The official start of what’s widely known as the holiday season—starting with Thanksgiving Day—is upon us! That means that now is the perfect time to start preparing your home. For many, that means getting decorations up, protecting their pipes from freezing temperatures, and scheduling heater maintenance. These last two points are certainly factors for you to consider, but there’s another part of your plumbing that needs special attention during this time of year.
We’re talking about your sinks, drains, and garbage disposal. The holidays bring about increased guests in your household. This also means an increased use of your plumbing system. Our Santa Fe, NM plumbers are here to help! Plumbing maintenance is the first step in preparing your plumbing system for the holiday season. Keep reading to learn about some other precautions you should take.
Watch What Goes Down Your Kitchen Sink
Unfortunately, this is one of the most common plumbing problems we receive calls for during the holiday season—a clogged garbage disposal or kitchen sink drain. It’s a messy problem—not to mention inconvenient—but is a pretty common occurrence during this season. Take Thanksgiving, for example. This holiday involves an increased amount of cooking and cleaning for the average American family. If this is disrupted, you may quickly find yourself seeking out a good restaurant to eat at instead of enjoying a meal around the kitchen table on Thanksgiving Day.
To prevent this scenario from occurring, and to protect your garbage disposal system and kitchen sink drain as best as possible, be sure to avoid putting certain items down the drain. This includes items such as excessive potato skins, fibrous vegetables (like celery), and fats, oils, and grease (known as FOG). FOG is especially harmful because it hardens as it cools, meaning the liquid you pour down the drain quickly builds up into a stubborn and difficult-to-remove clog.
Leaky Faucets and Fixtures
Even the most minor of leaks or small drips can be easy to ignore, but they can actually grow quickly and turn into a large expense, as well as a big mess, for you and your home. Even the tiniest of leaks can easily waste gallons of water each year if they are not properly addressed.
In addition, leaks are also commonly a sign of plumbing corrosion, which should be fixed ASAP in order to prevent a ruptured pipe later on. But what about those times you aren’t sure if you have a leak, yet suspect you might? You could wait until after the holidays to call in a plumber, but we advise against it. Neglecting a possible leak means that you could find yourself facing property damage later on—particularly if it is an underground slab leak.
Other Plumbing Issues to Keep in Mind
The kitchen is not the only vulnerable spot in your home during the holiday season. Your bathroom deserves some TLC too. Be sure to remind your guests—especially if some of those guests are children—that food waste and paper products like paper plates do not go down the toilet drain. A clogged toilet is the last thing you want to deal with when you’re prepping a large meal!
Contact Roadrunner Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration for reliable plumbing services, today!
