Plumbing and the Holidays

Can you believe it? The holiday season is upon us. There are holiday displays going up in stores, Christmas themed music being played by a few excited folks, and holiday gatherings are in the process of being planned. If you’re the designated person in your family to host the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve or any other holiday get-together this year, we’ve got a few reminders for you in helping you get your house holiday-ready!

With an influx of people in and out of your house, some perhaps staying for a few days, here’s some things that may prevent you from having an unexpected, holiday charge to fix something you could take care of now:

• Drop some dye tablets into your toilets tanks (especially ones that are used led frequently) and let them sit for 2 minutes. The dyed water will color the water in the bowl if you have any leaks. Have any faucets that aren’t used regularly, like in a guest bedroom? Turn them on/off and make sure hot comes out of hot and cold out of cold to be sure those are running properly! Similarly, running water through unused drains will help you avoid a surprise leak or clog.
• If you know that you have roots on or near your main drain line make sure to treat your drains with root killer.
• Have a septic system? Make sure it’s not overdue to be pumped out!
• To see if your water heater is heating correctly, turn on a faucet all the way to hot, and with a thermometer check the water temperature. Factory settings are around 120 degrees if you haven’t manually adjusted the settings.

Well, those are just a few of our tips on avoiding plumbing disasters during the holidays. And note, “plumbing disaster” could refer to anything from losing hot water to having your mother-in-law point out that her bathroom sink faucet is dripping. We’ll help you out with both of those problems and anything in between!

Holiday Help: What Not To Put Down Your Kitchen Drain

With the holidays, family visits and lots of cooking coming up we stop our “Hump Day Pump Day” theme we’ve been loosely following to look at some common problems our customers typically run into when it comes to clogged drains through the holidays. We’ll call it “Hump Day: The Holidays Edition”. Not only are clogged drains on a holiday inconvenient (and yes we come out on holidays to unclog drains for the unfortunate few!) but they can be damaging and frustrating. So without further delay, here are a few tips about kitchen drains during the holidays:

- Never put grease down a kitchen drain. Sure there are tricks/theories on how to get grease safely to the sewer or septic, but drain systems are stressed enough with the increased activity from visitors and extra cooking. Grease further stresses the system and is the number one cause of clogged kitchen drains for our customers during the holidays.

- Garbage disposals are for tiny particles of food stuck on plates after scraping them off into the trash. Just because the disposal chops it up doesn’t mean a drain is meant to handle all food. Heavier, denser foods sink in water and are outrun by water, causing them to sit on the bottom of the drain and catch other solid waste until the drain clogs. Large amounts of food also stress disposal motors and breaks them, so scrape it off!

- If you notice a drain running slow, don’t use store bought chemicals. Cleaners such as Drain-O and Liquid Plumber don’t always work on a clogged drain and our plumber’s still have to come out. Unfortunately those chemicals eat through our cables and cause them to snap so our techs will have to clean out the chemicals before we can clean the drain. Instead, if you notice a slow drain, pour vinegar or baking soda into the drain followed by a large pot of boiling water.