You want to spend the holidays with your family and friends enjoying great food and amazing company. The last thing you need is a clogged toilet or leaky kitchen sink throwing a wet towel on your good times. You want to unwrap presents, not deal with plungers and calling emergency plumbers. Fortunately, when you take the following nine tips to heart, you lessen the risk of holiday plumbing issues.
1. Deal With Food Waste Properly
Kitchen sinks get a lot of use during the holiday season, and it can be tempting to clean up after making a meal by putting all the food waste into the garbage disposal. The problem you run into when you do this is that most food items shouldn’t go in the disposal. It’s easy to think of the garbage disposal as a magical receptacle that can chomp up and dispose of any waste, but that’s not the reality. For example, the following food items should always go in the trash can:
- Rice
- Pasta
- Bones
- Cooking oils, grease, and fat
- Eggshells
Be careful about the food that comes off dishes as well when washing them in the sink. Scrape food off and dispose of the waste in the trash can. Wipe away greasy substances before washing them in the sink to prevent clogs.
2. Be Gentle on Toilets
Toilet usage rises during the holidays when you are hosting guests. Like garbage disposals, it’s easy to think toilets will remove all waste magically. However, this attitude can lead to unpleasant plumbing issues like clogged or overflowing toilets. Remind your guests (and yourself) to never flush the following:
- Feminine hygiene products
- Cleaning wipes
- Baby wipes
- Paper towels
- Napkins
3. Schedule Professional Drain Cleaning
The cleaner your drains are, the less likely it is you’ll experience major backups during the holiday entertaining season. Professional drain cleaning services, like hydro-jetting, remove years of built-up debris quickly. Unlike snaking, hydro-jetting doesn’t simply create a hole through debris to allow water to flow. Instead, it uses pressurized water, scouring and cleaning the pipe, leaving it like new. These services give you peace of mind that your drainage pipes can handle whatever you throw at them during the holiday season.
4. Consider a Video Camera Inspection
If you schedule drain cleaning service, most include a video camera inspection. When you have your drainage system inspected, you learn valuable information about its condition. Within a matter of minutes, technicians can find blockages quickly, identify cracks and other damage, locate leaks, and address other issues that could cause drainage problems. You can make the repairs you need before the holidays get here to avoid potential household plumbing disasters.
5. Protect Bathroom Drains
Many families host overnight guests during the holidays. The more people in your home using the bathrooms, the higher the risk of drainage issues. Even if you’ve had professional drain cleaning and a video camera inspection, you never want to let your guard down. Continue to protect your bathroom drains by using covers over the shower drain to catch hair, soap, and other tidbits that can cause clogs.
6. Ensure You Have Hot Water
It’s not unusual to run out of hot water during the holidays. Common causes for lack of hot water include too many people showering one after the other and running water-using appliances simultaneously, like the washing machine and dishwasher. The first way to avoid a losing battle with your home’s hot water is by staggering showers, ensuring 20 to 30 minutes between each one. You can also stagger your appliance usage.
If you’ve had other hot water issues, such as inconsistent heating or noisy water heater operation, consider calling a plumber for a water heater inspection. Even if you haven’t had issues, it’s not a bad idea to schedule an inspection. Annual inspections include flushing to remove sediment, checking for leaks, inspecting the burners, and more to ensure efficient, uninterrupted usage.
7. Prepare Your Pipes
Southern California generally doesn’t experience extreme temperatures like other parts of the country. However, temperatures can dip below freezing periodically. Insulating your home’s pipes can prevent frozen pipe issues. If you live in an older home, consider having a plumbing inspection to check for signs of deterioration caused by wear and tear. Corrosion and loose connections can cause unexpected problems during the holiday season when you use more water. Getting ahead of pipe issues and repairing damaged sections of piping can prevent leaks and water damage.
8. Address Water Pressure Problems
Have you noticed too-high or too-low water pressure in your home? Too-low water pressure often indicates a leak in the system. Too-high water pressure can cause pipes to burst suddenly. Normal water pressure should stay within the 40-60 psi range. Consider keeping an eye on your water gauge when you have an influx of people in your home to catch potential problems early. If the numbers creep in either direction outside of normal, consider having a plumber out to the house to investigate the situation further.
9. Locate the Main Water Shutoff Valve
No matter how much you prepare your home’s plumbing for the holiday season, things can happen. Knowing how to shut off the water to your home can mean the difference between a quick fix and a costly repair. You can find your main water shutoff valve near the water meter or where the water line comes into your home. If you have a basement, it’s usually there. For homes without a basement, you might find the shutoff in a utility closet or in the garage. If you still can’t find it, it never hurts to have a plumber come out and help you locate it.
Contact Your Murrieta Plumber Today!
You don’t have to wait for an emergency to happen to call a plumber. At We Care Plumbing, Heating, & Air, we encourage Murietta homeowners to get to know their neighborhood plumbers and the services they offer. Preparing for holiday parties requires more than buying food for dinner parties. It means preparing your home’s plumbing for guests.
If there’s one gift we want to give you this holiday season, it’s peace of mind. We offer top-tier plumbing services that get to the root of problems quickly and accurately. We never cut corners and always go above and beyond for our customers. Our plumbers take pride in offering fast, responsive, and personalized solutions to get results that meet your expectations and budget.
Don’t let the holiday season arrive without having your plumbing inspected. Let your locally owned and operated company, recognized by Angi and the Better Business Bureau, take care of you today. We have 24/7 availability, quality maintenance agreements, and various discounts and specials to help you manage your plumbing, heating, cooling, and air quality — including duct cleaning and humidity control. Call We Care Plumbing, Heating, & Air today to schedule a pre-holiday plumbing inspection!
