Pumpkin pies are roasting in our ovens and turkeys are thawing in our refrigerators, which can mean only one thing: it must be Thanksgiving in Red Oak again!
The holidays are a time of family, travel, and food. Lots of homes are suddenly stuffed to the rafters with friends, family, and well, stuffing. And while all of these visitors can get stressful for hosts, it's our plumbing systems that maybe see the greatest holiday strain of all.
Is your home's plumbing ready to taken on all that extra work? Here are three surefire ways to help get your plumbing systems ready for Thanksgiving this year:
1. Prepare your finicky toilet for high-volume
If you have a toilet that likes to misbehave, consider getting your toilet snaked or hydro-jetted before guests arrive. These precautionary steps will help ward your home against a clogged toilet situation - something that every family would be thankful for! Before your company arrives, you might also consider fixing some other issues you've been having the rest of the year with your problem toilet: Consider replacing your toilet handle or flapper, or even replace your rickety old model with a new, energy efficient bowl.
2. Encourage drain awareness
Drains have feelings too! And they're plenty thankful when you treat them right over the holidays. In the hubbub of Turkey Day cooking and baking, it's easy to let your attention slide when it comes to what's going down your kitchen sink. Instead of gumming up your garbage disposal and drains, make these good food recycling habits a part of your cooking preparation:
- Cooking food with grease runoff? Let it cool and congeal in a disposable container (like a paper bowl or cup), then toss in the trash
- Get that garbage disposal ready with these handy steps
- Empty the garbage and recycling before you begin cooking, so you always have a sink alternative ready to go
3. Discourage un-flushable items from going down the toilet
When the bathrooms get busy, sometimes guests make poor choices with waste disposal. From feminine hygiene products to your little nephew's toys, everything and anything may end up in your toilet over the holidays. Make sure you have a trashcan readily available to discourage foreign items being thrown into the toilet. If you have a particularly finicky toilet, consider putting up a gentle reminder sign in the bathroom, directing guests to only flush toilet paper down the toilet. Feel free to put a Thanksgiving flair on it!
We hope you have a smooth and joyful holiday with your families! In the event of any plumbing mishaps, remember Combat Plumbing! We offer emergency plumbing service, day or night. Don't hesitate to drop us a line with any questions or concerns. Oh, and gobble gobble!
