3 Helpful Tips To Ensure Your Home’s Plumbing Is Prepared For The Holidays
As you are no doubt aware, the holiday season is closing in with a surprising speed, and if you are like most homeowners you are desperately running around the house trying to get things in order for all of the festivities in the coming months. When getting your home in order for the upcoming holidays, it is a good idea not to forget about your home’s plumbing. Not only do the lower temperatures and weather conditions take their toll on your plumbing, but the increased usage they are likely to see as you have visiting family and friends for holiday gatherings in the coming months are going to put a serious bit of strain on your system as a whole. However, a little bit of preparation can go a long way when it comes to your home’s plumbing, and our team of professionals want to help you get things in order. In an effort to make sure that your holiday season is one that can go smoothly and without interruption from any serious plumbing issues, our team of professionals have taken the time to put together this short list detailing a few of the more helpful tips we have accumulated over the years that can help you keep some of the more common holiday plumbing issues from occurring in your home.
Be Careful In The Kitchen
While it goes without saying that you should be careful when handling sharp objects and overall food preparation while in the kitchen, it is important to make sure that this holiday season, you and anyone else who might be helping you in the kitchen are careful about what you are putting down your drains and disposals. The day after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days for plumbers all over the country, and this is usually because someone in the kitchen put something down the drain or disposal that had no business being there. Grease and leftover cooking oils should never be put down your drain or disposal as they have the tendency to congeal after they cool, which can lead to some very serious clogs that can be quite difficult to remove. To dispose of used oils and grease, it is best to let them harden in a separate dish, and then scrape them into the trash to be thrown out. Likewise, you need to be careful about getting rid of table scraps and leftovers down your disposal. While it does grind up many types of organic matter, bones and tough or fibrous foods can damage the blades and clog up the workings very easily. Take some time this holiday season to make sure you and anyone else working with you in the kitchen are on the same page as to what can and can’t be put down the disposal this holiday season.
Protect Your Pipes
As the temperatures start to drop lower and lower as the holiday season gets into full swing, you are going to need to pay more and more attention to your home’s pipes and ensure they are adequately prepared for the cold. As anyone who has had to deal with a pipe freezing and bursting in their home before can tell you, it is a nightmare situation, and the last thing you want to have to deal with in the middle of the holidays. To help protect your pipes from the threat of freezing, take some time to ensure that any pipes running through uninsulated areas of your home are properly insulated themselves. This includes areas like your garage, crawlspace, or any pipes on the exterior of your home. In addition, you are going to want to make sure that any outdoor faucets are shut off and any peripherals are drained, detached, and stored somewhere safe. Finally, in cases where the temperature is set to drop extremely low, make sure that you leave a slow drip of water running, as moving water is more difficult to freeze than standing water is.
Ensure Your Water Heater Is Functioning Properly
As we get further and further into the holiday season, having hot water in your home is going to become more and more important. After spending time out in the cold, the last prospect you want to face is having to come home and take a cold shower because your water stopped functioning properly. A working hot water heater is going to be absolutely vital in the coming months, especially if you are planning on housing guests or visiting family in your home this holiday season. Schedule a time for a professional to come out and give your system a thorough inspection to make sure everything is working like it should be.
