When your home is plagued with hard water, it’s no surprise when a family finally decides to install a water softener unit for the whole house. Choosing the right unit and scheduling the installation are important first steps. But many homeowners who are excited and eager for installation to begin may find themselves wondering how you might prepare the home for the water softener’s arrival.
While you don’t have to do anything special, technicians can take care of the situation from beginning to end, there are definitely a few tasks you can do that will improve the installation if you’re feeling energetic. Many homeowners get excited and eager to see their water softener in action. This gives you extra energy to prep the house, plan to make the installation easy, and even do things that will help those first few gallons of soft water really hit the spot.
Here’s what you can do:
Get a Consultation and Choose Your Softener Location
If you haven’t already, invite your water softener installation team over to inspect your home and choose the ideal place to install the water softener. This is usually either very close to your water main or right next to your water heater, whichever is easiest based on your floor plan. Your consultation will help you decide the best place to put it for optimal benefit to your home. If there’s not an immediately obvious place for your water softener, you and your consultant can find an alternative location. Common alternate water softener locations include the laundry room, the garage, or the basement.
Searching out a location for your water softener, you need three factors together. You need a water line, a power outlet, and a drain. A floor drain is best but any drain with a drain hose will do. Ideally, however, your water softener would be located near the water main so that it can easily soften all water right as it enters the house.
Identify Your Water Main Shutoff
Next, be sure you know exactly where your water main shut-off is. If you’ve already chosen a location near your water main, then this step will be easy. When the time comes for the installation, you’ll need to shut off water to the entire house for a few hours. This is because all the water in the house will then be directed to go through the water softener unit before it flows into any other pipes.
Redirecting all water into the softener from your water main is best not just for your experience. It’s great for the longevity of the home and appliances as well. Pipes will clog less and appliances will live longer without damage because the hard-water scale will completely stop running through every part of your home.
Clear and Clean the Space for Your Water Softener
If you’re energetic before your installation team arrives, one of the best things you can do is to grab a broom and clear out the area where the softener is to be installed. Ideally, new appliances should go on a smooth, clean floor before they have a chance to accumulate underneath-dust of their own. If there is some storage in the area, use your energy to relocate it. Then sweep to the corners to clear out every dust bunny and dry leaf. You can even mop as long as the floor is dry by the time the installation team is ready to start.
Be Available During the Installation Window
Finally, be sure you are home and available when the installation team arrives so that you can officially oversee the installation of the soft water unit. If you are curious about how the unit is installed or how it works, often technicians are happy to explain while they work with their hands and enjoy an interesting audience. Or you can make sure everyone is okay and then go back to tying vinegar bags around shower heads so that those first gallons of soft water come through freshly cleaned faucets into freshly cleaned sinks and drains.
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When you’ve been living with the trials of hard water, having a new water softening unit installed in your home can be pretty exciting. In fact, many people who’ve lived with hard water for a long time are surprised at the drastic change between hard and soft water as soon as the softener is functional. Water will allow greater suds from soap and will feel actively soft and even slippery on your skin in comparison. And you can know that your appliances will appreciate the difference as well when your laundry and dishes come out cleaner than ever.
Ready to start preparing for your soft water system installation? Contact us today to determine the perfect soft water system for your home, the right place to put it, and to schedule that exciting day of installation where you will finally be able to run soft water through your home taps.