How to Prevent Plumbing Problems This Holiday Season

You might be surprised to learn that the busiest time of the year for our Texas emergency plumbers is the holiday season. From around Thanksgiving through New Year’s, it is not uncommon for people to have friends and family visiting or they are hosting holiday parties at their homes.

One of the top plumbing service calls plumbers receive is for problems with kitchen sink drains and garbage disposals. These types of services increase during the holidays because people are putting things down their drains and into their disposals that they shouldn’t.

It is not uncommon for people to pour hot grease, oil, potato skins, potatoes, other such things into their sink drains or garbage disposals. These things can quickly clog up drain lines.

As grease and oil cool, they harden and can create blockages. Potato skins and potatoes are full of starches. Starches act like glue when they go through plumbing lines and stick inside the pipes. Even worse, these things can end up in the garbage disposal. There will be leftover grease, oil, and potatoes in the disposal that can cause it to stick and cause the motor to burn out.

The easiest way of how to prevent plumbing problems with clogged sink drains and damaged garbage disposals is to dispose of food scraps, peelings, grease, and oil by putting these things in your composting pile.

Other Types of Plumbing Problems You Can Prevent

Some other types of plumbing problems that tend to increase during the holiday season include:

1. Frozen Pipes – Here in Texas, there can still be cold weather that causes pipes to freeze and burst. Make sure to have your plumber wrap and insulate any pipes in any crawl space or exposed wall to avoid this problem. It is also beneficial to wrap and insulate pipes under sinks as an added precaution.

2. No Hot Water – With a house full of guests, your water heater can be strained to keep up with hot water demands. Running out of hot water is never good. Have your plumber check your water heater settings to make sure they are set to accommodate the number of people in the home and keep up with hot water demand.

3. Water Heater Failure – A side effect of increased hot water demand is when the heater fails because it is older. If your water heater is more than 10 years old, you may want to replace it before the holiday.

4. Leaks – Water leaks tend to become more common when temperatures are cooling off. This is because pipes can contract when they are cooler. If the pipes are loose or damaged in some manner, leaks can occur. If you suspect a leak, call for emergency plumbing service immediately.

5. Clogged Dishwasher Drains – This problem occurs when you don’t take the time to scrape off excess food from dirty dishes. You don’t have to rinse the dishes and waste any water before loading the dishwasher. However, you do need to remove larger particles of food from the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.

As the holidays are just around the corner, now is a great time to schedule a plumbing inspection of your home. A plumbing inspection of sink drains, toilets, water heaters, and garbage disposals will discover any potential problems. Your plumber can also verify if your plumbing lines are sufficiently wrapped and insulated to prevent freezing.

To schedule a plumbing inspection or other plumbing services in San Antonio, Temple, New Braunfels, or the Austin Metro area to avoid having to call our Texas emergency plumbers this holiday season, please feel free to contact Christianson Air Conditioning and Plumbing at 512-246-5400 today!

Tags: How to Prevent Frozen Pipes, How to Prevent Plumbing Problems, Texas Emergency Plumber