It’s Not Just the Sink – Other Thanksgiving Plumbing Problems
We’ve written extensively about the care and keeping of your sink during the Thanksgiving holiday, but what about the rest of your plumbing? In this post, we’ll discuss other Thanksgiving plumbing problems and how to avoid them.
Don’t Run the Dishwasher and Disposal at the Same Time
When it comes to clean up and dishes, oftentimes, we try to be as efficient as possible. While this will help speed through the process of washing dishes, it will not help your plumbing. If you didn’t know, your garbage disposal and dishwasher share the same drain. So, using them both at the same time could lead to a traffic jam.
In some cases, if a homeowner runs the dishwasher and disposal at the same time, food scraps from the disposal can end up all over your nice, clean dishes. Keep your dishes safe and be sure to run them separately.
Flushable Wipes Aren’t Meant to Be Flushed
It is the unfortunate truth that wipes are not flushable. Yes, even when the package says they are “flushable.” These wipes do not break down in water, instead they can get caught on existing backups and cause a clog. When a wipe or cloth is described as flushable, it means the debris can make it out of your toilet bowl, only to be stuck in your pipes.
Give Your Shower a Break
After Thanksgiving, we are typically flooded with calls from homeowners who want us to take a look at their water heater? Why? Because most of the time the appliance was pushed beyond its limit. When hosting family or other guests, it’s important to make everyone wait at least 15 minutes between each shower.
Showers are incredibly demanding on a home’s plumbing system. Back to back showers, or a shower being used at the same time as the dishwasher mean you’ll quickly run out of hot water, unless you have a tankless water heater. It’s best to let your plumbing take a break between showers and other water heavy tasks.
Don’t Attempt to DIY
When it comes to Thanksgiving plumbing problems, it’s tempting to tackle them on your own. We know there’s a YouTube video for everything. However, just after you’ve finished a large turkey dinner is not the time to teach yourself how to unclog a drain or toilet. If you do experience any plumbing issues over Thanksgiving, we’re begging you to put down the toolkit and call the professionals.
Far too many times we’ve seen homeowners make a problem worse by trying to fix it themselves. We have some resources about cleaning your drains at home, but when it comes to anything bigger than a plunge, leave it to the professionals.
Have Everything Checked out Before Thanksgiving
If you want a stress-free holiday, we recommend booking a plumbing safety inspection. During a plumbing safety inspection, one of our expert plumbers will come to your home and thoroughly examine all parts of your plumbing and check for any problems.
Want to Schedule a Plumbing Safety Inspection?
If you want to schedule a plumbing safety inspection to ensure your home’s pipes are good for the holiday, don’t wait! Our plumbers are already getting booked up and we can’t guarantee an appointment before the holiday. If you live in Los Angeles, Orange, or Riverside county, we’re here to serve you. Simply call the number at the top of the screen or click here to book online.