21 Nov Holiday Plumbing Tips
The last thing you want to think about during the holidays is your plumbing. You have enough to worry about between your family, guests, and of course, that big holiday dinner. Unfortunately, if you don’t take the time to give your plumbing system the help it needs, you’ll soon find that your turkey will be the least of your worries. The holidays put an enormous strain on your plumbing with all the extra grease and other food scraps it has to process. That means that if your lines aren’t in the best of health, you’re sure to run into issues during an already stressful time.
Luckily for you, avoiding major plumbing issues that crop up around the holidays doesn’t take much. So let the plumbing experts from S.O.S. Plumbing help you identify and avoid the behaviors that often result in clogs or other plumbing issues.
Be Selective Of What Goes Down Your Drains
Your sink drains can only handle so much waste, so separating your food waste helps before washing dishes. Start by cleaning compostables off your plates and into a compost bin or other proper container. It would help if you placed any other scraps in the trash to minimize the work your disposal system needs to perform. While this goes without saying, don’t let plastic or other inorganic waste wash down your sink. Otherwise, you’re sure to have a clogged form in your lines.
Be Deliberate When Using Your Disposal
When it comes time to run your garbage disposal system, avoid overloading the feed. No matter how robust your disposal is, it’ll never be able to cope with an entire sink’s worth of waste. Instead, avoid jamming your disposal by only feeding it scraps with warm water flowing through it. This method will allow your system to perform more efficiently.
Skip These Foods and Other Wastes
Certain foods produce waste that is never fit for your garbage disposal. These include but are not limited to the following:
- Eggs: Eggs contain membranes that wrap around some of your disposal’s components, potentially rendering them useless. Once ground down, the shells are difficult to get rid of and often result in serious clogs.
- Fats: Fats and greases coat your system’s blades, reducing their effectiveness. This same grease can also cause clogs in your lines, and you should avoid it at all costs.
- Vegetable or Fruit Skins: While they may seem harmless, vegetable and fruit skins tend to get caught underneath your disposal system’s blades, reducing their effectiveness.
- Bones, Shells, Pits, and Seeds: These tough byproducts can dull your system’s blades, slow operation, and even result in a burnt-out motor! Avoid byproducts at all costs.
- Stringy Vegetables: Stringy vegetables, such as celery, often congest your systems, like fruit and vegetable skins.
- Rice, Pasta, or Tea Leaves: These soft foods can gum up your blades and eventually form serious clogs.
Perform A Thorough Examination Of Your Lines
Don’t let existing issues sneak up on you during the holidays. Before you have any family gatherings, inspect any areas you may suspect have leaks or other issues. If you’re not sure how to identify problem areas, keep these signs in mind:
- Wet Spots: Areas of unusual wetness are often the result of a leaking or burst pipe on your property.
- Mold: Mold and mildew often occur in areas where building materials have contact with moisture.
- Flooded or Sagging Lawns: When sewer lines leak onto your property, you’ll often find that pools of water will form on your lawn.
- Foundation Cracks: Slab or sewer line leaks can damage your home’s foundation and even make your home unlivable!
If you’re experiencing any of these issues, call the professionals from S.O.S. Plumbing before it’s too late and a minor problem becomes a catastrophe.
Eliminate Any Issues With Help From Professionals
The best way to ensure the integrity of your plumbing during the holiday season is to call a plumber to do a regular inspection. This examination will give you an overview of your system’s health and alert you to any issues that may worsen during the holidays. That means you won’t have to worry about your disposal system shutting down on you in the middle of your celebration. Better yet, you’ll avoid any potential back-ups and the embarrassment that comes with them.
Rely On Your Plumber
Hopefully, these few tips will help you avoid the most common plumbing issues people encounter during the holiday season. Unfortunately, accidents happen, but thankfully, you have us to help you whenever you encounter problems. When you need help preparing for the holiday season, let S.O.S. Plumbing help you with our water line and sewer services. We’ll help ensure that your plumbing system is in top form so that you can confidently tackle this holiday season.