmoreland County for Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electrical Services.

Call Gillece!  Always Here Take Your Call!!

Check out our exceptional water heater warranty care and coverage…

Hot water! – something you usually take for granted until the very second that it is not available to you.  Showers, dirty laundry, dirty dishes, washing your hands – all require warm to hot water.  Your home’s water heater should reliably and consistently heat water for you and your loved ones.  However, there may come a time when you have to consider replacement, which is why Gillece Services offers Pittsburgh’s top-of-the-line, quality replacement water heaters accompanied by full-replacement water heater warranty options for 6 years, 8 years, 10 years, 15 years… and a lifetime! 

Here’s one very important Gillece Warranty Difference – for each level of warranty, Gillece provides a lifetime warranty on water heater “controls” including temperature control, automatic gas valve, thermocouple, igniter, pressure relief valve, draft diverter, thermostat, etc.  That means that if for any reason the water heater stops heating water and is found to need new controls in any of these areas, Gillece will repair the water controls at absolutely no charge. 

Here’s another very important Gillece Warranty Difference – whether you choose a 6 year, 8 year, 10 year, 15 year. or lifetime warranty – Gillece will provide all the labor and material needed to replace the water heater within the warranty period selected for any water heater (tank) leakage.  Did you know that water heater manufacturers typically only provide labor warranties for the first full year after installation?  So, if you have a water heater failure, you will be provided with a new water heater by the manufacturer, but will not have any coverage for labor.  Gillece Water Heater Warranties cover the labor for both the removal and the installation of a new water heater.  Often times, there is more labor involved in an “under warrant” water heater reinstallation than there is in an initial water heater installation.  This is due to the fact that the old water heater must be removed, a new water heater must be picked up, and finally, the new water heater must be delivered and installed.  

An expert Gillece Services Plumbing Technician is trained and experienced at consulting directly with customers regarding the diverse selection of brand-new water heaters that Gillece Services offers and will also review all warranty opportunities for consideration.

For Pittsburgh’s only Lifetime Warranted Water Heater – Call Gillece!