4 Plumbing Tips for Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving plumbers work hard to fix leaks, clogs and bursts. Here are 4 plumbing tips to take the load of the holiday season off your plumbing.

Busy Black Friday

While most people are out shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving, plumbers are hard at work. Matter of fact, it’s the busiest day of the year for most plumbers. Plumbing problems spike tremendously after the holidays–it’s quite clear why. During the holidays your kitchen and bathrooms take a beating because they are the most frequently used rooms in the house. Having your whole family over is great, but more people means more food, more waste and more plumbing incidents. Below we have four plumbing tips to help keep your mind at ease, so you can enjoy spending time with family.

Plumbing Tips

1. Prepare Your Home Before the Holidays – Unless there is an immediate issue, most homeowners put off calling a professional. But with the holidays around the corner it is easy to forget about these issues until it’s to late. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, it is best to have a plumber come out to do preventative maintenance or check your plumbing. This way, a small issue doesn’t turn catastrophic and ruin your family gathering.
2. Dispose of Grease the Right Way – Cooking those large Thanksgiving meals results in a lot of grease. While it’s hot, grease may seem like another harmless liquid to pour down your drain. But as the grease cools off, it hardens and can cause blockages in your pipes. Instead of dumping it down the drain pour it into an extra mason jar, soda can or other disposable container so you can toss it in the garbage when you’re done cooking.
3. Don’t Treat Your Garbage Disposal Like a Trash Can – Your garbage disposal is not a catch-all for food waste, in fact if the wrong thing is put in your disposal it can break. Thanksgiving Foods that should stay out of your disposal are bones, fibrous fruits and vegetables, potato peels, pasta and eggshells.
4. Wait 10 Minutes Between Showers – If your guests are staying overnight, you should advise them to wait at least 10 minutes between showers. This gives all the hair, soap and grime from the previous shower time to flow through your plumbing system correctly and not clog. It also gives your hot water tank some time to replenish the hot water supply so there is more than enough hot water for everyone. 

Get Terry’s Plumbing

Whether it’s a plumbing issue before or after the holidays, Super Terry is there for you! Be sure to give us a call at 412-364-9114 today.