Holiday Plumbing Tips…So You Don’t Have to Call Us!

The holiday season tends to be stressful for all of us, what with all the visiting relatives, last-minute shopping and long hours in the kitchen preparing tasty meals and treats for the family – but your home’s plumbing system is also under the greatest stress it experiences all year. Lots of cooking and cleaning means greater than normal demand on your sink, dishwasher and garbage disposal, and house-guests staying over means more work for your shower, bathtub, toilet, washing machine, and hot water heater.

While you know you can rely on emergency plumbing service from R.S. Andrews if something goes wrong, the last thing you want to do in the middle of your holiday festivities is have to pick up the phone and call us. It’s far better to follow these tips for avoiding problems before they occur so you can enjoy the best parts of the holiday season in peace and quiet.

Careful With That Disposal!

Probably the most common problem we run into during the holidays is a clogged or broken garbage disposal. The thing is, this problem is also among the most preventable of plumbing issues, as it almost always results from putting too much food, and the wrong types of food, into a garbage disposal not designed to handle what it’s being fed.

Garbage disposals are simply not designed to handle large volumes of food matter, so if you have something larger to put down the disposal, be sure and cut it into smaller pieces first and put one piece in at a time. You can also keep your disposal clean and by periodically running hot water with a bit of dish soap down the drain, and adding some orange or other citrus peelings to help it smell fresh.

There are certain types of food that you should never put in a garbage disposal in any amount, like:

• Rice or pasta, which can expand inside your pipes and create serious blockage
• Gravy
• Grease or oil from cooking
• Potato peels
• Onion skins
• Bones
• Egg shells
• Celery stalks
• Fruit pits

Don’t Flush That!

Clogged toilets are another very common plumbing problem during the holidays. One thing you can do to avoid a clog is simply to keep a waste baskets in your bathrooms to help guests remember not to flush items like baby wipes, facial tissues, sanitary napkins down the toilet.

Avoid Water Heater Woes

Your hot water heater will be in high demand during the holidays, especially if you have a number of houseguests at any one time. Before any guests arrive, you may want to consider turning your water heater up to increase its capacity; just make sure you don’t exceed 120 degrees – you don’t want to scald any of your guests! After everyone has cleared out of the house, remember to turn the water heater back down so as not to waste energy.

There’s No Bad Time for An Inspection

Remember, if you haven’t had your plumbing system inspected in a while, there’s still time this holiday season to head off any looming problems before your house is full of guests. The last thing you want to deal with is a plumbing emergency when you want to be relaxing with family and enjoying the season, so call R.S. Andrews today and we’ll take a look at your plumbing to make sure everything is in top shape for the increased holiday workload. We’ve been serving Atlanta for over 40 years, and whether you live in Marietta, Duluth, Decatur, or any other Atlanta community, the best way to solve a plumbing problem in our book is to stop it from ever occurring!