The holidays are almost here, as crazy as that may seem! It’s a time for friends, family, and… food! This last part is the one that we want to focus on today. The fact is, if you celebrate these holidays and plan on hosting any parties or family get-togethers in your home that involve food, you need to read this blog post!
We want to help you prevent major issues in your home—especially your plumbing—this holiday season. After all, this time of the year is hectic enough without having to worry about a plumbing emergency. True, plumbing issues are never convenient or fun, but it’s definitely compounded when you have a lot to do.
Caring for Your Kitchen Sink during the Holidays
One of the most frequent plumbing issues we get called for during this time of the year, or any time someone calls for kitchen plumbing help, actually, is a clogged and backed up kitchen sink. There are a number of things that can cause this. For example, it might be that the wrong type of food made its way down the drain.
There are some foods that, even if you have a garbage disposal system, need to avoid the kitchen sink and meet the trashcan instead. This includes things like celery stalks and corn husks, which can get wrapped around the impellers of the system, fruit pits and meat bones that are hard and not easy to break up, and potato skins or eggshells, both of which are essentially like pouring sand down your drain.
Another common enemy to kitchen sink drains is FOG, which stands for fats, oils, and grease. What happens with FOG is that it hardens as it cools down. So, it might not create a clog or backup right away, but continuous dumping of FOG down your kitchen sink drain will eventually build up to become a huge mess that could have otherwise been avoided.
One last thing to avoid putting down your drain is anything that expands with water—beans, rice, pasta, bread, etc. These items are like sponges within your drain. When they’re saturated with water, they can easily clog up a drain.
Other Potential Plumbing Trouble Spots
The kitchen is certainly a place that experiences a lot of activity during the holiday season, but definitely not the only section of plumbing you should be worries about. Your bathroom plumbing system and water heater also deserve attention!
Your Bathroom and Holiday Guests: Whether you’re hosting a party this holiday season or even just hosting some family members for the weekend, your bathroom can suffer if you let it. We say this because as uncommon as this might seem, people do flush trash down the toilet, and kids do use too much toilet paper sometimes. You may even run out of hot water due to the increased demand placed on your home. This last point doesn’t necessarily result in a plumbing emergency, but it’s worth being aware of.
The Threat to Your Water Heater: Yes, your water can run out because of the increased demand that holiday guests put on your home. But this isn’t the only thing you should be concerned with. The cold air that comes with winter causes expansion and contraction within your water heater tank, and if your system is older, this can result in corrosion, fractures, and subsequent leaks or even flooding. The best way to avoid this is to have your water heater maintained on an annual basis to make sure it’s in good shape!