Prepare your home to prevent any plumbing from breaking down
When you are busy preparing for your grand Christmas party, the last thing you want to deal with is a clogged drain or a hot water system failure. Plumbing issues are unexpected but they are more likely to occur during the holiday season. From hot water system to garbage disposal, your plumbing system will be overused when you have guests at home. Here are some valuable tips that will help you avert a holiday season plumbing disaster:
Get your plumbing system inspected
Many of you won’t like the idea of calling out a plumber when you already have so many things to do before Christmas. But, if you haven’t got a plumbing inspection done in the past six months, you must make it a priority. It is a good idea to take out some time before Christmas to get your home’s plumbing system checked in advance instead of calling an emergency plumber when you have guests at home.
Give your hot water system a break
From showers to washing dishes and doing the laundry; hot water is a basic need and when you have guests, the need increases. So, don’t be amazed if you keep running out of hot water during the holiday season. All you can do is:
- Turn the temperature bit higher but it should be below 125 degrees
- Avoid wasting hot water by checking all connections inside and outside your home
- Space out showers by at least 10-15 minutes
- Turn off the system when you don’t need hot water
Check your toilets for plumbing problems
A clogged drain is perhaps the worst plumbing issue that anyone would ever want to deal with. To avoid such a plumbing problem during the holiday season, here is what you can do:
- Make sure you have a bin in all of the bathrooms and near the kitchen sink. Ask your guests to use the bin for trash. Often, we assume cigarette butts and cotton swabs won’t be a problem when they go down the drain. Even though they’re small, they could get stuck in the drain pipes and clog them. Instruct the kids to dispose of their candy wrappers in the bin.
- Use a drain strainer to catch the hair in the bathroom.
- Space out the showers so as to let the drains do their job properly.
- If you notice slow drainage, try these hacks to clear a blocked drain, sink and toilet and If they don’t work, call our emergency plumbers.
Prevent kitchen sink clogs
- Do not let oil or grease flow into your drain pipes. The oil will harden soon and will clog the drain. The safest way to get rid of grease is to pour it into a heat safe container and deal with it later. If you or your guest have mistakenly poured the grease down the drain, leave hot water running into it and pour some detergent as well.
- If your guests are assisting you in the kitchen, request them to throw off the vegetable peels and other scraps into waste bins.
- Scrape off the excess food from the plates before placing them in the sink or in the dishwasher. The best way to do this is to use paper towels.
- Use a strainer screen or basket in kitchen sinks to prevent food scraps from going down the drains.
Call the experts
AusTest Pipeline Solutions wishes you and your family a very happy, healthy, and clog-free Christmas. If you are facing any plumbing issues and require an emergency plumber, do not hesitate to call us for immediate help.