With only a few days until Christmas, the last thing any homeowner wants to deal with is a plumbing disaster. The Christmas season is a time for families to gather together and enjoy excellent food and company. Unfortunately, an untimely clogged drain or toilet can rapidly dampen good moods and put a stop to the festivities.
There are various easy measures you can take to avoid plumbing difficulties this holiday season, whether you are hosting a houseful of visitors or just spending a quiet Christmas at home with your close family. By remembering a few basic plumbing recommendations, you can guarantee smooth, ongoing holiday festivities that won’t get ruined by plumbing issues.
Early Maintenance
Like a soldier getting ready for battle, you don’t want to wait until the last minute to take care of whatever needs immediate attention, plumbing-wise. If you’re having a lot of people over this holiday, it will put your home’s plumbing system to the test as you’ll need a lot more water than usual. – and Christmas plumbing crises can happen if your pipes and plumbing equipment are pushed to their limits.
Perform simple plumbing maintenance on all high-traffic toilets, sinks, and showers to help prevent holiday plumbing problems. The toilet in the powder room is a good place to start.
Additionally, if it’s been more than three years since your last septic pump-out, it may be a good idea to schedule this as soon as possible. If not, then use a septic and drain cleaning solution. It maintains your drains clean of clogs and speeds up the decomposition of sediments in your septic tank. The last thing you would want is a backup or a slow draining system in your home while your guests are fully immersed in the holiday spirit.
Get the Drains Ready
To get rid of odors, fill your sink with a salt water solution. This is wonderful for kitchen sinks since it prevents grease from accumulating in your drains, and it’s also a great preventive precaution that will save you money in the long run and you won’t have to use your kitchen wax warmer to cover up bad kitchen smells anymore.
Know Your Roles
Maintaining a low level of traffic in the kitchen not only makes it easier to prepare food and clean up afterward, but it also helps you avoid costly plumbing “accidents.” This is why it is so important to reiterate to your loved ones: only cooks are allowed in the kitchen!
Perhaps your uncle tosses a plate of food into your sink, unaware that you lack a garbage disposal. Maybe your cousin drops a piece of jewelry down the drain, or one of the younger family members doesn’t realize grease-caked pans shouldn’t be washed in the dishwasher. Taking a few steps to control your kitchen environment will assist ensure that this Christmas isn’t remembered for the overflowing sink.
The Dishwasher Can Wait
When cleaning up after Christmas dinner, it’s tempting to run a dishwasher cycle while you clean the rest of the dishes. By doing this, you may be creating more work for yourself than you actually need to.
Because the dishwasher and garbage disposal share the same drain, using the disposal or spilling anything into the sink can cause waste to be pushed back into the dishwasher’s cleaning cycle. Even worse, if your drains clog, running the dishwasher may cause water to back up and flood your kitchen.
Wait to use the dishwasher until everyone has had dessert and most of the dishes have been washed in the sink.
Where the Leftovers Go
When it’s time to clean up, resist the impulse to scrape the leftovers from your dishes into the sink. There are some foods that should never go down your disposal (more on that later), and even if you don’t have one, you should be cautious about what you put down your drains.
Using a simple, affordable sink strainer is one of the simplest methods to keep undesired leftovers from falling down the drain. You may simply toss the gathered waste in the garbage or compost when you’ve finished washing your dishes.
Not At Your Disposal
If you have a garbage disposal, keep fibrous foods, bones, grease, and any non-food things out of it. After using the disposal, make sure you flush it with cold water each time.
Homeowners frequently treat their garbage disposal like a magical appliance capable of destroying any type of waste. Unfortunately, many things cannot be serviced by your disposal, and they can even cause major harm to your device and make your drain clog situation worse.
Forget the myths surrounding garbage disposals as your one-stop waste obliterator, and avoid throwing the following down the drain:
- Fat and bones from meat
- Stringy or fibrous foods, like celery or other tough vegetables
- Eggshells
- Pasta, rice, bread, or anything that expands when exposed to moisture
- Anything made of paper, metal, or plastic
- Oils, butters, and other cooking fats
Mind the Grease Please
Even at best, grease is still one of the most serious hazards to your plumbing. The risk is multiplied when you’re providing a multi-course, home-cooked meal. As grease is hot, it appears to be like any other liquid, but when it cools or comes into contact with cold water, it instantly solidifies. And when it hardens in your drain, it inhibits flow and traps other items, eventually causing a big clog.
Instead of pouring grease down the drain, place it outside or in a can or plastic bag that can be thrown away.
Toilet Training (Again)
This holiday season, your bathroom is sure to get a lot of use, especially if you’re hosting guests. Your toilets will also most likely have to work a little harder than usual, and unfortunately, not everyone may be as careful with your plumbing as you are.
Make sure that each bathroom has a plunger – this will make dealing with minor clogs a breeze and save you from any embarrassing encounters. Also, place a trashcan in the bathroom to deter guests from using your toilet as a garbage can. Remind young children that only human waste and toilet paper should ever be flushed.
Make sure your guests are aware of the following objects that typically block toilets:
- Cleansing or baby wipes
- Sanitary pads and feminine hygiene products
- Facial pads
- Paper towels and napkins
- Cotton swabs or cotton balls
- Cigarette butts
Shower Courtesy
If you’re hosting overnight guests over the holidays, space out your showers by around 10 or 15 minutes. This not only allows your hot water supply to replenish, but it also helps your drains to clean up. You may also want to consider turning the temperature up a few degrees to avoid running out of hot water. The last thing anyone wants to deal with in the morning is an ice-cold shower.
It’s important to remember that each person who showers also adds to the amount of hair that could wind up in your drains. A standard shower drain can manage a little amount of hair, but a few more showers might rapidly cause a backup. Installing a strainer over shower or tub drains can help catch hair and prevent it from clogging up your pipes.
Have Back-Up Ready
Keep a drain snake on hand and learn how to snake your own drain if a plumbing issue strikes. A drain snake, also known as a hand auger, is a gadget that is used to unclog clogged drains in smaller drains like the bathroom or kitchen sink. A larger toilet auger may be required for larger pipes, such as your toilet.
As a last resort, you may also use a drain clog removing solution, but be careful. Because of the corrosive nature of the majority of clog removing liquids, these can cause toilet bowls to crack, PVC pipes to melt or break, and destroy the adhesive that keeps pipes together.
Hosting a Christmas dinner and back-to-back sleepovers can put a lot of strain on your plumbing system. Minor difficulties and clogs that you endure the rest of the year can rapidly turn into a severe issue when visitors arrive in your kitchen and bathroom.
When you’d rather be resting off a ham or turkey-induced food coma, scheduling an appointment with us can help prevent any unanticipated headaches. The professionals at Certified Plumbing of Brevard can inspect your drains for clogs early on and make sure everything is in great operating condition before your holiday get-together.
You Know Who to Call
You deserve professionals who can provide quality services at a fair price. Certified Plumbing of Brevard also provides 24-hour emergency service, seven days a week, and we service the entire county of Brevard. Call us today at (321) 676-0812
