Garbage Disposal Not Working:  If the disposal is not humming,  check your electrical breaker.  Also push the reset button under the disposal, this is a surge protection reset.  If the disposal hums but the blades do not spin, attempt to un-jam the disposal with either the allen  wrench supplied with the disposal (there is a slot  for the wrench on the disposal) or you can try  using a broom handle to manually turn the blades.

Air Conditioner Not Working:  Have you checked your electrical breaker or fuses?  Electrical surges and thunder storms are frequent hits to the air conditioning system.  The outdoor unit should have a fused disconnect box located on the wall next the air conditioner.  Test or replace those fuses.  Check your air filter.  Dirty or clogged air filters can restrict air flow and cause failures to the system or lack of cooling.

No Heat:  Gas Furnaces can be tricky, however, everybody should learn to light their own pilots.  There are directions on the furnace to perform this task.  Some furnaces do not have standing pilots, the pilot is lit only when the furnace is starting to heat.  These furnaces sometimes have circuit boards that have fault codes.  Look for blinking lights located towards the bottom of the unit, behind the first door.  Write down how the unit is  flashing  (example:  1 long -  3 short) and report them to the technician repairing your equipment. 

No Hot Water:  Most gas water heaters have a standing pilot.  Instructions to light the pilot are located directly on the heater.  Electric water heaters are more tricky.  Check the electrical breaker.  Also take off the cover located on the front to expose the thermostat.  The upper thermostat has a reset button that will trip if surged or if the water heater has over heated.  If you experience extremely hot water, call us immediately for service.

Clogged Lavatory Drains:  Remove the sink stopper.  Hair gets caught on the pop up rod causing stoppages.   The pop up rod is what moves the sink stopper up or down.  Remove the water from the sink.  Loosen the nut under the sink that attaches the rod to pull up or push down the sink stopper.  The nut is usually located 2" directly under the sink on the back side of the drain.  Once you loosen the nut, you should be able to remove the stopper.  With the stopper removed, remove any hair or debris from the sink drain and rod.

Clogged Tub Drains:  As with clogged lavatory drains, hair gets tied up in the tub stopper mechanism.  Remove the tub stopper mechanism.  You are not attempting to necessarily remove the stopper in this case.  We need to remove the device that operates the stopper.  Most  cases require removing the trip lever (over flow) at the front of the tub.  When you remove the lever assembly, a long rod comes out, usually with a clump of hair attached.

Water Line Leak:  Know how to cut the water off to your home.  There is a valve located where the water comes into the home.  This valve will shut the entire system down.  If you do not know where it is, follow the cold water line from your water heater back to the valve.  There is almost always a direct line from the main valve to the water heater.

Know these numbers:
Washington Gas  703 750 1000,  if you smell gas in your home, they will send a crew out right away.  They will not fix the leak but will turn the gas off to the home until we can get there.
WSSC  301 206 8550, if you have a water leak and can not get the water turned off in your home they will send a crew out right away.  Again, they  will not fix the leak, but they will turn the water off until we can get there.